05
Jun

Intermittent Explosive Disorder - An illness or just bad behavior?

Road Rage? It May Be a Clinical Disorder, ABC GMA News

This is a story that was run on ABC Good Morning America and published on ABC’s news site. Intermittent Explosive Anger - IED Disorder is a condition where anger can go from zero to 90 in no time. It is an imbalance in brain chemicals that affects up to one in 20 people - more men than women. It is far worse than just having a bad temper. It is often seen in people who experience severe Road Rage.

A new study of more then 9,000 people found that four percent had IED. Harvard Medical School epidemiologist Ronald Kessler said that he was “blown away by how many people meet criteria” for IED. He described it as “mind-boggling” that its prevalence hadn’t been recognized sooner.

Okay, I’m having a hard time with this. I want to be open minded and considerate of valid conditions that others may be suffering with. However, I also feel that the academic world is rapidly inventing conditions and biological explanations for what in part may be just bad behavior. Take this statement for example:

The study found few people suffer from IED alone. More then 80 percent of those with IED also have some type of mood, anxiety, impulse control or substance use disorder.

Most people are surprised when they hear about IED. “People go, ‘There’s a name for it? There’s something you can do? And it works?’” said Kessler. “You don’t have to blame yourself for it — it’s a biological thing.”

It also sounds like a ready made defense for any number of crimes committed in a fit of rage, including murder. Another case of I’m not responsible!

Since all brain activity is a combination of chemical and/or electrical reactions, who draws the line to say that this activity is a chemical imbalance? Is someone who is constantly up and positive suffering from a chemical imbalance, just one that is more acceptable to society? In many cases I think this drive to define socially unacceptable behavior as a condition is driven by other more selfish imbalances, the need for fame and money. How many articles, interviews, and speeches will be given on IED and how many research funds will be available. Then there’s also the new drugs that will come to market to treat this condition. Millions and millions…follow the money.

When I was a child, my mother and father had a very effective way of adjusting my chemical imbalance when it caused bad behavior.

I am very skeptical of IED for the prior mentioned reasons..

If you disagree with my personal opinion be aware that I could suffer from a chemical imbalance of the brain and go off on you in an intermittent explosion of rage, or not.

UPDATE: 06/08/2006

There’s an interesting post in the Philadelphia Inquirer concerning this same subject. It would seem I’m not the only one who grows tired of bad behavior being ‘medicalized’.

Technorati Tags: Anger, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Meandering Passage, Society

Posted on: Monday, June 5, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Posted by: Earl Moore
Filed Under: Observations
Post Viewed: 1,197 views

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Comments

9 Responses to “Intermittent Explosive Disorder - An illness or just bad behavior?”

George Anderson on June 12th, 2006 11:51 pm

I am one of the largest providers of anger management classes in the nation. We provide anger management classes in two Los Angeles locations seven days each week. Most, if not all Courts in Los Angeles County refer exclusively to providers who use our curriculum.
During the last ten years, I can only think of two clients who would have been diagnosed as suffering from intermittent explosive disorder. One was also brain damaged and the second bi polar.
Earl Moore on June 13th, 2006 5:46 am

George: Of course people suffer from uncontrolled fits of anger and there is great value in learning the causes and providing training and treatment that you do for those affected. My concern is that dianosing people with anger management problems as IED will cloud the real causes and issues. There will be another layer added. You stated that in your experience the two people who would have been diagnosed as IED were suffering from other causes. Thanks for the comment.
Holly Paige on June 29th, 2006 12:24 pm

IED sounds like another way to let people off the hook for their bad behaviorial choices. We as a nation seem so ready to celebrate bad behavior instead of holding people accountable for their actions. Whatever happened to personal accountability?
Earl Moore on June 29th, 2006 1:57 pm

Holly: As you can see from my post I tend to agree with you. I was thinking the other day about how not only do we as individuals seem to lack a level of personal accountability but that we as a nation also seem to lack a level of national accountability. There was a study released a few days ago that indicated that we as Americans have fewer close personal friends then we use to. I wonder if this unraveling of close personal relationships and social experiences is also causing a feeling of isolation and therefore a lack of responsibility for anything or anyone else. Don’t have the answer there, but interesting thought.
Marty Steinberg on July 30th, 2006 5:38 pm

I have a 13 year old boy who has IED. Are there any schools in the Southeast that deal wiht this issue?
Earl Moore on July 30th, 2006 6:10 pm

Marty: I personally don\’t know of any ones that specifically deal with IED. Has your son been been officially dianosed with IED? If so then you should talk to those that did the dianoses to see if they can recommend treatment. If he has NOT been dianosed then you may want to see your family doctor for references. You could also search on the Internet under anger management for someone who could provide additional information. Good luck!
Megan on June 12th, 2007 11:43 am

Since this is a year from the last post, probably no one will read it, but what the hell.

I have a son who is very smart, very kind, and a well behaved person. He cooks wonderful meals with his grandmother. He can intellectualize and speak effectively about his emotions. At 17, he has already had 2 fairly serious relationships, one lasting a year. His realtionships were positive and the girls nice, with little fighting.

His father and I are both college educated, do not believe in spanking etc, and while divorced, were never inclined for arguments or fighting etc.

Yet he suffers from what can only be described as fits, and this has been getting worse as he gets older. He gets to a state where he has to destroy something. It is always his own property, and he never hurts anyone. He has spent hard earned money building up a computer, and much time, and yet still assaulted the thing enough to ruin it- time after time. He knows all the common techniques for controlling temper, and he tries them. They do not help.

The thing that really gets me is when I find him afterwards, and he is clearly in a temporary state of severe depression, wracked with guilt and self-loathing.

How could anyone, anyone at all deny there is something wrong here? Normal people do not cause themselves severe anguish like this repeatedly, and they don’t cost themselves this kind of money. He is normal in every other repect. I really cannot think otherwise than that there is a biological syndrome going on.

Clearly, he could get a lot more control over this thing by changing the way he thinks about the world, and this is the long term solution. However the level of anger he experiences, the overwhelming-ness of it- this I believe is physiological. Nothing else makes sense.
Earl Moore on June 12th, 2007 2:07 pm

Hi Megan,

I always read comments no matter how old the original post is. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I have no doubt that what you are experiencing with your son is very real and exactly as you described. I know it must be hard seeing one you love suffer so.

I hope your son is able to find the help needed to cope with this. I would agree that it some cases, such as your son, it seems to be physiological.

Good luck.
Anonymous on October 19th, 2007 5:50 pm

I can see where you stand on this issue, as it being an excuse. However, I can also this as a serious medical condition. I’m glad I found this along with a few other articles, I have been trying to find something on this for a while. I have sort of had a temper,but a lot of kids do when their young a temper tantrum here, a tempter tantrum there,but nothin serious. However in the last six months I have had two outburst that could be described as IED. The most recent resulted in some (thankfully,minor)injuries to one of my friends. I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t control myself and the only thought going through my mind was ‘don’t hurt her, don’t hurt her, don’t hurt her’. I still couldn’t do anything about it. no one belives me and she won’t talk to me. i tried to apologise,but she wouldn’t listen. I’m not using IED as an excuse, it is an answer to my question yes,but ‘I have IED’ is not a legit excuse for attacking her. I know I am responsible for my actions and it pains me to know what I did. I have recently moved, due to my fathers job neing transferred,but I’m scared to make friends. Everytime I see Isaac or Joseph or katie or any other students, who are very nice to me and wish to be friends, I can see it happening again. I don’t want to hurt them,but I fear another outburst. In my last one I injured and lost one of my best friends and that was when I thought I had it under control. So even though it hasn’t happened in a while, I knwo it could happen again, it drives me insane. I come home and unless I keep busy I can’t help thinking about it and wondering what in the world I’m going to do. Its not just bad behavior, yes I can yell sometimes, I am a teen, it happens,but this is more. I didn’t have a reason, if I did it was miniscule and I couldn’t control myslef. I couldn’t feel, I could barely think, I couldn’t control my body, I heard echos, like all noise was far off and I couldn’t see anything but white until I came to. When I did I didn’t know what had just happened,but it kills to find out what I did. IED isn’t an excuse, I stress that again, I hate that I am responsible for it even though I couldn’t help it. I am responsible for it, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it.