Madrid, November 24, 2023.
Black Friday has managed to be among the days with the most purchases and sales of products of the entire year. The consumption figures are so overwhelming that it is worth reflecting from a psychological point of view to analyze perhaps unhealthy derivatives of the management of such a powerful invitation to consumption. Psychologists warn that, on many occasions, behind the impulse to buy there may be a problem of using purchases as emotional regulation to which we must react.
Psychologist Ana Lucas, director of Psico-Salud, assures that behind the impulse to buy, there may be an impulsive disorder that must be identified and managed “if a person feels an uncontrollable desire to buy, if they buy things they do not need, if If you experience immediate satisfaction when you buy any object, if your spending on purchases has put you in a difficult financial situation, or if you have hidden purchases from those around you because you quickly regret having spent that money, you should go to a health care professional. psychology and work on that aspect of your personality. For Ana Lucas, a psychologist with more than 15 years of experience, if you answer affirmatively to several of these questions, you are using shopping as an unhealthy emotional regulator. In the great consumer festival that is Black Friday, it is difficult to escape the insistent impacts that are received by offering bargains and massive offers. When a person is able to use the battery of offers to his benefit and the convenience of purchases is managed, there is not the slightest problem. But in psychology offices, professionals receive many queries from people who, faced with the flood of possible purchases, cannot stop using this action as an emotional regulator. Many people use purchases to regulate a feeling of discomfort. Shopping then becomes a way to acquire relief that has enough strength to compensate for a negative emotion. When this behavior is repeated, what the person really does is teach his or her brain to look for that momentary reward. In these cases, the individual will need more and more purchases to avoid these negative emotions. “At times of the year when the possibilities of consumption multiply, such as Black Friday, we must pay attention to how the brain has been taught to function.” to identify whether this behavior is due to good management of opportunities, or simply avoiding facing negative internal sensations through shopping,” says Ana Lucas. It is a case very similar to that suffered by people who suffer from eating disorders. The approach of professional treatment in these cases is very similar to that of any addiction and can cause, in the early phases, even a withdrawal syndrome when the subject cannot buy. To avoid this, psychologists propose a work that begins with a plan that helps people become aware of their behavior. The end of that path is to approach purchases with a healthy planning of the suitability of what is purchased and what value what they have acquired has for the person. One of the tools that professionals in psychology offices use is what could be called “delaying the gratification of the purchase”, to consciously control that impulse.
Contact Contact name: Amaya Huertas Contact description: Psico-Salud S.L Contact telephone number: 605421752
