Category: Compulsive Spending
The Good Therapy Blog
May 3rd, 2012 |
Suicide has been researched at length in recent decades. With the current economic downturn, suicide rates have increased. Understanding what factors make someone more vulnerable to suicide is imperative in order to prevent this rate from rising even further. Previous research has shown that the existence of a mental health problem increases the risk for suicide. Posttraumatic stress, depression, and eating and food issues can put someone at increased risk for suicide.
Stressful live events (SLEs) also directly impact the rate of suicide. Individuals who experience significant losses to... Read More
© Copyright 2012 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist St. Louis Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
April 2nd, 2012 |
College students have high rates of internet use. This generation has access to multiple forms of instant communication, through Skype, Twitter, and Facebook and uses the internet for nearly all of their entertainment. Music is downloaded and listened to through internet sites, and videos and television programs are available at any time of the day or night. These factors lead to internet overuse and even addiction for many individuals. College students are among the most vulnerable for this type of behavior. Additionally, college students tend to engage in irresponsible alcohol... Read More
© Copyright 2012 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Beverly Hills Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
March 19th, 2012 |
Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
-Florence & The Machine, “Shake it Off”
On the outer surface, compulsive shopping takes the form of acquiring objects with or without the means do to so. The next layer, what the shopper experiences in the moment just before a purchase, is a quickened heart rate, flushed adrenaline face,... Read More
June 15th, 2011 |
Unresolved conflict about money is the #1 cause of divorce in the US. Learning to communicate effectively about money is the #1 solution. The ability to face, handle and resolve conflict is a skill. Unfortunately it’s not a subject or skill we are taught at school; or at home – for most of us. We get education about reading, writing and arithmetic. We even get sex education; as girls and boys we learn about “private parts,” the reproduction cycle... Read More
December 27th, 2010 |
Who are you? How do you define your identity? Often, we use external associations to frame how we are different from other people. Clothing styles, sports teams, religious denominations, hobbies, music preference: we’re each a unique combination of preferences, values, and inclinations that distinguishes us from everyone else. So should it threaten us that our loved ones identify slightly differently than we do? Apparently, it does. A study of how people shop finds that purchasing a gift that threatens our identity... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Plano Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
December 7th, 2010 |
Walking through a large local discount store recently I was struck by the urge to buy things that I didn’t originally come to the store for. The item I had been shopping for was not on the shelf, and the similar items didn’t appeal to me. Still, somehow I was drawn toward displays of odds and ends. I noticed a thought creep into the back of my mind “Hey, maybe you could use one of these, it’s not that expensive.” It was difficult to walk away. I wondered though what the attraction was. Is it just the sheer volume of merchandise that makes it impossible not to see something else that you... Read More
November 29th, 2010 |
Did you wake up Saturday morning flashing back to Friday and how many times you took your credit card out of your wallet to purchase something? Are you having difficulty remembering all that you bought and even more disconcerted at trying to recall the reasons you gave yourself to buy certain items? Did you wake Saturday morning curious about the hoards of items lying on your closet floor? Or are you oblivious to what you may have endured Friday, the most anticipated, built up in your mind, shopping day of the year?
Each of these scenarios is common for most of us and also indicative of... Read More
November 25th, 2010 |
The holiday shopping season begins in earnest this Friday, and retailers will be going all out to win the hard-earned dollars of gift-giving folks. The L.A. Times explores some of the manipulative tools retailers can use in a recent article titled “Buyer beware – of how you’re being coaxed into spending.” Giving to others is something that most of us enjoy, but once the holidays die down, return to these principles and see how well they apply to your thought process the rest of the... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Sarasota Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
November 16th, 2010 |
Where should we spend the holidays this year? Should I give a gift to my neighbors? How can we invite so-and-so to dinner without inviting that annoying ______ of hers?
The holiday season can be a minefield of decisions that make us question ourselves and our goodness, competence and worthiness. Obligations to others vs. desires of our own: It’s an everyday tension that gets ratcheted up about a hundred notches during the holidays.
We feel responsible for “getting it right” by making others happy. And if we don’t put everyone else ahead of ourselves, we’re not doing it right. Read More
October 20th, 2010 |
As much as indulging in “retail therapy” can trigger a short-term giddy feeling, new research shows that some products actually work in the opposite manner: we buy them because they make us feel bad. A new study finds that beauty product marketing, in particular, makes female shoppers feel bad about their appearance by suggesting to women that without the product, they are not as attractive as they should be. The unrealistic appearance of air-brushed models has already been shown to have a negative affect on... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fort Collins Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
July 2nd, 2010 |
The idea of compulsive shopping being a “real” disorder has become more palatable recently since people are looking at their economic situations and trying to understand the dynamics behind credit card debt and over spending while at the same time people are “coming out” like Avis Cardella, author of the book Spent, where she depicts her life long addiction to shopping and spending. As compulsive spending is taken more seriously understanding it’s healing purposes will be an important part in aiding those who struggle with what has been coined satirically, “retail therapy.”
The... Read More
