Millions of videos online showcase influencers unboxing thousands of dollars worth of products, flaunting new items every week. Some viewers watch with envy as their favorite content creator convinces them to buy every newest product, every latest brand drops. The jealousy behind watching staged videos can lead to viewers wanting more and more, which is a cause for overconsumption.
Overconsumption is the buying of multiple unneeded things. Usually this can result in mounds of trash being deposited all over the world, because once people are done with their items, they throw them out.
“It can be so deflating to see people posting all the fun they’re having and how great their life looks when we don’t feel like we measure up,” CKHS psychology teacher Eileen Beck said. “It’s all such a fantasy though. Everyone has problems.”
Being covetous of others can cause people to resent the things they have, wishing it were better. Excessive amounts of envy can lead to degrading behaviors, triggering mental health issues linked to self deprecation. These behaviors can provoke unwanted thoughts and cause an individual to try to find a way to cope.
“I can see how psychological problems could push a person to overuse social media and not really check themselves,” Beck said. “Like drugs and alcohol, it can be an escape and a way to avoid dealing with the real issues. I think it can also fill a gap if someone feels lonely, but ironically, I think it tends to make that worse because then they might avoid more authentic social interactions.”
Social avoidance can push a person more over edge, making their actions and thoughts worsen. This state can also result in compulsive buying-shopping disorder, which functions as an addiction and coping mechanisms for feelings of loneliness and emptiness. A person with compulsive buying-shopping disorder is unable to control the impulse to buy things constantly, generating overconsumption.
“The anticipation of going shopping, looking forward to owning a particular item that you desire, and the act of making a purchase all release pleasure hormones or neurotransmitters, like dopamine, in the brain,” CKHS AP Psychology teacher Kallie Szczepanski said. “So people get an actual physical reward that reinforces their behavior when they shop. When someone regularly goes on spending sprees and floods their brains with those reward chemicals, they begin to develop a tolerance for them.”
The good feelings associated with shopping worsen deeply when burdened with compulsive buying-shopping disorder, inducing euphoria and catalyzing an individual to need the results of shopping, and to rely on the elation they feel on the contrary to their feelings before.
“There are a variety of psychological conditions that can pre-dispose a person to compulsive shopping,” Szczepanski said. “Those include anxiety and depression, where someone uses the dopamine boost from buying to modify their negative mood, or low self-esteem, in which case the buyer seeks approval from others based on their purchases.”
While overconsumption is sometimes taken lightly, categorized as a phase and not an addiction, it is no joke. Real mental disorders relating to the problem affect real people, flipping their lives upside down, causing extreme distress and financial hardships. These issues should not be repressed, there are multiple help centers everywhere to troubleshoot problems and answer questions.
“Symptoms [of compulsive buying-shopping disorder] can include: spending a substantial amount of time and/or money on shopping; buying things that you can’t afford; feeling…guilt or disappointment afterward; not being able to stop shopping; shopping to relieve yourself of stress, sadness, or a feeling of emptiness; and lying about shopping or hiding your purchases from those around you.” Szczepanski said. “I urge anyone who recognizes three or more of these symptoms to seek professional help.”
