Impulse Control Disorder

What are Impulse Control Disorders?

Impulse Control Disorders are a class of disorders categorised under Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). These disorders are characterised by poor impulse control related to specific behaviours. Examples of impulse control disorders include pyromania and kleptomania.

Diagnosis

Impulse control disorders are diagnosed by a mental health clinician through a clinical interview and the use of appropriate assessment tools.

The criteria used to diagnose Pyromania include:

Deliberate and purposeful fire setting on more than one occasion
Tension or affective arousal before the act
Fascination with, interest in, curiosity about, or attraction to fire and its situational contexts
Pleasure, gratification, or relief when setting fires or when witnessing or participating in their aftermath
The fire setting is not done for monetary gain, as an expression of sociopolitical ideology, to conceal criminal activity, to express anger or vengeance, to improve one’s living circumstances, in response to a delusion or hallucination, or as a result of impaired judgment

The criteria used to diagnose Kleptomania include:

Recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or for their monetary value
Increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft
Pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the theft
The stealing is not committed to express anger or vengeance and is not in response to a delusion or a hallucination

Treatment

Cognitive behavioural therapy is typically employed to treat impulse-control disorders. This may include cognitive behavioural techniques such as covert sensitisation, imaginal desensitisation, systematic desensitisation, aversion therapy, relaxation training, and diversification.

Find Medical and Surgical Conditions

What are Impulse Control Disorders?

Diagnosis

Treatment