Welcome to the wonderful world of Doom Spending

👉 This is part of The Pervasive Now

In a world that sometimes feels perpetually on the brink of something, we've discovered a new form of emotional self-medication: doom spending. It's not just shopping—it's an existential coping mechanism disguised as retail therapy.

However, Doom spending isn't a consumer weakness—it's a feature, of late-stage capitalism. Social media and predatory news cycles have fueled our collective anxiety, turning economic despair into a profit-generating machine. Every doomscroll is a potential purchase, every moment of global uncertainty a sales opportunity.

"When the world feels overwhelming, we buy," says Kimberly Palmer from NerdWallet. A spontaneous vacation, a luxury skincare set, an impulse designer purchase—these aren't just purchases. They're psychological band-aids in a system designed to keep us perpetually unsatisfied and consuming.

Financial advisors warn of the trap. Hanna Grichanik notes that this impulse buying can quickly derail personal financial goals, pushing individuals deeper into debt while providing only momentary emotional relief.

Most interesting because..

The algorithm knows your stress better than you know yourself. Influencers and platforms don't just sell products—they sell temporary escape, commercialising our collective existential dread one sponsored post at a time.

Welcome to doom spending: where personal trauma meets corporate profit.

Sources

https://fortune.com/well/article/genz-millennials-doom-spending-stress/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Zillennials/comments/1c3f6x7/anyone_here_really_doom_spending/