Like women, men are subjected to compulsive shopping disorder

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.

Photo: Like women, men are subjected to compulsive shopping disorder

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, reports Medical News Today.

According to ABC News, researchers previously believed that 90 percent of sufferers were women, but this study indicates otherwise.

"Men suffer from compulsive buying disorder just as often as women do," said Dr. Eric Hollander, chairman of psychiatry at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of an editorial related to the study.

"Men buy different things than women. Women tend to buy things for other people, while men buy expensive electronics," Hollander said.