Beware women! Addiction to online shopping is a mental illness
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 20-11-2019
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A group of psychiatrists claim that 'addiction to shopping fuelled by online retailing should be classed as a mental health condition,' reports The Times, UK. The study 'Online shopping in treatment-seeking patients with buying-shopping disorder' published in 'Comprehensive Psychiatry' journal suggests online shopping addition should be officially recognised as a mental health disorder.
Researchers said that about 5% of adults in developed countries had some form of the buying-shopping disorder (BSD), reports The Telegraph. According to the journal, "BSD is characterized by extreme preoccupations with and craving for buying/shopping and by irresistible and identity-seeking urges to possess consumer goods. Patients with BSD buy more consumer goods than they can afford, and those are neither needed nor frequently used. The excessive purchasing is primarily used to regulate emotions, e.g. to get pleasure, relief from negative feelings, or coping with self-discrepancy."