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By Molly Harper, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
Jan. 8--Rooms stacked high with boxes from home shopping channels. Closets full of clothes with the tags still attached. Stashes of sports memorabilia hidden in the garage. The cost of compulsive spending is far more than overdue bills and maxed out credit cards.
"This isn't just going out and buying one too many pairs of shoes," said Coleen Moore, director of research development for the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery in Springfield. Her staff has treated people addicted to buying shoes, computer parts, and home shopping network offerings.
"A lot of people can say, 'Well, that's happened to me, I've spent too much money on a shopping trip and felt guilty about it later,"' she said. "But unless it's happened frequently and it's causing a problem for you, it's not really compulsive behavior. If it's interfering with the way you live your life, it's problem behavior."
According to Money magazine, compulsive shopping affects up to 8 percent of the U.S. population, and 90 percent of "shopaholics" are women. Some compulsively collect one product or brand. Others snap up whatever is on sale.
Last week, Paducah financial counselor Erica Shack met her first client with an admitted compulsive shopping problem.
"I've seen people who have a problem, but this was the first time I'd had someone admit it and seek help," said Stack, a specialist with Clearpoint Financial Solutions, formerly known as Consumer Credit Counseling.
Because of confidentiality policies, Shack cannot identify her clients. She could say that the family lives in an upscale local neighborhood and feels the need to "keep up with the Joneses." The couple turned to credit for large purchases because they felt they needed nice things and regular vacations to keep up appearances.
"They felt they had to have these things," Shack said. "They were afraid that if someone else had something and they didn't, that other people would think badly about them. It sounds strange to say it, but a lot of people feel that way."
Shack said her agency's call volume increases dramatically nationwide each holiday season. Her office assists about 500 clients from the area, identifying problem habits and teaching the clients better financial planning. Stack said she sees clients with $100 to $100,000 in unsecured debt, such as credit card or medical bills.
"I have everyone from average Joes to prominent people in the community come in for help," she said. "Debt knows no color, sex or age group. It's a friend to everybody and it's a friend for life."
Problem behavior vs. splurging
Dr. James Igleburger, medical director of Four Rivers Clinical Research in Paducah, said the brain's response to impulsive spending is similar to the chemical reactions that occur during risky behavior.
"When you spend money, you feel good," he said. "It releases endorphins, similar to what happens when someone jumps out of an airplane or gambles."
Moore said people suffering from compulsive spending may exhibit four or more of the following behaviors:
Spending money as a result of feeling disappointed, angry or stressed.
Feeling stressed or having arguments as a result of spending behavior.
Feeling lost without credit cards.
Feeling guilty or ashamed after spending.
Lying about purchases or amounts spent.
Spending a lot of time juggling money to meet monthly bills.
Feeling embarrassed or inhibited during what should be normal discussions of money.
Feeling little concern about bills that don't have to be paid this month.
Feeling that someone else will take care of your bills if necessary, so you'll never really get into serious financial trouble.
Moore said the behavior can cause personal, financial and employment problems. People with compulsive spending addiction can also turn to criminal activities to obtain the money needed to feed their habit.
"It's very much like an alcohol or drug problem," she said. "You can't just tell an alcoholic to stop drinking. They might even see that their spending is out of control, but that's not going to make them just stop."
Information provided by IIAR cites cultural factors that lead to compulsive spending habits, including what the agency terms a pervasive American attitude of accumulating possessions now and worrying about payment later. Additionally, the institute states that the introduction of online shopping provides addicts with 24-hour availability with little personal interaction.
Moore said compulsive spending affects no particular age or social group and the addictive behavior depends on the patient. One female patient was addicted to ordering items off of QVC, which became her link to the outside world
"Every day, the UPS truck would pull up to her house and she knew that the driver was coming with a package for her," Moore said. "That was her way of socializing. She had tons of boxes just sitting around the house, that she hadn't opened. ... She knew she was coming to the treatment center, so she called QVC and had some items sent here."
Moore said the woman wasn't allowed to open the shipment and sent the items back to the network as part of her treatment.
Compulsive spending is an impulse control problem, which can be a symptom of other disorders, including depression, bi-polar disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder. For example, Igleburger said, manic behavior associated with bi-polar disorder is marked with an increase in pleasurable activities and a decrease in judgment.
"They start making decisions that just aren't smart," he said, noting that the spending behavior would be accompanied by symptoms such as increased energy, decreased need for sleep, rapid speech or racing thoughts. "They buy things for people they barely know. They buy things they don't need. They buy things they can't afford."
There aren't many local mental health services available for someone with compulsive spending tendencies, Igleburger said. The closest meeting of Debtors Anonymous, a 12-step recovery program for people with spending issues, is in Louisville.
Igleburger said some medications will help offset the brain chemistry that can lead to the depression/spending cycle. The agency is conducting tests involving depression and may start a study focusing on bi-polar disorder in the next few months, he said. For more information, call 441-4606.
Intervention
Some problem spenders respond to gentle suggestions that they may need to re-evaluate their spending habits, Moore said. Others may need an intervention staged by a specialist to recognize their problem and seek treatment. Either way, Moore said, concerned friends or family should approach a person suffering from any addiction carefully.
"Talk about the behavior and how it affects you," she said. "'I statements' are important. 'I'm concerned for you,' and 'I'm worried about you.'"
Shack said she's accustomed to having clients ignore her in public or run past her window to scan the office to make sure no one else is there.
"Recognizing that you need help is the first step, but a lot of people can't see that," she said. "If you can't make your house payment or rent, if you can't give your children lunch money, if you can't meet those basic needs, you're in trouble. You have to draw the line."
Shack's devotion to client confidentiality is "tighter than doctor-patient privilege," she said. "I've had people who are really nice in the office, but they tell me that if they see me out in public they're going to act like they don't know me. I understand that.
"I don't consider myself superior to anybody who comes in here," she said. "I don't think about debt that way. But to a lot of people, being in this situation is embarrassing and I have to respect that. I don't want people to avoid seeking help because they're embarrassed to be seen in the office."
Even those who recognize the dangers of their spending have a hard time letting go of the security of credit cards, Shack said.
"It's a psychological attachment," she said. "Cash just feels differently to them. They have to have that plastic or they don't feel complete. They feel inadequate."
For those trying to rebuild their credit after problem spending, Shack offered the following suggestions.
Cut up credit cards so the temptation to use them is not there. Keep one credit card and use it only for emergencies.
Close as many credit accounts as possible, with the understanding that some companies will not close accounts with large balances.
Use cash as often as possible.
Ask a trusted friend or relative to help you monitor your spending.
"You may need someone to tell you, 'You need to pay off that utility bill more than you need a new outfit,'" she said.
Shack said people need to consider their influences.
"Think about the people you spend time with," she said. "How do they spend their money? Do they make good financial decisions? Is there a lot of pressure to spend and keep up? You may have to change a lot areas of your life."
Checking Yourself
Could you have a spending problem? If you respond with "sometimes" or "often" to four or more of the following questions, you have overspending tendencies. If you answer "sometimes" or "often" to Question 7, you are most probably a compulsive spender.
This quiz is not meant to be a substitute for professional evaluation.
1. Do you buy things you want, whether or not you can afford them at the moment?
2. Do you have trouble saving money? If you have a little extra available to put in the bank (or to invest), do you tend to think of something you'd rather spend it on?
3. Do you buy things to cheer yourself up or to reward yourself?
4. Does more than a third of your income go to pay bills, not including rent or mortgage payments?
5. Do you juggle bill-paying because you always seem to be living on the edge financially? For example, do you tend to pay only the minimum balance on your credit cards?
6. Do you tend to keep buying more of your favorite things -- clothes, CDs, books, computer software, electronic gadgets -- even if you don't have a specific need for them?
7. If you have to say "No" to yourself, or put off buying something you really want, do you feel intensely deprived, angry, or upset?
Source: "Overcoming Overspending: A Winning Plan for Spenders and Their Partners," by Olivia Mellan with Sherry Christie, revised and updated 2004.
Tips to avoid compulsive spending
Realize that anything you obsess about is not healthy behavior.
Set a realistic budget, listing what obligations your paycheck must meet. Arrange your budget so bills can be paid at least a week early. Leave some money for fun activities. Set savings goals.
Shop with a list and buy only what is on that list.
Make it more difficult to repeat compulsive shopping behavior. Avoid your favorite stores. Shop with a trusted friend. Throw away mail-order catalogs.
Shop in smaller, quieter stores where there are fewer choices, activities, people and stimulating noises/lights. Make shopping a chore, no more exciting than mailing a letter.
Open your mail each day. Balance your checkbook and pay bills weekly. Deduct checks from your account total as soon as you write them.
Delay any purchase that doesn't feel right. Ask yourself, "What's the worst that could happen if I don't buy ... ?"
Spenders Anonymous
For more information on compulsive spending:
For information on credit counseling:
www.clearpointfinancialsolutions.org or call 877-877-1995.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
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