Do shopaholics have a mental disorder?

Lucille Schenk bought $20,000 worth of jewelry a year ago, plunging into debt and despair. She knew something was wrong but couldn't help herself. There may be more than 10 million people like Schenk in the United States, according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Psychiatry. They shop compulsively, buy things they do not need and often cannot afford, and jeopardize their work, their families and their mental health. The problem is widespread and serious enough that the American Psychiatric Association, which is updating its influential "bible" of mental disorders, is weighing whether to list compulsive buying as a disorder. Some researchers argue that categorizing binge buying as a medical problem takes the focus away from social factors such as the impact of advertising, easy credit and commercialization.

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