Indian J.Psychiat., 1996. 38 (3), 190-191 KLEPTOMANIA PRESENTING WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER : A CASE REPORT. R.C. SHARMA ABSTRACT: A 35 year old, married, educated woman of well to do economic condition who was referred by court for psychiatric opinion wasfound to sufferfrom "Kleptomania" with "recurrent major depressive disorder." The patient had been stealing and hoarding (at times giving away when caught) defective and useless objectsfor the past 3 years .mostly during periods of depression and had been arrested twice for stealing. Her kleplomanic symptoms improved moderately when her depression lifted with antidepressants. KEY WORDS: Kleptomania, major depressive disorder, affective spectrum disorder. INTRODUCTION: Kleptomania is defined as a disorder char­ acterised by recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects not needed for personal use or their monetary value. An increasing sense of tension is fek immediately before committing the theft and pleasure or relieffelt at the time of committing the act. The stealing is neither an expression of anger or vengeance nor it is due to conduct disorder or antisoial personality disorder (DSM III-R, 1987). Classified as an impulse control disorder in DSM III-R, Kleptomania has been hepothesized as a form of affective - spectrum disorder' (Mc Elroy etal, 1991). The author, to the best of his knowledge, is not aware of any case report or study reported on kleptomania from India. The present case is described because of its rarity. CASE REPORT: N.D., 35 year old married woman, an arts post-graduate, working as a stenographer was brought to psychiatry O.P.D. of I.G.Medical Col­ lege Hospital,, Shimla for psychiatric opinion af­ ter being charged for theft. She presented with complaints of uncontrollable desire to pick-up or steal petty things, sadness, insomina, lack of in­ terest in self and surroundings and suicidal idea­ tion for the last one month. A feeling of great tension was reported prior to stealing which used to subside after the theft and failure to pick-up or steal the object made the patient severely de­ pressed and suicidal at times. She described her stealing as wrong and shameful but uncontrolla­ ble. The patient's husband reported that she had been suffering from recurrent episodes of de­ pression (with one suicidal attempt) along with stealing behaviour for the last three years. The stealing which used to be sudden, was described to be more pronounced during periods of depres­ sion. The stolen items mostly used to be defec­ tive, old and useless and comprised of clothes, polythene bags, cotton, shoes, socks, stationery, tools, umbrellas, crockery, sand, bricks, elec­ tronic items etc. as recovered by police from patient's house. Apart from stealing, a few inci­ dents of shop lifting and a police arrest was also reported in the past three years. The patient belonged to a joint family of middle socio-economic status and was second of seven sibs. She had good interpersonal rela­ tionships with her sibs and parents and there was no family history of any mental illness. She had uneventful childhood and was an average student in school and college. The patient had worked at 3-4 different departments prior to the present one and used to get good salary every where. The patient had normal menstrual history and was living in a nuclear family with her husband ( a govt, servant) and two children. The relations with the husband were strained eversince her illness. Pre-morbidly, whe was described to 190