Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder characterized by the urge to steal, regardless of economic need. People with kleptomania do not need or use the objects they steal. They often have the money necessary to purchase the stolen items and may discard or give away the items after stealing them. Some secretly hoard or return the stolen items.

Important components of kleptomania include feelings of tension and release surrounding the act of stealing. Typically, kleptomania involves an increasing urge, or tension, to steal. The impulse is so strong that a person with kleptomania believes the only way to achieve emotional release is to steal. Once an object has been stolen, there is a noticeable sense of relief, pleasure or gratification. People with kleptomania may also feel remorse or guilt about their actions.

It is important to distinguish between kleptomania and ordinary acts of theft, such as shoplifting. Shoplifting may be impulsive or planned, but it is deliberate and motivated by profit. People who shoplift may steal for the thrill of it, on a dare or out of anger. Patients with kleptomania do not generally plan the theft in advance, take items of little or no value and are remorseful, but feel unable to stop.