And women are nine times more likely than men to be affected - one study found up to half of all 14- to 18-year-old girls in Scotland, Italy and Spain displayed signs of shopping addiction.

In a few recent cases, socially withdrawn young men have committed shocking crimes, including a 27-year-old who kidnapped a 9-year-old girl in 1990 and kept her in his room for nine years.

As I drove, I counted my passengers. There were 14-nine men, four women and a little two-year-old boy.