From the great silk emporiums of India to the ubiquitous suburban mall in North America, shopping is a simple pleasure enjoyed throughout history by people of all cultures.

We’ve probably all hit the shops from time to time to give ourselves a little moral boost.  Most of the time, there is nothing particularly serious going on here — other than what to do with that gigantic driftwood rocking chair now that you’ve hauled it back from BC to your condo in Toronto.  But when does a little “retail therapy”, something innocuous and fun, become a more troublesome issue?

Psychologists have been looking at the reasons people deal with depression, anxiety and stress by taking a trip to the mall.  In fact, researchers in Australia have classified problem shopping as a psychological disorder called oniomania, or compulsive shopping disorder.

A consumer culture, easy credit, lack of planning and not having a clear vision of what one wants out of life has resulted in what I call in one of my courses, “The Madness of Money”.  Deepak Chopra puts it well:
“We have gotten into the habit of spending money we haven’t earned, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people that we don’t like. So get rid of that habit.”

So where do you place on the spectrum between shopping for fun and retail addiction?  Here are a few simple questions to ask yourself:

1) Are you experiencing signs of anxiety or depression around debts and spending?

2) Are you are having difficulty managing your finances, credit cards or debt load?

3) Are you are hiding or disguising your spending from your spouse or partner – or rationalizing it to yourself?  In other words, is there some denial at work here?

4) Do you or others frequently comment on your spending habits – even if they – or you – are “just joking”?

5) Are you juggling accounts or can’t cover important expenses, because you have overspent somewhere else? Remember, these don’t have to be major purchases either. Many people “nickel and dime” themselves into difficulty.

6) Have you put off your important life goals because you are spending money on things you neither really want nor need?

Chances are that you fall somewhere within a “normal range” on these questions, but like most Canadians, you could probably still use some help getting organized with a financial plan or a system to manage your money and your spending better.

The recent financial meltdown is a stark wake up call to remind us that we all need to take more personal responsibility for our money. Isn’t it time to take action and stop the madness? – Karin Mizgala

Karin Mizgala is a Vancouver-based fee-for-service financial planner with an MBA and a degree in psychology. She’s the President of LifeDesign Financial and co-founder of the Women’s Financial Learning Centre.