Impulse control disorders: symptoms and causes

An impulse is characterized by being something that all people live or feel at some point in their life, and 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 themselves be carried away to a greater or lesser extent. However, in some people this ability is highly altered, and can trigger a mental disorder known as impulse control disorder.

• Related article: "The 16 most common psychological disorders"

What is impulse control disorder?

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 bear or resist the urge to commit an action that will end up being harmful to the person himself or to others.

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

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

The symptoms are usually chronic and in a large number of times intrusive, even interfering in different areas of the patient's life. Likewise, people with an impulse control disorder tend to have a deficit in the ability to control your emotions, which together with the symptoms of the disorder can also cause a series of emotional alterations.

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

Classification

Despite the fact that there are numerous psychological disorders characterized by a deficit in impulse control, some of the better known impulse control disorders are as followss.

1. Intermittent explosive disorder

In the intermittent explosive disorderthe person experiences recurring episodes of impulsive behaviors, characterized by being aggressive and virulent in nature. Likewise, it can also undertake outbursts of angry verbal manifestations and disproportionate reactions to any situation.

Some of its symptoms include tantrums, domestic violence, or throwing and breaking any object that the patient has on hand.

2. Kleptomania

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

A kleptomaniac person He experiences an irresistible urge to steal, on many occasions, in order to appease his emotions. Also, a little-known peculiarity of kleptomania is that the patient often feels guilty after committing the theft.

3. Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania is characterized because the person is unable to suppress the urge to pull the hair, pulling it out and causing baldness. This alteration is closely associated with trichophagia, in which the person in addition to pulling their hair ingests it compulsively.

4. Pyromania

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

5. Gambling

Gambling is also known as compulsive gambling, and in it the person feels an uncontrollable urge or need to engage in or persist in gambling-related behaviors, even if this implies a serious deterioration in your life or great financial losses.

6. Dermatillomania

This is a little known condition in which the person feels the compulsive urge to scratch themselves, rubbing, pinching or scratching the skin.

7. Onychophagia

Characterized by the habit, sometimes compulsive, of To bite nails. Onychophagia is possibly the most widespread and probably the most socially accepted impulse control disorder.

8. Compulsive shopping

Irrepressible urge to buy spontaneously, without any premeditation. It is usually known by the name of oniomania.

9. Hoarder syndrome

In this syndrome the person tends or has the obsession to collect and store objects in an excessive way; regardless of whether they lack any value, or are harmful or damaging to health.

In these cases, people can live crammed into their homes, surrounded by hundreds of objects stacked around the home. Likewise, they can also collect animals, holding a large number of animals, often under unsafe conditions.

Symptoms of these disorders

Due to the large number and diversity of behavioral disturbances that impulse control disorders comprise, there are an infinity of symptoms and signs of these. And these will vary depending on the type of affectation suffered by the person.

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

• Physical symptoms
• Marks such as bruises, bruises, or bruises
• Burn scars from experimenting with fire
• Behavioral symptoms
• Chapters of Explosive Fury
• Angry behavior towards any person, animal or object
• Theft behaviors
• Lies
• Constantly experimenting with fire or generating fires
• Cognitive symptoms
• Lack of impulse control
• Lack of concentration
• Intrusive ideas
• Obsessive Thought Schemes
• Compulsive Thinking Schemes
• 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.

1. Genetic causes

In the same way that other psychiatric disorders are likely to originate from genetic causes, various studies have confirmed the existence of a genetic influence on the initiation and development of impulse control disorders.

2. Physical causes

By using neuroimaging techniques It has been found that patients who manifest symptoms of impulse control disorder reveal differences in the brain at a structural level.

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

3. Environmental causes

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

Treatment

As with the great diversity of symptoms, treatment for impulse control disorder will depend on how it is manifested.

Likewise, on rare occasions the person ends up requesting assistance or professional help, only in those cases where those in which the disorder has come to interfere too much in the life of the patient or in those in which the law has been broken.

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