Impulse Control Disorder

An impulse control disorder or ICD is a class of psychiatric disorders characterized by impulsivity – failure to resist a temptation, urge or impulse that may harm oneself or others. Many psychiatric disorders feature impulsivity, including substance-related disorders, paraphilias, antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, schizophrenia and mood disorders. The revised fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) includes the category, "impulse control disorders not elsewhere classified", which consists of kleptomania, pathological gambling, pyromania (fire-starting), trichotillomania (a compulsion to pull one's hair out), intermittent explosive disorder, and "impulse control disorders not otherwise specified". Other disorders such as, dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking), compulsive buying and compulsive non-paraphilic sexual behaviour have been proposed for inclusion in the category.

Five behavioural stages characterize impulsivity: an impulse, growing tension, pleasure from acting, relief from the urge and finally guilt (which may or may not arise).

Read more about Impulse Control Disorder:  Classification, Symptoms and Diagnosis, Treatment

Famous quotes containing the words impulse, control and/or disorder:

    Toddlerhood resembles adolescence because of the rapidity of physical growth and because of the impulse to break loose of parental boundaries. At both ages, the struggle for independence exists hand in hand with the often hidden wish to be contained and protected while striving to move forward in the world. How parents and toddlers negotiate their differences sets the stage for their ability to remain partners during childhood and through the rebellions of the teenage years.
    Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)

    There are many things children accept as “grown-up things” over when they have no control and for which they have no responsibility—for instance, weddings, having babies, buying houses, and driving cars. Parents who are separating really need to help their children put divorce on that grown-up list, so that children do not see themselves as the cause of their parents’ decision to live apart.
    Fred Rogers (20th century)

    In a town-meeting, the great secret of political science was uncovered, and the problem solved, how to give every individual his fair weight in the government, without any disorder from numbers. In a town-meeting, the roots of society were reached. Here the rich gave counsel, but the poor also; and moreover, the just and the unjust.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)