![]() ![]() Kleptomania can evolve and change: people may steal sporadically, alternating with long periods of remission, or the condition may be chronic. Prevalence studies suggest that in the United States, 6 per 1,000 of the general population, or about 1.2 million people appear to be affected by this disorder (Aboujaoude et al., 2004). It can begin at any age and seems to be more common among women than men, as is the case with compulsive shopping (with which it has many similarities). Kleptomania can cause legal, family, career and personal difficulties ![]() The person with kleptomania realises the meaninglessness of the act and may experience depression and a strong sense of guilt as a result. The act of stealing is preceded by a feeling of increasing tension accompanied by pleasure, gratification and relief following the theft. The person with kleptomania does not usually plan the theft, but carries it out alone, without the complicity or assistance of anyone, taking care not to be arrested. ![]() Individuals diagnosed with kleptomania in combination with personality disorders had an earlier onset of theft (13.4 +/- 5.6 years) than those diagnosed with kleptomania alone (27.4 +/- 14.2 years) (Grant, 2004). The most common were paranoid disorder (n=5 17.9%), schizoid disorder (n=3 10.7%) and borderline personality disorder (n=3 10.7%). Twelve subjects with kleptomania (42.9%) also had at least one personality disorder. In a clinical study, 28 subjects diagnosed with kleptomania were given specific tests to assess the possible presence of personality disorders. There may be subtypes with characteristics similar to OCD and subtypes with characteristics similar to substance addiction and mood disorders (Grant, 2006). Often, people with this disorder have first-degree relatives with substance dependency. Psychiatry defines kleptomania as an obsessive form of thinking, as the idea of theft and its completion pervades the mind, preventing any other type of activity. The theft is not carried out out of revenge, anger, delirium or hallucination, but from the inability to resist a compelling desire. More rarely, he may even keep them and return them secretly’. Kleptomania is listed in the Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV TR) as an Impulse Control Disorder and is characterised by “a recurrent inability to resist the impulse to steal objects that have no personal use or commercial value to the kleptomaniac, who often gives them away or throws them away. KLEPTOMANIA AND ITS SYMPTOMATIC EVOLUTION This is because of certain characteristics common to this class of disorders, such as the tension that precedes the performance of the behaviour, the search for immediate gratification, and the inability to withstand the frustration of avoiding the behaviour.
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