Category: Blog

Compulsive hoarding is an anxiety disorder that affects nearly 1.4 million Americans. That number demands more research. There’s a lot to know about hoarding that could help you or a loved one. It is only linked to OCD in some cases. The OCD Collaborative Genetics Study reported that there is a different genetic link between… Continue reading Things to Know About Compulsive Hoarding

Not everyone is a year-round shopaholic. For many people, this addiction only comes along during the holidays as an emotional response to seasonal loneliness or anxiety. Shopping desires are triggered by an increased influx of commercials and advertisements in the mail, on walls, on television and the radio. Additionally, the holiday season can feel like… Continue reading Seasonal Shopaholic?

In a recent issue of Neurology, published by the American Academy of Neurology, research was sited which indicates that Parkinson’s disease itself doesn’t increase the likelihood of impulse problems such as compulsive gambling or shopping addiction, turning the focus of research to the medications people take for the disease. Previously it was known that people… Continue reading Parkinson’s Disease Itself Does Not Increase Risk of Gambling, Shopping Addiction

A question I’m asked regularly is about the relationship between compulsive buying disorder and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and it’s just been researched for the first time by a team headed by Dr. Donald Black of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine. Results suggested that compulsive buyers as compared with… Continue reading Compulsive Buying Disorder and ADHD

In today’s culture, there is a mindset more strongly geared towards spending than saving. While our parents and grandparents regularly saved for a rainy day fund, many Americans now would have trouble coming up with $1,000 in the event of an emergency. No matter how good your current situation is, you never know what might… Continue reading How to Start Saving for a Rainy Day

If your New Year’s Resolution this year is to finally get a hold on your debt, you can make this your year of living a balanced financial life. Find all your bills, everything documenting what you owe, and get it all in one place. List your debts and minimum payments, and set your sights on… Continue reading Become a Debt Destroyer!

This article written by a credit expert, John Ulzheimer, suggests three financially-related safeguards we should all consider before the end of the year. First, we should check our credit report by obtaining the free copies that each of us is allowed to receive annually. These free reports do not accumulate, so he thinks we should… Continue reading Three Credit Moves to Make Before December 31st

  More than ever before, shopping related apps have been appearing like mushrooms after a rain, with promises of making our shopping experiences faster, easier, cheaper, and more satisfying. Beware. You can find yourself spending more time, energy, and money than you ever intended. Alternatively, you can save, time, energy, and money. In order to separate… Continue reading Shopping Apps–Friend or Foe? How do you know?

The Brookhaven Retreat, which treats women with substance abuse issues, recognizes Buy Nothing Day on November 24 as a way of shining a spotlight on the harm shopping addiction causes in women’s lives. In a culture of materialism where consumption and ownership have been equated with happiness, it is important to focus on the way some… Continue reading Brookhaven Retreat Recognizes Importance of Buy Nothing Day

According to a paper by Professor Sunghwan Yi, published in the Journal of Consumer Policy, seven percent of compulsive shoppers are suffering from chronic shame. Professor Yi says his research, based on several self-reporting surveys, examined shame in relationship to extreme compulsive buying. Previous research had found a connection between mood-related over shopping but this… Continue reading Shame a Key Risk Factor for Compulsive Buying, Study Shows