Explosive rage not as rare as once thought
By Ronald Kotulak

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — One in 20 Americans may be susceptible to uncontrollable anger attacks in which they lash out in road rage, spousal abuse or other severe transgressions that are totally unjustified, researchers from Harvard and the University of Chicago have found.

Their nationwide study found that the condition called intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, is not the rare occurrence that psychiatrists had previously thought. Four to five percent of people in the study were found to have physically assaulted someone, threatened bodily harm or destroyed property in a rage an average of five times a year.

Intermittent explosive disorder is different from the common type of anger most people exhibit from time to time when they pout, throw a book down or walk out of a room, activities that are better described as mild temper tantrums. IED is defined as repeated and uncontrollable anger attacks that often become violent.

"Our new study suggests IED is really out there and that a lot of people have it," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, the University of Chicago's chief of psychiatry. "That's the first step for the public to actually get treated for it, because if you don't think it's really a disorder, you're never going to get treated for it."

The rest of the article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003042205_roadrage06.html

Related topic http://www.apa.org/topics/controlanger.html

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