Category: Uncategorized

Dr. David Tolin is founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and serves in a number of other capacities at the Institute of Living. He hosts a new television show called “My Shopping Addiction,” which airs on the Oxygen Network Mondays at 11pm. He has appeared on Oprah and Oz, and has some words… Continue reading Shopping Addiction? There Is Help

Most households are familiar with clutter. Papers on the table, toys left out on the floor, those little signs of a busy life that sometimes inhabit the home. But when it comes to hoarding there is a clear distinction between just a messy house and compulsive hoarding. Recent television shows have been highlighting cases of… Continue reading Harmless Pack Rat or Compulsive Hoarder?

Joshua Becker shares his eight reasons why keeping a journal will help us reach our goals:  1.) Keeping a journal requires us to write out our goals; a great way to declare our intentions and clarify them. 2.) A journal is a record of our progress toward those goals. 3.) Writing requires us to think… Continue reading Eight Reasons Keeping a Journal Can Help You Reach Your Goals

Beginning next Monday night, October 15th, the new reality show My Shopping Addiction will air on Oxygen — and I can’t wait to see it!  Shopping addiction, so prevalent and so under recognized, has been a really hard sell to both the general public and the professional community. My Shopping Addiction has the potential to be enormously helpful… Continue reading My Shopping Addiction, a new reality show on Oxygen begins October 15th!

Jill Chivers reflects on the criteria we use to decide what stays and what goes from our wardrobes. A standard rule of thumb is, if you haven’t worn an item in 2 years it goes, but that doesn’t work for everyone. She set a goal of finding 10 ways to assess one’s wardrobe, and was… Continue reading 33 Ways to Cull Your Closet

2009 Media Coverage of Compulsive Buying Divine Caroline (December 20, 2009) Consumer Reports: Four Different Shopping Personalities Middletown Journal (December 19, 2009) Shoppers sticking to budgets nj.com (December 16, 2009) Compulsive shopping is a real problem LF Press (December 12, 2009) How to teach kids not to be greedy Marie Claire (December 1, 2009) Buy,… Continue reading Related Blogs / Articles / 2009

2010 Media Coverage of Compulsive Buying couriermail.com.au (December 25, 2010) Reining in retail addiction freep.com (December 24, 2010) Ask questions about store return policy internet-addiction-guide.com (December 16, 2010) Is there such a thing as compulsive shopping? TorontoSun.com (December 14, 2010) Spending gone wild CreditCards.com (December 9, 2010) Careless-spending celebrities lose sympathy with American public NaplesNews.com… Continue reading Related Blogs / Articles / 2010

Author Louann Brizendine, Ph.D., says women are extra vulnerable to spending at two times during the month: around ovulation and at the end of their cycles. The hormones involved in ovulation can make women feel “more flirtatious,” which may lead to buying beauty products or clothing. Just before a woman’s period begins, she may feel… Continue reading How Hormones Can Sabotage Your Spending

A recent study in the U.K. shows that compulsive shopping tends to run in families, and that 80% of compulsive shoppers are women. Other disorders, such as personality and obsessive compulsiveness, are often experienced by over-shoppers as well. Blogger Elle Martinez defines compulsive spending and offers resources to deal with the disorder. She suggests destroying… Continue reading Why Are 80% of Compulsive Shoppers Female?

A medication that treats impulsivity in Alzheimer’s patients may also work for compulsive shoppers, according to a new study in the May issue of Annals of Clinical Psychiatry. Although memantine is still in the clinical testing phase, it has been shown to be effective in a variety of disorders that cause people to have difficulty… Continue reading Alzheimer’s Drug Curbs Compulsive Buying in Shopaholics