Avid consumers, or just crazy?
A recent study may actually lead to a medical diagnosis for over-compulsive shoppers.October 28, 2006 AuthorMeghan DaumThe New Yorker, Harper's, and Vogue. Her essays are taught in many college classrooms. Meghan has taught nonfiction writing at New York University.www.meghandaum.com. Topic/SectionsIntroductionA recent study about compulsive buying, led by Dr. Lorrin Koran, emeritus professor of psychiatryMeghan’s point of viewThe root of the problemConclusionIntroductionHow often have you felt others would be horrified if they knew of your spending habits? How often have you bought things even though you couldn't afford them? If you have any money left at the end of a pay period, do you have to spend it? The StudyCompulsive shopping is an impulse-control disorder rather than a failure of will. "People talk about the excitement they get from being in the mall. It's a way of escaping negative emotions." “Once these shoppers buy something, they're not interested in it anymore. Generally only about 10% bother to return what they bought.“They were almost as likely to be male as female. (Binge shopping — an equal opportunity vice!) Main IdeaDo we need to pathologize something whose cure might be as simple as avoiding the mall or watching "South Park" instead of the Home Shopping Network? (Although Kenny's orange parka is pretty awesome; why not buy one just like it?)
Supporting IdeaIn the last six months, I have been meaning to return two pairs of shoes, a really ugly handbag that looked much better in its online photo. Also, I don't always pay my full credit card balance, I've bought things I cannot afford and, at times, I would have been horrified if others knew about my purchasing habits. But, let's be clear, that's not because I escape negative emotions by going shopping. Supporting IdeaIf anything, stepping just one foot into a mall puts me well within the range of Diagnosis Code 300.21: panic attack with agoraphobia … So I buy stuff online. Even stuff like socks. That sometimes means spending more money on shipping than on the item itself, but, for me, it's well worth not having to walk past a Sunglass Hut. ConclusionMore of us may have excessive shopping problems than was previously thought, but it's also easier to shop than ever before. I spend upward of six hours a day in perilous proximity to the biggest mall in the world, the one inside my computer. ... And although Koran says most truly compulsive buyers tend not to shop online, what's to say a clinical diagnosis, courtesy of shopping.com, might not lie in all of our futures?

By Ethan & Garfie