Interesting article

I'd bet my left buttcheek that most of my colleagues would disagree with Dr. Bachman on this point:

Many of our cultural institutions exist to help people regain control and expiate guilt. Schools of law, psychiatry and theology, as well as debt collection companies, provide the practitioners our society depends on to recover control and restore hope.

Debt collection companies restore hope? Give me a break.

Actually I agree with much of the article, this observation in particular:

Those afflicted with compulsive indebtedness exhibit unrealistic rescue fantasies, a false sense of entitlement and optimism, a sense of euphoria about receiving a new credit card and using it on a buying binge and denial of inevitable, negative consequences.

This sounds a lot like many compulsive disorders, including addictions to alcohol and other drugs, and I certainly concur with any discussion that considers compulsive overspending in that light.

Doc