Oniomania

Bilal Ahmad Dar

When life hasn’t got a swing anymore, people may give in to obsessive oniomanic compulsions, in as much as they are going out of their way to construct a flamboyant life style and change their identity from “don’t- need” to “must-have” consumers, so as to satisfy their gripping buying desire. Erike Pevernagie

Man is a creature of instincts, desires, feelings, volitions and all that. Digital and technological revolution has simplified the life of man. We complete complex works online. Due to the scientific advancement, modern man has become a kind of post-human. But this scientific advancement has some flipsides attached to it. Modern man has online buying options available to him. Modern man buys things online from online shopping portals like Flipkat and Amazon. We order an item online and next day it reaches us in the wee hours of the morning. These online shopping portals are very alluring and enticing. No doubt they save our time, but due to this online shopping, modern man has degenerated into an oniomanic and shopaholic being. Oniomania and shopaholism are two newly found psychological disorders of a modern man. Seeing an item online allures and entices us. The brilliant color and gaudy style motivates us to buy things even at very dear rates online.

Oniomania is the obsession of a person with very costly things. It is also called as CBD (Compulsive Buying Disorder). Oniomania is a term coined by the French psychiatrist Valentin Magnan. The term has gained currency when Max Nordau, a German physician, used it in his book Degeneration (1892). Max Nordau defines Oniomania as a “buying craze” a “stigma of degeneration”. Thorstein Veblen (sociologist and economist) has used a different bionomial term for this buying craze or oniomania. He calls it a conspicuous consumption. It is defined as the spending of money on costly and luxury goods and services in order to make the display of one’s economic power and clout.

Oniomania is  a fact these days. Modern man has certainly become an oniomanic being. He goes for shopping frequently. Brands and tags have obsessed the mind of modern man. He runs after the brand names like Adidas, Nike, Levis and many others. Wearing these brands gives him psychological comfort and social identity. He does not care a fig for local and unbranded items. Unbranded and local items, modern man thinks, are bland and lack identity and social respect. This line of thinking has led to extravagance and desire for extravaganza. Extravagance and desire for extravaganza can impoverish us. It can have negative economic implications for us. We should use our senses and discretion while shopping. Discretion is the best part of the valor. We should not be driven by our elite instincts and romantic tendencies.

Prior to digital revolution and online shopping options, shopping was not so frequent and maniac. Shopping was done on yearly or half yearly basis. But these days, shopping has become an obsession. Modern man goes for shopping on daily basis. I do not try to discourage people from shopping; I only suggest that we should not be much obsessed with it. We should not consider costly goods and apparels as desiderata. We can survive without donning ultra-modern suits, saris and shoes. We should avoid being lavish and spendthrift and profligate. We should follow frugality and thrifty life style. Lavish life style and extravagant attitude are the signs and symptoms of oniomania and shopaholism. Both Oniomania and shopaholism can lead to psychological disorders. It can make us social misfits. We should try to be less lavish and simpler. Thereby hangs a tale!