Wilson Clark, age 16, of Daytona Beach, Fla., for her question:

WHAT CAUSES KLEPTOMANIA?

Kleptomania is an irresistible impulse to steal things. The person steals things he does not need or cannot use. Often he does it without knowing why and he does it habitually.

Doctors consider kleptomania a symptom of mental illness. They seek to cure it by finding the underlying cause in the individual's personality.

Kleptomania results from unconscious wishes that vary from person to person. Some kleptomaniacs unconsciously wish to be caught and punished. Others are unconsciously envious or greedy. Psychiatrists work to find the answer.

The word kleptomania comes from two Greek words which mean "to steal" and "madness." It was coined during the late 1800s to describe what was then thought to be a form of insanity.