en-us http://backend.userland.com/rss Your Friends @ Myvesta.org.uk (stever@myvesta.org) myvestaukblog_archive.html stever@myvesta.org 115438101749830966 Young women are running up record levels of debt, chasing a celebrity lifestyle they can't afford. It even has a name - Madame Bovary syndrome. Is the answer will-power or psychiatric help? Katy Guest reports



Hands up those who went out for a bit of retail therapy yesterday. Saved a fortune on a half-price top that looks just like the one Sienna Miller was wearing in last week's Grazia. Exercised the plastic. Splashed the cash.

Hands up those who felt a rush of adrenalin when the cashier logged up the total. And who kept their purchases a secret? Hands up those who are in the red.

Do you still have your hand up? Are you addicted to shopping? It sounds self-indulgent to put the word "shopping" next to the word "addiction". It is the kind of thing footballers' wives giggle in interviews about how they could not be seen in public without the latest Balenciaga bag. But when you consider that four out of five young women spend more than they earn, or that many are thousands of pounds in debt, it starts to sound as if binge spending is spiralling out of control.

These alarming statistics come from a survey last week by the women's magazine More. It showed that women between 21 and 25 have an average £3,830 in credit-card debts and most never save. More than half still live with their parents, and the magazine's editor, Donna Armstrong, says: "The idea of a mortgage is a distant dream." Instead, they aspire to the lifestyles of celebrities and keeping up with the Joneses, "shopping and partying with their friends". Sixty-five per cent of them dismiss the idea of a pension as a joke.

"So what?" they would say. They are young, carefree and have dozens of store cards burning holes in their pockets. What is more, it is important to keep up, and we do not all have the sort of daddy-funded resources enjoyed by Paris Hilton, style icon to many young women. "My friends and I graduated six years ago," says Gemma, 27. "Somehow, they have all ended up in much higher-paid jobs than me. I don't want to be the only one who can't go on weekends away or refuses to buy a round just because everyone has switched to champagne. So I put it on the Visa. Then I don't have to think about paying it off."

There is a dark side to the shop-lit, adrenalin-induced buzz of shopping till you drop, and it is highlighted in a disturbing new drama called Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole in My Heart on BBC2 this Wednesday. Nathalie is a personal shopper with a rich client. They become friends, drink together and shop together, but when Nathalie starts to think she is entitled to the same lifestyle, and gets in debt trying to keep up, her friends melt away.

The dangers of overspending in an effort to keep up with celebrities and mates in this way have become such a common problem that it has been dubbed Madame Bovary syndrome, after Flaubert's profligate and doomed heroine. But Dr Robert Lefever, founder of the Promis recovery centres, and a consultant for the drama, warns that before you start blaming your debts on a glossy new syndrome, it is important to distinguish between frivolous overspending that requires a bit of old-fashioned self-discipline, and a deep-rooted psychological problem.

"Addiction and depression are the same thing," he says. "People are born with a tendency to be depressed, with a sense of inner emptiness. And sometimes they discover the magical effects of various substances or of some processes - shopping, work, gambling - that make them feel temporarily better. And they don't want to give them up. If they use alcohol, for example, we call them alcoholics. But there is another category of problem drinkers, whom we call idiots. The same goes for overspending. Some people drink or shop to excess because they think it is fun. Addiction is a problem that needs help. If you are an idiot, we just have to say, 'Go ahead, but you will face the consequences.'"

Genuine shopping addiction is, he says, often found in people with eating disorders, because both are due to a problem with self-nurturing. There are as many women affected as there are men. "But men tend to buy books, computers, sports and gardening equipment, and women tend to go for food and clothes." At the Promis Centres, they try to help, using the 12-Step Programme.

At the National Debtline, a free, confidential and impartial advice line, they try to help in more practical ways. Their callers come from all backgrounds - people on benefits and very high earners, says a spokes-woman. Just over half are women, 40 per cent are 25 to 35 and 49 per cent are in full-time employment. What they all have in common is that they are out of their depth.

"Our calls are increasing every year, as are those of other advice agencies," the spokes- woman says, because debt has become more accessible and acceptable. It becomes a problem for three main reasons: when people on low incomes lack the financial flexibility to negotiate an unexpected outlay; when a borrower loses their job or becomes ill; and when people over-commit themselves, believing they can manage a debt that then snowballs out of control.

Dr Joan Harvey, a senior psychology lecturer at Newcastle University, is well aware of how these things happen. "People living at home have high levels of disposable income but no sense of saving for the future," she says. "People who are young now are going to be very poor in old age because they are not saving for pensions.

"Society has changed. If you go back 40 years, girls between 16 and 25 didn't have the money or the availability of debt. There wasn't the attitude and the experience of instant gratification. We are not looking to the future."

She too believes that a genuine addiction is something different. "People with a problem spend more because their self-esteem is low and they need a boost," she says. "We describe them as having a high external locus of control; they believe other people control what happens to them, and they are very susceptible to peer pressure. Add to that all of the tricks shops use to make people spend more money and this is going to start to collapse on people."

The hard part, Dr Lefever points out, is that, unlike addictive substances such as alcohol or drugs, shopping is almost impossible to avoid. "Unlike an alcoholic, who can never drink sensibly, compulsive shoppers have to shop, so they have to learn to do it in the same way that other people would."

As a reformed addict, he knows the temptations only too well. "I would go into Hamleys, start at the top and systematically clean the place out. Now I don't go into places where I know I would be at risk, exactly the same as if I were addicted to a drug."

Sally Hawkins, who plays Nathalie in the BBC drama, has changed since she researched the role. "I spent a few days trailing around the shops and getting into her head and it was overwhelming," she says.

"The colours, the music, the smells, the way they fold the clothes, the sales ... You're basically buying into that world, that sparkly, shiny existence. That escapism is exactly what it's about."

ANNA MILLER, 25, MEDIA WORKER: I work, I want nice things and I deserve them - now

I don't think I have a psychological "shopping problem", but maintaining the lifestyle you envisage for yourself is an addiction, and there will always be another credit card to pay for it. I was born into a generation that has never had to wait for anything. It's all about going out, having a good time, enjoying your youth, instant gratification and now, now, now. I'm bad with money because if creditors are happy to give it to me then, unfortunately, I am happy to spend it.

I owe £23,500, including four credit cards, a student loan, an overdraft and two personal loans taken out during university. I earn £1,600 a month, £900 of which goes straight into paying off my debts, leaving me with £700 a month to pay for train fares, phone bills, going out and clothes; and the figures just don't add up. I spend more than I earn every month.

I used to live in a lovely shared house in Brixton with three other friends, but when my credit card payments became too much for me to manage I had to move back with my parents in Reading. I had such a great London lifestyle and could do anything I wanted - bars, gigs, clubs, parties, shopping - which was probably the root of my problems.

About a year ago my debt got so bad I wouldn't check my bank statements, I couldn't sleep and it started to affect my health. I certainly didn't predict that at 25 I'd be back living at home, but that is the sacrifice I've had to make.

My justification for spending is that I work hard and therefore I deserve nice things. I want to be able to afford things that project the image of the woman I want to be - the great wardrobe, the car and the nice house - but at present, these thing are beyond my means.

I'm not deluded and I know buying those skinny jeans is not going to make me look like Kate Moss, but why shouldn't I have them? I'm just as capable of buying them as she is, because I am a successful woman and I work hard.

I shop at lunchtimes and after work, at least twice a week. I've got a real problem with shoes and sales. If there's a sale sign in the window I'm in there. It's a false economy because I know I don't need these shoes but they're only a tenner, then I'll buy a skirt because that's only £15, then a necklace to match. Before I know it, I've got a £90 outfit.

But my biggest problem is the amount I spend on drinking and seeing my friends. I hate the thought of missing out on what could potentially be an amazing night. I go out a couple of nights for drinks and to the cinema, something like that, and I'll spend £10 to £15. On a typical Friday night, I'll spend £10 in the pub with workmates then I'll meet friends in Revolution and spend £18 on cocktails. Entry to clubs and drinks usually cost about £20 with £21 on top for my taxi home, so a total of about £70. Saturday will be quieter but I easily spend £40 more.

My generation is caught up in a spending bender. When someone's saying, "Here you go, don't worry, have £20,000; you've been approved", it's a bit like smoking in the playground. They just push it on you until you say, "Oh all right. If everyone else is doing it." Our parents' generation have a much better attitude to money, but my generation is spending like mad because the economy's so good and we've never had to worry about feeding our families through a recession.

I'm just the same as everybody else my age. We're all trying to get ourselves out of debt but none of us is prepared to sacrifice our lifestyles for it. Now I've moved home I want to seriously start getting rid of my debts and saving for my own house. I know the value of being more careful with money now, but I'm not prepared to put my life on hold while I do it.

Anna's name has been changed. Interview by Sarah Harris
The Independant

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