Impulse control disorders: diagnostic criteria

Psychology A2 · Clinical Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

In an impulse control disorder the person repeatedly fails to resist an urge to do something that harms them or others. The pattern is the same each time: rising tension before the act, then pleasure, excitement or relief during or after it. The act has no sensible outside motive.

In kleptomania the urge is to steal things that are not needed. In pyromania the urge is to set fires, with a fascination for fire. In gambling disorder the person loses control over gambling, puts it before other parts of life and carries on despite harm. The Kleptomania Symptom Assessment Scale (K-SAS) is a self-report scale of how severe kleptomania symptoms were in the past week.

Rules to remember

Kleptomania: recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects not needed for personal use or for their money value.
Pyromania: recurrent failure to resist impulses to set fires, with fascination for fire and no motive such as money, revenge or sabotage.
Gambling disorder: impaired control, increasing priority given to gambling, continuation despite negative consequences.
Gambling disorder is normally evident over at least 12 months (shorter if symptoms are severe).
K-SAS: 11 self-rated items, each given a score where higher means more severe, on urges, thoughts and stealing behaviour in the past week.
K-SAS gives quantitative data for before and after comparison, but answers are subjective and shame may lead to under-reporting.

Common mistake

Students label any repeated stealing or fire-setting as a disorder. If there is a clear motive such as profit, revenge or insurance money, it is not kleptomania or pyromania.

Worked example

A man steals expensive phones from shops every week and sells them online to pay his rent. He plans each theft calmly. Does he meet the ICD-11 description of kleptomania?

Kleptomania involves stealing objects that are not needed for personal use or for their money value.
He steals for money, so there is a clear outside motive.
There is no report of rising tension before the theft or relief after it; the thefts are planned, not impulsive.

Answer: No. This is theft for gain, not kleptomania.

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