Supermarkets: psychiatric treatment in a shopping cart

From a place to buy grocery to a one-stop outlet which offered everything for the entire family and your pets, the supermarket has evolved into a haven which dispenses pleasure and comfort. It's now a place where you can hang out and see life passing by, where you meet friends for a chat and, for many, an outlet where they can destress. But are we also becoming victims of a compulsive obsessive disorder?  

Along with chocolate, phone calls and long-stemmed roses, shopping has undoubtedly gained its place as a global 'pep-me-upper' in the lives of most women. And an excuse for many men to report about six hours late - to a worried wife, a concerned mother or a tired child.

In the UAE, shopping means different things to different residents: a cure to combat loneliness, for it does not necessarily call for an armed escort; a source of evening entertainment, for it is not expensive to study either people or products; a venue for a family outing, because every member's wish list will definitely come true. Or sometimes...just to give rein to a compulsive disorder.

Shopping at a supermarket is an art form that combines need-based, impulsive window shopping into a unique experience which can be repeated as many times with no extra effort.

I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist - Tammy Faye Bakker, U.S. evangelist

Supermarkets offer an instant pick-me-up service for most depressions. While a pair of black DKNY jeans or Issey Miyake's latest perfume are calculated to give you a high;  and cordless drills or five-speed electric razors are made to cheer morose men, little is it realised how much more can be bought at the local super-store for the same cost and how many times more often.

There's a tale in local advertising circles of a junior account manager who used to walk down to the local supermarket and buy family-sized tubs of ice-cream, nuts and chips, chocolate sauce and biscuit wafers for the entire client servicing department every time her client had a screaming fit over delayed releases.

It cured her almost instantly, and boosted the spirits of most people in the department as well, until it reached a point where someone was feeding everyone every week because of being "generally upset in life".