Is Book Buying Sendrome a Bad Thing?

So When Does This Turn Into a Psychological Disorder

There’s a difference between buying a book and hoarding a book.

It is necessary to determine whether this behavior turns into an addiction. You know, in order to call a behavior an addiction, there are criteria such as whether daily life is negatively affected or it causes financial difficulties. If the habit of buying books has turned into a disease in the true sense of the word, we encounter two ailments that can have serious consequences. Tsundoku and Bibliomania. Let’s examine it one by one.

What is Tsundoku?

The term Tsundoku, which is formed by the combination of the Japanese words to want (tsunade), to leave (oku) and to read (doku), is an inconvenience caused by buying and saving too many books to read. Although it has a similar definition to collecting, the situation in Tsundoku is different because Tsundoku patients buy books with the desire to read, but cannot read because of lack of time or focus problems.

Why Do People Get Tsundoku?

The underlying causes of the disorder can be revealed through methods such as psychotherapy. However, the processes that push Tsundoku individuals to do this behavior are roughly as follows:

• Fear of books going out of print
• Quoting the expert clinical psychologist Ahmet Saraç, “Karl Lagerfeld said, “With every book you buy, you have to buy the time to read it!” Based on his word, the time constraint pushes these individuals towards becoming Tsundoku.
• The tragic thing is, these people are people who want to improve themselves and want this, but they can’t do it.

Symptoms of Tsundoku

These individuals want to be recognized as good readers by those around them. They even tend to lie when asked about a book they haven’t read.

• As expected, they buy too many books to read.
• Although they have a desire to read books, they cannot read them.
• They find themselves at the bookstore again, even though they have other shopping to do.
• They are unable to lend their books and are seriously worried if they have to.
• They do not accept digital books as books.
• Every time they buy a new book, they go into an overly happy mood

Treatment of Tsundoku

For Tsundoku patients who show the symptoms seen in almost every addiction, methods used in the fight against addiction are used. For treatment, the individual must first accept that he or she is sick. Depending on the level of the situation, psychotherapy or even drug treatment can be started. But in general, here are the things that can be done to defeat Tsundoku:

• Individuals with Tsundoku disorder may be envied by electronic readers.
• It can be reminded that they do not have to finish the books they do not enjoy with an irrational obsession, and that they can leave and move on to a book they like.
• They can gain the habit of listening to audiobooks. Thus, at least they can get rid of the guilt they feel for the books they can’t read.

Let’s talk about Bibliomania, another disorder associated with book-buying.

What is Bibliomania?

Bibliomania, which is formed by the combination of the Latin words book (biblion) and disease (mania), is a kind of book-buying disorder, but unlike Tsundaku, people with Bibliomania buy books not with the desire to read, but with the urge to have them.

Why Do People Get Bibliomania?

Although the underlying causes of Bibliomania, whose history goes back to the beginning of the 19th century, vary from person to person, the main reason is revealed by psychotherapy and similar methods.

Symptoms of Bibliomania

Those people,

• Can purchase multiple copies of the same book.
• Thinks that their only goal in life is to buy books.
• The quality of the books is important, not the quantity.

Treatment of Bibliomani

In the treatment of bibliomaly, if the problem cannot be solved with general recommendations, support from a specialist is absolutely necessary. Depending on the levels, it is possible to start drug therapy or psychotherapy. It should also be known, dear reader, that these diseases are very difficult to diagnose and accept. Because society shapes the concepts related to the book in a positive way, it is sometimes difficult for people to recognize the discomforts related to the concept.

General Evaluation

The 21st century is a century in which we are bombarded with information and it is very, very difficult to focus on a single issue. In fact, new fields such as information engineering have emerged to manage this information. Therefore, people equipped with 21st century skills need to choose the areas they will focus on in their limited time in the world and know how to deepen them.

Zaman elbette vücudumuzun biçiminden, evimizin duvarına, karakterimizden ilgi alanlarımıza kadar her şeyi değiştirmektedir. Bu nedenle farklı kitaplar almak bunların kimini başvuru kaynağı olarak değerlendirmek kimini de bir gün okurum umuduyla kütüphanede bulundurmakta sorun yoktur. Ancak bilirsiniz ki okuma alışkanlığı bir çeşit takıntıdır. Okur yazarların her gün uyumadan önce en az otuz sayfa okumak gibi takıntıları vardır. Okuma alışkanlığının bırakılmaması gerekir. Satın almak, okumanın önüne çok geçtiyse ve bu artık gündelik yaşamınızı etkiliyorsa bir durup düşünmenin zamanı gelmiş demektir.