Kleptomania - Symptoms, Causes and Treatments

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:

• A solid desire to steal.
• After stealing, a sense of elation, dread, or anxiety.
• Absence of malice.
• The habit of stealing.
• Manic or conduct disorder-free periods.

Till now, the primary cause behind kleptomania is still not known. However, medical professionals suspect a few potential causes, including:

• Different Brain Structures: Brain variations, particularly in parts responsible for controlling inhibitions and impulses, are evident in individuals with kleptomania. These variations might also signal fewer or weaker connections in the regions of their brains that regulate inhibition.
• Variations in Brain Chemistry: In the brain, neurotransmitters are specialised substances your brain uses to control specific functions and communicate. In this regard, individuals who used medications that target the neurotransmitters were later diagnosed with kleptomania.
• Genetics: Experts are uncertain whether kleptomania may be inherited or whether a family history increases your likelihood of developing it. However, those with kleptomania mostly have someone in their family with mental health issues, particularly mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.
• As a Sign of Additional Mental Health Issues: Some categorise kleptomania as a symptom rather than a disease. However, people with kleptomania also suffer from other mental health conditions, particularly anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addictions, and substance use disorders. Also, they are more likely to have suicidal and self-harm tendencies.

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:

• Family History: Kleptomania risk may be increased if a blood relative—such as a parent or sibling—has an addiction or kleptomania.
• Suffering From Another Mental Illness: People who frequently suffer from other mental illnesses such as anxiety, sadness, or a substance use disorder might have a higher risk of developing kleptomania.

Doctors will likely use your symptoms and indicators for the diagnosis of kleptomania. Besides those, other diagnostic criteria for kleptomania include:

• You cannot control your cravings to take things that don't have any financial or personal value.
• A feeling of anxiousness leads to theft.
• While stealing, you experience emotions like pleasure, relaxation, or satisfaction.
• The theft isn't carried out under the influence of hallucinogens or delusions, and it's not done to exact retribution or vent wrath.
• The stealing is unrelated to bipolar disorder, manic episodes or other mental illnesses, such as antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).

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.

1. Medications

A few medications include:

• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): SSRIs are the preferred medication for treating kleptomania. This is because it can prevent the brain's serotonin from reabsorption. Also, as the illness lowers serotonin levels, SSRIs cure kleptomania by making more neurotransmitters available to the brain.
• Valproic Acid: This anti-seizure drug relaxes the nervous system and lessens undesirable behaviour.
• Lithium: Lithium medication is known to improve some kleptomaniac symptoms. In addition, due to its ability to stabilise mood, lithium is often recommended for bipolar disorder. However, its effects on the central nervous system improve serotonin production and benefit kleptomania's impulse control systems.
• Opioid Receptor Antagonists: Opioid receptor antagonists are a class of medications known to bind to opioid receptors. They help people with impulse control issues and minimise the signs of compulsive behaviours and cravings.

2. Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytic Therapy

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.

3. Group Therapy

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.

4. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

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.