Notetaking Freewrite

~ Notetaking, the story of my life these days. I have found that notetaking has proven to be mostly beneficial depending on what the subject is you are taking notes on. For instance, in math I have found that by taking notes sometimes you end up not paying attention to how the process is done and more attention on taking notes. In this case I feel notes are very cumbersome and do not show as much benefit as taking notes in meetings, researching, and in classes that have a lot of vocabulary terms that you will need to reference at a later time. I don’t ever really think that notetaking is a bad thing, just some times are better than others to take them. I take notes consistently all day long on my to do lists, work documents, school notes. In fact I think post its are the best invention ever! So nice to have around to write notes and reminders on!! My favorite way to take notes, especially for this class is to print out all the documents, articles etc. and highlight parts that I want to reference later. I find doing it this way is way quicker and just as effective, definitely more organized sometimes. I have never been huge on using note cards, at all. I avoid using them at all cost. Mostly because I write big and I end up using like twenty five cards for one thought (not really, but it feels like it). And also, there seems to be no good way to organize and store them. I have never tried the double entry journal, but I can totally see how it would be very beneficial, especially in writing research papers. I’m definitely going to try it! Overall, I think you can’t go wrong with taking notes. With everything else we have to worry about these days, why make it harder on yourself to try and remember everything? Just by writing it down gets it off your mind and opens up space in there for other things.

Continuing Research

The past couple days I have been trying to come up with different sources to find info from and tried to think out of the box. So, I tried to locate past magazine articles especially in trendy magazines, to see if their view of shopping addiction paralleled that of the research I have found up to this point. I haven't had any luck so far but, to be totally honest, I haven't searched too terribly hard or put a whole lot of effort into digging deep for it. But I will!! I think this is a really important part of writing a good research paper, is recognizing opposite views and seeing it from both points of view.

As far as other research goes, I have dug a little deeper into the umbrella symptom, which is compulsive behavior in general. Trying to relate other compulsive behaviors such as OCD may relate to addictive behavior in a more specific area, such as shopping addiction. So far I have found a lot of information that I think will help me write a very well rounded research paper! I feel good about the process so far. Hope it's going well for all of you too :)

Focus question: How are shopping addictions related to psychological/emotional disorders, and what is it that drives people to become compulsive spenders?

Possible search phrases:

• Compulsive spending symptoms
• Characteristics of shopping addictions
• Causes of compulsive behaviors
• Shopping addictions related to emotional disorders
• Shopping addiction drivers
• Shopping addiction and compulsive spending
• Addict behaviors
• Emotional disorders related to addiction

I have come across quite a bit of information using these phrases. I have only read a little bit of info from each one, and so far so good!!

What I already know :

Reminder- Shopping/spending addiction

• shopping addiction is also known as compulsive spending
• people who are compulsive spenders are out of control when it comes to spending money
• shopping addicts continue to spend even if funds are short or even unavailable
• shopping addicts continue to spend money even though it may be creating financial, marital, or family problems
• shopping addicts get a certain high when they shop or spend money
• compulsive spenders tend to hide their addiction from family and friends, much like an alcoholic or drug addict
• compulsive spenders feel lost without credit cards
• some shopping addictions are caused from emotional deprivation, anger, or depression. In some cases is used to alleviate depression or acceptance insecurities
• shopping addictions can be viewed as important
• shopping addiction is a form of psychological disorder
• viewed as a serious behavioral problem
• 60-70% of shopping addicts have credit card debt?

Possible questions about my topic:

• What causes such compulsive behavior?
• Why/how is shopping considered an addiction?
• How is compulsive shopping related to credit card debt?
• How is compulsive shopping a good thing?
• Does compulsive shopping control lives much like drug or alcohol addictions do? Why or why not
• Are personal insecurities related to compulsive behaviors?
• How is US credit card debt related to compulsive spending?
• Is a spending addiction really just an attempt to “buy” happiness?
• How does society support the habits of compulsive shoppers?
• Has compulsive shopping increased in the past decade? Why or why not? Could it be directly related to the medias pressure on appearances?
• What are the cures for compulsive shopping or spending?
• What role does self esteem play
• Is “retail therapy” cheaper than an actual therapist
• What is it that drives people to spend more than they can afford?

Research Topic: Shopping spree, or shopping addiction?

So, I think this subject might hit home for quite a few people, myself included. I am particularly interested in the addiction aspect of being a shopaholic and the behaviors of compulsive shoppers/spenders. I would like to explore this topic on a deeper level and find out what it is that makes people feel so good when they go shopping and buy things, and why it is they can't stop. I have come across several interesting facts when doing some topical research on this subject. Shopping addictions have been compared to gambling and drinking addictions and has become sort of a therapy for millions of people. I would like to dig deeper into the saying "Retail Therapy" to see if this actually holds true. Is it simply that it is a way to get away from it all? Does it act a therapy, and if so, is it cheaper than visiting a therapist? Or is this truly an addiction that should be taken seriously? These are some of the angles I plan to explore with this subject. I have listed below a few web sites that were pretty interesting as well as quotes and interesting parts of the articles I found at the sites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/health/28shopping.html?_r=1&ref=health

• "Ill-advised shopping has certainly turned up recently in the news, and yet the issue also forms the core of a much more contentious and continuing debate. As spenders spend while the economy plummets, the psychiatric world is trying to decide whether compulsive buying should actually be considered a disease."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/29/shopaholism-americas-newe_n_162246.html

• "At least for now, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- which is known as the D.S.M. and is something like the bible of psychological maladies -- does not list the condition as a technical disease. While shopaholism, as the laymen say, has been recognized by the German psychiatric community as a subset of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it still awaits its day in the United States."

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/relationships/famfri/social/articles/0,,165_655980,00.html

• Why does it happen?
  "Shopaholism - or oniomania as it's called by psychiatrists - is driven by the same kind of motivation that fuels alcoholism or drug use. A woman feels bad - anxious, lonely, worthless, angry or lacking love. So she goes out and buys things - not only to give herself love, but also to prove to the world at large that she's 'worth it'.

I am very excited to research this subject more! Comments? Suggestions? Confessions? Lol.