Advertisements during football games often feature a stereotypical view of men who love football and women who love to shop. Now it appears that men and women are about equally likely to be “compulsive shoppers.” (Now I’m waiting for research on “compulsive football watching.”)
A recent survey of over 2500 adults indicates that about 6% of women and 5.5% of men are “compulsive shoppers.” Compulsive shopping is characterized by senseless and intrusive impulses to buy, buying items that are not needed, shopping longer than planned, and experiencing emotional letdowns at the end of a shopping experience. The authors suggest that compulsive shopping should be included in future diagnostic systems as a disorder.
In case you see yourself in this category, therapist Olivia Mellon provides advice from her book Overcoming Overspending: Winning Plans for Spenders and Their Partners” here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9496493/
In the meantime, it’s Philly 17 over Dallas 14 and counting….
Reference:
Koran, L.M., et al. 2006. Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying behavior in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry 163(October):1806-1812.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/10/1806
5 Comments
emhughes · October 16, 2006 at 10:48 pm
So much for shopping as a hobby :P! It seems as though people can and do become “addicted” to just about anything these days. Instead of focusing on the specific addiction there should be training or therapy if you will, for learning to live and experience life in moderation (except for harmful and illegal activities and substances).
MunkeyChowFan · October 18, 2006 at 12:01 am
After reading the words “impulsive” and “shopping” in the same paragraph, I couldn’t help but think of the self-avowed kleptomaniac, Winona Rider. Could kleptomania have any correlation to compulsive shopping?
MollyMcLaughlin · November 16, 2006 at 12:54 pm
An acquaintance of mine was recently diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. This diagnosis was based on many things, but the psychiatrist did state that her compulsive shopping was indicative of this disorder. How do these two things relate?
AshleyGrinchis · December 5, 2006 at 8:18 pm
This is very interesting because when our society thinks of shopping it is always connected to women. I am really shocked to learn that the number of “compulsive” male shoppers is only .5% lower than the number of “compulsive” women shoppers.
nelsayed · December 8, 2006 at 10:25 pm
This is an interesting finding. Is compulsive shopping similar to compulsive gambling or a disorder such as kleptomania or pyromania? Is it a thrill seeking behavior or do people feel a sense of relief through doing it?
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