Reducing Shrinkage In Businesses: Discussion Of Agents

Biological Perspective

Discuss About The Agents In Reducing Shrinkage In Businesses.

From a very early age, we are taught by our parents to be a nice person, share things with other people, and not to take things that do not belong to us. However, as we mature with age, we learn many important lessons of life like self-control, getting to keep what we earn, and of course to keep an eye out for the things we love. However, for some particular set of guideline to keep our morals in check, the things we fear, feel embarrassed and a feeling of regret are still not sufficient to stop theft in our regular lives (Chase Jr., 2016). Nowadays, in the news shoplifters, burglars, robbers and plagiarizers are broadcasting almost every day. Though it could be spontaneous or preplanned, but these acts are all intentional. They involve taking something taking something from someone without their consent. However, taking something for personal of financial reasons is very common and the motive can be understood. However, the idea behind kleptomania is completely different from these crimes. The report will focus on the complete analysis of Kleptomania including its causes and treatment as well. The following paper will give brief idea about the theoretical perception which includes biological perspective, behavioral perspective and the cognitive perspective and the treatment of Kleptomania which includes the biological treatment, behavioral treatment and cognitive treatment.

Kleptomania can be defined by recurrent urge to steal, which does not involve the need for profit. It can be defined as a habit or a mentality instead of a need or urgency. The tern ‘kleptomania’ or ‘shoplifting’ can be used synonymously by some people (Abraha, 2015). Despite the fact that shoplifters and kleptomaniacs have the same characteristics, kleptomania is much more persistent and uncommon disorder. Tension is experienced during the act and after it is done, it gives a feeling of pleasure and relief. The act is not carried out to unleash anger or in response to a delusion and is not attributable to conduct disorder, a manic episode, or antisocial personality disorder. Occasionally the individual may hoard the stolen objects or surreptitiously return them. Although a person with this illness will normally avoid stealing when contiguous arrest is probable, they usually do not plan the thefts or fully takes into account the chances of apprehension (Ben-Yami, 2015). After the theft occurs, the person who suffers from Kleptomania suffers from a feeling of regret and depression.  A study points out that around 0-8% of the shoplifters in the United States has kleptomania. A research by The National Association of Shoplifting Prevention shows that out of every 11 adults at least 1 of them have shoplifted in their life. It was also found out that each year in the United States, at least 13$ billion worth of products are stolen from the retailers. Kleptomania is more like an impulsive control disorder than stealing. People who have this type of mental disorder are unable to resist the impulse to stop them in doing something that would result in hurting themselves or other around them. Kleptomania does not require a fixed age to start. It is common across age groups; however it mainly occurs between the ages of 17 to 21. One major way in which Kleptomania is different from other types of stealing is that the individuals who steal for leisure rather than for monetary gain. Kleptomania is a unique psychiatric disorder however it remains unexplained to many clinicians for over two centuries. Studies show that it affects around 0.6 percent of the entire population. Though most of the information about this disorder is still shrouded in mystery, it is a serious disorder which can lead to functional immobility and even some serious cases, suicide. (Bedin, Droz-Mendelzweig & Chappuis, 2015)

Behavioral Perspective

To identify someone who is suffering from this disorder, first of all some certain criteria should be met. Whether there is any rise of tension before the theft, whether the person gains any kind of pleasure or relief after committing the theft, what actually stimulated the theft: whether it is anger or revenge, whether is caused due to some sort of hallucination or drug effect, or whether the behavior is caused due to some sort of antisocial personality disorder. The things which are stolen normally have little value to the person, as if he or she was easily able to afford them but instead after taking the object, the person just discards them.Unlike men, kleptomania occurs 2 to 3 times more in women and one of the main reasons is due to menstruation and pre-menstruation periods (Yamato, Fukumoto, & Kumazaki, 2017). It is believed to coexist with problems such as depression, mood swings and eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It can be said that this disorder is linked to continuous failed attempts to prevent stealing. It could be related to some specific object or a particular type of setting. Unlike robbery, it is done solo. The person responsible may steal from a supermarket, a store, or from their friends or family. The object stolen has no value to the person so he or she may give away or even return the item which was stolen. According to (Bird, 2013) studies show that people with kleptomania start off their notorious activities by stealing common household items and then followed by goods from supermarkets, like groceries. Surprisingly, the items which are least expected to be stolen are expensive products like books and jewelry (Christensen et al., 2015). This study identifies the number of people who suffers from this disorder have rates as high at 7.8 percent.They have reported that stress and anxiety are the reason why they are mentally triggered. Some of these people have reported that the thought of getting caught actually helps to resist the urge of stealing (Berlin et al., 2013). People with kleptomania experience a lot of unique symptoms within themselves. When the symptoms are identified, the individuals with kleptomania try to understand why they tend to perform these behaviors.

The indications of having Kleptomania a person must have these traits, first, the helplessness to be refrained from stealing objects that has no personal or economic value to the person who is stealing it (Miller & Gallagher, 2016). Second, the gradually increasing sense of stress in the person to begin the process of larceny and feelings of comfort and satisfaction after finishing the business. Third, the thieving process does not come from any vengeance or vexation in the mind of the Kleptomaniac person. Fourth, the process does not performed during any kind of hallucinated or misapprehended phase of mind of the victim. Lastly, the Kleptomaniac phase of the person does not connected with the person’s any kind of other mental disorders like psychotic episodes or bipolar disorder. If all these symptoms are seen in a person, he or she should be diagnosed for having Kleptomania (Mizrahi, 2015).When the psychotherapist makes a proper assessment and a conclusion about this disorder in a person; they provide them a coping mechanism to deal with it. It’s very necessary to take action towards this disturbance of mind of a person. But, in most of the cases the treatment doesn’t make a fruitful result because the psychological and pharmacological therapy fail due to the absence of the research in which a person is allocated at random to receive one of the many clinical interventions. One of such interventions is the standard of comparison or control (Dickinson, 2015)

Cognitive Perspective

Treatment of kleptomania involves basically medications and psychotherapy, or sometimes both. As discussed before, standard treatments is not available for Kleptomania but researchers are still working to come up with a proper solution. There are several type of solutions and one may find what best suits them. There is very few information about psychiatric medications used to treat kleptomania, and furthermore no FPA-approval for the medication of such disorder (Zakirov, 2017). Despite that fact, research shows that some of these medications may help to calm to process, depending on the person and whether they have any other kind of mental disorders. There is no FDA-approved medication for kleptomania, but some medications help in certain cases. They depend entirely on the situation and whether they have other mental disorders, like high level of depression. An addiction medication known as naltrexone which is an opioid antagonist, acts as an agent to reduce the please associated with stealing and antidepressants like a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Kleptomania can relapse anytime and it’s very common like the many same impulse control disorders. It is essential to not give up on the treatment plans. If the person feel triggered and desire to steal again he/she must contact with the psychotherapist or a reputable support group. In their parenthood a parent must prevent their child and correcting their children, and that’s the best preventive method that starts from the childhood of a person. When the parents first find out that their child is stealing, they should have a discussion and explain why it is wrong to steal from someone (Farley, 2013). As the children begin to understand what’s wrong in taking others possession they should also have a lesson of ownership and the right way of getting something without taking them. By make them understand the appropriate behaviors and encouraging them to be truthful, stealing can be rectified before it gets an uncontrollable drive. Though having little information and the systematic research and study of known facts and sources in order to establish answers and reach new conclusions, there is much kind of medications and therapies that can be helpful for the imbalance of mental health of an individual person. Generally, five most used medications that can partially cure Kleptomania are antidepressants, mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines, anti-seizure and addiction mendicant (Dewabrata, Ardianto, & Srisanto, 2017). There is no successful research that can suggest a typical drug for treating Kleptomania. Most of the medicines that are used to cure Kleptomania, target at treating symptoms of anxiety or depression and alleviate the disturbing symptoms of anxiety. Drugs that help controlling seizures are also used when necessary. These medications are found to be successful in control of Kleptomania. Antidepressants are used for the people in whom depression is a major trigger to steal. They are the mostly used drugs for controlling the symptoms in a patient. The antidepressant drugs contain selective seretonin reuptake inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitor, norepinephrine dopamine, dis-inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants and seretonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. These are different types of chemicals that work with the brain chemicals in transferring messages to neurons. These are used to reduce depression and create alertness and normal mood, help controlling Kleptomania (Grant et al., 2015). These drugs have also been used and succeeded in curing other impulsive disorders like trichotillomania, pathological gambling, binge eating, and incorrigible buying. Antidepressant drugs contain: fluoxetine, fluoxamine, paroxetine and naltexone. Fluoxetine has been proved by many researches to be the most helpful medication to treat Kleptomania and its associating traits. Fluvoxamine got the second place as accomplishing a desired aim in treating symptoms related with impulse control disorders when the interrelation of conscious and unconscious processes and emotions that determine personality and motivation and therapies related with that failed (Farley, 2013). When paroxetine is used for an average three months in combination with other drugs, it gave fruitful results in reducing the overwhelming wanting to steal. At last, naltrexone, combined with paroxetine was recently found helpful to decrease the symptoms of Kleptomania. Mood stabilizers are the alternative medicines that are used when the patient exhibits definite mood swings or mood changes during, before, or after the person proceeds and ends the stealing process (de Haan, 2015). These medications are used for controlling the mood swings. The tasks of these drugs are mainly are to balance the mood so that the desire of stealing does not come in the mind of the patient. Some medicines of this category are valproic acid, lamotrigine, oxcarbaxepine, and gabapentin. The most common mood stabilizer is lithium that helps treating Kleptomania. Another medicine, Benzodiazepines is acclimated to restrain the central nervous system. Their results can be different, but they should be taken under medical supervision because they are can be very addictive and harmful if taken in high doses or over a long span of time. These tranquilizer type drugs contain clonazepa, and alprazolam. Seizure preventing medications are use in the treatment of kleptomania when seizures are occurred (Foucault, Simon, & Elden, 2017). They are the fourth group of medication but they are not only used to treat seizures but also been found beneficial for certain mental health disorders, they include topiramate and valproic acid. All these medications are used to prevent Kleptomaniac thought and compulsion of stealing in the mind of an individual; they are used to block parts of the brain that enjoy the irresistible drive of stealing. All the medications are needed to be used under medical supervision, not alone (Jang, Jae, & Choi, 2016). There are therapies in the place of taking medication to cure Kleptomania. Specially talk therapies that help the patient a lot to understand and treat Kleptomania and the related disturbing indications that affect the persons mind intensely (Christianini et al., 2015).

Biological treatment for Kleptomania

Standard practice, a placebo, or no intervention could be a way of controlling such disorders. As at the end the psychologists have an ignorable amount of data to cure a patient suffering from Kleptomania. Some doctors opinion about kleptomania as part of the massive-compulsive spectrum of disorders, reasoning that many individuals experience the impulse to commit a crime as an alien, unwanted intrusion into their mind. Also, other proof indicates that kleptomania may have some connection with mood disorders like depression (Jukic et al., 2016). Psychotherapy also plays a major factor in the process to prevent this disorder. A type of psychotherapy also known as cognitive behavioral therapy helps in identifying negative and unhealthy thoughts and thus replaces them with positive and healthy way of thinking. Cognitive behavioral therapy also includes some particular techniques to help in controlling such urges (Mizrahi, 2015). Such includes – covert sensitization where the person pictures themselves stealing something and then facing the consequences of getting caught, aversion therapy where the person practice some mildly painful techniques like when they get a craving to steal, they start holding their breath till a point if gets uncomfortable and systematic desensitization where they practice relaxation techniques and picturing to control the urge to steal (Smith, & Clarke, 2015). Nowadays psychologists are working on Kleptomaniac patients with the popular DSM-IV (SCID) interview type to assess and point out the person from the crowd. Most of the cases of Kleptomania don’t get assessed or identified generally. That’s why Grant, Kim, and McCabe designed a constructive clinical interview (SCI-K) for this mental disorder. They applied this on 112 persons with different mental illness, who were looking for psychiatric therapy, outside of the clinics (Smith, 2013).The interview named SCI-K with average 20 minutes duration took place and the patients participated spontaneously. Therefore, this interview for Kleptomania of twenty minutes duration, wonderfully worked in both dependable and sustainable way on these patients. This study is very promising and it should be implemented in a large group of people. The output of this experiment and further studies on this can help psychiatrists to identify and treat Kleptomaniac patients.  After the assessment of clinical and psychological analysis, the psychotherapists would differentiate the patients’ reaction to that of the DSM-IV.

Cognitive therapy that emphasis on replacing negative, and pessimistic, delusional thoughts with positive and appropriate ones, behavior therapy which change or modify harmful behavior related with psychological distress, psychotherapy through verbal communication curing of mental or behavioral disorders, systematic desensitization that helps people gradually win their fears by continually exposing them to the things they are afraid of in a slow but steady process. According to Dannon and the study conducted by him, it has been stated that cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment and it has is a substitute of psychoanalytic and dynamic commence. He discovered that other than this, covert sensitization, aversion therapy, and systematic desensitization have proven helpful for a person who is suffering from Kleptomania. Covert sensitization give the patient a scenario of them stealing and then being caught stealing.  Aversion therapy inspires the person to be engaged in harmful techniques in the alteration of the desire of stealing. Systematic desensitization gives them a comparatively relaxing method to control the urge of stealing (Dobler, 2017). Besides of the different types of therapies, the Mayo clinic gives extra coping and supporting ideas. For a person having Kleptomania it is the most important thing to make them educated regarding the factors, remedies and triggers of Kleptomania and never lose hope to be clean and healthy. They more they become self-aware and dedicated in following their medicated guidelines and take part of their therapeutic sessions the more they will be successful in fighting of this mental imbalance. It is very much needed to find out the urges and search for an appropriate way to manage this desire (Fleming, McClendon, & Riche, 2013). Relaxation and stress management techniques can help a person with Kleptomania, such as yoga and meditation can work sometimes to channelize their energy in a positive way. It is a very difficult disorder to overcome by just one self. Some people are persistent on getting help because of humiliation and embarrassment. It is important to get help; a proper treatment is very much required because it is a serious ongoing and long-term condition. Cognitive-behavior therapy or CBT is one of the most important measures taken to help a person suffering from kleptomania. It is a way to help the person in identifying and changing the view of how he seems himself. This is a kind of therapy which helps in recognizing the unhealthy way of thinking. By doing so, a person would learn a new type of behavior and therefore lead to a healthier lifestyle. Medicines like antidepressants also help in such cases (Black, 2013). In some cases, family therapy plays an important role since this disorder is quite disruptive in families.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that Kleptomania is a serious disorder if it is not address at the right time. The best way to resist the dominant symptoms of Kleptomania is to detect this serious mental illness as early as possible and treating it properly with the help of medications and therapies under a proper psychologist. If a person doesn’t get treated, it can lead him/her to persistent psychological, legal and monetary complications. An individual can be lived in constant despair, guilt and self-humiliation (Yousry, 2018). Following this many related mental disorder can occur simultaneously and eventually like convicted, being captive, depression, alcohol and substance abuse, eating disorders, anxiety, compulsive gambling or excessive shopping, nihilistic thoughts and social separation. Not only is the patient, Kleptomania a social issue that must be acknowledged by every individual of the society to understand the seriousness of the disturbed mental state of the person who suffers from it.

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