What is Kleptomania? A Comprehensive Guide

6 August 2023 - By blogosphere.website

INTRODUCTION

Kleptomania is a poorly understood impulse control disorder characterized by the inability to resist urges to steal items that you generally don’t need and typically have little value. This comprehensive guide examines the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatments, and coping strategies for kleptomania.

Understanding Kleptomania

Kleptomania is a type of impulse control disorder where individuals experience irresistible compulsions to steal items for reasons not rationally connected to needing or using the objects stolen. Unlike typical shoplifters driven by financial incentives or necessity, those with kleptomania often feel significant distress, anxiety, or guilt after stealing.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the key distinguishing symptoms of kleptomania are:

Recurrent inability to resist urges to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or monetary value
Increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft
Pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of stealing the item
The stealing is not motivated by anger, vengeance, delusions, or hallucinations
Clinically significant distress, anxiety, guilt, or impairment in functioning results

While ordinary shoplifters exhibit deliberate, planned stealing for profit or practicality, kleptomaniacs experience intrusive impulses to take things they don’t really want or need. Kleptomania often goes undetected and untreated due to shame around the condition and secretive nature of the compulsions. But seeking professional help is crucial, as kleptomania can lead to legal consequences, financial repercussions, and worsening mental health if left unchecked.

Common Signs and Symptoms

Kleptomania manifests in predictable patterns of stealing behavior along with associated emotional and psychological symptoms:

Frequently shoplifting inexpensive, unneeded items on impulse
Experiencing an intense urge to steal rising immediately before the act
Feeling a sense of tension relief, pleasure, or excitement during or directly after the stealing episode
Typically stealing alone rather than collaborating with others
Feeling intense guilt, shame, anxiety, and/or depression afterwards
Spending excessive time fantasizing about getting away with stealing
Going to great lengths to deny, rationalize, hide, or conceal the shoplifting and stolen goods
Difficulty stopping the behavior despite efforts to resist the urge and awareness of potential legal or financial consequences
Kleptomania leads to significant stress, impaired functioning, legal problems, and financial repercussions

Kleptomania is characterized by a repetitive cycle of stealing, brief pleasure during the act, and longer-term dysfunction or distress after the incident. The condition tends to worsen over time without proper diagnosis and treatment.

Underlying Causes and Risk Factors

The exact causes of kleptomania are not fully understood, though research has uncovered contributions from multiple factors:

Biological Factors

Imbalances in brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine likely play a role, as kleptomania involves dysfunctional reward pathways
Brain imaging studies reveal abnormalities in regions regulating impulse control in kleptomaniacs
Neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s and brain injuries increase kleptomania risk

Genetic Factors

Family history of kleptomania or related impulse control disorders increases risk
Twin studies reveal potential heritable traits like addictive tendencies

Environmental Triggers

High stress or past trauma
Exposure to stealing or shoplifting behavior by family members or peers during childhood
External psychosocial stressors like financial insecurity, unemployment, or divorce
Lack of nurturing, discipline, or emotional support during childhood
Poor coping mechanisms for managing negative emotions

Co-occurring Mental Health Issues

Depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders often accompany kleptomania
Other impulse control disorders like compulsive sexual behavior frequently co-occur
Addictions to alcohol, opioids, or stimulants are common

Pinpointing relevant risk factors can allow proactive steps to minimize individual vulnerability to developing kleptomania.

Getting an Accurate Diagnosis

Since kleptomania shares many surface similarities with ordinary shoplifting driven by financial incentives or necessity, getting properly diagnosed requires a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation to rule out alternative explanations:

Physical exam to check for potential brain abnormalities
Screening tests for a wide range of co-occurring mental health disorders
Discussion of the onset, frequency, context, and specific nature of kleptomaniac stealing urges
Identifying associated emotional and physical states before, during, and after stealing episodes
Assessing the level of psychological distress, guilt, and functional impairment
Determining underlying motivations and uses of items after stealing
Administering psychological assessments and impulse control disorder questionnaires

Differential diagnosis is vital, as the psychiatrist must ensure the stealing compulsions are not better explained by antisocial personality disorder, mania, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or other possible conditions. A kleptomania diagnosis cannot be made until such alternate explanations have been definitively ruled out.

Effective Treatment Options for Kleptomania

While challenging to treat due to the compulsive, ego-syntonic nature of the urges, several treatments for kleptomania exist:

Medications

Antidepressants like SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox) are considered first-line to correct neurotransmitter imbalances contributing to urges
Anti-craving drugs like naltrexone or nalmefene may help reduce compulsive stealing behavior
Stimulants like Adderall sometimes curb impulsive urges but have abuse liability
Worst-case scenarios may warrant off-label antipsychotics or mood stabilizers

Psychotherapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy assists individuals in modifying thought patterns around stealing urges and resisting triggers
Exposure therapy helps build resistance through controlled, gradual exposure to triggers in a safe setting
Support groups provide community, accountability, and motivation
Family therapy can help loved ones better understand kleptomania and establish healthy boundaries

Lifestyle Remedies

Stress management techniques like mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and exercise
Avoiding high-risk situations and environments that commonly trigger stealing compulsions
Developing personalized distraction strategies and healthy pleasurable outlets
Joining vocational counseling or debt consolidation programs if financial factors contribute

Multi-modal Treatment Facilities

For severe kleptomania cases resistant to outpatient protocols, structured inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment programs, like those offered by Rogers Behavioral Health, can be beneficial. These facilities allow individuals to temporarily focus full-time on recovery within a contained, monitored environment. The comprehensive programming combines intensive therapy, medication optimization, and thorough training in kleptomania coping skills and strategies.

A combination approach tailored to the individual provides the greatest chance for successfully managing kleptomania long-term.

Helpful Self-Care Strategies and Coping Mechanisms for Kleptomania

In addition to professional kleptomania treatment, individuals can employ self-guided strategies to resist urges and better manage symptoms:

Imagining potential legal, financial, and personal consequences before giving into a stealing impulse
Calling a trusted, accountable friend or family member when compulsions arise
Avoiding high-risk environments like shopping malls, retail stores, and crowded areas
Carrying only a small, set amount of cash when needing to go out
Identifying personalized emotional triggers for stealing urges
Developing a personalized distraction plan for when compulsions strike
Practicing relaxation techniques like mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, yoga
Exploring healthy, pleasurable hobbies and activities to lift mood
Monitoring thought patterns around stealing and correcting cognitive distortions
Focusing mental energy on positive life goals unrelated to stealing
Maintaining adherence to prescribed medications and medical care
Avoiding recreational drugs and heavy alcohol use that may lower inhibitions
Participating in kleptomania support communities to reduce isolation

With diligence and daily commitment to such coping strategies tailored to individual needs, kleptomania’s detrimental impact can be minimized.

Overcoming Shame and Seeking Help for Kleptomania

Many struggling privately with kleptomania’s powerful stealing urges feel deep shame and isolate themselves to avoid discovery of the problem. But acknowledging the reality of the situation, opening up to trusted loved ones, and seeking professional care is the only path forward to overcoming kleptomania.

You can conquer shame and secrecy by:

Accepting kleptomania is an involuntary medical disorder, not a personal failing
Confiding in non-judgmental, compassionate friends or relatives
Researching experienced therapists and psychiatrists specializing in impulse control disorders
Considering joining a kleptomania support group, online or in-person
Educating yourself and loved ones on the neurological nature of kleptomania
Focusing on successes in resisting urges rather than failures
Practicing self-compassion, patience, and honesty throughout the recovery process
Maintaining hope that consistent treatment and support will provide relief

There are many people who can relate firsthand to your struggles and offer valuable support. You possess the power to regain control of your life.

Look Out for Loved Ones who are into Kleptomania

If you suspect a friend or family member may be living with undiagnosed kleptomania, you can provide enormous help by:

Expressing concern and support in a loving, non-shaming way
Encouraging them to seek medical evaluation and care without ultimatums
Educating yourself about kleptomania to better understand their experience
Abstaining from accusatory, judgmental, or enabling behavior
Assisting with access to counseling and psychiatric treatment options
Helping identify personalized triggers and develop healthier coping strategies
Being patient but firm if needed in establishing healthy boundaries

Being a source of comfort, community, and accountability during their recovery process

With compassion, discretion, and education, family and friends can make a profound difference in a kleptomaniac’s journey to control their symptoms.

Hope for Overcoming Kleptomania

While kleptomania is extremely challenging, those struggling are not helpless despite feeling powerless in the moment of an urge. This complex, frequently hidden condition has proven treatable through professional care, lifestyle changes, community support, and committed self-care. Regaining functioning and freedom from kleptomania is absolutely possible. No one needs to suffer alone or in silence with this difficult but misunderstood impulse control disorder. Help, hope, and understanding are available.

Conclusion

Kleptomania is a little-known impulse control disorder characterized by distressing, uncontrollable urges to steal items one does not truly need or want. Humiliating secrecy often surrounds kleptomania due to poor public understanding. However, increasing medical research provides hope by pointing to biological and genetic factors, highlighting effective therapies, and removing stigma surrounding a misunderstood condition. With accurate diagnosis, compassionate treatment, self-care strategies, and social support, those battling kleptomania’s relentless compulsions can reclaim autonomy over their lives.