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American Morning

Is Compulsive Shopping Mental Disorder?

Aired January 03, 2003 - 07:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Shop until you drop. Now, you've heard that before. But is it more than just a joke? Well, a new Stanford University study says that compulsive shopping is being looked at more and more as a disease, and anti-depressants are often being prescribed to treat it.
So, how do you know if you are a shopaholic? All right, do you get a high from shopping? Do you buy things you don't need? Do you hide purchases from the family? Is your closet full of unused purchases? And is the excessive shopping resulting in lots of heavy debt?

Well, joining us now to offer his diagnosis on compulsive shopping is psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz, joining us here in the studio.

DR.HAROLD KOPLEWICZ, PSYCHIATRIST: Good morning.

HARRIS: Happy New Year to you.

KOPLEWICZ: You, too.

HARRIS: Is this really a mental disorder?

KOPLEWICZ: I think it's important for us to recognize that every mental disorder, some of the symptoms that could be made fun of. So, you can say, of course, everyone shops too much, or look at that bill that my spouse just gave me, it's just outrageous how much she or he just spent.

These are symptoms of a more serious illness called obsessive- compulsive disorder, where you have an illogical thought and a compulsive behavior that you can't stop. So, we're talking about people who are buying useless things, who are buying bags and bags of clothes pins, or who are staying online and doing eBay shopping, or staying up all night and doing home shopping.

HARRIS: And you know what? You describe those kinds of things, and what strikes me is that we have an economy and a society that seems to be based upon getting people to be like that.

KOPLEWICZ: Well, I think it's a matter of degree and severity. So, yes, you know, most of us enjoy shopping. We were talking before that neither one of us would ever like to go into a store for Christmas shopping again.

HARRIS: Amen, brother. KOPLEWICZ: But people sometimes get a real high out of buying a new shirt or a new dress. That's very different than the people who are buying these useless objects, and who also are putting their family at risk. When you hear about a mom who is doing so much shopping that they're having trouble buying food or clothing for their children...

HARRIS: Well, that's...

(CROSSTALK)

KOPLEWICZ: ... or they can't pay tuition, you're talking about a disease that's also causing them dysfunction and distress. That's when it's a disease. When it's just, you know, bad financial planning or bad financial behavior, that's not a disease. And that's the important part about this. These symptoms are just as similar as people who can't stop washing their hands...

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPLEWICZ: ... and keep doing it again and again and again until their hands are raw.

HARRIS: How would you describe to us, those of us who are lay people, what happens physically inside the brain in a person that has this kind of disorder?

KOPLEWICZ: Well, it turns out that the disorder of obsessive- compulsive disorder, which compulsive shopping are symptoms of, is really serotonin-related. It turns out that we know that people who have this eat up their serotonin faster than the average person. And so, that's why these new set of drugs, these SSRIs -- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which are also known as anti- depressants -- are so effective, because it lets serotonin hang around your brain longer.

And that's why it makes sense that the Stanford University study that just tested Celexa makes sense, because they looked at it and said, look, Celexa works well for obsessive-compulsive disorder, let's try it for these people whose symptoms are compulsive shopping.

HARRIS: Now, if a person is compulsive and they hear of this kind of discussion about this, wouldn't that incline them to think that perhaps they have a problem and they should go out and try to -- excuse me -- medicate themselves?

KOPLEWICZ: I think the most -- you know, I say this all the time, but the three most important criteria in real estate: location, location, location. Well, in mental health, it's diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis. It's one thing to have a set of symptoms; it's very different than having a diagnosis.

So, the first line of attack, if you really are distressed by this, if you're having dysfunction, if your family is suffering because of your shopping, is get a diagnostic evaluation. Go to a trained psychologist or a psychiatrist and find out if you really have it...

HARRIS: All right...

KOPLEWICZ: ... before you do any kind of treatment.

HARRIS: You say if the family is suffering. If I'm a family member of someone I may think may have a problem with this, how bad does it have to be in terms of the family suffering before someone in the family should go ahead and act?

KOPLEWICZ: Right. I think the first thing you have to do is if you are a spouse of someone who is spending excessive amounts of time shopping where you're talking about two or three hours a day, or someone who is also spending money in a way that's really putting a dent into the family's life so that you're not able to do other things, and they seem illogical about it, if you mention it to them and you're talking to a wall, that's a time to say, I'm really concerned about you, let's go find out what to do about this.

And you know what? The first step is very often the internist, to talk to the internist, explain to them what's going on, and ask them for an expert on evaluating this.

HARRIS: I still can't help thinking that we have a problem, because the society that we live in, you may have a person in your family that you're trying to help, and then you turn right around -- or they turn right around and every single cue around them that they see and hear all day long is encouraging them to go out and spend a lot and shop.

KOPLEWICZ: Well, but the interesting thing, Leon, is that most people don't do that. They may have an impulse shopping spree once in a while, or a purchase once in a while...

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPLEWICZ: ... but they don't put their financial future at risk for it.

HARRIS: All right, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, thanks very much. And happy New Year to you.

KOPLEWICZ: To you, too.

HARRIS: And happy shopping.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




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Aired January 3, 2003 - 07:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Shop until you drop. Now, you've heard that before. But is it more than just a joke? Well, a new Stanford University study says that compulsive shopping is being looked at more and more as a disease, and anti-depressants are often being prescribed to treat it.
So, how do you know if you are a shopaholic? All right, do you get a high from shopping? Do you buy things you don't need? Do you hide purchases from the family? Is your closet full of unused purchases? And is the excessive shopping resulting in lots of heavy debt?

Well, joining us now to offer his diagnosis on compulsive shopping is psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz, joining us here in the studio.

DR.HAROLD KOPLEWICZ, PSYCHIATRIST: Good morning.

HARRIS: Happy New Year to you.

KOPLEWICZ: You, too.

HARRIS: Is this really a mental disorder?

KOPLEWICZ: I think it's important for us to recognize that every mental disorder, some of the symptoms that could be made fun of. So, you can say, of course, everyone shops too much, or look at that bill that my spouse just gave me, it's just outrageous how much she or he just spent.

These are symptoms of a more serious illness called obsessive- compulsive disorder, where you have an illogical thought and a compulsive behavior that you can't stop. So, we're talking about people who are buying useless things, who are buying bags and bags of clothes pins, or who are staying online and doing eBay shopping, or staying up all night and doing home shopping.

HARRIS: And you know what? You describe those kinds of things, and what strikes me is that we have an economy and a society that seems to be based upon getting people to be like that.

KOPLEWICZ: Well, I think it's a matter of degree and severity. So, yes, you know, most of us enjoy shopping. We were talking before that neither one of us would ever like to go into a store for Christmas shopping again.

HARRIS: Amen, brother. KOPLEWICZ: But people sometimes get a real high out of buying a new shirt or a new dress. That's very different than the people who are buying these useless objects, and who also are putting their family at risk. When you hear about a mom who is doing so much shopping that they're having trouble buying food or clothing for their children...

HARRIS: Well, that's...

(CROSSTALK)

KOPLEWICZ: ... or they can't pay tuition, you're talking about a disease that's also causing them dysfunction and distress. That's when it's a disease. When it's just, you know, bad financial planning or bad financial behavior, that's not a disease. And that's the important part about this. These symptoms are just as similar as people who can't stop washing their hands...

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPLEWICZ: ... and keep doing it again and again and again until their hands are raw.

HARRIS: How would you describe to us, those of us who are lay people, what happens physically inside the brain in a person that has this kind of disorder?

KOPLEWICZ: Well, it turns out that the disorder of obsessive- compulsive disorder, which compulsive shopping are symptoms of, is really serotonin-related. It turns out that we know that people who have this eat up their serotonin faster than the average person. And so, that's why these new set of drugs, these SSRIs -- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which are also known as anti- depressants -- are so effective, because it lets serotonin hang around your brain longer.

And that's why it makes sense that the Stanford University study that just tested Celexa makes sense, because they looked at it and said, look, Celexa works well for obsessive-compulsive disorder, let's try it for these people whose symptoms are compulsive shopping.

HARRIS: Now, if a person is compulsive and they hear of this kind of discussion about this, wouldn't that incline them to think that perhaps they have a problem and they should go out and try to -- excuse me -- medicate themselves?

KOPLEWICZ: I think the most -- you know, I say this all the time, but the three most important criteria in real estate: location, location, location. Well, in mental health, it's diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis. It's one thing to have a set of symptoms; it's very different than having a diagnosis.

So, the first line of attack, if you really are distressed by this, if you're having dysfunction, if your family is suffering because of your shopping, is get a diagnostic evaluation. Go to a trained psychologist or a psychiatrist and find out if you really have it...

HARRIS: All right...

KOPLEWICZ: ... before you do any kind of treatment.

HARRIS: You say if the family is suffering. If I'm a family member of someone I may think may have a problem with this, how bad does it have to be in terms of the family suffering before someone in the family should go ahead and act?

KOPLEWICZ: Right. I think the first thing you have to do is if you are a spouse of someone who is spending excessive amounts of time shopping where you're talking about two or three hours a day, or someone who is also spending money in a way that's really putting a dent into the family's life so that you're not able to do other things, and they seem illogical about it, if you mention it to them and you're talking to a wall, that's a time to say, I'm really concerned about you, let's go find out what to do about this.

And you know what? The first step is very often the internist, to talk to the internist, explain to them what's going on, and ask them for an expert on evaluating this.

HARRIS: I still can't help thinking that we have a problem, because the society that we live in, you may have a person in your family that you're trying to help, and then you turn right around -- or they turn right around and every single cue around them that they see and hear all day long is encouraging them to go out and spend a lot and shop.

KOPLEWICZ: Well, but the interesting thing, Leon, is that most people don't do that. They may have an impulse shopping spree once in a while, or a purchase once in a while...

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPLEWICZ: ... but they don't put their financial future at risk for it.

HARRIS: All right, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, thanks very much. And happy New Year to you.

KOPLEWICZ: To you, too.

HARRIS: And happy shopping.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




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