Impulse Control Disorders - Types, Symptoms, Causes & Treatments

Impulse is one of the most important emotions of a human being. It is an essential characteristic that helps in several points of life. However, if impulsive behaviour goes to a higher level, it may lead to a mental disorder.

Therefore, the conditions are attached to different mental conditions, environmental causes, and other surrounding situations. On an extreme level, it turns to impulse control disorder. Keep scrolling to learn more about its causes, symptoms and more.

Impulsive behaviour is a sudden attack of emotion that one can not control at a given time. In this situation, people act quickly without thinking about the consequences. It is the first stage which can lead to impulse control disorders.

Impulse control disorders are certain situations when people cannot control their impulses, and it affects them and their surroundings. These situations may lead to minor activities such as taking other’s things to harmful doings such as an urge to set a fire called pyromania.

A person having impulse control disorder cannot control the emotion and impulse when it needs to be controlled. Moreover, these situations can repeatedly occur without any order or pre-defined signs. Therefore, several situations are associated with these disorders, which harm patients and their surroundings. Further, they may violate societal norms with their impulsiveness. Hence, in the primary stage, it is only impulsive behaviour. Let’s discuss this.

The common types of impulsive disorder are as follows:

• Kleptomania: Kleptomania is an impulsive disorder that includes the strong urge to steal. However, though the affected people feel the urge to steal, they do not steal valuable things but minor ones. Kleptomania has further subdivisions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD, mood disorders, etc. Depending on these subtypes, people will get treatments such as CBT or antidepressants medications.
• Pyromania:This is a very harmful mental disorder associated with setting fire. People with pyromania do not think about the activity’s consequences and harm and just do it with an uncontrollable urge. Further, they may also grow personality disorders such as indulging in antisocial activities. The only effective treatment process for pyromania is CBT.
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder: This disorder is common in children and can be greatly effective for the rest of their lives if not treated. The condition is responsible for the inability to control emotions and is prevalent in preadolescent males and females. The best treatment for ODD is family psychotherapy.
• Trichotillomania: In Greek, ‘tricho’ stands for hair, while “tillo’ stands for pull. Therefore, trichotillomania denotes an abnormal condition when people pull their hair aggressively. The condition is prevalent in teens, children, and even adults. The treatment procedure for this type of disorder includes medication and behavioural therapy.
• Intermittent Explosive Disorder: This disorder is associated with frequent aggressive behaviour that may lead to committing serious aggressive acts. People with intermittent explosive disorder may also destroy properties and harm others. The best treatment for this disorder is psychotherapy.
• Conduct Disorder: This type of behavioural disorder includes being aggressive to people and animals, addiction to theft and deceitful activities, etc. However, this disorder is prevalent among children and cannot be found beyond 18. The popular treatment of conduct disorder is family psychotherapy and medications such as antipsychotics and stimulants. If a person gets symptoms of impulsive disorders that do not fit into any type, they fall under the category of unspecified ones. The treatment of these disorders depends on the types and severity of the symptoms.

The symptoms of impulsive behaviour are listed below:

• Bingeing: It is prevalent for people with impulsive behaviour to indulge in addictive activities such as gambling, eating, or shopping excessively. These indulgences may cause havoc on them.
• Having an Outburst Frequently: People with impulsive behaviour are unable to control their emotions and impulses. Therefore, they are prone to experience an outburst unexpectedly anywhere.
• Sharing Confidential Things: Due to their impulsive nature, people may talk too much. In this way, they share their personal or confidential information with others.
• Being Violent: Impulsive behaviour sometimes gets worse, and affected people may be violent to others, including destroying property, hitting others, or having risky sex. Further, they may also harm themselves.
• Obsession: There is a tendency among people with impulsive behaviour to be obsessed with minor things. As a result, they eventually give importance to unnecessary things.

The potential symptoms of impulse control disorders are:

• Behavioural Symptoms: Behavioural signs of impulsive disorders include aggressiveness, risky behaviour, licentious activities, etc. Further, it may extend to stealing things, setting a fire, or extreme behavioural ups and downs.
• Social and Emotive Symptoms: Impulse control disorders affect your social health very prominently. Therefore, you may feel socially detached or alone even in a crowd. Further, this disorder will also affect your emotional state as it changes your mood drastically or makes you feel guilty and lowers your self-esteem.
• Cognitive Symptoms: Impulsive disorders may also affect your cognitive capabilities. Therefore you will have symptoms like obsession with minor things, inability to be organised, poor concentration power, problems in coordination and execution, etc.

The root causes of impulse control disorder mainly rest with impulsive behaviour. Generally, they happen due to environmental factors and other genetic reasons. For example, children can get the signs of this disorder from their parents if they have schizophrenia or mood disorders. However, environmental factors are more effective in causing impulsive disorders. These are as follows:

• Staying in a place with violence
• Lack of proper emotional support from family
• Growing up in a low socioeconomic strata
• Being abused from childhood
• Being friends with anti-socials or who are prone to do illegal things

The risk factors of impulsive disorder and impulsive behaviour are listed below:

• Males are more prone to impulse control disorder than females
• Genetic disorders
• Being a victim of trauma and abuse
• Witnessing violence
• Taking dopamine agonist medicines
• Consuming alcohol or drugs
• Bipolar disorders
• Personality disorders

Mental health experts diagnose impulse control disorder by checking the following DSM-IV and DSM-V criteria:

• Addiction to gambling
• Restlessness
• Lying to family members, even therapist
• Doing illegal activities
•  Hypersexuality
• Addiction to shopping

By checking these criteria, an expert can determine the severity of the condition and prescribe therapies and medications accordingly.

The treatment procedure includes psychotherapy and medications. The discussion is as follows,

1. Therapy

CBT: CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy is the process of finding the root cause of a mental disorder by analysing the behaviour and mood of the patient. The therapy is short-term and lasts a maximum of 20 sessions. The session is generally one-to-one; however, group discussions can also happen. CBT helps treat related mental conditions such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.

2. Medications

Antidepressants: As the conditions are pretty depressing, intriguing and shift mood, doctors also prescribe antidepressants and mood-boosting medicines. Antidepressants are responsible for the secretion of neurotransmitters, which are important hormones for a better mood. These anti-depressants include SSRIs, SNRIs and TCAs, and MAOIs drugs.

Apart from these, you can also opt for certain home remedies, which are,

3. Home Remedies

• Practising Mindfulness: Mindfulness is highly beneficial for overcoming the problems of impulse control disorders. This helps to stay focused and control your mind. Further, it also helps to reduce obsessive thoughts.
• Habit Reversal Technique: The habit reversal technique is a part of therapy that your doctor may prescribe you to practice. The process is identifying a particular impulsive behaviour and consciously replacing that behaviour with something else.
• Seek Help From Support Group: If you face serious social detachment due to impulsive disorder, you can seek help from a support group. They help you stay in the mainstream and cope with your symptoms.

Impulse control disorder often cannot be diagnosed or understood easily. Though you do not identify the exact issue in the early stage, you should opt for medical assistance as soon as you notice the following signs:

• Lack of control on behavioural patterns
• Aggressive or violent behavioural patterns
• Hamper in workflow due to impulsive behaviour
• Negative effects on relationships
• Existing neurological conditions affecting behavioural changes

In addition, adults and children showing excessive impulsive behaviour should be under serious treatment as soon as the parents discover some signs.

The only way to control the symptoms of impulse control disorder is by preventing the occurrence of symptoms. You can do that by following ways:

• Being aware of your condition
• Keep a journal and maintain a risk plan
•  Indulge in pleasing activities
• Talk to some knowledgeable person from the beginning
• Set routine and limits for children
• Praise your child for their mental happiness

Thus, the whole discussion has every necessary detail of impulse control disorders. The situation may deteriorate if you do not initially opt for treatment. As the symptoms are quite destructive, it is advisable to seek proper medical help for long-term results.