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Kleptomania as seen as an Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

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 persi...

Posted by: Melissa T. Littlefield

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