This Woman Had Kleptomania As A Side Effect Of Multiple Plastic Surgeries

A lot of women today easily resort to plastic surgery if they feel the need to correct some parts of their body. However, one woman from Brazil got more than just enhancement of her physical appearance—she developed a personality.

The 40-year-old woman went under the knife in 2013 for several procedures, according to a case report found in the BMJ. She had received liposuction, arm lift and breast augmentation. Not long after her surgery, doctors observed that something was not right with the patient.

Following the surgery, the woman was described to be drowsy, disoriented and somewhat had problems with her memory.

The doctors decided to have her brain scanned and found that there was a disruption of oxygen flow to areas of the brain involved in memory and learning. Brain areas responsible for emotion and behavior control were also affected.

After being released from medical care, the woman began to develop an urge to steal.

Furthermore, she felt relieved each time she gives in to her urges.

According to LiveScience, the woman even ended up at the police station because of her behavior. Eventually, she had to be released because the police knew about her medical condition.

Fortunately, though, the impulsive urge to steal disappeared in weeks. The doctors then came up with a name for the case—“transitory impulse control disorder.” Since the woman didn’t have a history of substance abuse or mental health condition, the experts blamed the surgery.

It is believed that when the woman went through surgery, her brain may have been deprived of oxygen, which resulted to its damage. Since the damage wasn’t that serious, the brain returned to its normal state and the symptoms disappeared with time.

The authors of the study noted that kleptomania does not directly result from plastic surgery, but they did highlight that there were cases in which the condition resulted from brain surgery or traumatic brain injury.