Are Compulsive Buyers Also Compulsive Hoarders?

A paper presented in the November 2007 issue of Behavior Research and Therapy follows up on previous research that has indicated that compulsive buyers often suffer from compulsive hoarding as well. The researchers examined 66 treatment-seeking compulsive buyers prior to their entry into a group therapy program for compulsive buying. The study participants were tested using selected measures of compulsive buying and related clinical scales and were included in the study based on the proposed diagnostic criteria for compulsive buying by McElroy, Keck, Pope, Smith, and Strakowski [(1994). Compulsive buying: A report of 20 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55, 242-248]. The study results supported previous evidence concerning the link between compulsive buying and compulsive hoarding. Specific factors linked to hoarding included clutter, difficulty discarding and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Hoarding compulsive buyers also reported more severe buying symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and presented with a higher psychiatric co-morbidity, especially in terms of depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Suggestions for identification and treatment for compulsive buyers who also report compulsive hoarding are given.

Click here for the abstract

Comments

[Swivelchair]

With OCD, there may be a separate hoarding neural correlate, from the more compulsive behaviors.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18180763?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
I think binge eating may fall into this one too.

So I wonder if some kinds compulsive buying -- like the e bay collectors -- is that kind of subset of OCD -- the hoarding.

But there is also, I think, the compulsive buying that is more dopamine or reward centered -- like compulsive gambling or addictions. There are some binge eating type disorders that I think fit in this pathway, too.

Either way, sounds expensive. Scissors to the credit card may be a first line therapy.