Compulsive buying could be a disorder

New York -- People who are often struck with an irresistible and often senseless impulse to go on shopping binges might actually be suffering from a compulsive buying disorder.

Lorrin Koran and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a national, random-sample household telephone survey and interviewed 2,513 adults in the US, reported science portal EurekAlert.

The researchers asked respondents about their buying attitudes and behaviours, and their financial and demographic data. The team used a screening instrument, the Compulsive Buying Scale, to determine whether respondents were compulsive buyers.

The study found that more than one in 20 adults in the US suffer from the condition.

The researchers said that six percent of women and 5.5 percent of men had symptoms consistent with compulsive buying disorder.

The gender-adjusted prevalence rate was 5.8 percent, according to the study in the latest issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Men and women have similar rates of compulsive buying disorder, they said. They often go on a shopping binge and accumulate large quantities of unwanted items.

Such people often rack up thousands of dollars in debt and lie to their loved ones about their purchases.

Compulsive buying also leads to serious psychological, financial and family problems including depression, overwhelming debt, break-up of relationships and even suicide attempts.

"People don't realise the extent of damage it does to the sufferer," said Koran.

The researcher said further studies are needed to explore the apparent link between compulsive buying and younger age and to clarify potential gender differences.