As of the current period, it is a situation that almost all of us know that the rate of depression in individuals increases as the weather gets colder and the benefit from sunlight decreases. On the other hand, we have been conditioned by being constantly exposed to this information, which means that winter is coming, and I have to get depressed. If I don't get depressed, it seems like there is something abnormal about me. Since there is nothing to do outside due to the cold weather, the places where people can escape from this situation are, of course, shopping malls. We end up in a depression mode, repeating the vicious cycle by making crazy purchases, buying things whether or not they need them, and being happy about all of them, then regretting what they bought or the money they spent.
All these are the visible aspects of shopping. Now we can ask why not everyone is like this or what are the psychological reasons that make us this way. Although there are different perspectives on this subject, the perspective we will discuss today is self-psychology. The point that self-psychology emphasizes is that during a person's childhood, the person feels valuable when the caregiver, that is, the mother, approves and loves him/her. He creates a perception about himself from the mother's facial expressions and smile. With this perception, he identifies with the mother over time. While establishing this identification, he also takes the mother's shortcomings and sees that the mother with whom he idealizes and identifies may also have faults and shortcomings, and accepts them as a whole.
After talking a little about self-psychology, we can look at how these may be related to our shopping spree. A person who is not approved enough, who cannot fully identify with the mother, who cannot accept the mother he idealizes and her faults at the same time, begins to feel worthless. But it is very difficult to bear this worthlessness. By nature, humans need to be self-confident and feel valued. There are many sayings about this; “minds were put on the market and everyone bought their own minds” “if a person does not like himself, he will crack and die” etc. By nature, we try to satisfy this need for approval and self-love. A lack of self-esteem during childhood can lead to exaggerated behavior such as shopping when under stress in later years. may occur.
From this perspective, the child's inability to spend quality time with the mother, broken families, and the dictates of capitalism can be reasons for shopping spree. As a solution, improvements to be made to preserve family unity, mothers to be more conscious, to be able to spend good time with their children and to develop their ability to find different areas where they can feel valued, through their parents, can be given. In case of advanced addictions and feelings of worthlessness, it may be recommended to seek psychological support.
Hope you have a valuable week where you can add value to your values...
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