Kleptomania
Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder characterized by a recurrent failure
to resist stealing.
This is one line from a website devoted to the subject of kleptomania.
Now why in the world take the time and space to visit something that affects so few. It wouldn’t
matter if it affected only one person if we could help them but the truth of the matter is that this is one of the most prevalent
and hidden disorders in our population today.
It affects not only the very poor but more
often than not those that have rather than the have nots. We have all read about celebrities caught shop
lifting. In fact right now there are at least a dozen extremely well know people the Beverly Hills area
that the stores when ever they catch them either just ring it up with the rest of their bill or send a bill to their residence
as they do not want the publicity of being the one to report ms or mr whoever.
The reason I am writing this is that someone
very close has had this for years and recently came to me for assistance with it. As you notice in the
definition up top it is listed as an impulse control disorder.
The keyword here being
control…yes control and the secret is that my friend and I venture to say most if not all of the others felt they had
no control over this or anything else in their life.
Many times those with the most in their
lives feel they have lost control of their lives and who they are to the things they own. They find that now the possesions
own them. The stealing is an unconscious cry on several levels of which the first is help me regain control
of myself and my life.
The next is possibly thinking this is something I can do and no one can stop me, so it gives
an illusion of control on one level.
The basic cry though is to get back to a feeling of control in one’s life.
The sad truth is that control like so many other things is an illusion and it is up to each individual to create the
illusion they can best live with.
I taught my friend that they had the control to steal or not steal and when
they learned that what ever they did good or bad came back to them multiplied then they understood why they were being ripped
off so much in their personal lives.
So simple but it does come down to a matter of choice in our lives in so many
different things. Do I eat that candy bar or those M&M’s I love so well or do I get the water
melon instead. Do I sit in my comfy recliner or go out in to the air and walk or at least get up on my
stationary bike ,now how can my laptop mount on the handlebars so I can keep working.
You get the picture,
Choice in this thing called kleptomania and in all of life.
It is no secret, although some people, like yours truly, actually did not discover
choices until very late in life and some still haven’t discovered we have a choice.
Yes, a choice to not
put up with the abuse any longer, a choice to tell someone we love them and wish things to be difference. We
have a choice to open lines of communication or to continue with what we are getting.
The classic definition
of insanity is to keep doing the same thing expecting different results. To get different results do something
different. Stand up and take responsibility for your life and in so doing take back control of it.
So it started off with
kleptomania and as it always does comes back to personal responsibility ,do it and start a new life.
As you do remember, I
love you and I Believe in YOU.
W. Isaac Norris 3rd
