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Even Hollywood can't top this sad cautionary tale. A woman in Britain was found dead in her home, perIsla fischer confessions of a shopaholic Shopaholic dies, buried beneath her purchases. the Daily Mail via Jezebel, buried under a pile of suitcases. The poor hoarder and compulsive shopper, Joan Cunnane, 77, owned 300 scarves and filled her garage and her car with many of her unopened purchases. Per, the paper:

"An expert search team and environmental health officers were also called in to help and on Wednesday evening her body was finally found buried under the suitcases.

The house was stacked with brand-new umbrellas, candles, ornaments, trinkets, clothes and electrical items, many of them unopened, as well as piles of videotapes."

According to Recoveryconnection.org, if you have three or more of the following symptoms -- or exhibited the behavior described -- you may have a compulsive shopping problem:

* Shopping or spending money as a result of feeling angry, depressed, anxious or lonely
* Having arguments with others about your shopping habits
* Feeling lost without credit cards -- actually going into withdrawal without them
* Buying items on credit, rather than with cash
* Describing a rush or a feeling of euphoria with spending
* Feeling guilty, ashamed or embarrassed after a spending spree
* Lying about how much money was spent or owning up to buying something, but lying about how much it actually cost
* Thinking obsessively about money
* Spending a lot of time juggling accounts or bills to accommodate spending

-- Monica Corcoran