The mirage of consumption

Contemporary clinical practice presents us with an increasingly frequent and disturbing phenomenon: the subject who has replaced their creative capacity with a compulsive consumerist drive. Instead of generating, building, or imagining, the response to every inner concern translates into an act of purchase. Creativity, that vital force that defines us as human beings, is gradually supplanted by the illusion that fulfillment can be acquired in a commercial transaction.

We find ourselves facing an unprecedented historical paradox: never before had human beings accumulated so many material possessions while simultaneously experiencing such profound existential emptiness. Houses overflow with objects, closets are full, online shopping notifications never cease, but each new acquisition seems to deepen the abyss of dissatisfaction. The excess of possessions contrasts dramatically with the scarcity of purpose and meaning.

This material accumulation, far from filling the void, makes it more evident. People find themselves surrounded by objects that promised happiness but end up becoming silent witnesses to their vital disorientation. The absence of a meaningful personal project cannot be compensated by the next purchase, no matter how exclusive or expensive it may be. The challenge of current clinical practice lies in helping to rediscover the creative capacity buried under mountains of possessions, and recovering the sense of purpose that no object can provide.