Piper McLean is one of the female protagonists of the fantasy-adventure series Heroes of Olympus, and demigod daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love. Since childhood, Piper compulsively stole items without any apparent reason. These items could range from simple stationeries to BMWs.
Being the daughter of a famous actor, she had no financial troubles, but was constantly misunderstood by those around her. As a result, she frequently moved schools to escape the mounting feelings of guilt and isolation that only intensified after each slip-up.
With the help of her demigod powers, Piper gradually learned to manage her tendencies and even weaponized it against her enemies. Great.
But in real life, these impulses are typically not as easy to suppress, nor is it possible to channel them in a positive way. These impulses are signature to Kleptomania.
Definition
According to Cleveland Clinic, Kleptomania is a mental health condition where a person feels an overpowering, irresistible urge to steal things, most common among women.
Etymologically, the term comes from the Greek words kleptes meaning ‘thief’ and mania meaning ‘madness’. Feels like a harsh term to affix to people involuntarily suffering from the condition, to be honest.
Data on Kleptomania is scarce internationally so there’s no concrete statistic for international diagnoses, but it affects about 0.3% - 0.6% of the population in the U.S. For comparison, about 1.3% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with Anorexia, and about 4% is diagnosed with ADHD.
Symptoms
There aren’t any major symptoms of Kleptomania known aside from the strong urge to steal, but here are the specifics listed by Cleveland Clinic on their site if you’re interested:
The items aren’t stolen out of necessity or for their value.
A person feels tension or anticipation before stealing, followed by pleasure, relief or other positive emotions immediately afterward.
Once the positive emotions fade, most people with kleptomania feel guilt, shame or regret.
Some people throw stolen items away, give them to others or donate them to charity. Less commonly, a person will hoard stolen items, secretly return them or return and pay for them.
Stealing isn’t planned, and a person with kleptomania does it alone. Most people who are married with kleptomania keep it a secret from their spouse.
Biological Causes
There are no established biological or genetic causes for Kleptomania, though there is evidence pointing towards differences in brain structure and chemistry. People with Kleptomania are likely to have structurally different brains that handle inhibiting impulses differently from people without it.
Managing Kleptomania
Again, due to our limited knowledge, we don’t have a good idea of what exactly works best for treating Kleptomania. But:
Opioid antagonists inhibit the positive emotions a person feels when stealing, and other medications like antidepressants help too.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps develop mechanisms to manage Kleptomania behaviourally.
Kleptomania Within The Wider World
I feel that unlike some mental disorders like Inattentive ADHD that can go under the radar for a long time, Kleptomania is less neglectable because it has a bigger impact on the people around the individual.
At the same time, people suffering from Kleptomania are also much less likely to come forward seeking diagnosis or treatment due to guilt or fear of being judged; this could partially be why information on this health condition is so scarce.
Which is why I think it’s really important to destigmatize Kleptomania and raise awareness of it. There’s not a lot of Kleptomania representation on movies, TV shows and other media, and what’s out there is usually not that good, dramatizing or sensationalizing the condition.
Earlier I sort of criticized Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series for putting a positive spin on Kleptomania, but his characterization of Piper McLean’s struggles with Kleptomania overall are much better and realistically portrayed than a lot of other media dealing with this condition.
Thank you for reading, and please try to be more empathetic towards people different from you.
References
Anorexia statistics – gender, race & socioeconomics. (n.d.).
Zauderer, S. (2023, January 11). 45 ADHD statistics: How many people have ADHD? Cross
River Therapy.
Cleveland Clinic. (2022, June 15). Kleptomania. Cleveland Clinic.
Very well written!
Lovely blog🤍