Shopping, an Addiction or Simply Lack of Awareness of a Lurking Problem? – Isla Fisher
“I don’t have any clothes, absolutely nothing to wear.” That is the most common phrase that every woman uses on a daily basis or at least on the weekends when its time to party. Why is it that in a closet full of clothes, we never have an outfit to match the occasion? Is it because we find any excuse to continue to buy new things? Excuses to shop beyond our means? There is and I repeat is, a huge possibility that you may just be a Shopaholic. Just like the movie Ilsa Fisher played. That’s the word that can easily describe a woman’s need to buy and buy and continue to buy more things. Can being a shopaholic be considered a hobby or a real disorder? Can it be possible that just like drinking habits are born, so is the need to shop excessively?
Most women shop just because they have to, is programmed in their minds. Can it be because they need to spend money to feel good or maybe to simply buy things? The worst part is yet to come. Sometimes these things we buy are never actually worn. Yes, you heard that clearly. Things make it off of the shelves and into our closets just to look pretty. Sometimes we leave them hanging for so long that they become out of style or we just grow out of them even before they were ever worn.
Now, after we’ve notice that they are still new and haven’t been worn, (meaning the tags are still on the garment) the chances of us handing them down decrease drastically. A shirt that we once thought we would never wear now becomes the “mission shirt”, all because it still has a tag on it. We begin to think of different ways that we can make it work; we uncover many ways to be able to wear it first before anyone else gets to it. At the end of the day, we did spend our hard earned money on it. The problem begins to escalate when we CANT find anything to pair it with in order to justify not passing it along to someone less fortunate. That’s when hoarding begins. We begin to look for any little reason of why we should keep this hanging in our closet. Maybe we want to make it our goal to fit back into it. Maybe we want to leave it in our closets because eventually, one day we will find the ideal skirt, shoes and bag that will go perfectly with this already out-of-style shirt and choose to wear it.
The real question isn’t “Whether we will wear it?” It’s “Why did we buy it?” When we were shopping at that store, what reason did we give ourselves when we handed the cashier our credit card? I know that sometimes after I purchase something I get this itty-bitty feeling in my stomach that maybe I shouldn’t have bought it. That I should just turn back around and return it because I still have my phone bill to pay, and my car payment is due, not to mention the money I still owe my mom from last season’s gorgeous sandals that I bought for my Mexico vacation. But I don’t. I don’t turn around and I don’t return it. I proceed to walk out of the store and get into my car. Once I arrive at home my purchase takes its new place in my closet. Funny thing is, I separate it from all my other clothes so it doesn’t get the smell of old and used. So that every time I walk into my closet, I see the brand new addition to my wardrobe.
Is this compulsive shopping derived from anxiety? I can probably agree that we shop when we feel happy, or when we feel sad. Just the same as some people relieve their stressors and frustrations at the gym, we do the same when we shop. Do we shop because we have a certain void that needs to be filled? Could it be possible because of a recent break up? You probably choose to fill it with a brand new pair of high-heeled shoes. If you’re not into heels, maybe a new dress is what you need. Is there any possible way that compulsive shopping can be considered an actual disorder?
It would be much simpler if women could be diagnosed with a Shopaholic Syndrome. If this were a real disorder maybe there would actually be therapeutic treatments to help cope with the inner issues that cause us to abuse our wallets. We aren’t born with addictions; we acquire them after dealing with the hard punches of life. After being knocked down a few times and continuing to rise. The world we live in is a cruel one and what better way to deal than by rocking the latest trends? Some people feel that if you can’t feel good about your surroundings at least look good while walking through hell. It can be argued that going shopping is harmful, because you could end up not paying your bills or even reaching the point where you lose your home because of your spending habits. Just like alcohol can damage your liver or lead you to a DUI or how cigarettes can lead to lung cancer or emphysema. Hopefully, enough public awareness of this issue will cause it to be taken seriously, and people suffering from it can look for real help and find it.








