Some might assume compulsive shopping is relatively recent -- perhaps a product of Madison Avenue.

CNN: The dark side of shopping

Compulsive shopping has little to do with income, though money does determine the shopping venue.

CNN: The dark side of shopping

The good news is that we know a lot more about compulsive shopping than 20 years ago.

CNN: The dark side of shopping

Compulsive shopping was described over a century ago by German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin.

CNN: The dark side of shopping

But is compulsive sexuality really similar to pathological gambling or even compulsive shopping?

FORBES: The Shadowy Science Of Sex Addiction

But Dr. Ameisen, author of The End of My Addiction: How One Man Cured Himself of Alcoholism, says that baclofen, used off-label and in high doses, can cure all addictions, including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, smoking, bulimia and anorexia, compulsive shopping and gambling.

FORBES: Names You Need To Know In 2011: Addiction 'Cure' Baclofen

And we are not even addressing, not mentioning at all, the most important aspect of Recovery from all addictions, that of quality Sobriety, a Sobriety having absolutely nothing to do with chemicals, food, sex, perfectionism, work, gambling, shopping or any other compulsive behavior utilized by an addict to change their always painful emotional state.

FORBES: Connect