: 378–84 According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM IV-TR), a frequent and widely used guide for the diagnosis of mental disorders, the following symptoms and characteristics are the diagnostic criteria for kleptomania:

repeated inability to defend against urges to steal things that are not essential for private use or for their economic value;
escalating sense of pressure immediately prior to performing the theft;
satisfaction, fulfillment or relief at the point of performing the theft;
the theft is not executed to convey antagonism or revenge, and is not in reaction to a delusion or a fantasy; and
the thieving is not better accounted for by behavior disorder, a manic episode, or antisocial personality disorder.Skeptics have decried kleptomania as an invalid psychiatric concept exploited in legal defenses of wealthy female shoplifters. During the twentieth century, kleptomania was strongly linked with the increased prevalence of department stores, and "department store kleptomaniacs" were a widely held social stereotype that had political implications. Comorbidity
Kleptomania seems to be linked with other psychiatric disorders, especially mood swings, anxiety, eating disorders, and alcohol and substance use. The occurrence of stealing as a behavior in conjunction with eating disorders, particularly bulimia nervosa, is frequently taken as a sign of the harshness of the eating disorder.A likely connection between depression and kleptomania was reported as early as 1911. It has since been extensively established in clinical observations and available case reports. The mood disorder could come first or co-occur with the beginning of kleptomania.
Because the mood stabilizing medication, lithium, is effective in treating adults with bipolar disorder, some physicians have used it to treat DMDD although it has not been shown to be better than placebo in alleviating the signs and symptoms of DMDD. DMDD is treated with a combination of medications that target the childs symptom presentation. For youths with DMDD alone, antidepressant medication is sometimes used to treat underlying problems with irritability or sadness. For youths with unusually strong temper outbursts, an atypical antipsychotic medication, such as risperidone, may be warranted. Both medications, however, are associated with significant side effects in children. Finally, for children with both DMDD and ADHD, stimulant medication is sometimes used to reduce symptoms of impulsivity. Psychosocial
Several cognitive-behavioral interventions have been developed to help youths with chronic irritability and temper outbursts. Because many youths with DMDD show problems with ADHD and oppositional-defiant behavior, experts initially tried to treat these children using contingency management. This type of intervention involves teaching parents to reinforce childrens appropriate behavior and extinguish (usually through systematic ignoring or time out) inappropriate behavior. Although contingency management can be helpful for ADHD and ODD symptoms, it does not seem to reduce the most salient features of DMDD, namely, irritability and anger. Epidemiology
There are not good estimates of the prevalence of DMDD, but primary studies have found a rate of 0.8 to 3.3%. Epidemiological studies show that approximately 3.2% of children in the community have chronic problems with irritability and temper, the essential features of DMDD.