Girl math, it seems, has taken a rather dark turn. According to Credit Karma, 43% of millennials and 35% of Gen Z are engaging in doom spending, the grim sibling of doom scrolling. While retail therapy and girl math justify those impulsive splurges, doom spending is all about tackling existential dread with a shopping spree. With global anxieties running high, it’s like we’re trying to use our credit cards to restore some semblance of control amidst the chaos. But where’s the line between impulsive and compulsive spending? And when does doom spending cross over into full-blown addiction?
“While ‘shopping addiction’ is not a diagnosable illness under DSM-V or ICD-11 criteria, it can typically be recognised as a compulsive and irresistible urge to shop and spend excessively, often regardless of need or financial limitations.” explains experienced clinician Brittany Hunt from Clinic Les Alpes, who specialises in treating addictions and co-occurring disorders. “This chronic and repetitive behaviour becomes a primary coping response to negative emotions or stress”.
It is, perhaps, only fitting that shopping has become the go-to fix for our dopamine cravings in a world obsessed with instant gratification, endless scrolling, and algorithm-driven distractions. With our attention spans shrinking and our feeds endlessly curated, we’ve grown as addicted to shopping as we have our phones. “This condition often stems from attempts to fill emotional voids or manage unpleasant emotions such as stress, anxiety, or depression. However, the shopping only provides a temporary relief”, says Brittany Hunt.
When we make a purchase, our brain releases feel-good hormones like dopamine and endorphins. As Brittany puts it, “the instant gratification of online shopping, creates a fertile ground for compulsive buying behaviours. This generation’s high engagement with digital platforms means they are continuously targeted by personalised advertising and a normalisation of excess, enhancing the likelihood of impulse purchases”.
But if shopping could truly fulfill us, we’d have stopped by now. Right? Consumerism doesn’t exactly address our deeper needs, so we end up stuck in a loop, constantly searching for instant gratification that never quite hits the mark. Doom spending has well and truly entered the chat.
At the forefront of our need to spend, perhaps, is the fleeting charm of microtrends that grace our screens on a daily basis. Over on TikTok, perpetuated aesthetic identities, especially those reaching mainstream and commercial prominence, are all intended to sell us something. Clothes don’t just go out of style anymore – they practically self-destruct. Fast fashion’s rapid turnover isn’t helping, either. Quality takes a backseat to quantity, pushing us to buy more and more, just to keep up.
We have indeed fallen into a “general culture of overconsumption”, as Brittany shares, making our generation far more “at risk of developing problematic shopping behaviours”. Not to mention that shopping is as easy as one click of a button nowadays.
In the region, and in Dubai especially, shopping is a major cultural and economic activity. The UAE has more per capita shopping spaces than any other country in the world. So what can be said of our shopping habits? “Consumer-centric cultures like Dubai, where material success is highly valued, these behaviours might not be seen as problematic, adding challenges to recognising and addressing the addiction”, says Brittany. The glamorisation of consumerism can obscure the underlying issues associated with shopping addiction. So if we place so much societal value on shopping, perhaps we’re at fault for fueling the risks (it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me).
“The cultural emphasis on shopping as a leisure activity can normalise frequent spending and make resisting temptation more challenging, thereby increasing the risk of developing a shopping addiction”, says Brittany. “This cultural acceptance, desire, and even expectation, of outward displays of affluence can influence those with a tendency towards compulsive behaviours to engage in problematic shopping patterns. As the general public’s ownership of luxury goods increases, those in the upper echelons of society need to buy increasingly ostentatious and expensive goods in order to separate themselves. This can drive a general culture that requires a certain level of ‘luxury’ in order to fit into even the ‘norm’, let alone a higher status crowd”.
In regional cultures as such, it can be difficult to identify when shopping is starting to become ‘out of control’. Doom spending has indeed been etched into the cultural zeitgeist. And perhaps it’s time we address the wider issue at hand here. “Addressing both emotional triggers and practical consequences” is key, says Brittany, but so is consciously seeking out those dopamine hits in healthier ways—beyond our phones, credit cards, and screens. After all, if buying a new pair of shoes doesn’t genuinely bring you joy (re: Marie Kondo), then maybe you don’t need them at all.
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