Compulsive buying disorder (CBD), or oniomania (from Greek ὤνιος ṓnios “for sale” and μανία manía “insanity”), is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences.
According to Kellett and Bolton, compulsive buying “is experienced as an irresistible–uncontrollable urge, resulting in excessive, expensive and time-consuming retail activity [that is] typically prompted by negative affectivity” and results in “gross social, personal and/or financial difficulties”. Most people with CBD meet the criteria for a personality disorder.
Compulsive shopping may be considered an impulse control disorder, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, a bipolar disorder, or even a clinical addiction, depending on the clinical source.