A woman has shared how she is in recovery after getting addicted to shopping.
Day-to-day thrifting turned Lana St Clair, into a "bankrupt" hoarder first got into the habit of finding savvy clothing deals back in March 2020.
The 24-year-old from Texas, US, is a now a TikToker with over 161,000 followers who have followed her a ddiction and recovery.
She was looking for new ways to make money and decided to sell pre-loved clothes, after seeing others having success with it on Instagram.
But she needed stock to offer and so scoured charity shops and outlets, as well as landfill sites for items she thought would bring in big money from buyers.
Unfortunately, this became the start of a nightmare that would soon see her "bankrupt" and "addicted" to shopping.
She said: "I watched people from all over comment with bids on social media, like eBay without the fees.
"It looked like easy money, so after spending an evening brainstorming a name for my shop, I started posting my own finds."
She spent hours washing, dry steaming, measuring and photographing the clothes, before putting them online, sharing them in posts and in her Instagram Stories.
But within a year, she became obsessed with finding deals, spent far too much on her selling stock and eventually dropped out of university.
Lana, who named her shop @st.clairvintage, said: "I was in denial for a long time.
"My set-up, paired with my free schedule, due to the pandemic, fuelled a shopping addiction that had me spending at a faster rate than I could sell.
"Before I knew it, I was a college dropout turned hoarder.
"When it hit me, I felt myself sinking into a pit.
"At this point, I still had not made the executive decision to niche my shop down into a specific category and I felt as though the wheels were spinning but I wasn’t getting anywhere."
Lana finally recognised the signs of her addiction.
She said: "As a protective mechanism, I tried to do my shopping within the last 30 minutes of the store’s hours to limit myself, but that didn’t stop me from bringing home at least one bag of stuff a day.
"It was after a few months of this, when I stopped being able to see the floor of my bedroom, that I really realised how big of an issue it was."
She made jokes about being a hoarder but the worse she felt, the more she would spend.
She spent between $300-$1,000 a month on her shopping addiction and filled her flat from floor to ceiling.
Lana was even forced to get a storage unit for the 'stock'.
She added: "I'd spend more depending on how bad I was doing.
"The compulsion to buy the clothing had gotten so out of control that it was beginning to affect my flatmates, and this further fuelled my feelings of guilt and shame.
"Eventually, I got a storage unit but having the extra space enabled me to shop even more."
By 2022, her business was virtually non-existent and had three sales in one month which gave her a wake-up call she needed.
She said: "I definitely still feel shame because of how society has dirtied the word [hoarder].
"And who can blame them, hoarders are known for their squalor.
"But it’s more than just a mess, I want to be strong and say I feel liberated now that I’ve embraced the label, but I don’t.
"Holding myself accountable certainly helps with recovery."
Her family discovered her addiction after coming across her card statements and saw hoarding was becoming an issue.
She added: "My mom has a shopping problem too, so he put it together fairly quickly.
"They kind of let it die out, as I was living in a different city for college and we didn’t have to interact very much."
She asked of her sisters for help, who come and lived with her for a few months to help get her out of the mess she felt she was in.
Lana said: "I don’t think I would have done it without her."
"Another time, my flat mate at the time gifted me a bunch of clothing racks so I could organise my clothing, but that was before it spiralled out of control.
"Though sometimes I wouldn’t even have the energy to wash or hang the clothing I just bought.
"I’d just leave it in the bag, evidence of a purchase that I’d made in a haze.
Lana introduced a rule where she can only shop once a month to curb her addiction.
She said: "I can now see the floor most of the time!
"However I am still a bit of a mess, recovery is something I'm taking day by day.
"The urge to shop is still very strong, most days.
She added: "I aim to create as much recovery-based content as I can, because when I see that I’m helping others, I take my commitment even more seriously.
"After I posted my first few videos about my shopping addiction and hoarding, I found a community in my own comment section.
"It was bizarre, as I felt my page had more or less become the forum for the hoarders of TikTok.
"No material item, despite its value or beauty, is worth your peace of mind.
"Think of that every time you feel compelled to bring more items home.
"Remember what you already have, and find new ways to use it."
