A bit of retail therapy really does have the feelgood factor

WHOEVER said money can’t buy happiness simply doesn’t know where to shop... It’s a well-worn saying that’s close to the heart of every fashionista – who would defend to the death the right to own ten pairs of black shoes, a few of them deceptively similar to each other. This category of shopper doesn’t need an extra incentive to hit a mall or high street, with a full flush of cards bristling in her wallet and an extensive list in her head of must-haves from this season’s looks freshly copied from the catwalk.

You don’t have to suffer the shopping mania of a Fergie or an Imelda Marcos to know that it’s fun. If you’re feeling low but don’t have much cash to spare, a little something new like a lipstick, an item of underwear or a paperback can put a smile back on your face. That’s why we call it retail therapy.

Now it turns out that the benefits of shopping may be more real than anyone had guessed, and the feelgood factor may have knock-ons for our physical wellbeing as well as psychological health. Researchers in Taiwan have found that shopping seems to prolong life. Even having adjusted for physical and mental infirmity, men and women who shopped daily lived longer than those who didn’t shop at all. Shopping may encompass companionship, exercise and an opportunity to maintain a healthy diet, the scientists report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The study put under the microscope almost 2,000 men and women aged over 65 who all lived in their own home. Those who shopped regularly lived longer than those who shopped just once a week or less, and those who shopped every day were likely to live longest, according to the study, which was carried out over a ten-year period.

Interestingly, the research revealed that men benefited even more than women. Tell that to the average man hanging around outside the changing rooms on a Saturday afternoon, while his partner tries on half the shop. He’d probably say that he’d rather have hot needles in his eyeballs than be there. But then, maybe that is because the bored man idling around the fashion rails is not particularly turned on by this season’s palazzo pants when he might rather look at electronic goods.

But back to the pensioners of Taiwan: the academics agree that the factors involved in going shopping combine to promote health.

“Shopping is often for pleasure with the potential to increase psychological wellbeing,” they conclude. “Compared to other types of physical activity like formal exercise, which usually requires motivation and sometimes professional instruction, shopping activity is easier to undertake and maintain.”

It certainly makes sense. Think of what you have to do to get out and about and shop. You usually have some sort of goal in mind: “I must look around for some new bed sheets/I’d like to browse in that new shop/I need fresh bread and a book of stamps...”

Having decided to go shopping, you shake a leg and do it. Along the way, you might bump into people you know or chat to strangers. You may stop for a coffee somewhere, you might notice new features in the neighbourhood, and find items you fancy buying more than whatever you set out to get. Shopping may have a bad name for contributing to consumer debt, but there’s so much to be said for it as a sociable, healthy pursuit which helps to keep people who are getting on but still able to get about involved in their community. It stands to reason that a person whose shopping takes them out every day in daylight and fresh air is going to stay more healthy and feel less isolated and depressed than one who leaves the house and interacts with the world much less.

Sarah Jane Robinson, principal lecturer in psychology at Huddersfield University, says it’s not so much about the shopping itself, but moving around, seeing people and enjoying the sheer unpredictability of what might happen when you mosey around the local grocery shop or go down town.

“Human beings are social creatures, and being out there, mixing with the world and noticing things has got to be good for you. At a more general level, going shopping to make yourself feel better is only a good idea if you know you have the money to spend. It’s probably better to shop when you already feel good about yourself, as you are then less likely to be reckless. If you don’t have the money, stay at away from the shops and do some gardening or go for a walk to give yourself pleasure.”

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