BREAKTHROUGH: Anna Medyukh breaks down into tears when she realizes that she shops to feel better about herself on Monday’s “My Shopping Addiction.” Inset, she gets help from psychologist Dr. David Tolin. (
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Living in New York can be a real nightmare for a compulsive spender.
Anna Medyukh was living on the Upper West Side when her spending got so out of control that she hadn’t paid rent in five months and had racked up $15,000 in credit card debt.
“You can’t walk down the street without passing stores!” Medyukh told The Post. “There are so many stores in Manhattan! Every store is here — from all over the world, all of the best designers and all of the discount stores.”
Earlier this year, Medyukh saw a casting notice for a new Oxygen series, “My Shopping Addiction,” which pairs compulsive spenders with psychologists.
“I saw that casting call, and it was kind of like a light turned on in my head, and I was like, ‘Maybe you should try that,’ ” she explained.
In the episode, which airs Monday night at 11, clinical psychologist Dr. David Tolin goes with Medyukh to some of her favorite New York City shops — Century 21, Purdy Girl and Trash and Vaudeville — to observe her habits and get to the root of the problem.
When Medyukh, who was born in Ukraine but raised in Brooklyn, lights up while trying on a party dress, Dr. Tolin strikes a nerve when he asks her if she needs clothes to feel special. The 26-year-old begins to cry.
Tolin connects Medyukh’s low sense of self-worth to her humble beginnings growing up in an immigrant family with little money. He concludes that, to feel like she fits in, she spends money that she doesn’t have on fancy clothing.
“A lot of people shop because of the sense of identity that it gives them. It makes them feel like a certain kind of person,” Tolin said. “Sometimes the person that they’re trying to feel like is rich and fabulous and glamorous — and that seems to be what’s going on with Anna.”
Tolin explains that there are different types of compulsive spenders, though. Not everyone does it to feel glamorous or to fit in.
“I think for other people it makes them feel like they are clever or good detectives or a bargain hunter. That becomes part of a thrill for them,” Tolin said.
Tolin explains that shopping becomes a problem when a person is unable to recognize how it is damaging to them long-term.
“With compulsive buying, which is more of an impulse-control disorder, what you have is a difficulty delaying gratification,” Tolin said. “The person is not very good at separating their short-term needs from their long-term needs.”
A lot has changed for Medyukh since she filmed the episode this summer. She has since moved to New Jersey into a more affordable apartment and is continuing therapy for her addiction.
She has mixed feelings about watching her TV debut on Monday.
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel having all of my friends watch it,” Medyukh said. “You know, it’s so personal. It’s exciting because it’s something I mostly kept a secret, so it feels good to finally tell the truth.”