This is the last of six posts (scroll down to see all of my previous posts) on how overshoppers can respond to the pressure of the economic downturn with a life-altering reality check. The underlying thesis is that compulsive shopping is a smokescreen, a hopeless attempt to distract the self from (or magically fill) unacknowledged… Continue reading Discover and Value Your Unique Spirit: A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing To Waste (Part VI)
Category: Compulsive Buying
Using Your Senses to Save: A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste (Part III)
We’ve been exploring the centrality of self-kindness to the process of stopping overshopping. It’s the all-important lubricant that keeps the engine of change running smoothly. To say it more directly, it’s the stance that allows you to look clearly and non-judgmentally at your overshopping behavior and then choose healthier and more fulfilling alternatives. Thus far,… Continue reading Using Your Senses to Save: A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste (Part III)
Activities to Reduce Your Need to Shop: A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste (Part II)
In my last posting, I introduced the idea that the current downturn might just be a tipping point for overshoppers, that its economic pressure might shake them out of denial and drive them to begin stopping overshopping. That they do so is essential, because compulsive buying is a square peg for a round hole, an… Continue reading Activities to Reduce Your Need to Shop: A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste (Part II)
Current Research
Astrid Müller, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher from Erlangen University in southern Germany, has been studying compulsive buying for the past six years. She’s recently published a study with several colleagues that replicated the finding of James Mitchell’s 2006 pilot study of a 12-session cognitive-behavioral group treatment with overshoppers. Overshoppers who participated in this group reduced… Continue reading Current Research
Consumer Behavior: Messages into the Void?
Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior (Viking, 2009) . An old philosopher’s question asks: “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, does it make a sound?” An updated version, tongue-in-cheek, is this: “If a man speaks in the forest and there’s no woman to hear him, is he still… Continue reading Consumer Behavior: Messages into the Void?
Motivational Interview
As we have seen with Mindful Shopping, the road to stopping overshopping often requires introspection and personal reflection. And addiction treatment has confirmed that the most successful way to kick bad habits is to take careful, small steps. A great way to combine these two means of stopping your overshopping is to set a weekly… Continue reading Motivational Interview
Overshopping Overseas
According to Trinny and Susannah, the two stars of ITV1’s reality fashion show, now in its second season, Brits spend 30 billion pounds every year on clothing, much of which is never worn. In an effort to help British women who are compulsive buyers learn to spend their money more wisely and stop buying things… Continue reading Overshopping Overseas
16 Strategies to Curve A Compulsive Shopping Addiction
I’ve given you the three main strategies for stopping compulsive buying and curbing a shopping addiction. Now, I want to share with you some more tips to stop overshopping, things to think about, and questions to ask yourself if you think you’re at rick of developing a compulsive shopping addiction. First, keep in mind the… Continue reading 16 Strategies to Curve A Compulsive Shopping Addiction
3 Proven Strategies for Stopping Overshopping, Part 1
Are the current economic conditions feeling scary to you? Are you having to rein in your buying and having difficulty doing it? The current economic crisis can serve as an extra motivator, a support to help you stop overshopping. Almost all of us need to think more seriously about our own buying behavior now. It’s… Continue reading 3 Proven Strategies for Stopping Overshopping, Part 1
Recommended Reading: In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic, by Alexis Hall
Recently, a number of overconsumers have decided to make radical changes in the course of a year and then write about their experiences. Mary Carlomagno did it in Give it Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less, which we reviewed in Vol. 1, Number 2, March, 2006. She chronicled giving up one… Continue reading Recommended Reading: In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic, by Alexis Hall