Can You Have Choice Agoraphobia?

I was caught up in yet another discussion about choice today. We were exchanging views on whether choice adds to our sense of freedom and happiness or whether being immersed in choice actually distracts our energy from more significant matters. The discussion ranged from the "we've never had it so good" school to Schwartz's recent account of the freedom to choose and Harbaugh's "falling behind the Joneses".

I was trying to express my experience that I meet many carers in Happystance workshops who relish some choices but are bewildered by others (e.g., to do with complex benefit/allowance applications; or indecision about what care package meets the needs of everybody involved). In the press of conversation I managed to mangle a cross between a spoonerism and a malaproprism. The spoonerism was between choice and consumer; the malapropism was substituting agoraphobia for a word that I no longer recall.

After my initial surprise, I thought about it and have decided that the phrases are apposite. Agoraphobia is literally fear of the marketplace. I think that 'consumer agoraphobia' can describe a condition where consumers are overwhelmed by choice. Some people are so overwhelmed by choice that they no longer want to take even small decisions because they trigger so much anxiety.

One example is that consumer experts constantly tell us that most of us have not got the best deal that we could on credit cards, bank accounts, utility providers etc. They emphasise how easy it is to change our providers and research the best deal and yet apparently more than 80% of us never do such research despite the fact that not doing so may cost us considerable sums of money.

Why? It seems as if even small decisions have repercussions that are difficult to anticipate or quantify. We are taking on new responsibilities. If we were to change our utility provider, do we have to agree to a minimum length of contract? Are there penalty clauses? Should we ask for a capped-price deal...Do the advantages of changing outweigh the benefits of inertia?

Some carers make important decisions on behalf of others, and make them confidently and frequently. Socially, we could not survive without the work of carers and the choices that they make - is it acceptable that so many feel unaided and unrecognised? I do wonder if the challenge of deciding to cultivate a Happystance seems to be overwhelming because of its implications. We do have to take responsibility for our own attitude and state of mind. Sometimes, this might mean recognising our own needs as well as those of others. For many carers, that can be an unusual experience and it might raise many questions as to how they allocate their time and resources between themselves, the people for whom they care, their family members and their communities.

However, for the general population, I confidently predict that both choice agoraphobia and consumer agoraphobia will make it into the revised diagnostic manual. So, watch out for them, in DSM V - you have been told.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project