In Recession, Women Splurge as if Addicted

Article here. As always when the source is "JunkScience.com", take it with a grain of salt. Excerpt:

'The itch to shop has long been known to overwhelm some people, either because of simple materialism or to compensate for emotional problems. Many researchers liken it to addiction, and some think it has been a growing problem in the modern consumerism society.

The problem is likely not confined to women. A 2006 study in the United States found 6 percent of women have it so bad they are labeled compulsive buyers, but so are 5.5 percent of men.
...
Problem is, the splurges don't always have the intended effect.

About 25 percent of the women surveyed said shopping sprees in the week prior to being surveyed left them with feelings of regret, guilt or shame.

Sounds a lot like other addictions, Pine said.'

Personally, I feel everyone is susceptible to going out to buy stuff to cheer themselves up. We're bombarded with message telling us we'll be happy if we buy something. Few ads have pictures of miserable people in a state of distress holding up some product being peddled. The message is clear: "Happiness and security are to be found in buying our product, never mind the price!" Same thing with food-- feel down, eat something. No wonder so many of us in the west have gotten fat and in debt. But everyone is responsible for their own decisions-- yet even women. The tone of the article though is more or less pseudo-clinical and the impression it gives is that some people just can't help themselves. I don't accept that. The rule is this: stop using credit cards and don't spend the rent money on anything other than rent. It's that simple.