Psychotherapy High Wycombe Psychotherapy High Wycombe - Last updated 07 January 2026

DSM Reference Home

DSM-IV: Kleptomania

Individuals with this Impulse-Control Disorder recurrently fail to resist impulsive stealing of objects with no other motivation than the relief or pleasure resulting from the act of stealing itself.

Diagnostic criteria for 312.32 Kleptomania

A. Recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or for their monetary value.

B. Increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft.

C. Pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the theft.

D. The stealing is not committed to express anger or vengeance and is not in response to a delusion or a hallucination.

E. The stealing is not better accounted for by Conduct Disorder, a Manic Episode, or Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Based on the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition APA

Also: cleptomania, cleptomaniac, kleptomaniac

Research sources

Sorry, no results found

The online Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists most of the major psychological disorders and illnesses and lists the criteria that must be fulfilled in order for a diagnosis to be made. This resource is not a substitute for proper professional psychiatric diagnosis.