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Introduction Although kleptomania, the irresistible impulse to steal objects not needed for personal use or for their monetary value, is currently classified in psychiatric nomenclature as an impulse control disorder, research suggests it is, rather, a variant of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The principle effects of the theft are repetitive, unwanted intrusions of thoughts, and an inability to avoid the compulsion to perform the theft, and the relief of tension following the act (Dannon, 2002). Comparison of both disorders, their comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, and the treatment used to reduce and eliminate symptoms may have a baring on the “correct” classification. Kleptomania, listed in the DSM-IV as an impulse control disorder not elsewhere classified, is a psychiatric condition still poorly understood and subject of only a few systematic studies (Presta, Marazziti, Dell‘Osso, Pfanner, Pallanti, & Cassano, 2002). Kleptomania is characterized by the persistent impossibility to resist the drive to steal objects. Kleptomania should be distinguished from shoplifting, in which the action is usually well-planned and motivated by need or monetary gain. Often a kleptomaniac steals things he or she could have easily bought or things that are not expensive. The objects stolen are not stolen for their immediate utility or monetary value; on the contrary, the person will most likely discard them, give them away, or collect them. This behavior is usually associated with a sense of satisfaction during and immediately after its accomplished. Stealing is not done to express anger or vengeance nor is it a response to delirium or hallucination (Cardoso, 1997). Most patients with this disorder seem to be women; their mean age is about 36 and their mean duration of illness is roughly 16 years. Some individuals report the onset of kleptomania as early as age five, but on average, it seems to appear around adolescence and early adulthood (PsychNet-UK, 2003). Since the thefts of the kleptomanic person cannot be explained by Antisocial Personality Disorder, Conduct Disorder, or a Manic Episode and involve the inability to control ones impulse to steal, it is classified as an impulse control disorder. The core feature of ICDs is the repeated expression of impulsive acts that lead to physical or financial damage to the individual or another person (TEXT). Since kleptomania represents this quality and shares the three characteristics of impulse control disorders one would easily agree with this classification. This being a failure to resist an impulse or temptation to perform some act, although they know the act is considered wrong by society or is harmful to them, experiencing tension or arousal before the act, and after committing the act there is a sense of excitement, gratification, or release that is felt (TEXT). By definition, obsessive-compulsive disorder is closely linked to kleptomania. The two-part disorder contains obsessions, which are intrusive, repetitive thoughts or images that produce anxiety, and compulsions, which is the need to perform acts or to dwell on thoughts to reduce anxiety (TEXT). Obsessions can be broken down into two distinct subtypes. One being, autogenous obsessions, which tend to come abruptly into consciousness without identifiable evoking stimuli, which are perceived as ego-dystonic (considering the thoughts and actions alien and not subject to his or her voluntary control) and aversive enough to be repelled, and include sexual, aggressive, and immoral thoughts or impulses (Lee & Kwon, 2003). On the other hand, reactive obsessions are evoked by identifiable external stimuli, which are perceived as relatively realistic and rational enough to do something toward the stimuli, and include thoughts about contamination, mistake, accident, asymmetry, loss, etc (Lee & Kwon, 2003).
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