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Stealing & Bipolar Disorder

Stealing is not necessarily a behavior associated with bipolar disorder. Those with bipolar disorder may exhibit poor impulse control, which is a main feature of kleptomania.

  1. Bipolar Disorder

    • Bipolar disorder, which may also be known as manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a mental condition characterized by abrupt and unpredictable changes of mood and behavior.

    Episodes

    • Bipolar disorder features some degree of alternating manic and depressive episodes. Manic episodes are overly excited or agitated states, and depressive episodes are periods of depression and sadness.

    Impulse

    • According to the National Institute of Mental Health, manic episodes may involve impulsive, risky behavior. Stealing may be considered such a behavior.

    Kleptomania

    • Those with kleptomania, an impulse control disorder, compulsively steal things that they may not want or need. According to BrainPhysics.com, those with kleptomania do not necessarily steal as a response to another disorder, such as bipolar disorder.

    Considerations

    • According to research conducted by a team from the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts and published in 1991 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, kleptomania may be related to another mood disorder or “affective spectrum disorder,” though the study does not mention bipolar disorder specifically.

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