'Stop Me Because I Can't Stop Myself'

From M, winter 2003

Excessive shopping, pathological gambling, kleptomania, and compulsive sexual behavior are all impulse control disorders. "There is a common misconception that people who have impulse control disorders have poor judgment or lack willpower," says Jon E. Grant, psychiatrist at the University's Medical School. "In reality, these people experience extreme emotional distress and should be treated the same as any other patient suffering from a mental or emotional illness."

Grant and his colleague, S. W. Kim, both directors of the University's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, wrote Stop Me Because I Can't Stop Myself, a guide to understanding impulse control disorders. The book gives information on what is needed to diagnose these disorders, the possible causes of the illness, medical and therapeutic treatments available, and advice to family members. Through analyzing and examining real-life therapy cases, the authors show that treatments such as medication and cognitive behavior therapy can be used to treat a large percentage of people suffering from impulse control disorders.

Stop Me Because I Can't Stop Myself is available at major bookstores. ISBN#0071398260. For information on the University of Minnesota's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, see www.psychiatry.umn.edu/clinical/impulse_control/, e-mail sohnl001@umn.edu, or call 612-627-4879.