Compulsive shopping: where to turn for help

Where to turn for help

* Debtors Anonymous: With about 400 meetings across the nation, this self-help group is modeled on the 12-step processes of Alcoholics Anonymous and others. www.debtorsanonymous.org.

* UCLA's Neuropsychiatric and Behavioral Health Services, home of the Addiction Medicine Clinic and the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, can be reached at www.npi.ucla.edu/npbhs. For information and appointments, call (800) 825-9989 or (310) 825-9989.

* Stanford's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Program and its associated research program can be reached at ocd.stanford.edu or by calling (650) 498-9111.

* University of Minnesota's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic and associated research site is at www.impulsecontroldisorders.org.

* A tip sheet with information about, and resources on, compulsive shopping, provided by and for those in the social work profession. Includes screening for problematic shopping behavior. Go to www.helpstartshere.org/Default.aspx?PageID= 1003#what:.

* "I Shop, Therefore I Am" by April Lane Benson (Jason Aronson, 2000). Benson's website is www.stoppingovershopping.com. Her forthcoming book, "To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop," is due out in December.

* "Overcoming Overspending: A Winning Plan for Spenders and Their Partners," by Olivia Mellan with Sherrie Christie (Walker & Co., 1997).