Impulse Control Disorders: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

These types of clinical pictures can have diverse signs and causes.

An impulse is characterized as something that all people experience or feel at some point in their lives, and it is to carry out an action in an emotional way, or, to put it another way, to do something "on impulse.It is about carrying out an action emotionally or, to put it another way, doing something "without thinking".

Usually, the person is perfectly capable of managing these impulses, letting himself be carried away to a greater or lesser extent. However, in some people this capacity is highly altered, being able to unchain a mental disorder known as impulse control disorder.

What is impulse control disorder?

The impulse control disorder is defined, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), as those disorders in which the person experiences great difficulties or is unable to withstand or resist the impulse to commit an action that will end up being harmful to oneself or others. action that will end up being harmful to oneself or to others.

In almost all of these behavioral disturbances, the patient experiences a feeling of tension or high arousal prior to performing the action, followed by a pleasurable emotion or feeling of gratification or even release.

However, sometimes the patient may experience feelings of guilt and self-reproach.. However, this is not a mandatory condition of impulse control disorder.

The symptomatology is usually chronic and often intrusive, interfering in different areas of the patient's life. Also, people affected by an impulse control disorder tend to have a deficit in the ability to control their emotions, which together with the symptoms of the disorder can also cause a number of emotional disturbances.

In most cases, the condition begins in childhood or adolescence and symptoms tend to worsen over time.

Classification

Although there are numerous psychological disorders characterized by a deficit in impulse control, some impulse control disorders are characterized by a deficit in impulse control, some of the best known impulse control disorders are as followss.

1. Intermittent Explosive Disorder

In intermittent explosive disorder the person experiences recurrent chapters of impulsive behaviorscharacterized by an aggressive and virulent character. He may also have outbursts of angry verbal manifestations and disproportionate reactions to any situation.

Some of its symptoms include temper tantrums, domestic violence or throwing and breaking any object at hand.

2. Kleptomania

Despite being one of the most famous disorders within the impulse control disorders, kleptomania is a disorder of impulse control, kleptomania is a complex disorder defined as the inability to restrain or master the impulse to steal.r.

A kleptomanic person experiences an irresistible urge to steal, often in order to appease his or her emotions. Also, a little known peculiarity of kleptomania is that the patient often feels guilt after committing the theft.

3. Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania is characterized by the fact that the person is unable to repress the impulse to pull out his hair, pulling it out and causing decalcifications.. This disorder is closely associated with trichophagia, in which the person not only pulls out his hair but also ingests it compulsively.

4. Pyromania

Another well-known psychiatric disorder is pyromania, in which the patient feels the impulse to start fires, experiencing a pleasurable sensation of relief and calm.

5. Pathological gambling

Pathological gambling is also known as compulsive gambling, in which the person feels an uncontrollable urge to gamble. the person feels an uncontrollable urge or need to perform or persist in behaviors related to gambling, even if this implies a serious deterioration in the quality of life.even if this implies a serious deterioration in his life or great losses at economic level.

6. Dermatilomania

This is a little-known affection in which the person feels the compulsive need to scratch, rub, pinch, pinch or scratch himself.to scratch, rub, pinch, pinch or scratch the skin.

7. Onychophagia

Characterized by the sometimes compulsive habit of nail biting. Onychophagia is possibly the most widespread and probably the most socially accepted impulse control disorder..

8. Compulsive shopping

Irrepressible impulse to buy spontaneously, without any kind of premeditation. It is usually known as oniomania.

9. Syndrome of the compulsive hoarder

In this syndrome, the person tends or has the obsession of collecting and storing objects in an excessive mannerregardless of the fact that they lack any value, or are harmful or detrimental to health.

In these cases, people may live crowded in their homes, surrounded by hundreds of objects piled up around the house. They may also collect animals, supporting a large number of animals, often in unsanitary conditions.

Symptoms of these disorders

Due to the large number and diversity of behavioral disturbances that encompass impulse control disorders, There are a myriad of symptoms and signs of these. And these will vary depending on the type of affectation that the person suffers..

These symptoms can be divided into physical, behavioral, cognitive and psychosocial symptoms.

• Physical symptoms
• Marks such as bruises, contusions or bruises
• Burn scars as a result of fire experience
• Behavioral symptoms
• Bouts of explosive rage
• Choleric behavior towards any person, animal or object
• Stealing behaviors
• Lying
• Constant experimenting with fire or setting fires
• Cognitive symptoms
• Lack of impulse control
• Lack of concentration
• Intrusive ideas
• Obsessive thought patterns
• Compulsive thought patterns
• Psychosocial symptoms
• Restlessness
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Irritable or aggressive temperament
• Low self-esteem
• Isolation and loneliness
• Emotional detachment

Causes

The origin and evolution of impulse control disorders can be found in different causes, which can be genetic, physical and environmental.

Genetic causes

In the same way as other psychiatric disorders, they are susceptible to genetic causes, several studies have affirmed the existence of a genetic influence in the onset and development of impulse control disorders..

2. Physical causes

Through the use of neuroimaging techniques, it has been found that patients showing symptoms of impulse control disorder reveal differences in the brain at the structural level.

This differentiation could interfere with the normal functioning of the brainincluding the correct activity of the neurotransmitters responsible for impulse control.

3. Environmental causes

The context or environment in which the person lives is an element that can exert a great influence on the person, becoming an important agent in shaping the behavior of patients.The context or environment in which the person lives is an important agent in shaping the behavior of patients.

Treatment

As it happens with the great diversity of symptoms, the treatment for the disorder of the control of impulses will depend on the way in which this one is externalized..

Likewise, the person rarely seeks professional assistance or help, and only in those cases in which the disorder has interfered too much in the patient's life or in those in which it has reached the point of breaking the law.

Even so, it has been shown that the most effective interventions are those that combine a psychological approach with pharmacological treatment to reduce the patient's compulsions.