Therapies More Effective Than Retail Therapy - The Reader-Generated Definitive List

Spending time in nature is my preferred therapeutic activity.

In consumer societies, shopping is a popular way to combat the blues, or celebrate an event. This behaviour has been co-opted by those who have something to sell, and optimistically labelled "retail therapy".

A 2014 study found that 62% of respondents reported that they had bought something to cheer themselves up, while 28% went shopping as a form of celebration. Retailers love those numbers.

While shopping is not my thing, the fact remains that there can be psychological benefits to engaging in that activity. 

In moderation, acquiring things may serve to increase your self-confidence, help you reach mastery of something you enjoy doing, or put you into contact with other people in your community. 

For many, however, shopping can become problematic, and any potential therapeutic effects are nullified.

If you avoid credit card or bank statements, lie about or hide purchases, miss work, school, or other obligations to go shopping, experience shame, guilt, or irritability with shopping, then it becomes an activity that is no longer therapeutic. 

What it is in that case is consumerism in its worst form - the ever increasing acquisition of goods and services fuelled by planned obsolescence and the multi-billion dollar marketing industry.

If shopping therapy is not your thing, the following reader-generated list of activities that you may find more effective, is something to consider. 

I am a big fan of all of them.

- Nature Therapy 
- Conversation Therapy 
- Exercise Therapy
- Meditation Therapy

- Garden Therapy
- Helping Others Therapy
- Cooking Therapy
- Reading Therapy

- Game/Puzzle Therapy
- Music Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Cleaning/Laundry Therapy

Do you have a favourite therapeutic activity you find more soothing than shopping? It is always good to hear about how others are using healthier/less expensive/environmentally damaging activities to improve their mood. 

I added a couple more that came to mind since I wrote my initial post (that you can find here). And now that I think of it, laughter therapy is another one of my all time favourites.

Help make our definitive list even more definitive.

Share your suggestions in the comment section. Lets create the most authoritative "Alternatives to Shopping" list on the internet.

The Simple Life Is Therapeutic

Consumerism can be traumatizing, not only for the planet, but also for the consumer. Unlike other more explosive events, consumer trauma is a slowly simmering experience that often goes unnoticed due to its perceived normality. 

But it is not normal, and treating it is a good idea.

Those perpetuating the conditions that cause the trauma, recommend more of the same as a course of therapy. If you are feeling traumatized, "Retail Therapy" is their answer. 

In a recent post HERE I proposed that there are many "therapies" more effective than Retail Therapy. I gave 5 examples that came to mind. Then, the astute readers of this blog expanded on that thread in the comment section. 

In reading those comments I thought about how this blog is therapeutic for me, and Linda. We sincerely hope that our readers find it that way, too. 

Technically speaking, a therapy is a treatment administered by professionals after making a diagnosis. A therapy is a "process rooted in science and proven effective in both research and clinical trials".

However, many things can be therapeutic (possess healing powers) without being outright therapies. Like the Simple Life Therapy that so many of us engage in for fast acting relief. While the evidence supporting it may be largely anecdotal and case study, it is still robust.

Having said that, some of the ideas proposed by readers are not only therapeutic, but are also bonafide recognized therapies unto themselves. Art Therapy and Music Therapy both fit into the this category. 

As I looked at that first post, I realized that the things my suggestions and those in the comments had in common was the simple life, as well as creative thinking, as Nancy pointed out. The two go naturally together.

When one lives simply, there is more time for intentionality and creativity. Freed from the rigours of materialistic pursuit, and the amount of work it takes to support such a lifestyle, one can focus on more enjoyable and balanced choices.

"For fast acting relief, try slowing down" is a prescription that, like a magical tincture, immediately reduces stress with no adverse side effects. That is one reason why the Slow Movement exists.

Indeed, one of the most attractive things about simple living is that as a practice, it has demonstrable healing properties, just like all the things on our revised list of naturally therapeutic activities (I will post the definitive list in my next post).

In living simply, one engages in all manner of health-promoting therapeutic activities that provide the relief required to recover from a variety of maladies. 

If I could, I would be Dr. Simplicity, get my prescription pad out for those diagnosed with

• Consumeritis, 
• Stuffication,
• Rat Race Burnout, 
• Excessive Speedism, 
• Industrial Disease,
• Nature Deficit Disorder
• Affluenza, and 
• Keeping Up With The Jones' Syndrome, 

and write upon it: 

"Elixir of Living Simply" - take large dose daily, repeat frequently.

Side effects may include: being yourself, contentment, humility, attainment of deep insight into the true nature of life, joy, self-confidence, and unrestrained creativity.

Warning: May be addictive. 

Repeated use can cause you to live in harmony with nature and its cycles, and take from the Earth only that which is necessary for your sustenance.