Karan Johar reveals he turned to retail therapy to battle loneliness

Karan Johar said: "For a long period of time, I felt like retail was therapy for me. I was buying things all the time. I was actually trying to replace my inherent sadness or loneliness" (Image: @karanjohar/Instagram)

Karan Johar has always been open about his life — be it the highs or the lows. The filmmaker, in a recent chat with Bhaav on Soul Safar, revealed how he used retail therapy to fill a void in his life and battle loneliness.

In the video posted by Bhaav on Instagram, Karan said, “I am trying to chase joy, which is definitely not coming from my success.”

Karan added that he considered ‘retail therapy’ therapeutic until he realised it was only fuelling his sadness. He shared, “It sounds very frivolous. For a long period of time, I felt like retail was therapy for me. I was buying things all the time. I was actually trying to replace my inherent sadness or loneliness. I was filling it with things that I didn't need. I realised that it is a proper disease. I was replacing emotions with things. That’s not going to help, but that’s what retail is.”

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A post shared by Soul Safar with Bhaav (@soulsafarwithbhaav)

The filmmaker shared that one needs to dig deeper into the cause of the void and find ways to address it, rather than replacing it with an ‘online purchase’.

Many appreciated Karan for his candid thoughts. One user wrote, “I love how he talks straight from the heart. I can imagine the inner work he must have done to be able to talk about these things.” Another commented, “I find most of his interviews so interesting, honest, and genuine. Though he’s way too successful, his struggles seem very human.”

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A fan also related to Karan’s thoughts and recalled, “Yes, this is so true. It took me years to figure out that I was a shopping addict. Sometimes you buy things and then don’t even bother to open them! I finally got over this addiction, which was primarily to fill loneliness.”

According to several health portals, retail therapy is considered a quick fix for stress and loneliness. It may help boost your mood, but only temporarily. Hence, it can’t be considered a substitute for professional help that offers long-term results.