Kleptomania or klopemania is the inability to refrain from the urge to
steal items and is done for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in
psychiatry as an
impulse control disorder. Alternatively, some of the main characteristics of the disorder, which consist of recurring intrusion feelings, an inability to resist the urge to steal, and a release of pressure following the theft, suggest that kleptomania could be an
obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, although this is disputed.