Charge It! Are you a shopaholic?

One out of 20 Americans shop compulsively.

False. Shopaholics split almost right down the middle along gender lines -- roughly 50 percent in each gender.

Male shopaholics tend to buy tools, books and electronics.

The three most common purchases among female shopaholics are clothing, shoes and jewelry.

Imelda left behind between 2,000 and 3,000 pairs of shoes when she fled the Philippines in 1986.

Shopaholism is also known as compulsive shopping, shopping addiction and compulsive buying disorder (CBD).

Compulsive shoppers describe feeling a "rush" or a "high" while they shop, followed by feelings of relief, guilt and depression. They not only spend outside their means, but may also lie about their purchases and debts.

Imprisonment in federal prisons due to unpaid debt has been illegal in the United States since 1833.

The average American has three credit cards.

True. Debt is the number-one reason for stress in a marriage.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is considered an anxiety disorder. Although compulsive shoppers often feel obsessed with shopping and compelled to spend, shopaholism is considered an impulse-control disorder.

The Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) is a clinically-validated screening tool used to diagnose compulsive buying disorder.

False. Unlike hoarders, who suffer from a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, compulsive shoppers don't place inappropriate value on belongings nor do they lack the ability to discard purchases.

People suffering from the manic episodes of bipolar disorder may also shop excessively and impulsively, but unlike shopaholics, they don't feel guilty about their spree.

Sixty-eight percent of people with compulsive buying disorder report problems in personal relationships as a direct result of their shopping.

German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin was the first to give us a description of compulsive buying disorder, back in 1915. Kraepelin called it oniomania.

Men who are shopaholics often describe their behavior as "collecting."

Psychopharmalogic treatments such as seratonin uptake inhibitors have not proven to be any more effective than a placebo in relieving CBD.

False. Shopping addiction doesn't know what income tax bracket you are in.

Compulsive buying disorder typically shows up when a person is in late adolescence or young adulthood.