For real shopaholics, shopping is a drug

In “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” a 20-something glam girl has a serious problem: She can’t stop shopping and her credit card debt is mounting.

The new movie is lighthearted, but for real compulsive shoppers it’s nothing to laugh about. While much of America is spending less because of the recession, for shopaholics, the deals have become too good to resist.

“I’m having a hard time controlling myself,” says Rebecca Gart, 39, of Denver, a stay-at-home mother of three who goes shopping a couple of times a week.

“I know that business is bad for everyone and that I should be calming down,” she says. “It’s just hard when you have all these amazing bargains everywhere.”

Even for those who have less money in their pockets, sales can prove tempting. As economic stress levels mount, they seek retail therapy and spend more.

An estimated 5.8 percent of Americans are compulsive shoppers, according to a Stanford University study. (Compulsive shopping is not listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but is being considered for the next edition.)

While shoppers in general triumph from finding deals, evidence suggests that the feeling is magnified among compulsive shoppers, says Dr. Donald Black, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

And because many spend more when they are under stress – including financial stress – they are having a tough time resisting all the sales, says Terrence Shulman, founder of The Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft and Spending in Franklin, Mich.

Even those who aren’t shopaholics are being lured into overspending because of great deals, says Shulman, author of “Bought Out and Spent! Recovery from Compulsive $hopping and $pending.”

Lauren Leach, 42, a compulsive shopper in Columbia, S.C., racked up $20,000 in credit card debt buying clothes, shoes and makeup for herself and presents for her parents.

She says her high came from spotting an item, trying it on, buying it and getting compliments later.

“It’s my fix,” Leach says. “I’m not a drinker. I don’t care anything about alcohol. I love to shop. I love getting new things. When that newness wears off, you want something else.”

Albert Ko, 24, of Boston, who runs CheapCheapCheap.com, says he has found himself buying televisions, laptops, clothes and MP3 players. He’s been charging them on his credit card and then using savings to pay the cards off.

“When you see something that is such a crazy bargain, it’s hard not to want it,” he says. “It’s the satisfaction of getting it cheap. It’s a bragging right, too.”

Ko worries he will regret not taking advantage of the deals. When he sees the price drop on items, he thinks, “I should definitely get this before someone else snatches it up.”

But when he thinks about it, he wishes he could stop. His savings account is dwindling, and he’s spending more than his paycheck.

Worsening economic conditions are not enough to get shopaholics to kick their addiction, says Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist in Beverly Hills, Calif.

In the book “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” Rebecca Bloomwood receives several letters from creditors and keeps on spending.

“If an alcoholic was faced with a lack of funds, would he be able to curb his addiction?” asks Lieberman. “The answer is no.”

Leach contacted a credit counseling service in late 2007 when she tired of dodging creditors, and is working to pay down the debt. But it’s still a struggle, she says; she has a hard time going into a store without buying something.

“The point is to understand what it is you’re really shopping for,” Benson says. “If you’re shopping because you’re lonely and like being around sales people or being in a store or mall with other people around, shopping isn’t going to positively meet those needs, especially if you are a shopaholic.”