The Guilt: Shoplifters may or may not experience regret for their theft.Once they start, compulsions are challenging to resist and can quickly dominate one’s cognitive processes. The Compulsion: Shoplifters are not required to continue stealing at all times.They care more about the act of stealing than they do about the item they take. Shoplifting is a common coping mechanism for kleptomaniacs, who frequently steal stuff they don’t need or want. Instead of doing it for the thrill, they are doing it to get something they couldn’t previously afford. The Intention: Shoplifters enter a store with the intention of stealing something.Shoplifters and kleptomaniacs both commit crimes when they steal things, but their motivations are different. There are a few significant distinctions between kleptomania and shoplifting. The Differences Between Kleptomania and Typical Stealing or Shoplifting Guilt and the dread of being caught raise anxiety levels once more, which prompts people to resume shoplifting or other types of theft. They temporarily feel better since they are no longer stealing and getting away with it, but when they reflect on their crime, they feel incredibly awful.

They steal because of their increasing uneasiness, which can only be relieved by the act of stealing. Kleptomaniacs frequently experience severe shame and regret after committing a theft, in contrast to regular thieves. This reference book is the standard used by psychiatrists and other mental health specialists to identify mental diseases. Interestingly enough, women seem to be disproportionately more affected by kleptomania than men.Īlong with numerous other impulse control disorders, including pyromania (lighting fires) and trichotillomania, it is included in the Diagnostic Standard Manual (DSM) (compulsive hair pulling). According to estimates, kleptomania is responsible for about 100,000 theft arrests annually and $500 million in national retail losses on average. In fact, as much as six out of every 1000 people may suffer from kleptomania. Kleptomania, while rare, is still a legitimate condition that affects many persons from all walks of life. But what triggers it, and can it be managed and controlled? An Overview of Kleptomania The overwhelming compulsion to take things that belong to other people is a unique phenomenon.

Kleptomania interesting facts