Three questions decide it, and none of them is about the amount. Are you hiding it, is it causing harm you cannot absorb, and have you tried to stop and failed? Somebody spending forty pounds a week they have not got is in deeper trouble than somebody spending four hundred they have. Start there rather than with a total.
There is no test that can label you
Worth knowing before you go looking for a quiz.
Compulsive buying is not a formal diagnosis. In a paper arguing that it ought to be one, [Müller, Brand, Claes and colleagues say so plainly](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cns-spectrums/article/buyingshopping-disorderis-there-enough-evidence-to-support-its-inclusion-in-icd11/5ABDCCC3ABBDE71F44394A8D8A7F7DD3): "the most recent 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the recently released 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) have not included BSD as a formal mental health disorder."
So nobody can hand you a diagnosis, and nobody can tell you it is imaginary either. The behaviour is well described in the research literature: preoccupation with buying, urges that are experienced as irresistible, repeated failed attempts to stop, then guilt and money trouble.
You are also not unusual. A [meta-analysis by Maraz, Griffiths and Demetrovics](https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27158/1/PubSub4615_Griffiths.pdf) found "the CBB pooled prevalence of adult representative studies was 4.9% (3.4-6.9%, eight estimates, 10 102 participants)". Roughly one adult in twenty, with the authors warning of "large heterogeneity within subgroups", so hold it as an order of magnitude rather than a precise share.
The three questions that matter
One: are you hiding it?
Concealment is the loudest signal there is, and it is the one people discount because it feels like tact rather than a symptom.
Look at the specifics. Parcels opened in the car so they can come in without packaging. Deliveries timed for when the house is empty. Statements deleted from the inbox. A separate account, or a card your partner does not know about. Saying something was on sale, or was cheaper, or was bought a while ago.
If somebody who lives with you would be surprised by the real monthly figure, that is your answer, regardless of what the figure is.
Two: what is it costing, and can you absorb it?
The NHS defines addiction in terms of control rather than quantity: "not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you." Which points you at harm.
Real harm looks like this. Bills paid late so an order could go through. A credit card that never goes down. Buy now pay later plans across three apps and no idea of the monthly total. Money borrowed to cover money spent. Rows about it. Rooms full of unopened things. Dread when the post arrives.
Not harm: enjoying shopping, spending more than a frugal friend would, or occasionally buying something silly with money you have.
Three: have you tried to stop?
The description that lands hardest for most people is not the buying. It is having decided, sincerely, several times, and then done it again anyway.
If you have set rules for yourself and broken them, deleted an app and reinstalled it, or promised somebody and then hidden the next order, you already know what the answer is. The gap between wanting to stop and being able to stop is the thing itself, and it is not a lack of willpower.
What each answer points to
**Yes to all three.** Take the friction seriously and take it today rather than as a resolution. Saved cards deleted, marketing unsubscribed, a waiting rule with a number in it. [The four obstacles are here](/guides/spending/how-to-stop-compulsive-spending), and the longer version with every place a card hides is [in the friction piece](/guides/spending/putting-friction-between-you-and-checkout). If there is debt, ring StepChange free on 0800 138 1111.
**Hiding it, but no debt yet.** This is the best position anybody reading this page can be in, and it is the one most likely to be dismissed. The concealment is the part that grows. Tell one person the real figure now, while the figure is still small enough to say without your voice shaking.
**Debt, but not much hiding.** Then this is a money problem before it is a compulsion problem, and money problems have free professional help. StepChange, 0800 138 1111, Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. [The first plan is here](/guides/spending/facing-the-debt-a-first-plan).
**None of the three, but you feel guilty.** Guilt about spending is extremely common and frequently has nothing to do with the spending. If nothing is being hidden, nothing is being damaged and you can stop when you decide to, you may be looking at a values problem rather than a control problem.
What about spending and ADHD
A lot of people arrive at this question with both searches open at once.
We are not going to diagnose anybody from a web page, and we do not have a source we would stand behind on how strongly the two connect, so we will not pretend otherwise.
What is fair to say is that if buying tends to be finished before deciding is, then friction matters more for you rather than less, because friction works while you are not paying attention. A card that has to be fetched from upstairs does not require you to catch yourself in time.
If the money has taken you somewhere dark
Debt and shame are a heavy combination and it is worth saying out loud that people underestimate what it does to them.
Samaritans is **116 123**, free, any hour of the day or night, about any of it. If you need urgent mental health support, NHS 111 has a mental health option. In immediate danger, **999**.
Some people find it easier to keep the log, the risky hours and the person they message in one place, which is what [the recovery side of Renovyn](/my-recovery) is for. It tracks and it nudges. It does not treat anything and it is not a substitute for the call to StepChange.
Common questions
**Is shopping addiction a real diagnosis?** No, not currently. The researchers arguing for its inclusion confirm that neither DSM-5 nor ICD-11 lists it as a formal mental health disorder, though the behaviour itself is well documented. Judge your own situation by the hiding, the harm and the failed attempts to stop.
**How much spending is too much?** There is no threshold, and any page giving you one has invented it. The useful test is what the money was needed for and whether you can absorb the loss. Forty pounds of the electricity money does more damage than four hundred pounds of genuine spare income.
**Is it normal to hide what I have bought?** It is common, and it is the single most reliable indicator that something has gone beyond ordinary overspending. The hiding also does its own damage over time, separately from the money, which is why [telling one person the real number](/guides/spending/telling-someone-what-you-actually-owe) changes more than any budget does.
**How common is compulsive buying?** The most defensible figure is a pooled prevalence of 4.9%, with a range of 3.4 to 6.9%, from adult representative studies. Higher figures circulate widely and come from student and shopping centre samples, so treat them with suspicion.
**Does it count if I return most of it?** Returning things does not settle the question. If the buying is compulsive, the returning often becomes part of the loop rather than a correction to it, and it can hide the true scale of what is happening from everybody including you.
Sources
- [Müller, Brand, Claes et al., "Buying-shopping disorder: is there enough evidence to support its inclusion in ICD-11?", CNS Spectrums](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cns-spectrums/article/buyingshopping-disorderis-there-enough-evidence-to-support-its-inclusion-in-icd11/5ABDCCC3ABBDE71F44394A8D8A7F7DD3). That DSM-5 and ICD-11 do not include it as a formal disorder, and the description of the behaviour.
- [Maraz, Griffiths and Demetrovics, "The prevalence of compulsive buying: a meta-analysis", Addiction](https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27158/1/PubSub4615_Griffiths.pdf). The 4.9% pooled figure for adult representative studies, and the warning about heterogeneity.
- [NHS, Addiction: what is it?](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/addiction-what-is-it/). Addiction as not having control over something to the point where it could be harmful to you.
- [StepChange Debt Charity](https://www.stepchange.org/). Free and impartial debt advice.
