Photo-Illustration by TIME; Getty Images
My brain was reeling. What used to be a pleasant experience at a physical store shoe buying was now majorly stressing me out, alone in front of my screen. Going shopping used to be known as retail therapy…..Story continues…
Source: TIME
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Many people develop an addiction as a way to cope with their emotions. This is the same for people with a shopping addiction. Compulsive shopping and spending may be a way for you to avoid or mask negative and uncomfortable feelings, such as sadness, boredom, stress and anxiety. Buying clothing from reputable or luxury brands could be a way to alleviate insecurities and attain a sense of higher social standing or self-worth.
Likewise, individuals may seek validation from peers or social media followers through their clothing choices. Shopping activates the pleasure centers of the brain and releases dopamine, the “feel good” hormone. That’s the basic biological, organic benefit we get. However, there are other mental and psychological benefits we experience from it. Provides creative expression and aesthetic pleasure.
Shopping addiction is a behavioral addiction that involves compulsive buying as a way to feel good and avoid negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression. Like other behavioral addictions, shopping addiction can take over as a preoccupation that leads to problems in other areas of your life.
Shopper psychology investigates the cognitive processes, emotions, and behaviours that influence individuals as they navigate through the shopping journey. What Causes an Addiction to Shopping? According to Ruth Engs from Indiana University, some people develop shopping addictions because they essentially get addicted to how their brain feels while shopping.
As they shop, their brain releases endorphins and dopamine, and over time, these feelings become addictive. Retail therapy can help restore a sense of personal control and stave off lingering sadness. Making your own purchases also may reduce feelings of helplessness that cause despair. Fueling imagination: Shopping can spark your imagination with concrete images, smells, and textures of objects you want.
Retail therapy is not actually therapy, but it can help you feel better as long as you don’t overspend. Consulting a therapist may be more beneficial if you’re experiencing mental health symptoms or struggling with a serious problem. Love it or hate it, shopping is a pretty standard part of modern life. For instance, research suggests that formal attire may encourage creativity and abstract thought.
Dressing up increases critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, it increases self-confidence and helps people feel competent. Going shopping is full of unpredictability, sensory overload, and interactions with strangers. For example, when you go to the grocery store there is uncertainty over parking, crowds, whether or not the store will have what you need, food choices, spending money, and how long you’ll have to wait in a checkout line.
Do you spend more when you’re stressed? “Retail therapy” is one method of stress relief that many people use consciously or unconsciously—it’s the act of buying yourself a little something to boost your mood when you’re feeling low, and it may be more common than you think. Some researchers link compulsive shopping to addictive disorders, grouping it alongside alcohol and drug use disorders and behavioral addictions like gambling addiction.
2 Others have linked it to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Still, others link it to mood disorders. Some of the signs and symptoms of shopping addiction are: Having an excessive and irresistible urge to buy things, regardless of the consequences. Feeling a rush of excitement, satisfaction, or relief while shopping but also experiencing guilt, shame, or regret afterward.
Dopamine is the craving part of the brain – it makes us want something and gives us a chemical spike when we get it. So thinking about going shopping activates it – the brain anticipates the future pleasure that will come from shopping and voila! dopamine levels in our brain are spiked. We seek to recover from loss, loneliness, or heartache by purchasing unnecessary items. We seek fulfillment in material things.
And we try to impress other people with the things that we own rather than the people that we are. But these pursuits will never fully satisfy our deficiencies. Retail therapy is the process of shopping to reduce stress, feel good, improve mood, or fulfill a compulsive urge. When shopping out of compulsion, you might not need or want the items you’re buying but do so for a mood boost or to fulfill a habit urge.
Forget meditation and yoga, reading or journaling, even laying on the couch or tanning on the beach—many stressed-out Americans actually consider shopping to be the best remedy for mental stress relief at the end of a long week! A study conducted by Professor Karen Pine, a renowned psychologist, revealed that clothing reflects and influences the wearer’s mood. In fact, many women in this study felt they could change their mood by changing what they wore.
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