Retail Therapy | Why Shopping Makes Us Feel Better and When It Becomes a Problem

Retail therapy describes the use of shopping as a way to regulate emotions, whether stress, sadness, anxiety or simply boredom. A purchase can offer a temporary sense of pleasure, control or anticipation. The difficulty begins when that relief disappears and shopping becomes a repeated response to uncomfortable emotions.

Retail therapy is a topic widely discussed online, with over 757.9K posts on TikTok and 3.4 million posts under the hashtag #retailtherapy on Instagram. #Haul has over 19.9 million posts on TikTok, where creators display large quantities of products (i.e., usually fashion related) they have recently purchased. Although this appears as a funny, relatable meme, retail therapy raises several issues – how much people feel the need to consume, constant changes in fashion trends, and possibly, shopping addictions.

According to the World Health Organisation, one in six people in the WHO European region live with a mental health condition. Of this population, one in three go without treatment. Can this increase incorporate unhealthy coping mechanisms into lifestyles? i.e., retail therapy, impulse buying? A study from the University of Iowa estimated the prevalence of compulsive buying at 5.8% among American adults.

David Waskuri is a psychologist, author of Dark Psychology and CEO of Sveapsykologerna (a psychology practice based in Sweden). In this interview, David details the psychological process of retail therapy, how shopping platforms encourage impulse buying, and the definition of shopping addiction.

In Conversation with David Waskuri

What is the difference between a compulsive buying disorder and a shopping addiction?

The terms are often used to describe overlapping behaviours, but there is currently no formally recognised diagnosis called “shopping addiction” in the DSM-5-TR.

Compulsive buying generally refers to a persistent and difficult-to-control urge to buy things, often despite negative consequences. When people use the term “shopping addiction”, they are usually describing a pattern that resembles behavioural addiction: strong urges or cravings, loss of control, repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop, and continuing to shop despite financial, emotional or relationship problems.

The important distinction is between enjoying shopping and losing control over it. Shopping becomes clinically concerning when the behaviour is persistent, difficult to control and causes significant distress or impairment.

What are the main characteristics of retail therapy?

Retail therapy usually refers to shopping as a way of regulating emotions rather than shopping primarily because something is needed.

For example, someone may shop when they feel stressed, lonely, anxious, bored or low. Buying something can create anticipation, excitement and a temporary sense of reward or control.

For most people, occasional retail therapy is not necessarily problematic. The concern arises when shopping becomes one of a person’s main strategies for managing difficult emotions and they repeatedly experience negative consequences as a result.

What are the main steps in retail therapy?

A common psychological cycle can look something like this: A person experiences an uncomfortable emotion such as stress, sadness, loneliness or boredom. This creates an urge to do something that changes how they feel.

They begin browsing or shopping, which can create anticipation and temporarily distract them from the original emotion. Making the purchase can then produce a short-term sense of pleasure, relief or control.

However, the positive feeling may disappear relatively quickly. For someone with problematic shopping behaviour, it can then be replaced by guilt, regret, anxiety or financial stress.

Those negative feelings may eventually trigger another episode of shopping, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.

Who is most at risk?

There is no single profile of someone who develops problematic shopping behaviour. Risk may be higher among people who have difficulties regulating emotions or who experience depression, anxiety, impulsivity, low self-esteem or high levels of stress. Other compulsive or addictive behaviours can also coexist.

The environment matters as well. Shopping is now available twenty-four hours a day through a smartphone, and people are continuously exposed to advertising, influencers, personalised recommendations and opportunities to buy.

This combination of psychological vulnerability and an environment designed to make purchasing extremely easy can increase risk.

Do you think shopping addiction should be listed as an addiction in the DSM-5, since its rates are rising?

I think problematic and compulsive buying deserves to be taken seriously as a mental-health issue, but inclusion in the DSM should ultimately depend on the strength of the scientific evidence and whether researchers can establish sufficiently clear and reliable diagnostic criteria.

There is a genuine clinical problem here. Some people experience severe loss of control and significant financial, psychological and relationship consequences from their buying behaviour.

At the same time, we need to avoid medicalising normal consumer behaviour. Enjoying shopping, buying something impulsively occasionally, or using shopping to improve your mood does not automatically constitute a psychiatric disorder.

The challenge is identifying the point at which a common behaviour becomes persistent, uncontrollable and significantly harmful.

What are the things online shopping platforms use to encourage impulse buying?

Online shopping removes many of the small barriers that previously gave consumers time to reconsider a purchase.

Examples include one-click purchasing, saved payment details, personalised recommendations, countdown timers, limited-stock messages, flash sales, push notifications and free-shipping thresholds.

Social proof can also be powerful – for example, showing that an item is popular, trending or being purchased by other people.

From a psychological perspective, many of these features combine urgency, reward and convenience. The shorter the distance between experiencing an impulse and completing the purchase, the less opportunity there is for reflection.

Do you think the EU is doing enough, considering the recent concerns regarding TikTok Shop and ethical sales practices?

Regulation is important, particularly when platforms use design features that can encourage impulsive decisions or when younger and potentially vulnerable consumers are involved.

However, I think this is bigger than any single platform. Digital commerce is developing extremely quickly, and regulators face the difficult task of keeping consumer protection up to date with new technologies and increasingly sophisticated forms of personalised marketing.

From a psychological perspective, transparency is particularly important. Consumers should be able to recognise when they are being advertised to and should not be manipulated through misleading information, artificial urgency or design practices that make informed decision-making unnecessarily difficult.

Do you think if it was made a diagnosis in the DSM-5 people would take it more seriously?

Potentially, yes.

A recognised diagnosis can help people understand that severe compulsive behaviour is not simply a matter of being irresponsible or “liking shopping too much”. It can also encourage research, professional awareness and the development of evidence-based treatments.

However, a diagnosis alone does not eliminate stigma or guarantee understanding.

One reason shopping addiction can become a joke online is that shopping is an ordinary and socially accepted activity. The same behaviour can therefore look harmless from the outside even when someone is experiencing serious loss of control, debt, shame or relationship problems.

We should be able to take those consequences seriously regardless of whether the behaviour currently has its own diagnostic label.

Highlight Image:
@ Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash