Kleptomania has existed for a very long time, and even the most famous personalities suffered from this defect. So, King Henry IV, being at receptions and just visiting, cleverly hid some gizmos in his pockets and sleeves. And returning to their owners, I enjoyed the effect. He committed his petty thefts solely for pleasure. This motive also drives most of the current kleptomaniacs, although some steal for completely different reasons. Therefore, the question of what is kleptomania is difficult to answer. Let's try to figure it out.
Definition of kleptomania
In Greek, a thief is κλέφτης (cleftis). The meaning of the word “mania” is a mental disorder consisting in concentrating all the impulses of consciousness to a specific idea or action. Therefore, the question of what kleptomania can be answered is: it is a mental disorder consisting in the urge to steal. What causes mental or mental disorders? The main reason is the inability to accept the prevailing living conditions and the inability to cope with daily major and minor problems, as well as an internal conflict of personality, when a person thinks that he is not getting something from life, is not reaching for something. In such situations, a disturbed mental balance in a person causes a violation in the field of behavior, thinking, and so on. Unfortunately, every fourth inhabitant of the Earth has mental disorders. Every second woman and every tenth man expresses it in kleptomania.
Little thieves
It's no secret to anyone how common kleptomania is in children. How often our kids bring home other people's toys and things, and take a trifle from our pockets or just from the table!
Some parents, having convicted the heir in the deed, literally knock out the rudiments of this vice from him. Other dads and mothers pretend that nothing happened, believing that the child herself will forget about her misconduct. Both are wrong. Having found a foreign object in the house, one cannot beat a child, just as one cannot ignore it. It is necessary to talk with the baby, find out why he took someone else's, and explain the inadmissibility of this action. In cases of constant petty theft, it is advisable to contact a child psychologist. And for themselves, parents should figure out what their child is missing and try to fill the gap. If measures are not taken in time, children's kleptomania will gain a foothold in consciousness and grow into an adult. And there, even before the crime is at hand.
Why do children steal
The child was barely born and a little older - but already a person with all its inherent qualities. This means that the little man is able to experience, be jealous, resent, envy, even take revenge. Although his life has just begun, he is already sensitive to any attitude towards him and perfectly notices the indifference to his person, his dislike, his preference for other people.
On the basis of all this, kleptomania can develop. The reasons that kids take someone else's are very different. Here are just a few of them:
- the desire to attract attention;
- jealousy (when children take things of people with whom mom or dad spend too much time);
- envy (mainly observed in children from poor families);
- ignorance that theft is bad;
- the desire to show himself as a hero in front of other children;
- just like that, because the thing (money) caught my eye;
- the desire to imitate someone (for example, movie heroes);
- strong emotional and psychological stress;
- latent or explicit mental illness.
How to cure children from theft
The psyche in childhood is only being formed and is almost always amenable to correction. If you correctly understand the mental state of the little man, you can remove the reasons why his hands are drawn to other people's things. If the child does not have enough attention, you need to try to find more time for him. If this desire is to possess what he does not have, you can buy the desired thing for the child or replace it with another one that is more suitable for the financial capabilities of the parents, or shift the child’s interest from this thing to something else, no less interesting. It is easy to stop child theft if the child did not know that this is bad. In this case, a fairly simple calm conversation. It is more difficult to eradicate kleptomania in children caused by mental disorders. In front of one girl’s father was shot dead. She felt a great desire to steal something whenever she recalled this picture. Another boy took a stranger when a memory of a vision of an accident that he experienced with his parents arose. In such and similar cases, only a specialist psychotherapist can help the child.
Kleptomania in adults
With theft in children is relatively simple. A completely different thing with adults. Almost every one of them understands that taking someone else's is evil. And they take it anyway. Moreover, many kleptomaniacs absolutely do not need trifles stolen by them! For example, Britney Spears pulls lighters from gas stations and wigs from stores. Sellers see it, but are silent. Vayona Ryder takes clothes out of boutiques. The famous Neil Cassidy "stole" cars. He had almost five hundred of them. In fact, with the assumption that there is such a disease - kleptomania, every thief in detail can declare to representatives of the law his innocence and calmly continue his work. In Britain, it was estimated that about 100 billion dollars worth of store shelves are emptied by kleptomania every year. Here is such an innocent mental breakdown. Ideally, every law caught in the act should be sent for a special examination. But in reality this rarely happens.
Mental Disorder Test
Many psychologists and psychotherapists in the world are developing tests to identify various forms of mental disorders in a ward. The most famous of them is the Sondi test, first published back in 1939.
It consists in the patient choosing the positive and negative (in his opinion) persons from the proposed photo gallery. Professor Sondi, developing this test, was based on the tendency of each person to visual negative images due to hereditary factors. For a long time he studied large groups of people with mental disabilities and analyzed the medical histories of relatives of these people.
In addition to the Sondi test, there are others. All of them are based on a group of questions of various categories. But really, with the help of tests, it is impossible to completely prove that the subject has this mental disorder - kleptomania. Treatment of caught and not convicted thieves mainly consists of psychological training. However, in America, a cure for this ailment has been developed. The drug acts on specific receptors in the brain and causes a feeling of relaxation, neutralizing the desire to steal. True, it does not affect imaginary patients.
Why do adults steal
Among adults who call themselves kleptomaniacs, there is a large group of those who steal out of necessity or for profit.
For those who do not need material wealth, various reasons motivate them to snitch. The most characteristic of them:
- excitement, a love of risk;
- injuries to the head and brain;
- a desire to have fun (which is why Jimmy Morrison stole books at one time);
- disorders of the nervous system (some people relieve stress through theft);
- revenge on the whole world for their troubles;
- feeling like a fighter for justice. Each time a wealthy man pulled something from the supermarket, explaining this with compensation for too high prices (as it seemed to him) or for disgusting service. He always found a reason for punishing store employees and never believed that it was kleptomania. The treatment of such mental disorders is carried out in a specialized clinic in Malibu. It costs about twenty thousand dollars.
Theory of skin vector
He is trying to explain what kleptomania is, the so-called skin vector theory associated with the systemic vector psychology of Yuri Burlan. It is based on the assertion that our body is a part of the Universe that separates from the rest of the world and protects the skin from external influences. She is able to respond to any changes in the environment and is the coordinating principle for humanity. "Skin" people are always by nature the organizers and engines of progress. At the same time, they are calculating economists who clearly define the boundaries of their property and seek to fill it with material goods. Once the skin vector helped to survive and its owner and his entire family. Now he helps to occupy a certain position in society. According to this theory, only a person with a skin vector can become a kleptomaniac.
How to help a real kleptomaniac
What is kleptomania for the kleptomaniacs themselves? Some perceive it as a way to get the desired dose of adrenaline or as a fun adventure, others experience severe mental suffering. At the time of the theft, such people do not realize what they are doing. Understanding, and with it repentance and shame come when the action is completed. Most of all, the fear is that the family, friends, colleagues know about the theft. Too impressionable such torments lead to suicide. It turns out that kleptomania is not so harmless. How to treat this ailment? In addition to drugs developed in America, antidepressants are widely used (drugs "Prozac", "Luvox", "Paxil"). Good results are obtained with lithium preparations, anticonvulsants (Tomopax products), as well as Naltrexone. Together with the prescription of medicines, the patient is given courses of psychotherapy.