Kleptomania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Kleptomania**
*Classification & external resources*
ICD-10	F63.2
ICD-9	312.32

Kleptomania (Greek: κλέπτειν, kleptein, "to steal", μανία, "mania") is an inability or great difficultly in resisting impulses of stealing.

A person with this disorder is compelled to steal things, generally things of little or no value, such as pens, paper clips, small toys, or packets of sugar. Some may not be aware that they have committed the theft until later. The majority of kleptomaniacs sometimes have preferences to certain items (again, usually subconsciously); for example, batteries or television remote controls.

Kleptomania is distinguished from shoplifting or ordinary theft, as shoplifters and thieves generally steal for monetary value, or associated gains and usually display intent or premeditation, while people with kleptomania aren't necessarily contemplating the value of the items they steal or even the theft until they are compulsed.

Although a kleptomaniac may steal uncontrollably without realisation, judicial courts in the United Kingdom and United States generally do not accept kleptomania as an affirmative defense.

1 Treatments
2 In popular culture
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Treatments

Kleptomania has several different treatments. Behavior modification therapy and family therapy may be used to treat kleptomaniacs.

Some medications that are used for people diagnosed with kleptomania are fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, lithium, trazodone and Valproate.

Some symptoms of it:

Recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or for their monetary value.

Increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft.

Pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the theft.

Stealing not committed to express anger or vengence

Stealing not in response to a delusion or hallucination.

[edit] In popular culture

Ally Sheedy in the film The Breakfast Club plays a kleptomaniac
Also from Breakfast Club, Jhon Bender could be a kleptomaniac (in the scene where he steals the book from the libary; might susgest this) since he inspired the robot Bender from Futurama to be just like him.
In The Simpsons, Homer Simpson is described as a kleptomaniac because of the way he constantly takes things from Ned Flanders.
An episode of Family Guy showed Lois Griffin to suffer a bout of kleptomania.
Creed Bratton on the NBC hit The Office admits that he likes to just steal things.
Mulch Diggums in the Artemis Fowl series is continually described as a kleptomaniac.
An entire episode of I Love Lucy revolves around Ricky Ricardo thinking his wife Lucy is a kleptomaniac.
Chris Owen plays a kleptomaniac in the film Can’t Hardly Wait
Bender from the show Futurama is also known to be kleptomaniac.
Dawn Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer suffers from kleptomania.
Vaseegaran in Kangalal Kaithu Sei acts as a kleptomaniac.
In the Dragonlance campaign setting, a species, the kender are kleptomaniac.
In Bad Girls, inmates Crystal Gordon (Series 1-4) and Stella Gough (Series 8) were in prison for further offences of stealing, and said to suffer from kleptomania.
Mark Sheppard plays an attorney with kleptomania named Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica.
Rajinikanth in Ninaithale Inikum acts as a kleptomaniac.
Green Day's "Shoplifter" states this reference: "Not a burgler or a bankrobber, just a kleptomaniac"
Nobby Nobbs from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett suffers from kleptomania.
The Newsboys' "Take Me To Your Leader" contains the line: "Isabelle is a belly dancer with a kleptomaniac's restraint"
Jimmy (king kong) from the 2005 film King Kong is a kleptomaniac.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Provides useful information and resources for patients and their families, including free questionnaire-based rating scales that patients can use to assess and track the severity of their condition.

Mental disorders (alphabetical list)

Edit