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Kleptomania is a psychological disorder, as a result of which the patient feels an unrestrained and internal compulsion to make small thefts. Usually a kleptomaniac loots a low-value item, because the goal of stealing is not profit, but an attempt to relieve tension.
WHO, the World Health Organization, specifies kleptomanię as a disease, a mental disorder involving the lack of control over stimuli driving behavior, categorized as a disorder of habits and drives, in addition to gambling, trichtillomania (morbid hair-pulling) and pyromania.
What exactly is kleptomania?
As defined by WHO, kleptomania it is a disease that consists in the inability to refrain from stealing things that are appropriated not for profit but to relieve internal tension. Stolen items are the most common thrown away, because they are of no value to the sick person. The act of theft itself is closely related to cycle: increasing tension before, a moment of happiness in the process, and huge relief right after the theft. However, not all misappropriation can be counted as kleptomanii. The following actions cannot be qualified as a disorder:
- stealing for profit,
- theft resulting from other mental disorders (e.g. dementia, amnesia),
- theft caused by depression or affective disorder.
Kleptomania is a chronic disease. First symptoms they appear most often before the age of 30 and are almost never seen in children. Statistically kleptomania it affects women more often than men, regardless of social status. The sick person is aware that theft is an offense, and he / she does not feel guilty, which is closely related to his system of values. Discomfort makes patients most often hide their ailments from their loved ones.
Kleptomania – causes
There are many theories about the cause kleptomaniiwhich most often coexists with other mental disorders – eating disorders, sexual preferences, mood disorders, phobias or addictions. Kleptomania it can also be genetically determined. There is a link between kleptomania and the presence of alcohol problems or mental disorders in the patient’s family. There is also the claim that kleptomania it is a way of relieving tension resulting from the patient’s failures in life, traumatic experiences, lack of acceptance by society or life crises.
Another theory is that kleptomanem you can stay accidentally, because theft is associated with a sudden rush of adrenaline, which gives you a feeling of fulfillment and pleasure. This theory illustrates that kleptomania can be a form of self-harm.
Kleptomania – symptoms
Speaking of symptoms kleptomanii, it should be remembered which thefts cannot be considered as part of the disease. Characteristic symptomsunder which you can diagnose kleptomanię, this:
- cyclical appropriation of objects spread over time (individual cases cannot be considered a disease),
- spontaneous appearance of the impulse to steal and inability to resist it,
- the tension accompanying the incident, which is replaced after the fact by pleasure, relief and satisfaction,
- hiding symptoms and a constant feeling of shame,
- fear of the impulse to theft.
Kleptomania – disease treatment
Czy kleptomanię one can to treat? Yes, but one and the main problem during treatment is the fact that a sick person, paralyzed by shame and fear, rarely seeks help from specialists. Treatment most often it is undertaken when the patient is caught red-handed, and as a result is forced to go to leczenie.
One way of treatment kleptomanii there is drug therapy. Treatment it is based on preparations that increase the activity of the serotonin reciprocal inhibitor. This makes the patient feel better, thanks to which disease incidents occur less frequently.
The second way treatment kleptomanii there are different psychotherapeutic methods. One of them is cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps the patient unlearn the habit of stealing and replace it with another behavior that is fully acceptable in society. Another therapy – rational-emotive – aims to change the schematic thinking of the patient, which becomes the cause of acts kleptomanii.
Kleptomaniac in the light of the law
Pursuant to Article 33 of the Penal Code, “no crime is committed by anyone who, due to mental illness […] was unable to recognize its significance or direct his behavior during the act” kleptomania does not incur criminal sanctions for his actions. In order to diagnose the disease, the court appoints expert psychiatrists who – if they find the disease – will refer it kleptomana for forced leczenie.