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Blessed

Anti-Depressant Drug On Offer To Shopaholics

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Blessed   

Well, its finally here! That money saving miracle our hooyos and aabos (and husbands) have lways been praying for. A drug that makes you stop shopping... why I'd want to do that me don't know. I mean, what exactly is me gonna do with a fat bank account and all-that extra time?

 

So ladies, say... is this good news, bad news?

 

and for the record - this drug is actually for sale - so you'd have to shop for it? :rolleyes:

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MIAMI -- For those whose shopping trips leave their credit cards smoking and their bodies buckling under the weight of excessive purchases, help could finally be at hand.

 

Doctors in the United States believe they have found the antidote to the medical condition known as compulsive shopping disorder - an anti-depressant drug widely available in the UK.

 

A 16-week trial involving volunteer "shopaholics" at Stanford University Medical Centre in California reported that patients taking citalopram were able to curb their previously uncontrollable urges to shop.

 

The 24 guinea pigs were selected because of the seriousness of their addictions; most had been compulsive shoppers for more than 20 years. One had bought 2,000 wrenches, another owned 55 cameras and others had racked up more than £25,000 in credit card debt.

 

Fifteen of the patients (63 per cent) rated themselves as "much improved" or "very much improved" after completing the course of medication and said they had lost interest in shopping.

 

"I'm excited about the dramatic response from people who had been suffering for decades," said Dr Lorrin Koran, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford.

 

"Patients improved within one or two weeks. I've never seen anything like it. No disorder Iíve treated has reacted like this. I hope people will become aware that itís treatable and they don't have to suffer."

 

The news comes too late for Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, who famously spent a sizeable chunk of her countryís wealth on jewellery and more than 3,000 pairs of shoes.

 

But it might be of interest to celebrities such as the actress Winona Ryder, who "bought" £4,000 of designer clothes in a Beverly Hills shop (but neglected to pay and was convicted of theft), and the singer Elton John, who admitted to spending more than £100,000 on flowers alone in a £40 million spree lasting 20 months.

 

Compulsive shopping disorder affects up to 8 per cent of the adult US population, with 90 per cent of the victims being women. The study group contained 23 women and one man.

 

"Compulsive shopping leads to serious psychological, financial and family problems, including depression, overwhelming debt and the break-up of relationships," Dr Koran said. "People don't realise the damage it does."

 

Earlier studies suggested that anti-depressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, of which citalopram is one, might be useful in treating the disorder, but the Stanford trial was the first time significant results were recorded in the use of the medication against a placebo.

 

When switched to the placebo, five of eight patients relapsed, but those who stayed on the drug, marketed in the UK as Cipramil, reported a continued loss of interest in shopping, cessation of browsing for items on the internet or television shopping channels, and the ability to shop normally without making impulsive purchases.

 

"Patients said to me: ëI go to the mall with my friends and I don't buy anything. I canít believe it and they canít believe ití," Dr Koran said. "They've been doing this for decades and now their urge to shop is gone."

 

©2003 scotsman.com

 

http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=778492003

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Senora   

who famously spent a sizeable chunk of her countryís wealth on jewellery and more than 3,000 pairs of shoes.

Oh my goodness, I would be in heaven, LOOL.....I might need to pop a few of those pills in two months...with my birthday, and ciid coming up, I'm a shopaholic in dire need of medication!

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Modesty   

loool! oh my god...Is this for real? Everyone loves to shop, but spending your life savings on a pair of shoes is just plain uninteligent.You can shop all you want, just have to know how to get bargains;)

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Macalin   

What are the side effects of this miracle drug?..lol

 

I hope its not insomnia!..i do not wish to see some ppls face when they have missed there beauty sleeps!..lol

 

Waiting for a reply from 'ugly to be soon' ex shopaholics! :D:D

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A drug for shopaholics? No thank you. Shopping is one of the pleasures of ma life...helps me keep depression away, so why on earth would I give it up? And what would I replace it with...Prozac?

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Changed   

i seriously need this medication...i over drew my acount over 200 dollars and spent extra 700 for back to school shopping... redface.gifredface.gif

 

sectionsixer u aren ot helping with gorgeous shoes u got there :(:(:(

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Senora   

Originally posted by miz-unique:

i seriously need this medication...i over drew my acount over 200 dollars and spent extra 700 for back to school shopping...
redface.gifredface.gif

 

:(

LOL, I feel you on that one Miz-Unique....you know the two weeks i spent in Toronto this summer I spent a little over $800 dollars...and i came back home for what? ...to spend another $300 on a few other back to school items, and not to mention the $500 i spent on books this semester.... :eek: :eek:

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Xafsa   

Why in the hell Would I take a pill for shopping?

Shopping is one of the joys of life....like barwaaqo said...it keeps depression away!! But i did realize that the more I work The less i'm willing to spen my money....isn't that weird?

 

 

WIILO--- $700 for back to school?.....dang woman can I see the stuff you bought? ;)

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