Depression shopping, or retail therapy, emerges as a way to improve your mood. “This can be achieved not just by shopping but by other rewarding behaviors, like sex and drug use,” she notes.
It can also ease feelings of sadness. A 2014 study from the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that retail therapy not only makes people happier immediately, but it can also fight lingering sadness.
The motivations behind a shopping addiction are similar to retail therapy. People shop to lift their mood, relieve stress, cope with boredom and feel better about themselves. However, the difference is that they do this excessively, not in moderation, and they continue to spend money, even if they don't have it.
"Retail therapy" is a popular term for shopping to soothe or lift your mood. It's motivated by a desire to feel better rather than to meet a need, like grocery shopping. This activity may also be called comfort buying, stress shopping, or compensative buying.
Mental health can affect the way you deal with money
If you're feeling low or depressed, you may lack motivation to manage your finances. It might not feel worth trying. Spending may give you a brief high, so you might overspend to feel better.
Loneliness and social isolation have a relationship with the feeling of symptoms of depression coming on. Feeling isolated makes us anxious which makes us less likely to work up the energy to make and maintain connections to make us feel less alone. So shopping turns to instant gratification.
While “shopping anxiety” is not a formal diagnosis, many folks experience real anxiety when they visit a store. It can also be linked with anxiety disorders. The stress and worry might result in panic or avoidance of shopping altogether.
It can become a way of numbing and muting pain or distress. However, it is an unhealthy coping strategy that doesn't effectively deal with this pain or distress and can also lead to a person feeling worse in the long term.
Many human behaviors are rewarded with pleasurable feelings (caused by the chemical dopamine). Buying stuff can release those same pleasure chemicals, and for many of us, our natural addiction to feeling good can hence be easily satisfied by buying something.
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.
Emotional spending is about spending money in response to emotional triggers instead of rational needs. While most people are guilty of emotional spending at some point in their lives, it can significantly impact their finances in the long term.
There are other manifestations of OCD that could also lead to excessive shopping, like the compulsive need to buy items in certain numbers. In all cases of shopping-related OCD there's an element of easing the intrusive thoughts or worries.
Retail Therapy: Shopping can provide a sense of comfort and relief, often referred to as "retail therapy." Engaging in shopping activities, whether online or in physical stores, can temporarily alleviate stress or negative emotions by distracting the mind and providing a sense of accomplishment.
Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. Found worldwide, the disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 5.8% in the US general population.
You may be suffering from social anxiety, as stores are social places with many people and loud noises. You might be anxious about having to interact with people, as in, the cashiers, or just people in general. You might be fearing the fact that you could see someone you know.
Something as banal as spending money can be a trauma response for some of us. This type of behaviour is often seen as a coping mechanism for those who have experienced trauma in their past, such as abuse, neglect, or other traumatic events.
Research even shows that highly intelligent types experience greater life satisfaction if they spend time alone, over always being around others. It's also very much a healthy thing to not always be in a relationship. Time between romances means we can do things for ourselves, and remember who we are.
Research has shown that people tend to be driven by three main emotions when making purchase decisions: pleasure, fear, and guilt. Pleasure is often the primary emotion associated with buying something—we all enjoy getting a good deal or finding that perfect item for our home or as a gift for someone.
We mistakenly look for confidence in the clothes that we wear or the car that we drive. 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.
Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by repetitive, excessive purchasing, and results in mental, social, occupational, financial, and often legal problems. CBD is associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity. The appropriate classification continues to be debated.
