For many years the condition of being unable to stop shopping has been accepted as an addiction. The difficulties suffered in more recent years by shopaholics have been aggravated by the introduction of the internet.

Someone who cannot stop shopping is often confused with someone who aimlessly wanders around the shops window shopping but never buying. A true shopaholic, however, will spend a huge amount of money in an amazingly short time, usually on credit and nearly always causing a great deal of distress to their family, themselves and their bank accounts.

Shopaholics seek solace in shopping and usually they find comfort in the act of spending money more than the shopping experience in real shops. For this reason, the online shopaholic finds a shopping environment that is near perfect; the choice of products on sale is unlimited, the act of shopping can be easily concealed and the scope for spending is without boundary.

Online shopping is made so easy and the purchase of goods is not difficult to keep secret. Deliveries may be made when the rest of the family is out; the online shopping venue is open 24/7; items may be hidden at a friend’s address to provide further concealment; when credit cards are exhausted, further credit applications may be made, also in secret and not discovered until it is far too late.

Help for an online shopping addiction is usually sought by the sufferer, mostly because this is one area where friends and family are powerless to help. The first step to stop shopping online is to install a web filter or blocker to prevent shopping channels from being accessed by the shopaholic. The web blocker is linked to password, so there is no reason why other family members may not access the sites, although some prefer to stop shopping online for the whole family to set an example.

The idea that it is only women who have a shopping addiction is incorrect. Men also suffer shopping addiction and many of the items purchased by men are extremely costly and include electronic equipment; clothes and sports equipment. The problem is also common among teenagers and students.

The shopping compulsion is almost impossible to resist for a shopaholic and help, when it does come, is usually preceded by a period of unpleasantness when the family discovers the amount of debt incurred as a result of the addiction. Therefore the sufferer tends to continue to conceal the problem for as long as possible.