Should I get help?

I started stealing about two months ago from major supermarkets, I felt guilty at first but then elated afterwards. I think if I'm honest I have been stealing stuff for a bit longer but not from supermarkets, just taking random stuff but again getting excited because of it.

I have always had a lot of highs and lows in my life, my parents divorced when I was 14 and it was a difficult time for me. I became anorexic but recovered from this condition in my early twenties and went on to get high grades at university, becoming a teacher was the beginning of a respectable career.

I am still a qualified teacher but can't hold a post down. I have trouble holding any job down to be honest, I have patches where everything goes great and I feel fantastic and do lots of stuff then times when I have (literally) ran away from work because I feel so depressed, low and tearful. This has been the case with even the most easy of jobs, I must sound like a total fruitcake.

All this stuff got a lot worse when my marriage broke down nine months ago. I lost a lot of weight, my ups and downs were more volatile. My family are very respectable though and it's not the done thing to see the doctor but that is what deep down inside I feel would be right. I feel like I have a problem but I don't know what to do to get help? Is anyone else feeling this? x

Heya chicadee,

I had kleptomania for a period of around a year recently, but I was caught and stopped soon after. I did it in one of the biggest supermarket chains in the woreld, but I won't be mentioning their name. You do'nt sound like a fruitcake though - certainly not - and don't worry about what is morally right or wrong in your family's eyes. If you need help, then that is what you must do. You seem willing to actually get help and recognise that you need it. So many others out there are suffering and yet they refuse to get help because they believe they can handle things on their own. Your case is different because it's your family who are holding you back. Well, don't listen to them and do what is right for your life only. When everything is said and done, you can be proud for taking your life in your own hands and not listenting to what others have to say.

Kevin

Dear Chucky (and to all):

Thanks for your inquiry about kleptomania/shoplifting. I've been in recovery from shoplifting addiction for over 20 years. Yes, you should get help. I encourage you and others to visit the website www.kleptomaniacsanonymous.com and to read the book "Something for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery."

Terrence Shulman

i have a 9 year old son who suffers with tourettes, he is constantley stealing from around the home mainley food, when he does this he hides in the downstairs toilet and chucks any rubbish out the window, he has also recentley stole money from my purse. i have been reading from the internet and was wondering is this a sign of kleptomania or is it part of the tourettes syndrome, please can any one help or have any sugestions

lorraine31 (beautiful name, by the way), as I read your post, kleptomania or tourette's never came to my mind. You might not have told us everything about your son, but I just don't look upon this problem as a mental illness in any way. It's just something that you need to train him not to do. It's simply wrong and he has to learn that he cannot get away with it. maybe he has other symptoms though... ...?

Kevin

it doesnt matter how many times i disipline him he still does it, he doesnt seem to be able to stop himself from doing it, he has also stole from our local shop before as well

How have you tried to broach to him that what he's doing is not acceptable? I can accept that some children have more diffculty over others interpretting what is right and wrong.