Biological models
Biological models explaining the origins of kleptomania have been based mostly on pharmacotherapy treatment studies that used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers, and opioid receptor antagonists.Some studies using SSRIs have observed that opioid antagonists appear to reduce the urge to steal and mute the "rush" typically experienced immediately after stealing by some subjects with kleptomania. This would suggest that poor regulation of serotonin, dopamine, and/or natural opioids within the brain are to blame for kleptomania, linking it with impulse control and affective disorders.An alternative explanation too based on opioid antagonist studies states that kleptomania is similar to the "self-medication" model, in which stealing stimulates the persons natural opioid system. "The opioid release soothes the patients, treats their sadness, or reduces their anxiety. Thus, stealing is a mechanism to relieve oneself from a chronic state of hyperarousal, perhaps produced by prior stressful or traumatic events, and thereby modulate affective states. ": 354

Diagnosis
Disagreement surrounds the method by which kleptomania is considered and diagnosed. On one hand, some researchers believe that kleptomania is merely theft and dispute the suggestion that there are psychological mechanisms involved, while others observe kleptomania as part of a substance-related addiction. Yet others categorize kleptomania as a variation of an impulse control disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or eating disorders.
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main characteristics of the disorder suggest that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, but also share similarities with addictive and mood disorders.The disorder is frequently under-diagnosed and is regularly associated with other psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol and substance use. Patients with kleptomania are typically treated with therapies in other areas due to the comorbid grievances rather than issues directly related to kleptomania.Over the last 100 years, a shift from psychotherapeutic to psychopharmacological interventions for kleptomania has occurred. Pharmacological treatments using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers and opioid receptor antagonists, and other antidepressants along with cognitive behavioral therapy, have yielded positive results. However, there have also been reports of kleptomania induced by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Signs and symptoms
Some of the fundamental components of kleptomania include recurring intrusive thoughts, impotence to resist the compulsion to engage in stealing, and the release of internal pressure following the act. These symptoms suggest that kleptomania could be regarded as an obsessive-compulsive type of disorder.People diagnosed with kleptomania often have other types of disorders involving mood, anxiety, eating, impulse control, and drug use. They also have great levels of stress, guilt, and remorse, and privacy issues accompanying the act of stealing. These signs are considered to either cause or intensify general comorbid disorders.