Don't feel guilty about guilty pleasures



You might have heard of the expression 'a guilty pleasure' – maybe it's the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don't really need. It comes from the idea that when we treat ourselves, it can sometimes leave us feeling guilty. Perhaps we don't feel we deserved it, or we don't think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves?



Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation. It can give you social contact as well as a confidence boost from changes you make to your self-image. It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself.



Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don't have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing. Self-indulgence can be reckless and have negative consequences, while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don't have a significant impact.



One stress that people may need to deal with is exam stress. Many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment and to avoid things that may make you feel worse afterwards.



So perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn't feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.



词汇表

guilty pleasure 罪恶的快乐，让人有负罪感的乐事

guilty ['ɡɪlti] 内疚的，有罪的，自责的

treat oneself [triːt] 善待自己，犒劳自己

deserve [dɪˈzɜː(r)v] 值得，应得，配得上

responsible [rɪˈspɒnsəb(ə)l] 负责任的

take control of 控制，掌控

social contact [ˈkɒntækt] 社会联系，社交

confidence boost [buːst] 增强自信，提升自信心

self-image 自我形象

lift your mood [muːd] 振作你的精神，让你心情愉快

destructive behaviour [dɪ'strʌktɪv] 自毁行为，破坏性行为

addiction [ə'dɪkʃ(ə)n] 成瘾，上瘾

self-indulgence [ɪnˈdʌldʒəns]自我放纵，自我纵容

self-nurturing [ˈnɜː(r)tʃə(r)] 自我呵护，自我照顾

reckless ['rekləs] 鲁莽的，轻率的，不顾后果的

cope with [kəʊp] 应对，处理

reward [rɪˈwɔː(r)d] 奖励，奖赏

accomplishment [ə'kʌmplɪʃmənt] 成就，成绩



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