I have always enjoyed shopping whether it be for clothes, perfume, new or used I like them all. I like to potter around in junky little second hand shops and op shops and all the usual shopping haunts. When I have been immobilized by my recovery from my operations and couldn’t get to shops, I rediscovered the joy of internet shopping. So, if you are inclined to be an impulse buyer, then internet shopping is just perfect. This can though result in purchasing too much on line, because it really is too easy.
My husband shared an article with me, the other day, it makes interesting reading. Here is the link if you want to have a look. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clym0g4rlr2o
Basically, a man who has Parkinson’s has embezzled money from clients and spent an incredible amount of money on gambling, prostitutes and other distractions.
I know when I was first put on medication for my Parkinson’s, that the specialist advised that one of the medications – I think it might be Pramipexole – could inhibit impulse control. This could result in hypersexuality, gambling and among other things shopping addictions. At the time I remember saying to my husband – who obviously knew I like to shop – “How would you know if the medications were making me spend more than I should? I do that anyway!”
However, as I have got busier, funnily enough, it feels strange not to have anything timetabled into my day. I get bored very, very easily and so, I might find myself on my computer. That will mean one or two things. It could either be writing this blog, recording a podcast “My journey with Parkinson’s” – an easy find on Spotify – or it could mean that I pop into Temu or other online shopping options. I do enjoy Temu, they have such a range of useful stuff – a bottom wiper perhaps? Sometimes, just doing a search for something brings some interesting results!
In more recent times, I have bought quite a few things on Temu. Most of them useful, the odd not so good, but if I ventured onto Temu it was a rare occasion when I did not leave the site with an order in play.
Reading this article, which my husband sent me the link for and the first thing that sprang to mind was that he had watched the flow of packages and had some concerns. I asked him for a chat and just asked him if he was concerned about my spending on the likes of Temu. My first thought on reading the article had been that my husband wanted to open dialogue about spending impulsively. When we sat down, I asked him and he assured me that he had sent the article to me, because he thought it might be of interest and might be a medication that I was taking. As it happens it is one of my many! I asked him several times if he was concerned about my internet shopping and he assured me he wasn’t.
The next thing, I said to him was that I had been waiting for him to make a comment about my shopping. I thought he might be concerned and every time a package turned up – which was not infrequent – all he would do would be to tell me that there was a parcel for me in my study. No comment other than that.
However, our conversation did set me thinking and I said to him, that I had been feeling that I was shopping a bit compulsively of late. Reading the article and having he conversation with my husband, gave me a shake up about spending.
I am not going to promise not to visit Temu and friends, but I will endeavour to do so more infrequently and to be more aware of what I am buying.
Watch this space to see what happens next!
Will I beat the shopping bug?
Or do I embrace the impulse to shop?
What do you think you would do?
Here is a link to my podcast with some different ‘stuff’ in it!
My journey with Parkinsons 