Kleptomania: An impulse control disorder?

Kleptomania - the inability to resist the impulse to steal objects, not for personal use or monetary gain - is currently classified in psychiatric nomenclature as an impulse control disorder. However, the principal effects of the theft are repetitive intrusion thoughts, and inability to avoid the compulsion to perform the theft, and the relief of tension following the act could suggest that kleptomania may be a form of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder. Kleptomania as an obsessive-compulsive variant with other psychiatric disorders has led to the use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), other antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and opioid receptor antagonist medications for pharmacological management together with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), with favorable results.