Kleptomania, mood disorder and lithium

Rocha, Fábio Lopes; Rocha, Maria Elizabete Guimarães

doi:10.1590/S0004-282X1992000400023

Abstracts

Kleptomania has been found in association with major depression in a fairly large number of reports in recent years. We describe a patient with concurrent DSM-III-R Bipolar Mood Disorder and Kleptomania, whose symptoms remitted completely, apparently in response to lithium therapy, which raised the possibility that pharmacological treatment may benefit kleptomania. Further studies are needed to establish the possible relationship between kleptomania, mood disorders and lithium therapy.

kleptomania; lithium; mood disorders; bipolar disorder

Os autores descrevem e comentam o caso de uma paciente com Distúrbio de Humor Bipolar e Cleptomanía (DSM-III-R) que apresentou remissão de seu quadro compulsivo após instituição de litioterapia. Discutem a possibilidade de tratamento medicamentoso para este distúrbio e apontam para a necessidade de estudos que estabeleçam a eventual relação entre cleptomania, distúrbios do humor e litioterapia.

cleptomania; lítio; distúrbios do humor; distúrbio bipolar

Fábio Lopes Rocha^I; Maria Elizabete Guimarães Rocha^II

^IPsychiatrist, Preceptor of Psychiatry of the Psychiatric Residency, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Hospital Galba Velloso, Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais

^IIPsychiatrist, Staff Member of the Mental Health Program, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Secretaria de Saúde do Estado de Minas Gerais

SUMMARY

Kleptomania has been found in association with major depression in a fairly large number of reports in recent years. We describe a patient with concurrent DSM-III-R Bipolar Mood Disorder and Kleptomania, whose symptoms remitted completely, apparently in response to lithium therapy, which raised the possibility that pharmacological treatment may benefit kleptomania. Further studies are needed to establish the possible relationship between kleptomania, mood disorders and lithium therapy.

Key words: kleptomania, lithium, mood disorders, bipolar disorder.

RESUMO

Os autores descrevem e comentam o caso de uma paciente com Distúrbio de Humor Bipolar e Cleptomanía (DSM-III-R) que apresentou remissão de seu quadro compulsivo após instituição de litioterapia. Discutem a possibilidade de tratamento medicamentoso para este distúrbio e apontam para a necessidade de estudos que estabeleçam a eventual relação entre cleptomania, distúrbios do humor e litioterapia.

Palavras-chave: cleptomania, lítio, distúrbios do humor, distúrbio bipolar.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text available only in PDF format.

Acknowledgments We pay tribute to Mr. David K. Bowen, BSW, MA, for his patience and time reviewing the text.

Dr. Fábio Lopes Rocha Av. Brasil 698/202 - 30140 Belo Horizonte MG - Brasil.

1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders. Ed 3 (Revised) Washington: American Psychiatric Press, 1987.
2. Bradford J, Balmaceda R. Shoplifiting: is there a specific psychiatric syndrome? Can J Psychiatry 1983, 28:248-254.
3. Davis H. Psychiatric aspects of shoplifting. S A Med J 1979, 55:885-887.
4. Ey H, Bernard P, Brisset C. Manual de Psiquiatria. Rio: Masson do Brasil, 1981.
5. Fenichel O. Teoria Psicanalítica das Neuroses. São Paulo: Ateneu, 1981.
6. Fishbain DA. Kleptomania as risk-taking behavior in response to depression. Am J Psychoter 1987, 41:598-603.
7. Gibbens TCN. Shoplifting. Br J Psychiatry 1981, 138:341-347.
8. McElroy SL, Keck PE, Pope HG Jr, Hudson JI. Pharmacological treatment of kleptomania and bulimia nervosa. J Clin Psychopharmacol 1989, 9 :358-360.
9. Popkin MK. Impulse control disorders not elsewhere classified. In Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ (eds): Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Ed 5. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1989, p 1145.
10. Ramelli E, Mapelli G. Du vol mélancolique. Acta Psychiat Belg 1979, 79:56-74.
11. Roy A, Adinoff B, Roehrich L, Lamparski D, Custer R, Lorenz V, Barbaccia M, Guidotti A, Costa E, Linnoila M. Pathological gambling: a psychobiological study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1988, 369-373.
12. Sargent M. Treating nonaffective disorders with lithium. Hosp Comm Psychiatry 1989, 40:579-581.

Kleptomania, mood disorder and lithium

Cleptomanía, distúrbio do humor e lítio

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
22 Feb 2011
Date of issue
Dec 1992

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] 1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders. Ed 3 (Revised) Washington: American Psychiatric Press, 1987.

[2] 2. Bradford J, Balmaceda R. Shoplifiting: is there a specific psychiatric syndrome? Can J Psychiatry 1983, 28:248-254.

[3] 3. Davis H. Psychiatric aspects of shoplifting. S A Med J 1979, 55:885-887.

[4] 4. Ey H, Bernard P, Brisset C. Manual de Psiquiatria. Rio: Masson do Brasil, 1981.

[5] 5. Fenichel O. Teoria Psicanalítica das Neuroses. São Paulo: Ateneu, 1981.

[6] 6. Fishbain DA. Kleptomania as risk-taking behavior in response to depression. Am J Psychoter 1987, 41:598-603.

[7] 7. Gibbens TCN. Shoplifting. Br J Psychiatry 1981, 138:341-347.

[8] 8. McElroy SL, Keck PE, Pope HG Jr, Hudson JI. Pharmacological treatment of kleptomania and bulimia nervosa. J Clin Psychopharmacol 1989, 9 :358-360.

[9] 9. Popkin MK. Impulse control disorders not elsewhere classified. In Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ (eds): Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Ed 5. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1989, p 1145.

[10] 10. Ramelli E, Mapelli G. Du vol mélancolique. Acta Psychiat Belg 1979, 79:56-74.

[11] 11. Roy A, Adinoff B, Roehrich L, Lamparski D, Custer R, Lorenz V, Barbaccia M, Guidotti A, Costa E, Linnoila M. Pathological gambling: a psychobiological study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1988, 369-373.

[12] 12. Sargent M. Treating nonaffective disorders with lithium. Hosp Comm Psychiatry 1989, 40:579-581.