When viewing the slides on drugs and addiction, I thought
about shopaholics. I found an article,
which I have linked below, that goes into the story of a woman who is addicted
to shopping. Ginger Logan-Cannon is about $150,000 in debt due to her addiction
and even frequently takes out of her 401k to help fund her addiction. It is
heartbreaking how this is ruining her life and she may one day may not be able
to afford to retire because of this addiction. Her marriage had even been
suffering from her addiction issue. Logan-Cannon described how great of a
feeling she gets when she shops. This is because when some people shop the receptors
in their brain release dopamine and endorphins which gives them this rush of
pleasure, same as other addictions such as gambling. Since shopping addiction
can be hard to identify, I copied and pasted the signs the article described:
- The biggest tell-tale sign is that you're having financial difficulty, or are leaning in that direction.
- Outrageous bills for extravagant items that you don't really need.
- Hiding your spending from family and others.
- Being constantly preoccupied with material goods. -- you just can't hold yourself back from them.
It's amazing how addiction can affect people in different ways. Most people would immediately think of drugs or alcohol, but little things like shopping and spending can also be very dangerous. Impulsive attitudes and obsession with material goods is a serious problem-- especially when spending so much money when you don't even have he money to be spending it in the first place. Debt is a scary thing, and having an out of control addiction is even scarier.
ReplyDeleteSo true. The first time I read that the whole economy is based on either making money, sitting and watching tv, or spending the money on buying stuff was fall semester last year.
ReplyDeleteThe whole economy is based on consumerism. Shocking to learn that this is society.
I think it's insane to what extent people will go to fulfill their needs and addictions. In this situation, you have female using funds from her 401k plan to help fund her shopping addiction.
ReplyDeleteIf people continue with their addiction without receiving help, than they will suffer in the long-term run because stopping will be impossible since theyve adapted this habit alredy. I also think its sad that this individual will probably not be able to afford to retire because of this addiction.
Reading your article, I've learned that when people fulfill their needs like shopping, the receptors in their brain releases dopamine and endorphins which give them their rush of pleasure.