Main Category:
Psychology / Psychiatry News
Article Date: 01 Oct 2006 - 10:00am (PDT)
|
email this article |
printer friendly |
view or write opinions |
Compulsive buying is not just a problem that some
women have - it seems that men are just as likely to
suffer from it, say researchers from Stanford
University, USA. About 5% of adults in the USA say
they cannot refrain from shopping for stuff they
probably don't want or need.
The traditional view of women suffering from
compulsive buying is probably the result of most
studies being done mainly on women. Women are also
more likely to admit to compulsive shopping than
men.
You can read about this new study in the
American
Journal of Psychiatry.
Surprisingly, more people from lower incomes suffer
from compulsive shopping than people from higher
incomes.
Compulsive shoppers enjoy the buzz of shopping and
browsing for the things - they experience a ‘high'
from it. This is followed by distress and remorse
when the person realizes that money was spent on
things that would never be used.
In this study, 2,500 adults were surveyed by
telephone. The researchers determined each person's
level of compulsive buying by using a screening
device called
‘The Compulsive Buying Scale'.
The researchers found that:
-- 5.8% of people are Compulsive buyers
-- 6% of women are Compulsive buyers
-- 5.5% of men are Compulsive buyers
-- A higher percentage of younger people are
Compulsive buyers than older people
-- A higher percentage of people who earn less than
-- $50,000 per year are compulsive buyers
-- Male compulsive buyers tend to buy CDs, books,
tools, gadgets, computer stuff and cameras.
-- Female compulsive buyers tend to buy clothes,
make-up, articles for the home and jewelry.
-- Male compulsive shoppers are more likely to
become addicted to auctions than female compulsive
shoppers
-- Compulsive buying does not make the sufferer feel
any happier
-- Many sufferers experience serious debt, remorse
and shame
-- It is not uncommon for the sufferer to hide
his/her addiction from family and friends
-- Compulsive buying is as prevalent as many other
mental disorders
Is Compulsive Buying a Real Disorder, and Is
It Really Compulsive?
Eric Hollander, M.D. and Andrea Allen, Ph.D.
American Journal of Psychiatry 163:1670-1672,
October 2006 - doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.10.1670
Click here to see editorial online
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
