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9. Because you're on autopilot

You do some things because you've done them for so long that you don't remember how to do something else. Shopping can be like that. A trip to the mall becomes a daily diversion. A trip to the grocery store is a way to use up time in an otherwise empty day. In other words, sometimes you shop because you've trained yourself, just like Pavlov's dog, to do so. Your favorite store just happens to be on the drive home from work. So once a week you go in to see what's new. You're never sure what you want to have for dinner, so you shop every day rather than once a week, and inevitably you come out with items you didn't plan on buying. The Internet is tailor-made for habitual shoppers. You can check the sales on your favorite website 24/7, just as easily and quickly as you can your e-mail or your portfolio.

10. Because you don't want to die

I can't take credit for this one. Tennessee Williams put his finger on it when he wrote: "The human animal is a beast that dies, and he buys and buys and he buys and I think that secretly he's buying because of the hushed hope that what he's buying is life everlasting." Precisely. When you buy something that you're going to use or wear or drive, you do it with the expectation that you'll be around to do just that. It's like issuing a challenge to the Grim Reaper: "I'm going to spend $500 on this cashmere sweater. Just you try and get me." Although most reasons for shopping actually tail off as you get older, death-defying shopping is the opposite.

11. Because it looked good at the time

At times, you shop simply because you can't help it. When your desire to have something overwhelms your willpower not to have it, you make an impulse purchase. And it all tends to happen in the blink of an eye. You go into the store looking for a white sweater; then you see something else, and you think, "This is cute, new, different, kind of fun." So you buy it. Done deal. Somewhere between half and two-thirds of all purchases are impulse purchases. They're the reason that stores are set up to look so appealing, that perfume is spritzed in the aisles. These attention-grabbing strategies work.

12. Because you can't stop

If you read back through the reasons people shop, chances are you can find yourself in almost all of them. I know I can. But it's important to understand the difference between doing all of these things occasionally and doing one or more of them so frequently that shopping becomes a problem in your life. The 2 to 5 percent of the population who are compulsive shoppers experience the emotional highs and lows of shopping to a much greater degree than does the general population. For them, the dopamine rush that shopping brings is addictive -- they want more. To find out if you're part of this small group, answer these questions:

• Do you have bags of like items in your closets that you have never used?
• Do you routinely lie to your spouse or partner about how much an item cost (or pay with half cash and half credit to hide the damage)?
• Do you feel your heart racing as you head to the cashier?
• Do you feel let down, disappointed, or angry with yourself for spending money after most shopping expeditions?
• Do you hide your purchase or your receipts?
• Do you feel incredibly guilty after each shopping expedition?
• Do you crave more?

Here's the thing about shopping disorders: Unlike drinking addictions or drug problems or eating disorders, compulsive shopping is incredibly easy to mask. Even highly addicted shoppers present themselves as smart -- they're great at getting a good deal -- not to mention well-educated, well dressed people. They're participating in an activity that, unlike some other compulsions, is completely acceptable. Shopping is a social activity. You can do it with your friends. But even when you shop with your friends, the experience resonates differently with you. A normal, non-addicted shopper can shop for a pick-me-up and typically gets a little lift, which may not last more than a day or so. After the experience, a normal shopper's mood doesn't crater. But if you're addicted, your mood goes way up at the point of purchase and way down after, and then you immediately want a bigger high, a better high, a more expensive high.

There are additional differences between normal and addicted shoppers. Normal shoppers know who they are. They're generally accepting of themselves. When they shop for an outfit to wear on a special night out, they're want to make themselves look and feel a little better. Compulsive or addicted shoppers are trying to fill a huge void. They feel they are unattractive but would like to be magnificent -- an impossible goal. So upon failing, they move on to another purchase and to another one after that. Non-addicted shoppers like to go to the mall. Addicted shoppers are driven to go. That's why one big difference between impulse shopping and compulsive shopping is frequency. Impulse shopping happens when you find yourself, occasionally, faced with a purchase that's too tough to resist. Shopping is compulsive when you shop more often than you'd like, feeling unable to stop.

If you are compulsive, if you find yourself in these descriptions, you need professional help. This is a problem to be taken as seriously as a drinking or drug problem or an eating disorder. Many therapists who treat shopping disorders treat eating disorders as well -- the parallels are that dramatic. Here are some resources to get you started:

• Debtors Anonymous (www.debtorsanonymous.org).
• National Foundation for Credit Counseling (www.nfcc.org).
• You can also search for a therapist at the website PsychologyToday.org. To narrow the search, specify on the second pull-down menu that you're searching for help with an addiction. Then ask any therapists you call whether they've helped other compulsive spenders.