Computer shuts down when iTunes play button is clicked

A new problem has arisen which I'm sure Apple will not be able to fix because they never fix anything. When a song or podcast is stopped and I attempt to start up the media using the play button on the iTunes icon in the taskbar, it shuts down my computer. This is dang annoying because infrequently I forget about this glitch and end up losing any progress that I am currently working on at the time. I thought would let everyone know about the problem but don't expect Apple to actually do anything about it.