Impulsive shopping

[Byelka]

I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and for the most part I know how to manage my ADHD well as an adult, but recently I've realized my impulsive shopping might be related to my ADHD. It's something I've always done, but my ratio of income to spending (and bills) has fluctuated a lot the past few years with changes in my job, increases in loans because of school, and so on, so I'm just really realizing this behavior is a problem for me. Anyone else experience this. How do you manage it?

[iWasSunshine]

Hey Byelka,

Yes, yes, yes! I have an impulse to shop every time I leave my house and it’s bad 😬

The biggest thing I’m using to manage this is managing my thoughts about it. I ask myself:

“Can I accept the feeling of wanting to shop and NOT shopping?”

“What would happen if I DIDN’T buy the thing?”

“Will buying ______ ACTUALLY make me happy? (Or fill the void?)”

“ what bigger goal can I put that money towards?”

They don’t work every time, but I’m getting better, haha.

☀️

[wtfadhd in reply to iWasSunshine]

Awesome technique n skills!!! Yep, accepting that you can have a strong desire to do something and still not act on it is powerful stuff! Thanks for sharing!

[ata95]

Hey,I am a 25 years old with ADD. Sometimes I have a great desire to buy something (that i need or not but most of the time, that i couldn't even afford) some of the times i directly buy them. Coming home, i feel the regret of buying smt i don't even need or something i shouldn't buy because of its cost.

But sometimes, I do myself a trick.

I also have a great deal of perfectionism (thanks to my ADD maybe) and this helps me very much with my impulse shopping. I try to convince myself that it is not the best product that I can get on the market. Or finding and focusing on its flaws. And after that it is easy to convince myself to that, i can't be happy with this product full of flaws. It is very far from what I actually want and what can actually satisfy me. The hardest part is to pausing on this exact moment that you feel the necessity to buy this item and thinking for a while. Stop and ask yourself, is it the product you really want? If you can handle this, if you can handle wasting tens of minutes to think and research about that item (maybe researching on the other items that have better specifications), than it is not even an impulsive move anymore.

Maybe this might help you or other people too.

Good luck on your journey

[Hidden]

The worst part of it, is the impulsiveness. The ups and downs. The emotional roller coaster ride. I have a battle with addiction and adhd. Set boundaries. Thought stop. Have your 15 mins of worry. Then think about the gratification of your life. You need instant gratification. It’s hard. Therapy really helps. I am extreme from one end to the other spectrum. You know your problem. Now it’s time to heal and learn about yourself. Adhd is very tough. It can lead into deep depression but you can make it work towards you. Be consistent with your life. Journal will help you see yourself with the ups and downs. Out your focus into something that will help you heal and cope. First step is knowing what’s wrong. Don’t self treat. Find help. It really helps.

[Hidden]

Declutter your life. Find what’s a need and what is a want, if you have adhd or even play with drugs to raise your dopamine levels. It might be because you can’t focus on one thing. In my situation I need instant gratification. Addiction is a problem for me. Maybe it will be helpful to find therapy. I have adhd. The impulsiveness kills me. Set boundaries. Maybe you need a change.

[anaoli1]

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