Summary
When an individual suffers from an impulse control disorder, that person has little or no control over repeated impulsive acts, causing problems for him or her. Impulse control disorders include pathological gambling, pyromania, kleptomania, intermittent explosive disorder, and trichotillomania, or hair-pulling disorder. People with these disorders usually know their behavior is wrong or strange, but they cannot refrain from such behavior. Though each of these troubling disorders can be psychologically disabling, treatment can be usually helpful to sufferers. Impulse Control Disorders discusses the most common of these disorders, their treatments, and other psychological disorders commonly associated with them.
Chapters include:
- Pathological Gambling
- Out-of-Control Rage: Intermittent Explosive Disorder
- Compulsive Fire Starters: Pyromania
- Chronic Hair-Pulling: Trichotillomania
- Kleptomania: When Stealing Is an Unavoidable Urge
- Treatment of Impulse Control Disorders
- Other Psychiatric Problems Commonly Found with Impulse Control Disorders.
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Charts. Diagrams. Glossary. Sidebars. References. Further reading. Web sites. Index.
About the Author(s)
Christine Adamec is a medical writer who has authored and coauthored books on a broad array of topics, including diabetes, drug abuse, fibromyalgia, and prostate cancer. Her most recent books are The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse and The Encyclopedia of Elder Care, both from Facts On File.
Foreword author Pat Levitt, Ph.D., is the director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.