Stealing to feel good: how kleptomaniacs relieve emotional distress

BarcelonaShe enters a jewelry store, sees a small gold-colored ring, and when no one is looking, she quickly puts it in her pocket. She doesn't need it, but she couldn't resist either. People with kleptomania experience pleasure and satisfaction after stealing, although these emotions later transform into guilt and shame. Until now, the scientific community treated this psychological disorder as impulsive behavior that the patient cannot control, but Catalan researchers have determined in a study that these people also exhibit aspects of a compulsive disorder, that is, behaviors they repeat to relieve emotional discomfort. The study was conducted by Bellvitge Hospital and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

This psychological disorder is diagnosed in between 0.3% and 2.6% of the population and is responsible for between 4% and 24% of theft cases. Furthermore, three out of four patients are women, according to hospital data. However, experts believe that the actual prevalence is higher because stigma "is a strong barrier to seeking help." Until now, research on kleptomania has been based on case studies, both in terms of research designed to improve the diagnosis of the disorder and in terms of finding new treatments. The Catalan study is one of the few that has focused exclusively on describing kleptomania, has included only women, and has analyzed the results of the treatment received by the patients.

People with kleptomania often have other disorders, such as eating disorders (ED) and substance abuse, which worsens the patients' situation and significantly reduces the success of treatment. The Catalan researchers recruited 150 participants, of whom 13 were being treated solely for kleptomania, 71 also had an eating disorder, and the rest had no disorder. The first two groups of patients showed more dysfunctional profiles than healthy individuals, but when compared, it was evident that patients with eating disorders tended to be more impulsive, while those with only kleptomania showed a greater tendency toward compulsiveness.

For the researchers, these findings confirm that kleptomania must be considered in all its compulsive-impulsive complexity, and that it is necessary to include the individual aspects of each patient, as well as the presence of other disorders, in their treatment to ensure it does not fail. Unlike impulsivity, in which the patient cannot control certain behaviors despite being aware of the harm they cause, compulsivity involves a feeling of being compelled to perform an action persistently and repeatedly that will ultimately yield no benefit. In impulsivity, the behavior seeks immediate gratification, while in compulsivity, the goal is to relieve emotional distress.

Treatments

Currently, the most common treatment for kleptomania is cognitive-behavioral therapy to enhance self-control strategies, but in many cases, it is not sufficient to address the full complexity of the case. The authors suggest considering other options, such as exposure and response prevention therapy, which is used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, as they believe it may be more beneficial for patients, especially those with other disorders such as eating disorders or behavioral addictions.