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Impulse control disorders 

Impulse control disorders
Chapter:
Impulse control disorders
Author(s):

Susan L. McElroy

and Paul E. Keck Jr.

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0115
Page of

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date: 23 January 2022

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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