No one’s saying you can never partake in some impromptu retail therapy—in fact, doing so “can release a bunch of feel-good hormones like dopamine,” Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, LMSW, CFT, a certified financial therapist and author of The Financial Anxiety Solution, tells SELF—and that’s exactly what makes the habit so invigorating. According to Traci Williams, PsyD, CFT, an Atlanta-based clinical psychologist and certified financial therapist, impulse buying typically involves a split-second decision. “And that period of time is the difference between making an impulsive decision and an informed one,” Dr. Williams says.