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Outrageous shopping bills are a familiar nightmare for many compulsive shoppers. And contrary to popular opinion, men suffer that nightmare nearly as often as women. A new survey finds that both genders are almost equally likely to suffer compulsive buying disorder, a condition marked by uncontrollable, unnecessary and unaffordable shopping sprees.
Researchers used to estimate that between 2 and 16 percent of the US population suffered compulsive buying disorder, and that 90 percent of sufferers were female. But a 2004 telephone survey of more than 2500 American adults found that 6 percent of women and about 5.5 percent of men are compulsive shoppers; that's more than 1 in 20 adults.
The sexes do not shop at the same aisles though. Experts say that women are more likely to binge-buy things like clothes or gifts for other people while men tend to buy expensive electronics. This survey is the first to find such a high number of compulsive shoppers in the general population.
Study authors hope that this finding can convince doctors of how many people are hurt by the disorder, so they can make finding a cure a priority.
With this Medical Minute, I'm Bill Blakemore, in New York.
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spree:a short period that you spend doing only one activity, especially something enjoyable such as spending money or drinking alcohol 狂欢
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