Category: Uncategorized

Although not all compulsive buyers are particularly interested in such distinctions, there’s some uncertainty among the mental health profession about whether to see overshopping as a genuine disorder or merely a bad habit, and more uncertainty about whether, if it is a disorder, it aligns more closely with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum or with the impulsive-control… Continue reading Compulsive Buying: An Impulse-Control Disorder

For years, I did not speak about my shopping addiction; In fact, I went to great pains to hide it. At the time, I was afraid it wouldn’t be taken seriously, or even laughed at. Therefore, it may seem strange that I managed to pluck up the courage to write a memoir about my fifteen-year… Continue reading SPENT: MEMOIRS OF A SHOPPING ADDICT Why I Wrote Spent by Avis Cardella

I’m scratching my head about—and steeling myself for the potential fallout from—a new internet phenomenon, the “Haul Video,” examples of which are popping up on YouTube like mushrooms after a rain. For the past several months, teenage girls and young adult women have been creating video narratives of their latest shopping caches. The vlogger (video… Continue reading U-Haul? She-Haul, Me-Haul: The Newest Shopping Temptation

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)

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)