Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Psychiatry Specialist Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Önen Ünsalver stated that hunger impairs decision-making skills and shopping, an activity that can harm in the long run, should be done more carefully.

It is easier not to delay pleasure when hungry

"When we are hungry, our decision-making skills deteriorate," said Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Önen Ünsalver, "Decision-making is the job of the frontal lobe of our brain and high energy is spent during this process. If a person is hungry, he/she cannot make detailed analyzes and therefore thinks about short-term benefits. In particular, it is easier to make decisions for instant gratification, i.e. not to delay gratification, when we are hungry. For this reason, a behavior such as shopping, which can be pleasurable and damaging in the long run, becomes difficult to postpone. Even if what we shop for is not a food to be eaten, having that thing provides us with a mental saturation, which can lead us to satiate our hunger with objects that we can replace food when we are hungry."

Stick to the shopping list

Stating that if a person needs to shop during fasting hours, he/she should definitely prepare a list, Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Önen Ünsalver advised, "Nevertheless, if people are going to shop, it would be good if they determine a list of needs in advance and take care not to go beyond this list."

Focus on the meaning of Ramadan

Psychiatry Specialist Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Önen Ünsalver stated that in the current Ramadan month, it is necessary to focus on the meaning of fasting and Ramadan and said, "Ramadan is not just a period of not eating at certain hours. Many individual exercises for self-control make Ramadan meaningful. We can say that self-control in terms of shopping is a natural part of this. Setting lavish tables to break the fast or having banquets in expensive places will make Ramadan meaningless. It will probably be enough to pay attention to this," he said.