From USA Weekend - July 12, 2002
LOOKING FOR A LIFT
Stealing is rarely about a lack of money. Shoplifters seek comfort and control.
WINONA RYDER'S recent arrest for alleged shoplifting was baffling to many people:
Why would an actress who is paid millions for her film work need to steal?
Well, the fact is that the vast majority of shoplifters - an estimated 2:3
million Americans - don't steal things because they can't afford to pay for
them, Many shoplifters take things they don't even need, like a patient of mine
who stole drill bits even though he didn't own a drill.
For these people, shoplifting is a way of managing unpleasant feelings they
don't know how to deal with properly. The buildup of tension and release that
comes with getting something without paying for it provides a "high"
that can become addictive. Sometimes people steal as a way of compensating for
a loss such as divorce, unemployment or even cancer. Getting away with stealing
gives them a temporary sense of being in control. Studies have shown that about
a third of shoplifters are struggling with depression.
In Ryder's case, she has a history of depression and crippling anxiety attacks. A decade ago, at age 20, she checked herself into a psychiatric facility for a week. (In addition to shoplifting, she was charged in February with possessing a controlled substance, the painkiller Oxycodone. At press time, she had pleaded not guilty to the Charges.)
In my practice at a Pasadena, Calif., psychiatric hospital, I see compulsive shoplifting almost exclusively in people trying to stop using drugs, especially opiates. Particularly in the first three months of sobriety, we very often see people engaging in thrill-seeking behaviors such as stealing, gambling and speeding. Those behaviors all massage the same part of the brain that is accustomed to being activated by addictive drugs. If you have been reliant on drugs as a way of managing overwhelming feelings, your brain doesn't really have other resources at its disposal. Thrill-seeking behaviors are used to avoid some heavy, unpleasant feelings, often depression. These people feel antsy and bored, so they run to the 7-Eleven to get a magazine - and while they're there, they stick a Snickers bar in their pocket. Stealing gives them a mental lift.
It's interesting to me that after completing treatment, these people often report that they feel different, or that they just manage things differently, but they can't put it in words. That's because the functioning of their brain actually has changed. They've experienced real emotional growth. and they no longer need to rely on stealing.
For help with compulsive shoplifting, call 800-848-9595 or visit shopliftersalternative.org.