scattered brainShoppingitis?
According to the Philippines Star LIFESTYLE, in the Philippines where 3 of the 10 biggest malls in the world are found, shopping is undeniably a national past time. Dubbed “Shoppingitis” this out-of-control shopping malady is a world-wide phenomenon afflicting just about anyone.
The October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry reported that at some point in the lives of an estimated 5.8 percent of the US population, shopping will become a source of shame, a cry for help, the cause of job losses and broken relationships, a road to financial ruin. They are “compulsive buyers” - troubled by intrusive impulses to shop, prone to lose track of time while doing so, plagued by post-purchase remorse, guilt and financial woes, and sometimes given up by love ones. And as the drumbeat of the depressing economic indicators accelerates, they are a group coming out of the closet. Wow!
Is it a disorder?
There is little doubt that compulsive shopping can cause severe impairment and distress - two key criteria for formal recognition as a mental disorder. “You don’t want to medicalize normal behavior,” says Eric Hollander, MD, chairman of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. But a small percentage of consumers, he says, seem to suffer from “a profound deficit” in the ability to resist their impulse to shop, despite negative consequences. For those people, Hollander says, the term disorder “seem to fit.”
Is it a gender thing?
If those seeking help are nay gauge, it presupposes that compulsive shopping is overwhelmingly a female condition. Some 80% of those who came forward, according to the experts, are women. But this doesn’t suggest that men are not just as likely to go on buying binges. Men just don’t come forward for help.
Compulsive buying is not unlike drug addiction where addicts seek a “fix”. Shopping brings a rush of “relief” from pent-up emotions or uncomfortable feelings that usually build up in the hours or days before a shopping expedition. But a wave of disinterest, guilt or remorse quickly followed and the resulting ill feeling builds again and the compulsive shopper feels the need for another shopping fix. The cycle continues.
Is there treatment?
Health authorities, primarily psychotherapists, say a two-pronged attack can break the shopping addiction cycle. Firstly, the advice is to join a group psychotherapy sessions where participants are enjoined to keep journals and shopping lists that track their moods, impulses and household needs. When besiege by shopping urges, patients record their answers to such questions as: Why am I here? How do I feel? Do I need this? What if I wait? How will I pay for it? With such rigorous self- examination experts say breaking the spell won’t be too hard to achieve. They have to understand what the triggers are, what the emotional consequence is, what happens after the bill comes. They also need to think about what their values are and their goals in life.
Secondly, medical and therapy intervention are viewed as essential. Preliminary studies have found that antidepressants that increase the availability of the “neurochemical serotonin” in the brain can ease shopping compulsion. And Naltrexone, a drug that blunts the inebriating effects of alcohol, has shown modest effectiveness in curbing the urge to shop.
Shoppingitis anyone?
Original Article: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=418293&publicationSubCategoryId=80 Author: TYRONE M. REYES, M.D. Updated November 25, 2008 12:00 AM , The Philippine Star, Health and Family
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