Money doesn&39;t have to be boring! Each week, CreditBloggers.com takes a look at the lighter side of the personal finance world in a series called Funny Money Friday.

The American Journal of Psychiatry included an interesting report on compulsive buying habits in their October issue. By conducting interviews with a random sample of 2,513 adults, the doctors found that about 5.8% of the population suffers from compulsive buying:

Compared with other respondents, compulsive buyers were younger, and a greater proportion reported incomes under $50,000. They exhibited more maladaptive responses on most consumer behavior measures and were more than four times less likely to pay off credit card balances in full.

The doctors concluded that based on the emotional and functional consequences of compulsive buying further investigation should be given into how to treat this disorder. As the daughter of a psychiatrist, I certainly take mental health seriously. But this particular report seems to be a bit of a stretch.

I was personally surprised to hear that only 6% of American have compulsive buying issues. With the average US household carrying over $9,000 in credit card debt balances, it would seem that this disorder is much more common. And what about other financial psychology?  Here are my recommendations for some other financial disorders for the AJP to study:

• Obsessive Compulsive Online Banking - This is definitely my disorder of choice! I login almost every day to check my balances and pay my bills.
• Paranoid Financial Personality - I encounter this one from readers occasionally. Characterized by a tendency to blame credit and financial issues on vast economic conspiracy and unfairness rather than own decision to spend twice as much as you earn.
• Acute Avoidance Disorder - Dave Ramsey is the poster child for this one. Symptoms include the decision to deal with debt issues by completely avoiding any type of credit or borrowing. May result in a lack of credit score and higher rates on insurance, utilities and cell phones.
• Credit Phobia - This one is very common. There are so many people who are afraid of their credit. They don&39;t want to check it online and certainly don&39;t want to work on improving their scores. This disorder is characterized by the statement "I already know I have terrible credit, I don&39;t need to check my score."

What other credit and financial disorders can you come up with? Post your ideas in the comments section today! The best diagnosis will win a free copy of the book "Credit Scores, Credit Cards."