SHOPAHOLICS really do exist.

For some people the urge to spend is so strong it can be considered a health disorder, a global study by psychologists and clinicians found. Tell-tale signs are spending more than you intend and buying items which you never use. There’s also for the ‘high’ of a shopping spree.

Most of us, including me, suffer from this to some degree. I’d like to think that lockdown had broken the spell and that, having spent so long out of shops, we would be able to resist the urge, but once they reopened I felt the same compulsion to go in and spend.

Shopping online is even more compulsive. It’s all just one click away, and, since lockdown, we have been doing more of it than ever. Help!