Are Hoarding Disorder and Buying-Shopping Disorder Behavioural Addictions? A Conceptual Review

Public Health Significance Statement The classification of hoarding disorder and buying-shopping disorder as behavioral addictions has significant implications for how these mental disorders are understood and treated. This review article highlights potentially fruitful new areas for research and novel applications of addiction treatments that could improve outcomes for individuals suffering from these debilitating and chronic conditions. There is considerable conceptual debate about how hoarding disorder (HD) and buying-shopping disorder (BSD) can be best classified. In this article, we reason that these disorders may represent behavioral addictions by mapping evidence to the Components Model of Addiction and the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model for addictive behaviors. Our review identifies phenomenological, psychological, and neurobiological evidence to support both disorders as behavioral addictions. However, limitations of the extant literature prevent strong conclusions from being made about the conceptual status of HD and BSD as behavioral addictions. By applying addiction theory to HD and BSD, we generate testable predictions for future research and open potential new avenues for psychological treatment advances.

Automated summary

This study classifies hoarding disorder and buying-shopping disorder as behavioral addictions and proposes potentially beneficial new areas for research and treatment methods. Despite conceptual debates, there is evidence supporting these disorders as behavioral addictions. However, limitations in current literature hinder strong conclusions about the conceptual status of HD and BSD as behavioral addictions.