Kleptomania (Causes)

You don't need that thing, and you can afford to buy it, but you can't help yourself: you just take it. Kleptomaniacs compulsively steal items that are not needed or have little monetary value, and experience a rush of pleasure as a result.

Kleptomania is rare overall, but more common in females than in males. It is obviously difficult to document the precise number of people with this problem. People with kleptomania often have another psychiatric disorder, often a mood disorder such as depression and anxiety. There is indirect evidence linking it with abnormalities in the brain chemical serotonin.

Some clinicians view kleptomania as part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders, reasoning that many individuals experience the impulse to steal as an alien, unwanted intrusion into their mental state. Also, other evidence indicates that kleptomania may be related to, or a variant of, mood disorders, such as depression.

Depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse disorders are common in individuals with kleptomania.

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