Is your closet overflowing with never-worn clothing, the price tags still waving in the breeze? Is your attic 
bulging with boxes and boxes of shoes that have never touched pavement? Do you buy new makeup weekly or compact discs by the fistful?
You might be a shopaholic.
Studies estimate that as many as 17 million Americans, better than one in 20 of us, can't control our urge to shop, even at the expense of our job, our marriage, our family and our finances. Although men and women alike suffer from this affliction, women seem to be the ones more scrutinized for this.
Unlike the previous generation, today's young women spend their money on themselves, not their families. And increasingly, these spending habits are getting more and more out of control.
The irony is that often, it is women who display utter self-control in every other area of their lives (career, diet, exercise) who, when it comes to spending, do not see restraint as a virtue.
"It's easier to go out and buy a Prada outfit or some Jimmy Choos than to be at home and cook meals for a family," says Dr Paul Marsden, consumer psychologist at the London School of Economics.
"It's instant gratification. Women today are time-poor. If they have time-consuming careers, they don't have time to get gratification in other areas of their lives, but they want to feel good about themselves. Shopping is a quick-fix solution.
Do you use "Shopping Therapy" as a quick fix? Do you know someone who does? Please do share!
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