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People with kleptomania, popularly referred to as kleptomaniacs, experience a successive and irresistible desire to steal. They do not steal for the value of the item, but for its use, or because they cannot afford the purchase. The individual knows that it is wrong to steal. Stolen items are often thrown or given away, secretly returned to the store from which they were taken, or hidden. People with this disorder describe a feeling of anxiety prior to committing the thievery, and a feeling of relief or pleasure while stealing the item. Kleptomania is a rare disorder. It can begin at any age, and is reported to be more common among females. Kleptomania is conspicuous from deliberate theft or shoplifting, where the individual is motivated by a craving to attain the item. Shoplifting often involves two or more individuals working together; among adolescents, peers sometimes challenge or dare each other to commit an act of thieving obsession. Shoplifting is more common than kleptomania; it is estimated that less than 5% of individuals who shoplift exhibit symptoms of kleptomania. Individuals with kleptomania are not influenced by peers, nor are they motivated by a need for the item stolen. This disorder may persist despite arrests for shoplifting; the individual is apparently not deterred by the consequences of stealing, but may feel guilty afterwards.
Kleptomania is a neurotic condition characterized by the enduring senselessness to confront the drive to steal objects. The objects are not stolen by their immediate usefulness or financial value; on the contrary, the person may wish to discard them, give them away or collect them. This manner is usually equivalent with a sense of gratification during and instantly after its completion. Stealing is not done to explicit anger or vengeance nor it is a response to insanity, paranoia, or hallucination.
Affected individuals commonly present other mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia or anxiety. Adult kleptomaniacs steal because this offers relief or impulsive condolence. Few people look for treatment before getting caught red-handed.
Kleptomania is assumed to be a rare condition, although few studies have been carried out about its prevalence in the general population. Studies on shoplifting indicate that only a petite quota (from 1 to 8%) symbolize genuine kleptomania behavior.
In fact, shoplifting is remarkably common, according to a study. A researcher described that from some 263 customers that were shopping at random, 27 (roughly 10%) were seen stealing. Another study estimated that there are roughly 140 million shoplifting episodes a year, but only 4 million shoplifters are seized. Moreover, the occurrence of shoplifting is multiplying.
There are no controlled studies on the science of mental disorders of kleptomania, but several case reports describe a wide range of psychiatric symptoms and disorders with an apparent kleptomania. The most common symptoms associated seem to be affiliated to mood disturbances. The majority of studies on "abnormal thieves" (people who were caught stealing and sent do psychiatric evaluation) has described high rates of depressive symptoms and depression in those subjects. Some patients suffering from kleptomania and associated mood disorder have described the relation among their affect symptoms and kleptomania, remarking that their pressure to steal only occur when they are depressed.
There are no controlled study of physical or psychological manipulation for kleptomania. Reports of distinctive cases, however, indicate that particular types of behavior rehabilitation can be sufficient to some patients. There also some confined reports of auspicious use of psychoanalytical psychotherapy, although there are also various contradictory communication. Other case reports recommend that anti-depressive medication or drugs that are determined to stabilize the "mood" can be effectual in kleptomania.
klep·to·ma·ni·a - noun
klep·to·ma·ni·ac - noun
The Queen of Shoplifting (from ABC Nightline): Beverly McGill was a mother and wife to a cop. She was also a record-breaking shoplifter who stole bridesmaid dresses, a sink, candles, shoes, water bottles, etc.. When caught, it took three large truckloads to get everything from her home to a warehouse. Her husband, Sessor Hood, couldn't mke her stop, but he didn't want to turn her in. He moved out on her a few times, but always came back. When she was finally caught in May 1998, right before he was supposed to be promoted, he was numb and embarrassed when all his coworkers showed up and began unloading items from his house. Beverly didn't even recognise most of the things that she had stolen and stored away. She even helped them haul the stuff away because she wanted the obsession and the guilt ot end. She had been stealing since she was eight. She learned how to be out of security camera views, and the electric tape would disable security sensors. She even used it as a business, stealing things that her friends had ordered, in specific sizes and colors. It became so much that, when they were very young, she got her daughters, Teja and Lashay, to distract dlerks while she would find her items. When they asked why, she would explain that she didn't know. They knew it was wrong, but didn't want to betray their mother. Beverly says it was always on her mind, like a drug addiction. Only now has it been diagnosed as kleptomania. Sylvia Chase, the top psychiatrist on kleptomania, says it's the worst case she's ever seen, and that it will only continue without therapy and medication. When she tries to stop, it only gets worse, and when she steals, she gets an extreme high. Prosecutor Gary Huward believes this is Bull, and that she's just a criminal trying to stay out of jail. She's been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Copyright: ©American Broadcasting Company, 1999
Uncommon Theives: Financial point isn't the gain. One man would steal cans of tuna, but he didn't like fish. Another woman would steal bells just to hear them jingling as she left. Mnay times, kleptomania has been linked to bulemia. Both involve a mental disorder in which women(kleptomainiacs are usually women) do something they don't want to do, resist, get anxious, do it, feel relieved, and then become anxious again. The same medications even work for both disorders. Kleptomaniacs are usually upstanding, middle- or upper-class people, who do it as a form of retribution. They are usually under much stress, and many don't even realize they've stolen the items unitl they get home and empty their pockets.
One woman had a strict mother, so when she was molested at age 12, she felt she had nowhere to turn. the aggression is deep within her. She didn't tell anyone. After she was married, she told her siblings, but flet rejected. The stealing began soon after.
There is a group for them: CASA(Cleptomaniacs and shoplifters Anonymous. The spelling was changed so the group could be named after the Spanish word for home.) Other members had single parents and/or alcoholic parents.
Copyright: ©Health Magazine, September 1997, By: James Morgan
