11/9/2023 0 Comments Kleptomania symptoms and behaviorsrecurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects) but do not provide details about severity levels and whether those can be meaningful in terms of treatment approaches. The DSM-5 criteria stipulate the minimal level of severity to meet diagnostic threshold (i.e. One approach to refining our treatment of kleptomania might be to better understand the range of illness severity and the clinical associations with severity. Thus, data are still lacking regarding optimal treatment options, duration and who with kleptomania would benefit more from medication or psychotherapy. To date, there have been no controlled clinical trials of any psychosocial interventions for kleptomania. By study endpoint, 66.7% of those assigned to naltrexone compared to 7.7% on placebo (p<.001) reported symptom remission. In that study, 25 subjects were randomized in a 1:1 fashion to either naltrexone or placebo for 8 weeks ( 9). There has been only one placebo-controlled trial of pharmacotherapy published for the treatment of kleptomania. Alternatively, kleptomania could be viewed as compulsive in that stealing without getting caught requires fore-planning and involves a complex rewarding behavior (as opposed to unplanned impulses) ( 6– 7).ĭespite being described in the medical literature for nearly two hundred years ( 8), kleptomania still remains poorly understood with limited data regarding its underlying pathophysiology and appropriate treatment choices. One neuroimaging study comparing individuals with kleptomania to healthy controls found decreased white matter microstructural integrity in inferior frontal brain regions consistent with difficulties in impulse control ( 5). Psychological testing has, in some studies, demonstrated greater cognitive impulsivity, larger deficits in inhibition, and greater sensation-seeking among individuals with kleptomania compared to controls ( 4). ![]() The behaviors that characterize kleptomania (e.g., urges to steal, inability to stop) might be conceptualized as impulsive in that they are often premature, poorly thought out, risky, and result in deleterious long-term outcomes. Although no large scale epidemiologic studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence of kleptomania in the general population, a survey of college students (N=791) found that 3 (0.38%) met criteria for kleptomania ( 3), suggesting that this disorder is relatively uncommon and/or that it is often concealed. The lifetime prevalence of shoplifting in the United States population was 11.3% ( 2). The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) assessed rates of stealing (not a formal diagnosis of kleptomania) among 43,000 adults. Kleptomania is characterized by repetitive stealing behavior precipitated by significant and uncontrollable urges to steal items not needed for their personal use ( 1).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |