Misuse of major Antidepressants (SSRIs) in Cases of supposed 'Kleptomania'

In his over three decades of clinical investigation into cases of atypical theft behavior by usually honest and responsible adults, Dr. Cupchik has found that many individuals who have (almost always wrongly) been diagnosed as suffering from Kleptomania, have been prescribed one or other of the major (SSRI) antidepressants to supposedly reduce their theft behavior. In most of the cases that Dr. Cupchik has assessed the theft offenders have reported their use has either not reduced the frequency of theft offences, or that the frequency of such acts has actually increased! 

In fact, in numerous cases, theft offenders indicated that they had never stolen until after they had been placed on antidepressants. 

It is most unfortunate that SSRIs continue to be prescribed in cases of atypical theft behavior before a thorough and appropriate clinical assessment has been carried out to make certain that the offenders had not acted out in response to an external precipitating event, and/or that the stealing was not carried out as an expression of anger or vengeance, as either or both of these factors would preclude the diagnosis of 'kleptomania', according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV revised).