Impulse Control Disorder

Impulse Control Disorder includes a number of mental disorders. On the surface they may seem to have little in common:

• Intermittent Explosive Disorder — aka “Hot-Headedness”
• Kleptomania — compulsive stealing
• Pyromania — fire-starting
• Trichotillomania — compulsively pulling one’s hair out

The commonality among them is the unexplained, uncontrollable impulse to begin the activity. When these disorders cross the line into Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is when they exhibit the more universal OCD traits such as repetition, and are geared toward relieving or preventing either a very specific stress, or a general feeling of anxiety.

To this list should be added finger-picking. When you find yourself in a repeatedly stressful situation — such as a family argument — and your first impulse is to start picking your cuticles or ripping off your fingernails, then you may suffer from Impulse Control Disorder.

A close cousin to Impulse Control Disorder is Stereotypic Movement Disorder — which involves repeated, non-functional motor behaviors such as nail biting or head-banging.