He is passionate about the opportunities offered by shopping online. "You can find a book in minutes that you could spend months hunting down at auctions or second-hand bookshops," he said. "It can easily become addictive, and all the collectors I know use the Internet. I suspect you do waste money because you are less likely to send back a book to Little Rock, Arkansas, than take it back to the high-street shop."

　　Like Stephen Hall, most of us can shop online sensibly---but for some it provides an easy, anonymous and accessible way to feed their habit. It also provides secrecy---a central part of any addiction. Dr Samantha Haslett, a psychologist and expert in addiction at the Promos counseling centre, said, "It's compulsive in the same way as alcohol and gambling, and addicts find themselves completely unable to stop themselves, despite debt mounting and relationships breaking up. It's the thrill and the buzz of purchasing that ignores all the negative consequences."[

　　People laugh at shopping addictions, but it's the same as food overeating: bulimics don't eat nice stuff, or things that are good for them. Shopping addicts are the same: they'll buy things they don't need or want or like. What they're buying is of no importance compared to the thrill they get spending money and acquiring something new.

　　I've counseled people who have bought piles of bed linen and curtains and just left them piled up in the corner of the room.

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