Road Rage a Mental Disorder . . .
06-09-06, 06:17 PM
#1
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Road Rage a Mental Disorder . . .
Study says millions have 'rage' disorder
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
Mon Jun 5, 5:00 PM ET
CHICAGO - To you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering from road rage. But doctors have another name for it — intermittent explosive disorder — and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans.
"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school.
Road rage, temper outbursts that involve throwing or breaking objects and even spousal abuse can sometimes be attributed to the disorder, though not everyone who does those things is afflicted.
By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14.
The study was based on a national face-to-face survey of 9,282 U.S. adults who answered diagnostic questionnaires in 2001-03. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
About 5 percent to 7 percent of the nationally representative sample had had the disorder, which would equal up to 16 million Americans. That is higher than better-known mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Coccaro said.
The average number of lifetime attacks per person was 43, resulting in $1,359 in property damage per person. About 4 percent had suffered recent attacks.
The findings were released Monday in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
The findings show the little-studied disorder is much more common than previously thought, said lead author Ronald Kessler, a health care policy professor at Harvard Medical School.
"It is news to a lot of people even who are specialists in mental health services that such a large proportion of the population has these clinically significant anger attacks," Kessler said.
Four a couple of decades, intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, has been included in the manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness, though with slightly different names and criteria. That has contributed to misunderstanding and underappreciation of the disorder, said Coccaro, a study co-author.
Coccaro said the disorder involves inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behavior-inhibiting brain chemical. Treatment with antidepressants, including those that target serotonin receptors in the brain, is often helpful, along with behavior therapy akin to anger management, Coccaro said.
Most sufferers in the study had other emotional disorders or drug or alcohol problems and had gotten treatment for them, but only 28 percent had ever received treatment for anger.
"This is a well-designed, large-scale, face-to-face study with interesting and useful results," said Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont. "The findings also confirm that for most people, the difficulties associated with the disorder begin during childhood or adolescence, and they often have a profound and ongoing impact on the person's life."
Jennifer Hartstein, a psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said she had just diagnosed the disorder in a 16-year-old boy.
"In most situations, he is relatively affable, calm and very responsible," she said. But in stressful situations at home, he "explodes and tears apart his room, throws things at other people" to the point that his parents have called the police.
Hartstein said the study is important because many people are not aware of the disorder.
source : news.yahoo
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
Mon Jun 5, 5:00 PM ET
CHICAGO - To you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering from road rage. But doctors have another name for it — intermittent explosive disorder — and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans.
"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school.
Road rage, temper outbursts that involve throwing or breaking objects and even spousal abuse can sometimes be attributed to the disorder, though not everyone who does those things is afflicted.
By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14.
The study was based on a national face-to-face survey of 9,282 U.S. adults who answered diagnostic questionnaires in 2001-03. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
About 5 percent to 7 percent of the nationally representative sample had had the disorder, which would equal up to 16 million Americans. That is higher than better-known mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Coccaro said.
The average number of lifetime attacks per person was 43, resulting in $1,359 in property damage per person. About 4 percent had suffered recent attacks.
The findings were released Monday in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
The findings show the little-studied disorder is much more common than previously thought, said lead author Ronald Kessler, a health care policy professor at Harvard Medical School.
"It is news to a lot of people even who are specialists in mental health services that such a large proportion of the population has these clinically significant anger attacks," Kessler said.
Four a couple of decades, intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, has been included in the manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness, though with slightly different names and criteria. That has contributed to misunderstanding and underappreciation of the disorder, said Coccaro, a study co-author.
Coccaro said the disorder involves inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behavior-inhibiting brain chemical. Treatment with antidepressants, including those that target serotonin receptors in the brain, is often helpful, along with behavior therapy akin to anger management, Coccaro said.
Most sufferers in the study had other emotional disorders or drug or alcohol problems and had gotten treatment for them, but only 28 percent had ever received treatment for anger.
"This is a well-designed, large-scale, face-to-face study with interesting and useful results," said Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont. "The findings also confirm that for most people, the difficulties associated with the disorder begin during childhood or adolescence, and they often have a profound and ongoing impact on the person's life."
Jennifer Hartstein, a psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said she had just diagnosed the disorder in a 16-year-old boy.
"In most situations, he is relatively affable, calm and very responsible," she said. But in stressful situations at home, he "explodes and tears apart his room, throws things at other people" to the point that his parents have called the police.
Hartstein said the study is important because many people are not aware of the disorder.
source : news.yahoo
06-09-06, 07:02 PM
#3
The worst case of road rage I'm guity of is when i was driving through an intersection in the right lane, and an a-hole in a Cayenne cut me off from the middle lane, and stopped in the middle of the intersection to make a right turn, and blocked me. It is a busy intersection, and there were people crossing the road, so he remained stopped for a long time, and then light changed red and i was stuck in the middle of intersection. For the meanwhile i was honking at him, yelling curse words, and threw a bottle of spring water at his window. Unfortunately the bottle was plastic, so it didn't break his window, I really wished I had a heavier object I could throw at him.
06-09-06, 07:42 PM
#4
Originally Posted by Och
The worst case of road rage I'm guity of is when i was driving through an intersection in the right lane, and an a-hole in a Cayenne cut me off from the middle lane, and stopped in the middle of the intersection to make a right turn, and blocked me. It is a busy intersection, and there were people crossing the road, so he remained stopped for a long time, and then light changed red and i was stuck in the middle of intersection. For the meanwhile i was honking at him, yelling curse words, and threw a bottle of spring water at his window. Unfortunately the bottle was plastic, so it didn't break his window, I really wished I had a heavier object I could throw at him.
yea see thats not cool hahah
what part of ny was this in?
06-09-06, 07:51 PM
#6
Originally Posted by Och
Right when you get off the quensborough bridge (into queens)
oh ok, yea driving in NYC is a real challenge for a persons patience's. people just dont have any considerastion for other drivers
i have had alot of times where i was bout to pull over then realized what i was bout to do...
06-09-06, 08:05 PM
#7
Originally Posted by tuddy
oh ok, yea driving in NYC is a real challenge for a persons patience's. people just dont have any considerastion for other drivers
i have had alot of times where i was bout to pull over then realized what i was bout to do...
i have had alot of times where i was bout to pull over then realized what i was bout to do...
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06-10-06, 06:40 AM
#8
Super Moderator
We have someting in Mexico City that I like to call Road Ignorance where people treat driving in the car like no one else exists. They don't get angry but they never look anywhere but straight ahead, no use of turn signals and will come into your lane when you feel like it. I have taught my cousins a lot of defensive techniques, even though most of the time I end up being the dude who ends up getting road rage, so I have that mental disorder. 
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