CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Garage and yard sales are resuming in the Chicago-area, and a mental health expert says for many people they are as much about therapy as buying or selling.
Suzanne Degge White, who leads the counseling department at Northern Illinois University, said the pandemic changed many people's ideas about possessions.
“During the pandemic, when so many of us were deprived of spending time with people we cared about, we had to spend a lot of time with our things. And we realized what we really valued in life are those connections to other people,” she said.
Degges-White says garage and yard sales offer that interaction, as well as help people get rid of things that no longer mean as much to them.
The sales can help people struggling financially to either make some money or find bargains on essentials, such as clothing.
The sales may also help people cope with dealing with the belongings of relatives or friends who died from COVID-19, Degges-White said.
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