Table of contents:
- What is Kleptomania?
- Can kleptomania be cured?
- How to cure kleptomania
- Which should be noted when curing kleptomania
You don't really need the item and you have the money to buy it. However, there was an overwhelming urge to steal the item. This is a simple explanation of the rare psychological condition kleptomania. Often times, people with kleptomania are ostracized and labeled bad for their habit of stealing. The reason is, many people think that it is impossible to cure kleptomania.
Eits, wait a minute. Before assuming that kleptomania cannot be cured, have you understood exactly what kleptomania is? Can this condition be improved? Check out the answer below.
What is Kleptomania?
Kleptomania is a disorder / difficulty controlling the desire or urge to steal. This disorder appears not once, but continuously. In contrast to people who like shoplifting, people with kleptomania do not have clear goals or plans. The desire to steal arises and it is very difficult to lose it.
It is not certain what causes kleptomania. However, according to experts this condition is strongly associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The reason is, people with kleptomania experience abnormalities in the nerves and brain circuits that regulate the system reward (reward). It is located in the front and middle of the human brain. The thinking patterns of people with kleptomania are also similar to those of people experiencing addiction.
Can kleptomania be cured?
Because the exact cause of kleptomania has not been found, so far there is no specific treatment that can cure kleptomania completely. The treatment offered is more focused on controlling the urge to steal and suppressing satisfaction after stealing something. However, it is not impossible that the urge will one day appear again.
How to cure kleptomania
To help cure kleptomania, you cannot rely on one treatment method alone. Psychiatrists or psychologists usually recommend a combination of counseling and medication.
In counseling, you and your therapist will usually have several sessions to explore triggers for your behavior. After that, the therapist will use a certain approach to change your mindset. Usually the approach used is cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT). From here, you will be taught the right techniques to control the urge to steal. Your family or loved ones may also be invited to take therapy to assist and support your behavior change.
To be more effective, counseling can be accompanied by administering drugs. According to a psychiatric expert, dr. Jon Grant, the drugs prescribed by the doctor can control the production of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins themselves have a role to provide special satisfaction after stealing. By suppressing endorphin levels, stealing is no longer satisfying for people who take this drug. Therefore, people with kleptomania do not really want to steal or even stop stealing altogether.
Which should be noted when curing kleptomania
A clinical and forensic psychologist and kleptomania researcher, Elizabeth Corsale reminded that there is no shortcut to cure kleptomania. It takes a long and determined process to control your urge to steal.
Furthermore, Elizabeth explained that a person is said to be successful in undergoing treatment for kleptomania if he meets several criteria. The first is to suppress the desire to steal in the long run, in the sense that the condition will not recur. Second is being able to live life well in terms of career, personal relationships, and mental health aspects. The last one is to successfully forgive and move on from his behavior in the past. That is, he did not then experience psychological trauma because he used to have kleptomania.
