shopping gives you a sense of control and boosts your mood.

 Many of us turn to retail therapy when facing some minor inconveniences, or is that just an excuse so we can go shopping? The term retail therapy is – of course – sarcastic since shopping cannot be compared to medical therapy of any sort. For some reason, shopping has been classified as a bad habit, but it is scientifically proven that it can be very beneficial for your mental health and has indeed a therapeutic value. It is fact that the level of dopamine of most of us increases significantly when shopping. The feeling when we add an item to our shopping cart or walk into our favorite store – irreplaceable!

For example, shopping gives you a sense of control and boosts your mood. Very often we are upset over external factors or situations that we cannot control. Therefore, shopping makes us feel that we do have everything under control. Another benefit from shopping is the habit of saving up money. If you save up for something long-awaited and then reward yourself, the levels of excitement are even higher because of all the effort and time. As mentioned above, the level of dopamine rises before purchasing something but also after that.