Beat the Blues by Going on Shopping Spree

Going on a shopping spree helps beat the blues of life, say researchers from the University of Michigan. The study claims that retail therapy can be an �effective way to minimise sadness'.

Researchers say retail therapy is not superficial. The University of Michigan team said, "Our work suggests that making shopping choices can help to restore a sense of personal control over one's environment and reduce sadness."

As compared to window shopping, when people are three times happier, buying something was up to 40 times more effective. According to previous studies, there are chances that people will not experience bad mood while shopping. Shopping uplifts their mood and makes them feel positive.

Retail therapy should not be taken lightly as it helps spread happiness in the environment, say researchers. But researchers said that how shopping helps fight bad days is not clear. They said it is unclear whether shopping has some other benefit or it helps only by acting as a distraction or the passage of time.

However, they added, "Retail therapy - shopping that is motivated by distress - is often said to be ineffective, wasteful and a dark side of consumer behaviour, but we propose that retail therapy has been viewed too negatively, and that shopping may be an effective way to minimize sadness."

Source: Medindia