Released: October 13, 2006

Binge shoppers risk everything for a fix

Source: By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post (Free Registration)

Lucille Schenk bought $20,000 worth of jewelry a year ago, plunging herself into debt and despair. She knew something was wrong but couldn’t help herself: For hours each day, she watched a jewelry channel and the Home Shopping Network, until the salespeople felt like family.

She did most of her binge buying late at night. Often, after her purchases arrived, she returned them, knowing she could not afford them. Then she would see the same items on TV and buy them again.

When Schenk finally sought help, New York psychologist April Lane Benson advised her to have a “conversation” with the jewelry before she made her next purchase, as a way to put some distance between herself and her compulsion.

“I would say, ‘You are so beautiful, I can’t live without you; I love the way you sparkle,’ ” recalled Schenk, 62, in an interview. “The jewelry would say back, ‘You need me. You look pretty when you wear me.’ I would say, ‘I do need you. I can’t possibly think of being without you. But something has to change. I need to stop this. I can’t afford a penny more.’ “

There may be more than 10 million people like Schenk in the United States, according to a study published this month in the American Journal of Psychiatry. They shop compulsively, buy things they do not need and often cannot afford, and place their work, their families and their mental health in jeopardy.

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