European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine holidays a sore trial for compulsive shoppers by Doug Fisher associated Presse Van Steffens does t smile when she sets shop til you drop sweatshirts or when the going gels Tough the Tough go shopping bumper stickers. 1 i find that really offensive says the Counselor at Miami Valley Hospital. It s not cute  not when every other wednesday she has a roomful of people trying to Cape with a disease compulsive shopping that stiffens says is As serious As alcoholism or compulsive gambling. It is a problem up of half of us suffer in varying degrees although men Are less Likely to admit ii she says and this is the worst time of year for the fledgling shopper stoppers program the time when Holiday Bells ring on Cash registers. On recent wednesday night nine women gathered at the Hosp Al to share their experiences and a Little Gallows humor. Each serves As another s listening Post and moral supporter. One woman who asked the penalty if she missed a session was old you get to pay my next  another said she never had to worry about staying fit i was racing around the malls so  a third said she realized her trouble and threw away her credit cards. But thai did t help because she then used her husband s cards. It was a vicious Circle she said. Nancy Mckee and Jerri Kieslor were part of that vicious Circle Early this year when Lay admitted the serves to the Hospital s psychiatric Wing suffering severe depression they founded shopper stopper alter hearing of a similar group in California. I be known ii consciously for 10 years although it s probably gone on longer than that Mckee said. Bui everyone i talked to would say. Thai s the stupidest the give Ever heard of. If you Don t want id go hopping Don l go shopping " Mckea 40, who worked As a medical assistant estimated she spent Al least half of her family s income of Toboul $39.000 a year on impulse buying much of it on food. She said aha has been Dean Lor two  any compulsive disorder such shopping is not easy to Stop Steffens said Al the Root la the person Soozi we Orrige and a perception he or she has been not filed or denied she said. 8ht a 10 questions people can us themselves cwt if nay answer yes to More than three of the 2. Do you juggle your Bills paying some on time and some after their due Date 3. Do you make Only the minimum payment on your revolving credit cards thereby incurring substantial interest charges each month 4. Do you hide new purchases from your partner 5. Do you buy new clothes but fail to Wear Hern for weeks or months at a time 8. Do you frequently throw out clothes you be never worn 7. Do you feel anxious on Days when you Don t go shopping 8. Are you unable to enter a store without buying something even if it in t what you were looking for 9. Do you put of meetings with friends because you prefer to go shopping 10, do you feel others would be horrified in they knew of your spending habits i we trying to get approval by the Way i looked Kiesle said. She said her clothes buying binges dated from the time of her first of when she was 16 you gel High. You gel a real Rush you get a Cense of Power Mckee said you re in the store standing next to Romeo a wearing a Rotor watch and a Mink coat and buying Oleg Cassini perfume and you think i can do that Loo and you whip out the  later she said you gel hit with this tremendous Rush of anxiety and guilt. Panic sets in overspending the credit card trap 1. Are you within $1 00 of your credit limit on Alt of your credit cards by Bethany Kan Del associated pressm Uriel Brown won t be giving Christmas presents this year. She s not buying anything unlit she works Oil More Man $12,000 in debt 1 credit cards were the downfall of Brown 33, e single Mother with onto child. Brown makes $28,000 a year As a Telephone company service representative in new York cily. She fell into the Cycle of debt when the charges on her credit cards and the additional interest costs were More than she could afford. When t was married i had no expenses a Good Job and the stores and Banks gave me All the credit cards i wanted says Brown who at the Lime had a Good credit rating. Soon she had collected 11 credit cards As Long As you pay the minimum charges each month they keep extending your credit line. It s very tempting to  she says. Bui the payments keep accumulating and you can never catch  when Brown separated from her husband two years ago she  with thousands of dollars in Bills for a television set video cassette recorder and other household items they had purchased together. She was solely responsible for the j466-a-Monlh rent on her new Jersey apartment Telephone and electric Bills end her daughter s $75-a-Monlh parochial school tuition. She also used credit cards to splurge on new clothing so she d eel belter about her new single status. If i had had to pay Cash i would t have bought so much she says. Plastic is what Jot me in trouble. Ii did t seem real. You know you have to eventually pay Lor everything but you figure Why worry until the Bills  to keep up with some of her monthly payments she took out a Cash Advance on one card to pay for charges on another. When she got sick recently and could t work Lor several weeks she made Onty half her regular salary. Than during a Telephone strike last August she did t get paid Tor iwo weeks. Without any savings to help Oul she could no longer afford to cover the minimum payments on her credit cards i could barely pay my rent and that came  she says soon collection Ngen Dei sent her warning letters they harassed me and called my Boss she says. Brown finally realized thai the Only Way Oul of a problem that was progressively worsening was to seek financial help. Recently at the suggestion of co workers who hat recovered from Slamiar problems. Brown went to the budget and credit counselling service Kic. Bucksa debt management program in Manhattan. With the help of a Counselor she will work Oul a payment program for her $12,000 in Bills. The Counselor will write to her creditors to explain that she will pay them off in instalments Over the next couple of years some May even drop the finance charges As an incentive for her to pay up. Every men in she a give Bucks a chech from which her Counselor re parcel out individual payments that were negotiated or fun each of her no Tara. The service will Cost her $20, plus minims monthly he. When she resumed Home from her first session Brown ceremoniously cd up All of her credit cards and threw them away. Wednesday dec Berlt 1888