Tiffany Chan and Mabel Lee are in this category.

Ms Chan started working 10 years ago and found it fun applying for different credit cards. 'At that time, I had just finished my studies,' she says. 'Then I applied for credit cards as there were free gifts.'

Of course, the gifts weren't free, because the cardholder must spend a minimum amount to get them. Ms Chan wasn't put off.

'I kept on applying for credit cards, and I had 14 at the end,' she says.

She ended up with a baking machine and several telephones. 'I didn't want and didn't need all these gifts, but I just couldn't stop buying to achieve the credit limits for them.'

She bought shoes, clothes, accessories and bags by the boatload.

'Some are famous brands, but some are not,' she says. 'I like Japanese products. Also, I like to have new clothes for every season.

'My friends also buy a lot of clothing like me. Maybe their families help them to pay their credit card debts.'

But contrary to what some people might think, Ms Chan got little joy from what she bought.

'I have no feeling, I am not happy,' she says. 'I don't know why I buy so much, maybe it's a habit.'

And the result of this habit is a pile of enormous credit card payments at the end of every month. She discovered she owed HK$15,000 to HK$20,000 on every card. Earning about HK$6,000 a month at the time, she could only afford the minimum payments, meaning her debts ballooned.

'I knew there was something wrong, but I just couldn't stop buying,' she says. 'My family helped me pay HK$130,000 but I still owed money on four credit cards - HK$50,000. I wanted to solve it myself.'

Her solution was to go to private loan companies - and another black hole of debt opened up.

She said she found advertisements for credit cards and finance companies very tempting.

'To someone owing money like me, it was very misleading. All those messages seemed to tell me that the loan would be solved at once.

'When I look back, I think that I was very stupid. The interest rate was so high that I couldn't afford it. At that time, I only wanted to pay all those debts. When I saw those advertisements from loan companies, I just went for them without a second thought.'

Borrowing HK$160,000 from loan companies, Ms Chan had to pay back HK$300,000 in four years. She started her repayments 18 months ago and must pay about HK$6,000 a month for the remaining 30 months.

Now in her 30s, Ms Chan earns about HK$11,000 a month. After deducting her loan repayments and living costs, she has neither the capital nor the inclination to go on any more shopping sprees.

'I was in great distress,' she says. 'I couldn't talk much with my family and friends. It affected my relationship with my family.' She finally sought debt counselling last month.

Mabel Lee has a similar story, which led to her declaring bankruptcy at 27. Working as a saleswoman, Ms Lee earned about HK$6,000 a month. But she was a big fan of Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags - usually costing a minimum of several thousand dollars each.

'Everyone loves to buy, when I went out, I would buy,' Ms Lee says. 'Whenever I read a magazine, I wanted to buy. Everyone around me was carrying branded bags. I bought it when I liked it, not only for myself, but also for my family and boyfriend.'

With eight credit cards in her brand-name bag, she did buy what she wanted. The result was HK$160,000 in credit card debts.

She borrowed HK$30,000 from a finance company and ended up spending half of it on shopping.

'I feel happy when I shop,' she says. 'You know, life is sometimes boring. Also, Hong Kong has shops everywhere.'

But after three years, she could not stand the pressure of paying back the HK$180,000 she owed. She applied for bankruptcy early this year.

Now she sits at home most of the time because she doesn't have the money to shop, and she is unhappy. But she understands the necessity for financial common sense.

Women are not the only ones who are compulsive shoppers. In a recent Hong Kong survey aimed at gauging the incidence of compulsive buying disorder - the condition suffered by shopaholics - the male-female ratio was close.

According to a poll of 1,489 people conducted by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and the University of Hong Kong between last August and January, about 100 of the respondents, or 6.7 per cent, suffered from the disorder. The ratio of females to males was 60 to 40.

Compulsive buying is characterised as inappropriate shopping and spending behaviour that leads to personal distress, social dysfunction, and financial and legal problems.

Heman Leung hei-man, a social worker with the family debt counselling centre of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, says 41 per cent of the compulsive cases are men. The counselling centre has helped about 7,500 people in debt restructure their finances at a below-market rate since 2003.

But Mr Leung says men are more reluctant to talk about their shopping compulsion. No males approached by the Post were willing to be interviewed.

'One man in his 20s keeps on buying different film equipment that has cost him debts of over HK$120,000,' Mr Leung says. 'He bought a camera which cost HK$70,000. He cannot afford it as he does not have a stable income.

'But he just keeps on buying different equipment which cost HK$30,000 to HK$50,000.

'Another case is a 40-year-old teacher: he keeps on buying classical music CDs. He had to declare bankruptcy because he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying CDs.

'Another male case is obsessed with buying different fishing equipment.'

Compulsive buying usually involves debt, but even when debt is not an issue, there is still the problem of controlling the behaviour.

'One of my cases is a housewife; whenever she walks to the balcony of her home, she sees those shopping centres. Then she goes out shopping. She has no debt as her husband pays for her, but it is addictive behaviour.'

Research literature reveals that compulsive buyers believe shopping can make them and their families happy, and that beauty, time and health can all be purchased.

But overspending usually leads to family and psycho-emotional problems according to Mr Leung.

The Hong Kong study showed that 77.5 per cent of male compulsive buyers and 65 per cent of the women were at risk of a mental disorder.

One social worker believes that compulsive buying is not purely a mental illness.

'I have some male cases who spend so much on buying athletic shoes. They are bored with their jobs and their social circles are small,' says Pinky Yung Lai-ping, who heads the debt and financial capability project at Caritas Hong Kong. 'They spend so much time on discussion forums about athletic shoes.'

Having dealt with many debt cases in recent years, her impression is that for many people, loneliness is one of the issues involved.

'Some of them just cannot distinguish the difference between sales and friends. Some cases are not confident with their self-image and body, and use famous brands to boost their confidence.'

Ms Yung also says the materialistic nature of the Hong Kong society worsens the problem.

Volunteer accountants in her debt-counselling team feel that credit-card companies should issue statements of caution the way cigarette manufacturers must, she says.

'They go to buy shoes. Without considering their financial situation, they just become addicted. Then they use their credit cards for unlimited buying and resort to finance companies at the end.

'When I talked to some cases about shoes, I found that they had done lots of research and knew everything about the trends.

'Is it purely a mental problem? I think it deserves more study.'