Psych CASC / OSCE · General adult psychiatry — impulse control
Explain kleptomania and treatment options — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style communication station: explain kleptomania without pejorative labels, outline CBT and off-label naltrexone honestly, address shame and suicide risk, confidentiality limits, check understanding.
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Station brief
Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the psychiatry registrar in the outpatient clinic. [2]
Candidate instructions. Explain kleptomania in clear non-stigmatising language, separate it from “career criminal,” outline psychological and medication options with honest evidence limits (including that naltrexone is not a drug-of-abuse treatment label in this context but an off-label opioid antagonist studied for urges), address risk and court-report honesty, assess despair/suicide risk sensitively, and check understanding. The examiner plays the patient. [1][3]
References4ShowHide
- [1]Grant JE, Kim SW, Odlaug BL A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the opiate antagonist, naltrexone, in the treatment of kleptomania Biol Psychiatry, 2009.PMID 19217077
- [2]McElroy SL, Pope HG Jr, Hudson JI, et al. Kleptomania: a report of 20 cases Am J Psychiatry, 1991.PMID 2018170
- [3]Schreiber L, Odlaug BL, Grant JE Impulse control disorders: updated review of clinical characteristics and pharmacological management Front Psychiatry, 2011.PMID 21556272
- [4]Koran LM, Aboujaoude EN, Gamel NN Escitalopram treatment of kleptomania: an open-label trial followed by double-blind discontinuation J Clin Psychiatry, 2007.PMID 17388713