ELITE ETHNOGRAPHY: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SUPER RICH

TELEGRAPH, UK - According to therapists, being a super-millionaire is a sure-fire recipe for unhappiness. . . For some people, flying first class represents the height of luxury. But not Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, who has become the first person to buy an Airbus A380 superjumbo to use as a private jet. . . Another, anonymous, billionaire spent L83 million on a flat in the Richard Rogers Partnership's new Hyde Park development – which was double the going rate.

Such excessive spending might not be a sign of conspicuous consumption but of addiction. "For the super-rich, houses, yachts, cars and planes are like new toys that they play with for five minutes and then lose interest in," says psychoanalyst Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the new breed of therapists treating the angst of the very rich. "Pretty soon, to attain the same buzz they have to spend more money. All the spending is a mad attempt to cover up boredom and depression."

According to de Vries, the super-rich are increasingly succumbing to what has been labelled Wealth Fatigue Syndrome). When money is available in near-limitless quantities, the victim sinks into a kind of inertia.

Feeling any sort of excitement means taking more and more risks, financially and physically. Luxury holidays are replaced by abseiling in Australia and swimming with sharks. The first-class ticket of old becomes a private jet such as Prince Alwaleed's: Boeing has 11 standing orders for such wide-bodied "mobile mansions". . .