Alexis Hall is a self-confessed shopping fanatic who couldn’t stop herself from hitting the high street every day for 20 years.
Encouraged by an atmosphere where seemingly unending credit was available to anyone who desired it, she racked up credit card debts of nearly £32,000.
In 2006, Alexis realised she had to get over her obsessive retail indulgences and sort her life out and did so by going “cold turkey”.
The 39-year-old recently published her diaries, In the Red - The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic, which follows a year in Alexis’ life as she tries to overcome her addiction.
She said: “My disposable income was just becoming less and less so I knew there was an issue there. The shopping that I previously enjoyed so much was really beginning to not quite have that same nice edge to it.
“So before when you’d gone out to buy something and got that great high from buying it, that feeling was quickly replaced by ‘I shouldn’t have done it, I’ve just added to debt.’
“So we were on holiday, we were away and I thought this is something I’ve got to address when I get back.
“So within a couple of days of coming back I’d phoned the banks to find out how much was on my loans, finally opened the credit card statements properly, and really looked at the total to add it up, and I was absolutely horrified.”
Although she stresses her habit does not equate to that of alcoholism or drug addction, Alexis says her struggle represents a serious problem for many people.
“I decided for me it had to be cold turkey,” she said. “I had to take a year out, not shop, and just try to change the habits I’d built up over twenty years.
“Because that’s how long it took me to get to a point where I was thinking this is wrong.”
Alexis, who now works in public relations with Strathclyde Police, says she will be delighted if her diaries can help others with similar problems.
“It’s really my struggle with shopping it’s not a self-help guide,” she added.
“Something people have tried it, read little things and it has worked for them, and that feels great to me.”
