[CalmingOcean]

Like.... Addicted. Like a major compulsion to shoplift. And then to challenge yourself with more or higher priced items?

[sideblinded]

CalmingOcean, no I cannot say that I have this problem. If you have this problem I hope that you get some help for it. Jail isn't a very nice place to be so I am told. I would think that kleptomania has some OCD components. I am not sure but it is a thought.

[Yoda]

I don't think we are allowed to discuss any unlawful behaviors on PC, CalmingOcean. At least that was why they said they were closing a thread about marijuana.

Maybe a member can post a link to somewhere that you can get support if they know of any.

[CalmingOcean]

It's okay, sorry. It's sad there is no 12 step program or hardly any support regarding shoplifting addictions.

I was arrested a year ago, and just arrested for a second time. I came home and did something stupid. In my defence I just wanted to get drunk, but did something else instead, felt pretty good and was talking to a friend about how great a feeling it was. Hung up with her and decided that wasn't enough to numb my dumbass actions, so I did more. By this time my friend already called 911 and my husband who works out of town. I wasn't trying to kill myself. Just the bad parts.

So so stupid.

[gayleggg]

I sent you a PM.

i was extremely addicted to shoplifting and i was very very good at it. the one and only time i've been to jail i was charged with commercial burglary which was total crap, they were trying to charge me with anything that would stick so they could build a case on a grand theft ring i was a part of. i have many addictions. i used to get very triggered whenever entering any store because i knew how good i was at it. the one thing that kept me from stealing was a 4 year prison sentence that was hanging over my head if i had any police contact after my release. i don't know, you can beat this. you just have to know where it takes you, the consequences of your actions and always play out the entire scenario in your head and ask yourself if it is worth it. and i don't know about you, but my freedom is important to me. jail/prison all of that is dumb - i already have a giant problem with authority - jail is not my cup of tea. who wants to be told when you can use the bathroom/shower, when you can eat, go outside, where to stand, how to stand, where to put your hands..... no. just, no.

[andy90801]

I have shoplifted a hundred times,I got caught 6 times now it is on my permanent record,I had to pay a heavy fine

[zepchic]

Oh man... i have this problem too...never been caught, it seems rather than 1 big problem I have lots of little ones

[lindamine]

I appreciate your honesty with this. I hope they don't close this thread. As we can see by the number who jumped in here with replies. It is very much a psychological problem. Part of a mental illness. I don't know that it is connected to OCD as someone mentioned, but there is definatly a compulsion issue and not being able to fight it. similiar to an addiction. I had this going on for me too. But once I got caught in the grocery store and they said if I signed a paper and stayed out of the store they would not call police. It was "iffy" as to whether or not they could actually charge me as I had not yet left the store with stuff....I was still shopping. But getting caught put the fear of God into me. I had been doing this for several years. I had the money to buy said items but the compulsion to sneak it was overwhelming. Like i had to win or something. so, I can totally relate to your post. Is truly a real problem for some people.

[SillyKitty]

I don't shoplift, but I have a shopping addiction where I max out credit cards I know I can't pay, so it's kind of the same thing. I also steal stuff I like from like my in laws or parents when I'm visiting. I feel great and like ***** at the same time.

I know people court ordered to attend shoplifters anonymous meetings... might be some in your area.

[kala83]

I myself can relate a lot to what sillykitty just said I don't have a shoplifting addiction but my boyfriend whom I love very, very, much sadly does.

I am not great with money of my own in fact I guess its safe to say I don't truly have respect for it it it often just sits about the house and my mother told me often that I was lucky I was not around people that would take advantage of that well in the last year- 2 years I have. as I said I dearly love my boyfriend but he has a very strong compulsive nature to steal if he is without money of his own.

and he like me has a tendancy of over spending his money and then not having any of his own..... because he did not think it through.

this is hard for me to deal with cause as I have gotten older I have copulated some debts and I am trying as best I can to take hold of myself and my money issues so that I can go on living the kind of life I want without having huge financial burdens hanging over my head about things.

I have started going to see a new therapist which well for me personally I have mixed feeling about her. I think she is provoking me to do things that I might not feel comfterable or proud about. and moving in a better direction.

but some how I end up feeling judged often by her when I go to see her I keep trying to remind my self that possibly this due to I only did just meet her.

and we have meet a grand total of 2 times. I want my boyfriend to come with me to see her so we can start working on issues we have amongst each other. but I am utterly horrified this women will be judgemental of me dating a man with a shop lifting issue and will tell flat out I need to dump him.

and I am not going to do that just cause someone think he is not good for me. Some of the things he does are not things I like but he as a person I love.

this concept is totally and completely lost on him. I know he has the ablity to change cause I have known him for a very long time I and I know he is capable of changing, cause frankly I have seen him do so. And if we want to have a long term relationship we have to do this having kids and having your SO in jail......or setting examples like this its just not something that’s sits well with me.

but he is a good man and I genuinely care about him.....I just think ever since his mother died of colon cancer when he was 19 he picked bad people that encouraged him to do bad things in his life has rubbed off a lot.

he has flat out told me, he choose to associate with ***-holes cause those people would make him stronger.

lol and I can't for the life of me wrap my head around his theory.

can't someone have a backbone without associating with jerks?

[Saltine American]

In my manic phases I did shoplift, quite a bit. but it was at the places where no one WOULD shoplift. now that I think of it, I was sober, so, it could have been some kind of high I was chasing.