Quiz: Are You Addicted to Online Shopping?

Not sure where your shopping habit falls on the spectrum from "harmless fun" to "genuine problem"? This quick self-check can help you reflect. It's not a diagnosis — just a set of honest questions to take your own temperature.

Answer yes or no

• Do you shop to change how you feel — to relieve stress, boredom, sadness, or anxiety?
• Do you feel a rush or excitement while buying, then guilt or regret afterward?
• Do you buy things you don't need, don't use, or never unwrap?
• Have you hidden purchases or spending from people close to you?
• Have you spent money you didn't have, or gone into debt, to keep shopping?
• Have you tried to cut back and found you couldn't?
• Does shopping interfere with your work, relationships, or finances?
• Do you feel anxious or irritable when you can't shop?
• Do you start thinking about the next purchase soon after the last one fades?
• Does the urge to buy feel automatic, like you're shopping before you've decided to?

How to read your answers

• 0–2 yeses: Shopping is likely a normal pleasure. A few friction habits keep it that way.
• 3–5 yeses: Some warning signs. Worth adding guardrails and watching the pattern — start with how to stop impulse buying.
• 6+ yeses: Several markers of compulsive buying. This is common and very workable, and you don't have to handle it alone.

A gentle next step

Wherever you landed, awareness is the win. Try one small change this week — and the next time the urge hits, send it to a free fake cart at Dopamine Shop instead of a real one. For the full picture, read am I addicted to shopping.