Impulse Control Disorder - Treatment - Pharmaceutical - Antidepressants

Antidepressants

The researchers in support of the pharmaceutical approach have reported that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants has shown improvement in impulsive and aggressive patients.

In the case of pathological gambling, along with fluvoxamine, clomipramine has also been shown effective in the treatment, with reducing the problems of pathological gambling in a subject by up to 90%. Whereas in trichollomania, the use of clomipramine has again been found to be effective, fluoxetine has not produced consistent positive results. Fluoxetine however has produced positive results in the treatment of the pathological skin picking disorder, although more research is still needed to conclude this information. The use of paroxetine has also shown to be somewhat effective although the results are inconsistent. Another medication, escitalopram, has also shown to improve the condition of the subjects of pathological gambling with anxiety symptoms. The results suggest that although SSRIs have shown positive results in the treatment of pathological gambling, inconsistent results with the use of SSRIs have been obtained which might suggest a neurological heterogeneity within the Impulse Control Disorder spectrum. The use of anti-depressants has also shown satisfactory results in the treatments of patients of compulsive buying and binge eating, as well as kleptomaniac patients. The use of lithium carbonate has also been found somewhat effective in the treatment of gambling and trichotillomania.