What are impulse control disorders?

Impulse control disorders (ICDs) are a group of behavioral conditions that make it difficult to control your actions or reactions. These problematic behaviors often cause harm to others and/or yourself. They can also lead to issues with the law.

Some examples of these behaviors include:

• Angry outbursts.
• Arguing and fighting.
• Destroying property.
• Defiance and disobedience.
• Stealing.
• Breaking rules or laws.

Signs of impulse control disorders typically begin in childhood and can continue into adulthood.

Types of impulse control disorders

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists the following conditions as impulse control disorders:

• Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD): This condition involves a continuing pattern of uncooperative, defiant and sometimes hostile behavior toward people in authority.
• Conduct disorder: This condition involves an ongoing pattern of aggression toward others. Children with this condition may also show serious violations of rules and social norms at home, in school and with peers.
• Intermittent explosive disorder: This condition involves frequent impulsive anger outbursts or aggression that cause significant distress.
• Kleptomania: This is a mental health condition in which you feel an overpowering, irresistible urge to steal things. People who have this disorder know that stealing is wrong and could get them into trouble, but they can’t stop themselves.
• Pyromania: This is a mental health condition in which you can’t resist the urge to start fires. You know the fires are harmful, but you can’t control the impulse to start one. People with pyromania feel tension before setting fires and a release after. They don’t start fires for any other reason than the release.

What are the symptoms of impulse control disorders?

Each impulse control disorder has different signs and symptoms. But they all involve a decreased ability to control your own behavior, which often negatively affects other people or breaks laws.

Most people with an impulse control disorder know their behavior is inappropriate, but they can’t stop it. People with an ICD usually feel an increasing internal tension before they act out. After the deviant behavior, they often feel a release or catharsis.

Another way to think of impulse control disorders is that the behaviors are externalizing. In other words, people with ICDs express resentment and hostility outwardly to others. This often creates conflicts with other people (or the law). This is different from other kinds of mental health conditions, like anxiety disorders and mood disorders, in which the person internalizes their distress.

It’s important to remember that most kids become defiant at times. They test their — and other people’s — boundaries to learn what’s appropriate and what’s not. But impulse control disorders involve an ongoing pattern of much more severe behaviors. These behaviors disrupt daily life and negatively affect relationships.