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Can Shopping Help Anxiety? The Psychology Behind Retail Therapy

October 14, 2014

Most people are guilty of emotional spending at one time or another. Whether you partake in retail therapy while you’re sad, angry, or happy, you are bound to end up with some unneeded items and an empty wallet. So why do we spend to feel better, and how can we curb emotional spending in the future?

“What a Week! I Deserve that Handbag.”

I recently had a friend say to me (jokingly of course), “I wish my health insurance covered retail therapy.” In fact a new study out by TNS Global found that half of all Americans have admitted to engaging in one form or another of retail therapy. Additional studies have echoed similar findings; the majority of shoppers buy something to cheer themselves up or treat themselves in form of a celebration.

Shopping as a Form of Therapy

Although shopping is not the conventional type of therapy, it does have positive emotional effects on individuals, hence why shopping is so popular. Psychologists have found that people tend to shop the most leading up to big life transitions. For example, Americans shop the most during their lifetime prior to getting married and having a child. The shopping process, the purchases and the preparation for this new phase in life allow for more control over the situation, which in turn eases anxiety. Often these type of purchases outweigh the actual need of the product.

Many times, shopping relieves stress and anxiety, which can be useful for several individuals. Studies have shown that there are clear benefits to retail therapy. For example, a study conducted by Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found retail therapy in moderation to be beneficial, citing that regular shopping was connected to longer life spans.

Problems Caused by Retail Therapy

However for some, this idea of retail therapy can be highly problematic. To truly understand the psychology behind problematic spending, we must touch on the idea of defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms are an unconscious process that protect an individual from painful thoughts or ideas that are too difficult for the conscious mind to cope with. In certain cases, defense mechanisms keep unwanted thoughts and impulses from entering the conscious mind. So what do defense mechanisms have to do with over-shopping?

Denial is one of the most widely used defense mechanisms. When you use denial, you refuse to accept the reality or truth of an experience or fact. For example, believing you only drink in social situations, when in reality you drink every night. This particular defense mechanism serves over-shoppers quite well. Many individuals drowning in credit card debt have high rates of denial, and continue to spend when they can’t afford to.

When Should You Be Concerned?

If your retail therapy habits are moderate in nature, your credit isn’t an issue, and it does not affect your daily functioning, more power to you. Enjoy those shopping moments that decrease stress and anxiety. However, if not shopping causes you anxiety, you are spending just to spend and it’s causing a financial disruption, retail therapy may have more of a negative effect than a positive one.

Best Ways to Curb the Spending

Budgeting and keeping your finances clean: Track your spending and take control of where your money is going. By cleaning up your finances and tracking your money, you will be able control your spending and lessen overall anxiety. Here are some tips on how to budget and clean up all your finances.
Balance transfer credit cards: Many people find themselves in over their heads in retail credit card debt after a major transition such as job loss or divorce. By transferring your balance to a low APR card, you’ll be able to get a grip on your debt by paying down your balance versus paying just the interest each month. The key to this trick is to destroy your old credit cards and focus on paying down your balance. Here is a list of the best balance transfer credit cards.
Face the factors causing the overspending: If you find yourself compulsively shopping, addicted to the “buying high” regardless of the purchase, you may need to seek professional assistance. Recently, the psychological community has identified Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD) as a possible diagnosis. CBD refers to the chronic purchasing of unneeded or unwanted things, which disrupts daily functioning. If the above description seems to fit, reaching out to your physician and/or a mental health provider is necessary.

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29 Ways You Waste Cash

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Who doesn’t know that impulse purchases are a bad idea? I’ve even realized it was a bad idea as I was doing it. So here are three quick tips: 1. Make a shopping list. Take it with you and stick to it. 2. Eat beforehand. An empty stomach can doom the most prepared shopper, especially at the supermarket. 3. Shop alone. Bringing children (or a significant other who acts like a child) is a sure way to fill your cart with impulse buys.
When you shop online, there are hundreds of sites competing for your business. Buy those shoes at the first site you go to and you may be wasting money. Compare the purchase and shipping price at three or more sites before you buy anything.
While you need to protect some things in your life – like your car or your house – you don’t need to insure everything. Check out 8 Types of Protection Not Worth Paying For and see what you can live without.
Being disorganized about your finances leads to costly late payment fees and overdraft charges. You can easily rack up hundreds in fees. For example, even a single $25 late fee per month will cost $300 extra a year. Set up bill reminders and keep your checkbook balanced.
Consumer Reports says the average person spends $600 a year on wireless service. But many people pay for services they never use. For example, I had an $85 unlimited plan and rarely used more than 1,000 minutes a month. So I switched to a cheaper 1,000-minute plan and saved $20 a month.
Now that coupons are available online, you’re wasting money if you’re not using them. Do a quick coupon search before you buy anything, including clothes, groceries, and electronics. You can find coupons on our deals page or on sites like: RetailMeNot, Redplum, and SmartSource.com.
Cars don’t need oil changes as frequently as they used to. If you’re getting your oil changed every 3,000 miles, you’re probably doing it too often (and wasting money). Follow the recommended mileage in your owner’s manual.
Unless your car requires premium fuel, you don’t need it. Buying premium isn’t going to extend the life of your car or give you a significant MPG boost. In fact, Edmunds studied cars built from 2008 to 2012 and found that many models didn’t even need premium fuel – even though the manufacturer recommended it. Here’s what they had to say about it:
In today’s automobiles, advances in engine technology mean that even if the owner’s manual recommends premium gasoline, the car will typically run on regular without knocking. Its performance will suffer only slightly: Perhaps it might be a half-second slower from zero to 60 mph. The key for drivers is to know whether premium gasoline is merely recommended or if it’s required.
Edmunds has a list of cars that need premium fuel (and a list of those that don’t) in To Save Money on Gas, Stop Buying Premium.
Many companies will match an employee’s 401(k) contribution up to a certain percent. If you’re not contributing enough to meet the maximum match, you’re losing out on free money. Ask your HR department for information on your company match.
Some online or over-the-phone bill payment services come with fees. For example, my electric company charges $2.95 to pay online through their website. Instead, I use free bill pay through my bank. I still get to pay online, but I skip the fee and save $35.40 a year.
In many hotels, you’ll pay automatic fees on top of your room price. Just paying those fees without finding an alternative (or fighting them) is a waste of money. Check out 7 Tips to Beat Hotel Fees.
Automatic withdrawals make us lazy with our money. If you’re paying for something each month – like a gym membership, magazine subscription, or streaming service – make sure you use it, or those charges will add up to wasted cash. For example, here are mine:
1. Gym membership – $29.99 per month 2. Netflix subscription – $9.99 per month 3. Popular Mechanics subscription – $1 per month
That’s more than $40 a month. I make sure I get my money’s worth out of them.
Becoming complacent about your insurance can cost you money. Stacy recommends shopping around for new insurance once a year – because when premiums drop or new, cheaper policies are available, no one’s going to tell you if you don’t ask. Check out our insurance comparison tool to shop for a better rate.
Growing up, I got several lectures on leaving the lights on or keeping the front door open and “air conditioning the entire neighborhood.” I didn’t care too much then because I didn’t pay the bill, but now I’m strict with my electricity usage. The result: My summer utility bills rarely top $100. If you’ve got lights on in a room you’re not sitting in, you’re wasting money.
I like to have a nice meal out every once in a while, but I’ve wasted a ton of money eating fast food I didn’t really want because I didn’t plan ahead. If I hit the drive-thru twice a week, I spend $12 on average. That is $48 a month – or enough for a really nice meal I actually wanted.
In 30 Tips to Save Money on Food, I’ve got a few ideas that will keep you out of the drive-thru lane – like keeping snacks on hand, freezing your leftovers to eat later, and planning your trips to the grocery store so that you always have something at home to eat. Check it out.
In my area, a Grande Caramel Macchiato costs $4.55. Buy one every weekday and you’ll spend $22.75 a week, $91 a month, and $1,092 a year. By comparison, a 16 ounce bag of coffee costs me $5.99 and I can make about 82 cups per bag. That is 7 cents per cup, a savings of $4.48 a day. Make your coffee at home and skip the fancy coffee-house drinks.
Many popular software programs have free alternatives that are just as good as the paid versions. For example, the free OpenOffice suite includes word processing software. Pixlr offers free online photo editing with both vintage effects and a basic editor. For more advanced editing, use free software like Gimp.
Most wireless plans include free long distance. If you call during off-peak hours, you won’t use your minutes, either. You can also make long-distance calls over your Internet connection with Skype and Google Voice – both services offer free state-to-state calls. International calls cost 2 to 15 cents per minute through Google Voice. Check out their rate plans here. Skype ranges from 2 to 23 cents per minute. Check out Skype’s rate plans here.
You’ll pay up to $35 to check your luggage when you fly. Some airlines – like JetBlue and Southwest – don’t charge extra for baggage, but most do. Check Airfarewatchdog’s Airline Baggage Fees Chart before you book. If you’re getting charged, only bring a carry-on (they’re free) or find a better airline.
Between 2009 and 2010, full-time students spent an average of $17,464 on tuition, room, and board, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But you can get a college degree cheaper (or even free) with scholarships. There are thousands out there. Check out 5 Ways to Score Scholarship Money.
By law, the three major credit bureaus have to give you a free copy of your credit report once per year. Don’t buy one until you’ve used up your freebies at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Once you order your free credit reports, dispute any errors you find with the credit bureaus. Errors lower your credit score, and a lower credit score means higher interest rates and wasted money. Check out 18 Tips to Give Your Credit Score a Boost for more ways to improve your score (and your interest rate).
I’m an avid reader, but I haven’t paid the suggested price in years. There are plenty of free or cheaper options for getting new books:
1. Get them from the library for free.
2. Use a book-swapping service to trade books you no longer want for ones you do. Check out the 4 Best Sites for Trading in Your Old Books.
3. Scour garage sales for books. I’ve bought many hardcovers for $1 this way. Check out 10 Ways to Save Time and Money at Garage Sales for shopping tips.
Some brand names are worth paying a little more for, but in many cases, the cheaper generics are the same quality as the brand names. For example, basic food stocks like rice, sugar, flour, and butter taste the same no matter what the label says. And generic over-the-counter meds? They work just as well as the name brands. Check out 7 Things You Should Always Buy Generic before you buy anything else with a brand name.
Use the search feature on your smartphone – connect to a WiFi network and you won’t use your data – or dial free 411 (1-800-Free411.) The results are sponsored by companies, and you’ll have to listen to a 10-second ad, but it’s free.
My bank charged a $2.50 “convenience fee” for using an ATM that’s not in its network. Convenient for who? I didn’t live by a branch, so I was paying around $130 a year to use my own money. I changed banks, and now I use an app – ATM Hunter – to find a branch ATM.
If you’re not paying your credit card balance off in full each month, you’re wasting money on interest. If you carry a $1,000 balance on a card that charges 18 percent, you’ll waste $180 every year just on interest. If you can’t pay off your credit card, check out our credit card comparison tool and look for a card with a lower interest rate. Also look for money-saving zero-percent transfer offers.
A 16-ounce bottle of water costs about $1.50 at my local gas station. Buy a bottle of water five days a week, and you’ll spend $30 a month and $360 a year. While it’s not really free, water from your tap is much cheaper. If you hate the taste – and I do – you can buy a water-filtration system for as little as $20. Check out Consumer Reports’ Water filters: green buying guide 2/12.
Big banks charge an average of $110 a year for checking accounts if customers don’t meet their minimum requirements, U.S. News & World Report recently revealed. Your options?

Move your money to a community bank that will offer better terms, or head to a credit union. The National Credit Union Administration has a Credit Union Locator tool to help you find one in your area.

For those comfortable enough with the tech, consider going to an online-only bank. Without the overhead of brick-and-mortar branches, the terms are often much better. Consumerism Commentary offers two lists that are a great starting point: The Best Online Checking Accounts, June 2012 and The Best Online Savings Accounts, June 2012.
The average cost of cable is about $100 a month right now. And it’s still rising. A recent study by consumer research firm NPD Group says it “expects the average pay-TV bill to reach $123 by the year 2015 and $200 by 2020.” I canceled my cable about six months ago and haven’t looked back. I keep up on the TV shows I like with Netflix ($9.99 per month for streaming) and Hulu (free for basic, $7.99 per month for extended). Many networks also stream their shows on their websites. For example: ABC, NBC, The CW and Comedy Central.
To learn even more, check out You Don’t Have to Pay for Cable TV.

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