An incredible eight per cent of the US population has been estimated to suffer from this newly fashionable disorder, but what's more amazing is that the drugs industry, always quick to spot a marketing opportunity, has formulated an "anti-shopping drug", which is now being prescribed by doctors in Britain. Citalopram, manufactured in Europe by Lundbeck under the brand name Cipramil, is one of the family of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which also includes Prozac. It has recently undergone extensive tests at California's Stanford University which, it is claimed, prove its ability to stop people overspending. "The drug seemed effective for nearly three-quarters of those who took it," explains Dr Lorrin Koran, who led the Stanford study and estimates that 90 per cent of sufferers from this obsessivecompulsive disorder are women. "Many subjects found eventually that they could visit the shopping centre and not buy anything at all." A lot of us find it difficult to leave the house, let alone visit the mall, without buying anything at all, so just where does harmless retail therapy end and compulsive shopping begin? Dr Robert Lesever runs the Promis Recovery Centre with clinics in Kent and London and provides therapy for shopping addicts. "A compulsive person becomes dependent and uses shopping to alleviate emotional problems," he explains, but the spree which "medicates" these problems provides only momentary relief. It's only a matter of time before the sufferer becomes hooked and their shopping begins to effect not just their bank balances, but their relationships. But with inappropriate levels of consumer credit an everincreasing problem over here, will we soon be prescribed Cipramil with our debt counselling? Dr Lefever is doubtful, and advocates a proper course of therapy. He says, "Emotions are never properly cured by drugs. You can't just medicate everything." But other psychiatrists working in the field testify that Cipramil is noticeably more effective at treating shopping addiction than Prozac, for instance, which is also used to medicate obsessive-compulsive disorders. Dr Neil Brener, a consultant psychiatrist at the Priory, north London, is a specialist in shoplifting and shopaholics. He has successfully used Cipramil alongside therapy to treat his patients, although he points out that, "since compulsive shopping is a genuine psychiatric problem caused by many different factors, in some cases citalopram will be more helpful to curb it than in others". He welcomes the Stanford research, which confirms his own clinical experience. With the conclusion of that research, Lundbeck and US manufacturers of the drug will be free to market their product as the world's first chemical overdraft excluder.
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violann1338296264.598754 PostsRegistered 12/12/2004 People who do not have a serotonin based disorder will say it's nonsense and people who do have a serotonin based disorder will say the description fits to a T. You'll find plenty of each here. I'm sure if you are shopping because you are depressed that an antidepressant would take away any need to shop, but I wonder how many over shoppers have that particular disorder as a reason they over shop. The pills woulds only work for those with that particular disorder. stevieb1338297449.37717948 PostsRegistered 11/4/2007 Depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, two solid, sometimes related, reasons for some folks to over-shop, can be treated with medication. Not all medications are going to work for all people and, as was noted, underlying issues that need to be addressed will persist, although medications might well ameliorate the symptoms to an acceptable level. Personally, I sometimes think I could benefit from a trial of one or the other of these medications to keep me off-line and out of TJ Maxx... 
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I should have my head examined... evelyner1338298656.282209 PostsRegistered 10/6/2004 People can't take responsibility for their own short comings, they want everything to be a illness or syndrome and then they want a pill for it....a pill their insurance company will pay for. I'm sure there are people who suffer from depression and some of those people shop to feel better. Those people need help with their depression, not their shopping. And then there are people like myself. I admit, I am a shopoholic. I shop to shop, it's my hobby, it makes me feel good. I don't spend more than I can afford now but in the past, I did. But it was not a disorder or a syndrome and I didn't need a pill. I needed to grow up, to keep my head in the present and take responsibility for my actions! To be honest, I still need to do that because I still use shopping to make myself feel better. Beside, we all know what will happen. The people who take this pill will then grow hair on the palms of their hands and sue the makers of the pill and collect huge settlements and ......go shopping....LOL Last edited on 5/29/2012 ogetoverit1338300268.2538526 PostsRegistered 9/26/2007 I was just reading about Big Pharma and how they're funding studies and research aimed at making almost every human behavior into an illness. If you like to shop a lot you're "compulsive" or have "bipolar disorder". IMO, if you spend tens of thousands a year on stuff you really don't need and can't afford to, then you have a problem. You should probably get some counseling and maybe you need a pill. I suspect that most "overshoppers" are not in that category. We just are enticed by the bright shiny objects and pretty stuff and manage to fit them (sort of) into our budgets. It's never what you're called, it's what you answer to ~ D.L. Hughley stevieb1338307751.88317948 PostsRegistered 11/4/2007 On 5/29/2012 chrystaltree said: People can't take responsibility for their own short comings, they want everything to be a illness or syndrome and then they want a pill for it....a pill their insurance company will pay for. I'm sure there are people who suffer from depression and some of those people shop to feel better. Those people need help with their depression, not their shopping. And then there are people like myself. I admit, I am a shopoholic. I shop to shop, it's my hobby, it makes me feel good. I don't spend more than I can afford now but in the past, I did. But it was not a disorder or a syndrome and I didn't need a pill. I needed to grow up, to keep my head in the present and take responsibility for my actions! To be honest, I still need to do that because I still use shopping to make myself feel better. Beside, we all know what will happen. The people who take this pill will then grow hair on the palms of their hands and sue the makers of the pill and collect huge settlements and ......go shopping....LOL Last edited on 5/29/2012 You certainly know yourself better than anyone here does. And if pulling yourself up by your bootstraps worked for you that's wonderful, but there are people out there that legitimately have OCD and/or significant depression and compulsive shopping can very much be a symptom that they can't control. If a pill helps them to do that and to avoid serious over-spending then why not... 
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I should have my head examined... di-mc1338308192.5276517 PostsRegistered 12/4/2006the real world Any anti-depressant would make me stop shopping. I had to be on them while going through a rough time with my mother. They actually made me more depressed! I went from being mildly depressed about my Mom's situation to being unable to leave my bedroom after being on anti-depressants for a couple months. Every time I went back to the psychiatrist, she added another pill because I wasn't improving. It got worse and worse until I literally could not leave my bedroom. The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
Alexis de Tocqueville
TN halfback1338310112.0072112 PostsRegistered 1/20/2008 Anything stronger than Tylenol pretty much knocks me out. So there ya' go...no shopping! On 5/29/2012 stevieb said: On 5/29/2012 chrystaltree said: People can't take responsibility for their own short comings, they want everything to be a illness or syndrome and then they want a pill for it....a pill their insurance company will pay for. I'm sure there are people who suffer from depression and some of those people shop to feel better. Those people need help with their depression, not their shopping. And then there are people like myself. I admit, I am a shopoholic. I shop to shop, it's my hobby, it makes me feel good. I don't spend more than I can afford now but in the past, I did. But it was not a disorder or a syndrome and I didn't need a pill. I needed to grow up, to keep my head in the present and take responsibility for my actions! To be honest, I still need to do that because I still use shopping to make myself feel better. Beside, we all know what will happen. The people who take this pill will then grow hair on the palms of their hands and sue the makers of the pill and collect huge settlements and ......go shopping....LOL Last edited on 5/29/2012 You certainly know yourself better than anyone here does. And if pulling yourself up by your bootstraps worked for you that's wonderful, but there are people out there that legitimately have OCD and/or significant depression and compulsive shopping can very much be a symptom that they can't control. If a pill helps them to do that and to avoid serious over-spending then why not...
Why not? Because if there ever is such pill, it will NOT be prescribed ONLY to people who have documented psychiatric conditions that manifest in a shopping obsession. Such a pill will be sold (it is all about the money) to people (largely women) who simply lack self control. And such pill will come with side affects. Since will have to be a drug that affects brain chemistry, some of the side affects will be much worse than the shopping. Besides, there's already a treatment for people who cannot get the spending under control. It's called therapy. All one need do is find a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist or even licensed physicatric social worker. ogetoverit1338311520.28526 PostsRegistered 9/26/2007 On 5/29/2012 evelyner said: Maybe a sleeping pill 
It's never what you're called, it's what you answer to ~ D.L. Hughley Medications can chemically reduce the symptoms of many diseases and disorders, but the underlying issue or illness is still there. Pills alone don't work - it takes determination and willpower to overcome one's problems. The people who have participated in these studies obviously have admitted they have a serious problem with shopping and are willing to take responsibility for their behavior - a major component of successful treatment. Think about it - diet pills, anti-depressants, tranquillizers, medications in general can be a tremendous help, but the person also has to do the work to change the behavior. BTW, shopping and spending compulsions are commonly associated with eating disorders. reiki6041338312134.5931279 PostsRegistered 10/22/2008nyc Citalopram is already available in this country as Celexa. Never heard of it used as an anti shopping drug. growing old is mandatory
\growing wise is optional beach-mom1338312417.367778 PostsRegistered 8/1/2007Mid-Atlantic On 5/29/2012 TN halfback said: Anything stronger than Tylenol pretty much knocks me out. So there ya' go...no shopping!
ITA! And sleep is good for you!
Interesting article; thanks for sharing. I'm in agreement with chrystaltree; people don't want to take responsbility for their own actions anymore...and Silver Lining is right - the underlying issue is still there even if one is taking these drugs. Talk therapy would be more effective with a problem like this, but insurance companies are loathe to pay for that, since it's cheaper to just prescribe pills rather than pay a therapist $140 an hour for a psychologist...even more for a psychiatrist. (And it's more in big cities.) Of course, Big Pharma loves problems like this - their goal is to have everyone on at least 3 Rx drugs throughout their lifetime, whether those drugs work or not. (Anti-depressants are effective in only about 10% of people who take them.) As for any drugs that alter brain chemistry, no one knows how they work, what their long-term effects will be, and - if you listen closely to all the commercials that push these drugs - the side effects are often worse than the original problem. (In fact, the third leading cause of death in the US is Rx drugs!) The American Psychiatric Association has been debating whether to add "shopping addiction" to the DSM V - the fifth edition of the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It seems like everything is a "disorder" these days - so much for personal accountability!  ogetoverit1338313117.698526 PostsRegistered 9/26/2007 The bottom line is that citalopram (Celexa) has some nasty side effects. It shouldn't be taken for no good reason or thought of as a panacea for your lack of good judgement. As usual, the press reports their version of the facts. If you're overshopping because you're depressed, you are well aware of that and you need psychiatric help. If you have OCD, either you or your family know this and you need help. A doctor may or may not decide that you need medication to help you deal with your problems. Otherwise, your overshopping is probably just due to a lack of will power. It's never what you're called, it's what you answer to ~ D.L. Hughley LostGirl1338318152.134989 PostsRegistered 10/22/2009 Cyanide would stop me cold in my tracks. Unless I became a shopping zombie....totally cool! "Guys, where are we?" On 5/29/2012 FloraDora said: The bottom line is that citalopram (Celexa) has some nasty side effects. It shouldn't be taken for no good reason or thought of as a panacea for your lack of good judgement. As usual, the press reports their version of the facts. If you're overshopping because you're depressed, you are well aware of that and you need psychiatric help. If you have OCD, either you or your family know this and you need help. A doctor may or may not decide that you need medication to help you deal with your problems. Otherwise, your overshopping is probably just due to a lack of will power. FloraDora, I respect your opinion and enjoy your posts, but I have to disagree with parts of this one. Unfortunately, many people are truly unaware that there is possibly a physiological issue. There are various degrees of severity, and there is a huge stigma attached to mental illness or "emotional problems" that rise to the level of impairing or adversely affecting behavior, well-being, safety, etc. Also, the individual or their family may think there's something wrong, but honestly don't know what it is or even where to start, even if they're inclined to do so. Not by you, but I see the term "OCD" misapplied and casually thrown around on these boards. However, I would venture to say that most people who truly have it don't realize it until it is properly diagnosed by a professional, and even then, they are bewildered. BTW, while OCD is incureable, it is treatable with medication (i.e. Prozac), but the person has to acknowlege they need help and cooperate (make personal changes and do the work) during treatment. I agree with you on the self-control thing. Case in point, you see a lot of desire to be liked, need for affirmation and that sort of thing on these boards, which I think contributes to buying stuff in order to get approval. Of course, QVC benefits no matter what spurs buying. bugbug31338322588.15783 PostsRegistered 5/11/2012 On 5/29/2012 evelyner said: Maybe a sleeping pill You would not believe the purchases I have made in the time between taking an Ambien and falling asleep. I didn't even remember them until they showed up at the door and I'd say self, why did we buy a cookware set when we don't cook? Self would just shrug. And the open, honest emails I would compose and send.....oh my. But that's another story. Needless to say, Ambien and I had to part ways.  brewhaha1338322761.75325923 PostsRegistered 1/14/2007The far reaches of my dark abyss If your DH took the blue pill, that would work too. "I don't want clever conversation. I never want to work that hard."
Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are bugbug31338322879.59783 PostsRegistered 5/11/2012 On 5/29/2012 brewhaha said: If your DH took the blue pill, that would work too. Dying. Dosey1338323234.9332269 PostsRegistered 10/16/2010 I have no desire to shop when I am truly depressed or even just feeling blue. Am I the only person like this? Making more serotonin and dopamine available in the brain may improve mood and make people shop more. Isn't that the brain chemistry of mania, characterized by poor judgement, risk taking behavior and over-spending. It's chronic feelings of emptiness, IMO. Something lacking internally which only gets resolved by shopping and spending. On 5/29/2012 evelyner said: Maybe a sleeping pill That's what I was thinking!
betteb1338334225.7611574 PostsRegistered 1/1/2008The Land of Oz On 5/29/2012 reiki604 said: Citalopram is already available in this country as Celexa. Never heard of it used as an anti shopping drug. You are correct. I take it and I am here to tell you it does not work as an anti- shopping drug "In what you say of another, apply the test of kindness, necessity and truth, and let nothing pass your lips without a 2/3 majority."
"In the end, it's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years" Abe Lincoln
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