Kleptomania is a complicated mental illness marked by persistent, unsuccessful attempts to resist stealing. It is usually encountered in patients with chemical dependency or comorbid conditions such as anxiety or eating disorders.
Regardless, if you want to know more about this disorder, continue reading!
Kleptomania is a psychological disease of impulse control defined by the need to steal things with little or zero monetary value. People with the condition find it difficult to control the urge to steal.
Also, kleptomaniacs don't steal because they lack willpower, self-control, or other morality. Instead, it is a clinical condition in which individuals can’t control their desire to steal.
A variety of symptoms and indicators characterise kleptomania. A few of those symptoms include the following:
Till now, the primary cause behind kleptomania is still not known. However, medical professionals suspect a few potential causes, including:
Kleptomania is a rare condition. However, kleptomania may not always be recognised; some patients never get medical help. Instead, following numerous thefts, other persons have put them in jail.
Kleptomania can occur anytime but typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood. Regardless, risk factors for kleptomania may include the following:
Doctors will likely use your symptoms and indicators for the diagnosis of kleptomania. Besides those, other diagnostic criteria for kleptomania include:
Kleptomania has devastating repercussions. Also, as stealing is illegal, kleptomaniacs need to undergo therapy. It is also essential to eliminate the urge to steal to prevent further arrests and psychiatric illnesses.
However, you can control kleptomania with a mix of treatments and drugs.
A few medications include:
Patients with kleptomania have shown modest improvements after receiving psychoanalytic therapy. This therapy focuses on how kleptomaniac thieving habits symbolise a person's repressed desires. Nevertheless, psychoanalytic or psychodynamic therapy has been the treatment choice for many years before being freshly implemented with new viewpoints.
Group therapy offers comfort in knowing that others are going through similar things. When kleptomania is under control, group therapy is the best form of treatment for kleptomania.
However, to remain in remission while sharing in the hardships of a potential relapse and conflicted feelings from a history of compulsive thievery, group support fosters a judgement-free zone of encouragement. Also, any struggle becomes more manageable with a companion.
In cognitive behavioural therapy, a type of psychotherapy or talk therapy, the focal point is how thought patterns influence behaviour. So, to cure kleptomania, the doctor collaborates with the patient to pinpoint the false ideas, attitudes, and thoughts that fuel the urge to steal.
In this regard, the most potent results come from cognitive behavioural strategies like covert sensitisation, in which the patient imagines the adverse effects of thievery. Also, as part of exposure therapy, the patient is exposed to situations in which they must repress the temptation to steal.
In the first place, consult a doctor if you cannot quit stealing or shoplifting. However, many individuals suffering from kleptomania don't want medical consultations because they're worried about getting caught or imprisoned.
But, a mental health professional typically doesn't alert the police about your thefts. Also, a few individuals seek medical attention for fear of being caught and facing legal repercussions. However, they may also be forced by law to seek therapy if already arrested.
It might be challenging to diagnose kleptomania as a mental illness. Also, because the root reasons for kleptomania are unclear, there is currently no perfect way to prevent it. However, by seeking therapy as soon as compulsive stealing starts, you may stop the harmful effects of kleptomania and prevent it from worsening.
Even though kleptomania typically lasts a lifetime, you can regain control over your urges and refrain from stealing. Also, medical support and encouragement increase the likelihood that you will be able to control your urges. The longer you wait to get treatment, the greater the chance this disorder will have a detrimental impact on your life.
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Disclaimer #2: This information is added only for informative purposes and collected from different sources across the Internet. Digit Insurance is not promoting or recommending anything here. Please verify the information before making any decisions.
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