How to stop buying stuff and calling it self-care

Ironically enough, self-care through consumption and particular marketed activities can exacerbate stress. If we don’t reach our inner Zen, we blame ourselves. “[That] you need to improve the ways in which you care for yourself can play into people’s really deep insecurities,” says Christine Whelan, a clinical professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. You might think, “I didn’t relax right or I didn’t spend enough time on it.