Researchers in Germany have recently published a study finding that a small percentage of people have developed an addiction to shopping.
The October 2019 study released in Comprehensive Psychiatry explores the addictive response to shopping. The study found that 1 in 20 of adults developed an addiction to shopping.
The researchers dubbed the addiction as "buying-shopping disorder" (BSD), which "is characterized by extreme preoccupations with and craving for buying/shopping and by irresistible and identity-seeking urges to possess consumer goods."
While the study looked at shopping more broadly, the researchers believe that the ability to shop online is feeding the addiction.
"As e-commerce provides an important shopping environment, traditional BSD may migrate into the online retail market," the study states. "The internet offers a vast variety of shopping information and simultaneous access to many online stores, thereby meeting expectations for immediate reward, emotional enhancement and identity gain."
To read more on the study, click here .