Buying Too Much Stuff?
Uncontrolled buying and shopping are growing problems, according to researchers at Australia’s Flinders University. The investigators have developed diagnostic criteria to help deal with what they call a “highly prevalent (and) disabling” problem. Dan Fassnacht, Ph.D., a lecturer in psychology noted that “strong beliefs that buying an object will lead to emotional security or that not purchasing the object will lead to a loss of opportunity explains to some extent why people can’t control their urges to buy.” He and Flinders Professor Mike Kyrios have developed an “Excessive Buying Rating Scale,” which they call an essential first step to measuring the severity of Buying-Shopping Disorder. In collaboration with experts at Germany’s Hannover Medical School the Australian team conducted a survey of experts across the world in the development of a consensus view of potential diagnostic criteria for excessive or uncontrolled buying or shopping. Their research suggested that women and younger people are most affected by the disorder.
Source:
Michael Kyrios and Daniel Fassnacht et al “Predicting the severity of excessive buying using the Excessive Buying Rating Scale and Compulsive Buying Scale,” Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, April 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2020.100509
More from this week’s health bulletin:
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- Brushing Your Teeth & Diabetes Risk
- A light and refreshing addition to your bento box: Spinach Goma Ae
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