I returned today from a 13-day trip, with my husband and three other couples, to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It’s an old colonial town northwest of Mexico City that’s attracted thousands of American, Canadian, and European expats for quite some time now. The climate is superb. Wonderful sounds, both instrumental and natural, fill the… Continue reading Did Dr. B Have a Relapse?
Category: Compulsive Buying
If Your Loved One is a Compulsive Buyer
Whether, When, and How to Intervene Is your loved one a compulsive buyer? 1. How strongly would your loved one agree with these statements? My closet has a number of unopened shopping bags in it. Others might consider me a shopaholic. Much of my life revolves around buying things. I consider myself an impulse… Continue reading If Your Loved One is a Compulsive Buyer
Are You a Shopaholic?
This interview with Dr. Benson appeared on FabOverFifty.com in September, 2011. A psychologist reveals why you may be a compulsive shopper–and not even realize it. What do Mary Todd Lincoln, William Randolph Hearst and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis have in common? Aside from friends in high places and triplicate names, each had an issue with what… Continue reading Are You a Shopaholic?
Compulsive Buying: A Passage to India?
Recently, I discovered an article called “Attention Shopaholics” that was published in The Hindu, an Indian newspaper. To get a better idea about compulsive shopping in an Indian context, I contacted Dr. Sanjay Chugh, who was quoted extensively in the article. He is the Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New… Continue reading Compulsive Buying: A Passage to India?
Response to Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
As a reforming bookaholic and bargain shopper, I recently borrowed—borrowed, please note—a fascinating audiobook from the library, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, by Ellen Ruppell Shell. It’s all about consumerism and it focuses particularly on discount stores—which happen to be the site of many of my purchases that I later regret. The book… Continue reading Response to Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
Have a Good-Not a Goods-Holiday: The good life comes from doing, not having
With the holiday season upon us (and retailers lathered up for it), I want to remind us all (as I remind myself): a good holiday doesn’t have to be a goods holiday. And this year, in spite of the massive sales machine that grinds 24/7 from now until Christmas, it’s a little easier to live… Continue reading Have a Good-Not a Goods-Holiday: The good life comes from doing, not having
4 Session Interactive Telecourse for Therapists
To Buy or Not to Buy: Theory and Treatment of Compulsive Buying Disorder An interactive 4-session telecourse for mental health professionals taught by April Lane Benson, Ph.D. Editor – I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self (Aronson, 2000) Author – To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and… Continue reading 4 Session Interactive Telecourse for Therapists
The Curious Case of Parkinson’s Medication and Compulsive Behavior
A study in the recent Archives of Neurology documents the connection between certain Parkinson’s disease medications and a significant increase in the likelihood of an impulse-control disorder: buying, gambling, eating, or sex. The drugs at issue are dopamine-agonists, a class of pharmaceuticals that ease the difficult and frustrating motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s. But patients… Continue reading The Curious Case of Parkinson’s Medication and Compulsive Behavior
Compulsive Returners
A sometimes unrecognized (or unacknowledged) form of overshopping is compulsive returning. Here, the overshopper regularly attempts to undo her habit by taking impulsive purchases back to the store for a refund. This, however, is an extension of the problem rather than a solution to it. The compulsive returner fails to understand that in shopping, as… Continue reading Compulsive Returners
Weighing-In (Part 2)
We may think our wants equal our needs. In other words, that we just have to have a certain pair of shoes or gadget to be happy, successful, etc. While this can seem simple when we’re talking about basic needs like shelter and food, it can get murky when we’re looking at other items. Here’s an… Continue reading Weighing-In (Part 2)