A recent study of shopping behavior, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, has revealed that as many as 1 in 20 Americans suffers from compulsive buying. The surprising discovery is that men are almost as likely to be compulsive shoppers.
Dr. Lorrin Koran, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said men are reluctant to view their behavior as a problem but that the problem of compulsive shopping seems to begin during the teens or early 20s. Men tend to focus more on gadgets, technical items, CDs, tools, books and cameras and can become compulsive collectors and addicted to auctions.
Compulsive shopping has been linked to social, psychological and financial problems. Dr Koran pointed to the fact that some studies have linked compulsive shopping to an increased risk of suicide as debt increases and the shame of attempting to hide the problem from others increases.
