the addiction that grew after the pandemic

The psychiatrist Marisol Roncero Rodríguezfrom the IPSM AdCom Center of the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital in Madrid, has warned that the phenomenon of compulsive shopping has increased since the pandemic and requires specific care and treatmentssomething that many mental health professionals and the latest scientific evidence agree on.

From the Spanish Society of Dual Pathology (SEPD) have focused on this disorder characterized by the uncontrolled purchase of unnecessary objects and which is estimated to affect five percent of the population, on the occasion of the IX AdCom Conference on behavioral addictions and dual pathology.

Roncero has stated that the prevalence of the disorder could have increased in recent years. “The accessibility, anonymity and immediacy of the new e-commerce platforms make purchasing even more addictive”Roncero explained.

Regarding the profile of the affected people, he detailed that about 80% of the cases occur in women from around the 45-55 yearsbut he pointed out that in recent years there has also been an increase in cases among young adults, especially in online purchases.

Association with depression

The expert has detailed that there is a bidirectional relationship between compulsive shopping and depressive disorders, given that in most cases purchases are not made out of a real need, but rather to relieve tension and discomfort emotional.

In fact, it is estimated that between a 50 and 90 percent of the population with compulsive buying also presents a depressive disorder of a different typesuch as dysthymia or chronic depression, major depressive disorder or the depressive phase of bipolar type II disorder, among others, what is known as dual pathology.

“Depression is an illness in which sadness and apathy predominate.there is no desire to do anything, and shopping produces immediate and ephemeral pleasure, so when a person has depressive symptoms this pleasurable sensation can make them vulnerable to buying compulsively, and finding in those purchases their only source of satisfaction,” the psychiatrist argued.

Conversely, there are also people with compulsive buying disorder who, due to shopping addiction, end up developing depressive symptoms. Dual pathology complicates treatment, as pointed out Roncerowho has even pointed out that this situation “it doesn’t have to be worse” as long as both mental disorders are treated in a comprehensive and integrated way.

To this end, he has highlighted the need to coordinate pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment for depression with cognitive-behavioral and motivational interventions, as well as stimulus control and relapse prevention strategies for shopping addiction.