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I have the same habit， says his mother， Antoinette. It took me 40 years to learn to control it. I hope it wont take him that long to learn.

Do I have a lot or do I have a lot， he says， laughing， halfway through the tour. Have you seen a guys closet like this before? Its crazy. Its a sickness. I wish I could shop less. I would save so much money. I could put some money on a downtown condo.

I thought it would be a hobby.

In May， 2009 they appeared on Til Debt do us Part with Gail Vaz-Oxlade on Slice television. They had racked up $80，000 in debt.

You buy something just for the sake of buying something， says Clint， the operations dispatcher at a transportation company. His wife is a secretary. They live in Bradford.

Moussallams spending habits may seem surprising， since that kind of conspicuous consumption is usually associated with women hiding bulging bags of VISA purchases from unwitting husbands. Sophie Kinsellas Shopaholic series focuses on women who love nothing better than to shop shop shop. But theres evidence that men and women are equally vulnerable to shopaholism.

Have you seen a guys closet like this before? Its crazy， its a sickness， says Salem Moussale during a tour of his closets.

He has worked as a model in the States and Hong Kong and is featured in ads around Toronto for Big It Up， a Toronto hat store. He also works as a fashion stylist， dressing such celebrities as Vancouver actress Serinda Swan， who plays Siren #2 in the movie Tron: Legacy. He says he has worked with Lady Gaga.

Jeffrey Schwartz， executive director of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada， says the economic crisis has made people more careful about how they spend their money. Credit card statements must now include information about how long it will take to pay off a balance if only minimum monthly payments are made. Now consumers can see that a $10，000 balance could end up costing them three times as much in interest if they let it languish on their cards.

Shopaholism is a new name for an old phenomenon named oniomania (from the Greek buying mania) by German psychiatrists in 1915. No one paid much attention to it because there were only a handful of reported cases. Today， though， it has becomefashion stylist more widely acknowledged in a society that judges people by their possessions and in which the pressure to buy is relentless especially at Christmas.

Problem is， he has acquired three additional credit cards and his spending habits havent changed. For example， at the launch of Lanvins collection for H&M in November， he parted with $7，000 in just 20 minutes. Im excessive， acknowledges Moussallam， now 24. I like that feeling when I buy it and get the shopping bag.

Koran says that while men and women are equally affected by shopping too much， they spend money on different items. Women tend to buy clothes， jewellery and knick-knacks for the house. Men tend to ofashion stylConfessions of a male shopaholicverspend on technology， tools， cameras， gaming and sound systems.

Hes retired and grosses $2，680 a month in pensions.

Whether or not Moussallam can afford the lifestyle hes leading is between him and his creditors. But luckily for him， he has something to sell. His eyes are an arresting dark blue and his kinetic energy and air of mischief are captured and enhanced in photos and on video.

Maybe its to keep my mind occupied， I dont know. Ive never been delinquent. But it gets stressful.

More remarkably， it found that the incidence of CBD was almost equally split between men and women. (Some 5.5 per cent men; 6 per cent women). Before this landmark study， experts estimated the disorder affected between two and 16 per cent of the population and that 90 per cent of the overshoppers were women.

He and Candice are now in better shape. Their combined income has risen to $115，000 and theyre sticking to the budget Vaz-Oxlade set out for them.

He says he tempers his spending by selling clothes on consignment after wearing them once or twice， and hopes to open a store called Remix Clothing on Queen St. W. that will rent out designer wear， including pieces from his own collection.

Researchers found that more than five per cent of adults in the United States suffers from compulsive buying disorder.

Overspending doesnt discriminate by age either. Herman Bauer， 69， got into debt repairing clunker cars. His shopping weakness was books. He ordered dozens of expensive mail-order volumes on topics ranging from Shakespeare to religion and the monarchy.

His advice: Live within your means and watch out for Christmas， he says. Plastic is dangerous.

Like depression， it may have different biological roots in different people， which may explain why people respond differently to treatments， says Koran. Cognitive behavioural therapy can also help， as can Debtors Anonymous.

I think it was a wake-up call， says Schwartz.

Then his wife became ill and had to quit working. They trimmed their spending but not enough.

Every so often， cracks appear. In May， Watson spent $5，000 on a truck， which he acknowledges was really stupid.

Have you seen a guys closet like this before? Its crazy， its a sickness， says Salem Moussale during a tour of his closets.

Its called the smiled-upon addiction by some and that is so inappropriate because it causes a great deal of suffering， says Koran， an expert in impulse-control disorders.

When his debt climbed to nearly $32，000， he knew the roof was about to cave in. He sought credit counselling.

There is debate in the field as to whether shopping can be an addiction in the same way that drugs and alcohol abuse are addictions， says Koran. At the moment， its considered an impulse-control-disorder by the psychiatric community.

As the interest charges started to pile up， it didnt take him long to realize he was in trouble. His bank helped him arrange a payment plan. Today， that debt is almost paid off.

Clint Watson， 28， used to overspend. In 2009， he and his wife Candice earned $96，000， but he was spending every bit of it， and more.

He bought four cars in four years， including a Cadillac and a Chrysler 300. He was spending more on vehicles than housing.

In 2006， Dr. Lorrin Koran， a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford University in California， set up a nationwide random-sample household telephone survey using a screening system， the Compulsive Buying Scale， and questioned 2，513 respondents on their spending habits.

I think it will always be there， he said of his impulsive nature， but Im trying to control it.

fashion stylConfessions of a male shopaholic，When he was 20， Salem Moussallam spent a $10，000 student loan on clothes. Then he used his credit card to get cash advances to pay his rent.

He is also a paid cast member of the upcoming reality television series Lake Shore， a Toronto knock-off of MTVs wildly successful Jersey Shore. It has begun shooting but has yet to air.

They went to a mall every weekend.

Moussallam says he is paid up to $1，000 a day for his styling and he works constantly. Im a workaholic， he says.

The closets of the modest townhouse Moussallam shares with his parents are filled with designer clothes， including some that have been worn once or never. He has Coach sneakers， Prada sneakers， Gucci flip flops， Louis Vuitton sneakers， Air Force Ones in seven colours， $500 Dior snow boots; $950 Tods riding books; $895 Miu Mius; a $6，000 Alexander McQueen suit; $500 Louis Vuitton silk boxers and a $600 Gucci bathing suit he has worn exactly once.

Bauer began piling up debt on his American Express， Capitol One Master Card， TD Visa， two CIBC Visa cards and a Canadian Tire Master Card.

Shopaholics turn a one-hour lunch break at work into three hours at the mall， or shop online at the office. They shop when they should be with their families. They hide their loot. They lose interest in their latest purchase when they leave the store and often dont take their purchases out of the bag.