The idea of a movie called “Confessions of a Shopaholic” arriving in multiplexes at a time when Americans are dramatically cutting back may sound like a recipe for an empty theater.
But don’t tell that to the shopaholics who refuse to stop buying and bargain hunting, no matter how high the unemployment rate or how low their 401(k). They can still relate to a love of shopping, even in the bleakest of times.
“I know I shouldn’t be shopping,” said 27-year-old Bethany Smith as she strolled through the Shops at the Prudential Center last week, arms heavy with shopping bags. “But it’s a pick-me-up. I feel good when I buy myself a little something. I was laid off before Christmas. I definitely need a pick-me-up.”
They may not be thousands of dollars in debt like the protagonist of “Confessions,” which hits theaters Friday, but hard-core shoppers like Smith are not giving up their retail therapy. Despite an economy that’s on life support and a consumer confidence index that is about as stable as a jellyfish, some shoppers have yet to abandon their favorite boutiques and department stores.
“Retail therapy is still alive and kicking,” says Paco Underhill, an expert on retail and the author of books such as “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping” and “The Call of the Mall.”
“There are a number of well-adjusted folks who continue to seek shopping as a way to reduce their stress. And that’s not going to stop.” Shoppers may be cutting back, but you’ll still find die-hard shopaholics in the stores, prowling for bargains or spritzing themselves with expensive perfumes at the cosmetics counter.
Take 55-year-old Janice Dottin of Framingham. When the stock market crashed last fall, a healthy portion of her retirement savings went with it. But Dottin didn’t give up on her beloved hobby of shopping.
She started volunteering to shop for family members. Better to spend for others than not to shop at all, she reasoned.
“I have a little bit of a reputation as a shopper in my family,” she says. “So my adult son and daughter will say ‘You want something to shop for? I need help finding a deal on such and such.’ At first I thought it would be drudgery because I wouldn’t get the enjoyment of the item.
But I like the process. It’s my entertainment.”
It’s not that we crave high credit card bills and debt. The reason we shop, according to New York psychologist April Benson, has just as much to do with self-discovery as it does with gathering blouses.
“Shopping is a way that we search for ourselves and our place in the world,” says Benson, who recently published the book “To Shop or Not to Shop.”
“It can promote self-expression, self-definition, creativity, even healing when it’s not done to excess. Some people do it because it makes them feel better,” she continues.
“It closes the gap between who they are and who they’d like to be seen as.”
Benson sees many patients who are compulsive shoppers — people who are unable to stop shopping despite the fact that they are in debt.
Shopping addiction can cause the same reaction in the brain as alcohol or drugs, according to author and counselor Jerrold Mundis.
“It sounds funny to say ‘shopaholic,’ but it really is an addiction,” Mundis says. “They use shopping as an escape, the same way that someone who uses substances as an escape.” Lillian Arleque says she often used shopping to help change her state of mind when she was sad or depressed.
“If I was feeling really down, or having a bad week, I would just buy a new outfit,” she says. But when the economy went sour last year, she decided to reform her retail therapy ways. She now boosts her mood by paying down her credit card bills, carefully charting her progress with graphs. She now labels herself a “minimalist.”
