Shopaphobia Support Group

From Our Psychoeconomic Correspondent

shopaphobia — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:50:08 +0000

So it wasn’t the banks playing fast and loose with my nest egg

It appears that that ‘shopaphobiaitis’, now assessed on Axis II in the American Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders IV [DSM IV] has been the primary cause of deflationary pressures in world economies

The appeal to reason (Buy mor sh*t or we are all f*cked) for those suffering this disorder is to date the only intervention known to psychiatric practitioners although success rates in the early sample have been low.

They are aware of the phenomena and endorse the above message in the hope that it will prevent world economies slipping back into the age of barter as currencies become as valuable as leaves in autumn in the Amazon Rain Forest

This sort of attitude

is considered to have been one of the major contributors to the malaise now being felt by so many

Your Psychoeconomic Correspondent

Stopped Press

shopaphobia — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:25:54 +0000

Stories may be submitted by email to shopaphobia from www.clairedowie.co.uk or directly as comments here.

New Thoughts

shopaphobia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:19:51 +0000

We are interested to hear from anyone who went to one of the meetings recently. Please let us know your thoughts.

Buy Little Buy Less Buy Nothing At All

shopaphobia — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:38:44 +0000

see links/dates for more information

Links/Dates

shopaphobia — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:05:09 +0000

www.clairedowie.co.uk

Transcribed testimony (2) Tim

shopaphobia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:54:46 +0000

I live with my mum. Always have done. I’m thirty three and see no reason to change. I’ve never worked, always odd-jobbed, for my mum, her friends, the neighbours, myself. I’ve got an allotment, a garden full of veg. Woodwork, painting, cooking, cleaning, clearance, lifting, shifting – you name it, I can do it. People pay me in old clothes, old appliances, odd necessities. There’s little I need and even less I want. When I left school I went to the job centre, applied for social security, told them everything. They said I’d have to turn myself into a business, become a self-employed odd-jobber and keep books. I didn’t go again. A neighbour had a hip operation, asked me to shop for her. I couldn’t go in couldn’t enter the supermarket. I tried – turned queasy, felt guilty, went home and looked up Internet shopping.

I think I may be a casualty.

Transcribed testimony (1) Sharon

shopaphobia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:41:28 +0000

I was once a joyous shopper.
I loved clothes, make up, nail extensions – the works.
I still do.
But now I’m lurching between depression and near hysteria.
I can’t go into shops.
My friends have tried physically forcing me in.
I’ve tried alcohol, tranquillisers, hypnotherapy –
but still can’t get through the door.
I want a cure and I want it quick – my image is so last year
and my nails are a mess!
It was instant: I was in Primark and a voice in my head said,
‘Put down the blouse and back away from the clothes rail –
get out of the shop. Now!’

A new disease is sweeping the nation: inconspicuous nonconsumption.

shopaphobia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:45:40 +0000

I have recently discovered a tragic inability to shop.

This forum is an opportunity for sufferers to share their experiences of shopaphobia