Every seen the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and wonder how anyone could get to a point where they ruin their life spend their last just to have something materialistic... Well for those who have never seen the movie a quick synopsis of the movie is that it is about a young female who is obsessed with shopping... But unfortunate for her she really doesn't have the funds to sustain the life style that she lives... Nor does she have the money to buy the things she buys... She ends up losing everything that she owes to overcome her addiction... Sounds familiar.... Well studies have suggested that approximately 17 million Americans can not control their urge to spend... I call it my I can't leave the store with nothing demon...
Now with me anyone who knows me knows that I can shop... And for the most part its all in fun... I get a sense of calm while shopping... Hence why I particularly love shopping alone... And I know for others shopping in the one time where you don't think...
But what if I told you that I was addicted to shopping would you treat it with the same care as someone who is addicted to drugs or alchol... Prolly not.. Why? Well our society tells us that its ok to shop...
Think about it when we were knee deep in the recession most officials were urging people to get out there and shop... Even going as far as giving us money to shop... Which makes compulsive shopping condoned by our materialistic society therefore making it widely misunderstood. When you think about celebrities today and hear that this person just went on a $30,000 shopping spree we don't condemn that person (well not all the time) we are more likely to envy. However, in history we have had many famous shopaholics. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana had an addition to buying clothes. William Randolph Hearst shopping addition was to rare art and antiques.
Experts like Author and psychologist April Benson have seen the grave effects of individuals that shop too much. April, has seen cases where individuals have been fired from their jobs because they like to shop on the Internet all day instead of doing their work. She even saw cases where mothers would neglect their children to take care of their habit.
Donald Black, phychiatry professor at the University of Iowa, argues that "compulsive shopping isn't a true compulsion at all, but instead an impulse control disorder." He defines compulsion as,
"A behavior that is produced to counteract an upsetting thought"
And when you look and think of the definition of compulsive along side that of shopping there is no upsetting thought. Sure some might shop because of depression but in doing the act of shopping there is no upsetting nature included.
Men should think that when someone says that I am a shopaholic the face of the individual will be female. While it is true that the majority of shopaholics are female, males are also prone to have this disorder.
The difference is that while woman shop for more materialistic things such as; shoes, clothes, and jewelry. Men are more prone to collect things such as electronics, games, and Cd's.
Now, I am no where saying that everyone that likes to shop has this problem. However, we have to make sure that we know when it becomes a problem. So you see your friend go into a store and buy 5 skirts of the same kind in different colors when you know she don't really wear skirts like that... ummm that bitch got a problem
As for me I did this blog as a way to find out if I had a problem. I have diagnosed myself as a healthy shopaholic.....
Now off to H&M lol :P
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