Borrowing out of control

Reasons for excessive shopping vary from wanting to keep up with friends or fashion to simply cheering oneself up. But dysfunctional shopping behaviour can easily get out of control. “Compulsive consumers are unable to control their behaviour through rational considerations, such as not having enough money,” says Tamara. And with the easy availability of credit and store cards, it isn’t long before addicted shoppers run into serious debt. Indeed, consumer debt is a fast-growing problem in the UK: the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux service last year revealed that cases of problem debt amounted to a staggering 1.2 billion a year, an increase of 39 per cent in only four years. Debt-counselling agencies have voiced increasing concern over advertising and marketing strategies that encourage people to spend and borrow more than they can afford.

Vicious circle

As debts spiral out of control, self-esteem plummets and addicted shoppers usually continue spending to try and feel better – for some, it can seem impossible to see a way out.

Dr Adrienne Baker, psychotherapy lecturer at Regent’s College in London and author of the book “Serious Shopping: Psychotherapy and Consumerism”, first began researching shopping addiction after an acquaintance committed suicide and was later found to have been an obsessive shopper.

“Her family found rails in her flat of beautiful, unworn clothes. It was as if the self she was trying to pamper was the self that she eventually destroyed.”

So when does a bit of a blow-out begin to signify addiction? “Lots of people indulge in shopaholic behaviour occasionally but at the end of the day they can take it or leave it. Shopaholics can’t do that,” says Jim Goudie.

Dr Baker agrees. “When shopping becomes a total preoccupation with needing to buy things, it’s a sign that something else is probably wrong,” she says. “Shopaholism is an insatiable need, not actually for the things themselves, but for what they represent.” The illusion of happiness with women accounting for an overwhelming 90 per cent of compulsive shoppers, theories on the causes of dysfunctional shopping behaviour vary. “Research has indicated strong links between compulsive shopping and an inadequate maternal relationship,” says Dr Baker. “Often a mother may have been depressed herself or emotionally absent in some way, or passes on low self-esteem to her daughter. Shopping creates a sort of illusion of happiness – at the heart of the illusion is a very fragile sense of self.” Jim Goudie believes that phenomena like compulsive shopping are often the result of domestic problems. “Compulsive shoppers tend to have a history of psychological problems, and a background of family discord is undoubtedly a factor in that,” says Jim. “When there is disharmony at home, young women tend to internalise it in behaviour such as obsessive buying.”

A cure for shopping?

Doctors in the US have diagnosed shopaholism as a medical condition, and are taking the step of prescribing antidepressants to obsessive shoppers. Studies at Stanford Medical School in California found marked improvements in compulsive-shopping behaviour as a result of using the drug. But not everyone is convinced that this is the answer. “There has still been no long-term follow-up on the effectiveness of antidepressants and, in fact, strong evidence to show that placebos work equally well,” says Dr Baker. “Treating the symptoms is fine, but what we really need to do is investigate the cause.”

Task 3.

Complete the following dialogues using the sentences given below.