Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder Associated with Recurrent Depressive Disorder: A Case Report

Abstract

Compulsive buying – shopping disorder remains an incompletely defined and controversial pathology to our days. However, in the last years, progress has been made in establishing diagnostic criteria and developing new assessment instruments. In the absence of inclusion in the main diagnostic systems and without a largely accepted diagnostic criteria, compulsive buying shopping disorder is rarely recognized and diagnosed in clinical practice. In this context, we present the case of a 61-year-old female with compulsive buying–shopping disorder associated with recurrent depressive disorder. Our patient's symptoms met almost completely the set of criteria proposed by Müller et al. Even though the diagnosis of this disorder in our patient was not followed by a successful pharmacological intervention, we believe it brought a better understanding of the case, which may lead to a more successful approach in the future.