Kleptomania Health Article

Definition

Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder characterized by a recurrent failure to resist stealing.

Description

Kleptomania is a complex disorder characterized by repeated, failed attempts to stop stealing. It is often seen in patients who are chemically dependent or who have a coexisting mood, anxiety, or eating disorder. Other coexisting mental disorders may include major depression, panic attacks, social phobia, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, substance abuse, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. People with this disorder have an overwhelming urge to steal and get a thrill from doing so. The recurrent act of stealing may be restricted to specific objects and settings, but the affected person may or may not describe these special preferences. People with this disorder usually exhibit guilt after the theft.

Detection of kleptomania, even by significant others, is difficult and the disorder often proceeds undetected. There may be preferred objects and environments where theft occurs. One theory proposes that the thrill of stealing helps to alleviate symptoms in persons who are clinically depressed.

Causes

The cause of kleptomania is unknown, although it may have a genetic component and may be transmitted among first-degree relatives. There also seems to be a strong propensity for kleptomania to coexist with obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, and clinical depression.

Symptoms

The handbook used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM contains diagnostic criteria and research findings for mental disorders. It is the primary reference for mental health professionals in the United States. The 2000 edition of this manual (fourth edition, text revision), known as the DSM-IV-TR, lists five diagnostic criteria for kleptomania:

• • Repeated theft of objects that are unnecessary for either personal use or monetary value.
• • Increasing tension immediately before the theft.
• • Pleasure or relief upon committing the theft.
• • The theft is not motivated by anger or vengeance, and is not caused by a delusion or hallucination.
• • The behavior is not better accounted for by a conduct disorder, manic episode, or antisocial personality disorder.