Although compulsive buying has only become the focus of clinical attention and research investigation in the last few decades, its presence has been noted for almost a century. Emil Kraepelin (1915) was first to define the problem of compulsive buying in 1915 in his description of “oniomania” or “buying mania.” Kraepelin's original description was later expanded by Bleuler (1924), who commented on the uncontrollable and impulsive nature of the symptoms. Recent decades have brought a reemergence of interest in describing, defining, and classifying compulsive buyers in both the consumer behavior and psychiatric literature. Although some of the literature uses the term “compulsive shopper,” we will use the term “compulsive buyer” which seems to better capture the behavior of interest that results in significant psychosocial problems.
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© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc
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Swan-Kremeier, L.A., Mitchell, J.E., Faber, R.J. (2005). Compulsive Buying: A Disorder of Compulsivity or Impulsivity?. In: Abramowitz, J.S., Houts, A.C. (eds) Concepts and Controversies in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Series in Anxiety and Related Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23370-9_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23370-9_10
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