Thanks to television shows like “Sex in the City” and “Friends” that have characters who glamorize the shopping industry. All of the women on “Sex in the City” always wear the most extravagant clothes and have a shoe closet that is largest than my apartment. On the show “Friends” when Rachel first moved to New York she went shopping because she was depressed. She even maxed out her credit cards because she saw something in the store that she had to have. Shopaholics feel that they must purchase every new design and clothing line that comes out without any worries in the world. After watching these shows several of my friends want to look and act like these characters. They will spend thousands of dollars at Victoria Secret so that they can have the newest bra and panty set. Today she is a gold member for Victoria Secret which means that she has spent over ten thousand dollars a year. Personally I think that, that is ridiculous. Manufactures look the other way because their products are being sold. However in this society we do not view shopping as something that an individual could be addicted to. It is not classified as a “normal” addiction because there are no treatment centers and there are no visible signs. When an individual has a problem with alcohol they show visual signs: blackouts and constant drinking. The other problem with shopaholics is what kind of treatment society could be able to offer them. There are shopping centers everywhere you look what do they expect these people to do never buy clothes ever again.

To glamorous the idea of a shopping addiction there is movie called “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is a movie that is based on a book, by Sophie Kinsella. The main character Rebecca Bloomwood is a twenty-five year old woman who has a shopping addiction. The movie follows her life living with a shopping addiction. Thanks to her shopping addiction is now in thousands of dollars in debt. When her bills start to pill up she decides to work harder to urn more money. Unfortunately, no matter what she did she was still in debt because of her addiction. I wish I could tell you more about the movie but it is not scheduled to play until 2009. So you will have to tell me how it is when it comes out.

Here is some shocking information shopping addiction is a mental disorder. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM) when an individual has a shopping addiction it is called Oniomania. Oniomania is the compulsive desire to shop to eliminate any emotions of their sorrows. Psychologist believe that an individual develops Oniomania because the reason that the compulsive behavior occurs because there is a change in the brain’s chemistry. Individuals who have this disorder will suffer and often experience rapid highs and lows when they are going to make a purchase. Once the purchase has been made the shopaholic has a feeling of a personal reward has already gone to continue that sense of reward they will go shopping multiple more times. According to the DSM Oniomania normally develops at an early age by individuals who have low self esteem with parental neglect. As adults these individuals have learned to depend on materials for emotional support. Just like in the movie the main character individuals who have Oniomania accumulate an extreme amount of debt. Individuals can also experience theft, defalcation of money, defaulting on loans, and have financial trouble for the rest of their lives.
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