AT LAST, A CLEAR-CUT DEFINITION OF COMPULSIVE SHOPPING DISORDER

Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, have come up with a set of guidelines for what makes someone a shopaholic. According to study author Professor Mike Kyrios, there has been an absence of commonly agreed diagnostic criteria which has hampered treatment of the problem. So, he gathered opinions from 138 experts in over 35 countries to reach a consensus over the criteria. Are you ready? Here are the long-awaited clinical criteria for compulsive shopping disorder:
1. The person buys items without ever using them.
2. They buy them because it makes them feel good.
3. They soon regret their purchase.
* I don’t know about the first thing, but I feel numbers 2 and 3 when I eat at Arby’s.
* To understand more about your compulsive shopping disorder, you may want to purchase a copy of Professor Kyrios’ new book. Better yet, buy a couple, give them to friends.
* The lesson here, obviously, is don’t buy anything you don’t need. We’ll talk about that more after this commercial break.