Impulse Control Disorders

In the last decade, much needed attention and research has been focused on the group of psychiatric conditions termed “impulse control disorders” or ICDs. Pathological gambling, compulsive shopping, kleptomania, hypersexuality, Internet “addiction,” among other disorders, are characterized by a recurrent urge to perform a repetitive behavior that is gratifying in the moment but causes significant long-term distress and disability. Despite the high rate of co-morbidity with obsessive compulsive disorder, ICDs are now clearly distinguished from these disorders with a unique clinical approach for diagnosis and treatment. A wide array of psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic options is now available for treating these disorders. Drs. Elias Aboujaoude and Lorrin M. Koran have compiled the world’s foremost experts in ICD research and treatment to create a comprehensive book on the frequency, evolution, treatment, and related public policy, public health, forensic, and medical issues of these disorders. This is the first book to bring together medical and social knowledge bases related to impulse control disorders.

Elias Aboujaoude, MD, is Director of the Impulse Disorders Clinic at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.

Lorrin M. Koran, MD, is Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry and Director of the Obsessive Compulsive Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.