A mental health expert, Dr Emmanuel Aboagye, has described Portia Asare, the woman captured in a video stealing bundles of hair from a hair vendor as a person suffering from kleptomania.

Dr Aboagye explained that persons suffering from kleptomania, a rare mental disorder, have strong urge to steal from others.

“It’s a rare mental disorder which pushes those suffering from it to steal and trust me when I say the urges they feel are nearly impossible to overcome,” he said on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show on Thursday.

 “The amazing thing is that most of what they steal is of no benefit or relevance to them. They have no need of them and just feels it’s nice to have them,” he added.

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Although not thieves, Dr Aboagye admitted the continuous acts of stealing by such persons can eventually result in they becoming thieves if medical treatment is not sought after.

The mental disorder, he further explained, can be inherited by individuals in one way or the other from relatives who may have suffered the disorder.

Persons with family members who usually abuse alcohol are also in danger of suffering from the mental disorder.  

He was however, quick to add that the mental disorder can be managed through psychotherapy, a behavior modification therapy and the administration of antidepressant medications.