While many people enjoy shopping as a treat or as a recreational activity, compulsive shopping is a mental health disorder and can cause severe consequences. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) does not officially recognize shopping addiction as a distinct disorder, and considerable debate surrounds the legitimacy of the disorder.

By definition, a shopaholic means that you’re addicted to shopping. In other words, you have a compulsive shopping disorder, and it’s a severe problem. In addition, compulsive buying (CB) is a mental disorder that may require treatment.

The irresistible desire to shop is known as compulsive buying disorder or oniomania. According to a research by World Psychiatry, 5.8 percent of Americans are afflicted with the disorder, with women comprising 80 percent of the total number of affected individuals.

Shopaholics, people with a shopping addiction, take shopping to a whole different level even when they can't afford to do it. In a Stanford University 2006 study, 17 million Americans were estimated to be shopaholics and nearly half were men. At the time of this landmark study, researchers coined the term "compulsive buying disorder".