- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- 4.7.1 Generalized anxiety disorders
- 4.7.2 Social anxiety disorder and specific phobias
- 4.7.3 Panic disorder and agoraphobia
- 4.8 Obsessive–compulsive disorder
- 4.9 Depersonalization disorder
- 4.10 Disorders of eating
- 4.11 Sexuality, gender identity, and their disorders
- 4.12 Personality disorders
- 4.13 Habit and impulse control disorder
- 4.13.1 Impulse control disorders
- 4.13.2 Special psychiatric problems relating to gambling
- 4.14 Sleep–wake disorders
- 4.15 Suicide
- 4.16 Culture-related specific psychiatric syndromes
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Impulse control disorders
- Chapter:
- Impulse control disorders
- Author(s):
Susan L. McElroy
and Paul E. Keck Jr.
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0115
Growing research shows that the impulse control disorders are much more common than once thought to be. The consistency of the ‘structure’ of the irresistible impulse (a core disturbance of impulsivity and compulsivity) together with increasing research showing that it responds to certain treatments, especially cognitivebehavioural psychotherapies and medical treatments with thymoleptic or anticraving properties, regardless of its ‘content’ (the specific impulse experienced), strongly suggest that it is an important psychopathological symptom, and that impulse control disorders are legitimate mental disorders that are in fact likely to be related despite their apparent differences. This chapter first defines impulse control disorders, and then summarizes available research on the clinical features, epidemiology, psychiatric comorbidity, family studies, psychobiology, and treatment response of the most common of these conditions
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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- 4.7.1 Generalized anxiety disorders
- 4.7.2 Social anxiety disorder and specific phobias
- 4.7.3 Panic disorder and agoraphobia
- 4.8 Obsessive–compulsive disorder
- 4.9 Depersonalization disorder
- 4.10 Disorders of eating
- 4.11 Sexuality, gender identity, and their disorders
- 4.12 Personality disorders
- 4.13 Habit and impulse control disorder
- 4.13.1 Impulse control disorders
- 4.13.2 Special psychiatric problems relating to gambling
- 4.14 Sleep–wake disorders
- 4.15 Suicide
- 4.16 Culture-related specific psychiatric syndromes
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry