Author: Linda Turner

Intermittent explosive disorder appears to result from a combination of biological and environmental factors. Most people with the disorder grew up in families where explosive behavior and verbal and physical abuse were common. Being exposed to such violence at an early age makes it more likely for children to develop the same traits as they mature. There may also be a genetic component through which the susceptibility to the disorder is passed from parents to children.

The majority of cases occur in persons younger than 35 years of age. There is some evidence that the neurotransmitter serotonin may play a role in this disorder.

The disorder is probably more common than realized and may be an important cause of violent behavior. Some studies have found that intermittent explosive disorder is more common in men.

Continue reading “Intermittent Explosive Disorder | Psychology Today” →

Intermittent explosive disorder, also known as IED, is characterized by the failure to resist aggressive impulses, which result in serious assaults or property destruction (American Psychological Association, 2000). The degree of aggression displayed during these outbursts is grossly out of proportion with the events that provoke them. (Bayer, 2000). The short-lived episodes of aggression provide a way for the person with IED to vent his or her anger and frustration (Bayer, 2000). These verbal or physical outbursts are much more intense than normal anger, and the individual with IED is unable to control them (Bayer, 2000). The aggression the individual feels is often ego-dystonic, so they may feel regret or guilt after committing the aggressive act (Bayer, 2000; Blankenship, 2008). IED is not the same as aggression that is purposeful and premeditated, and it does not arise out of personal motives, such as revenge, social dominance, or monetary gain (Blankenship, 2008).

History of IED:

• The name of this disorder has changed over time and so has the diagnostic criteria listed in the DSM. In the DSM-I, IED was called passive aggressive personality, aggressive type; in the DSM-II, it was renamed explosive personality disorder.
• The term intermittent explosive disorder was first used in the DSM-III, and the diagnostic criteria excluded individuals with antisocial personality disorder and generalized aggression or impulsivity (Blankenship, 2008).
• In the DSM-III-R, individuals with borderline personality disorder were also excluded (Blankenship, 2008).
• The current diagnostic criteria for IED no longer excludes generalized aggression or impulsivity (Blankenship, 2008).
• For an individual to be diagnosed with IED, the outbursts cannot be triggered by other disorders or medication. However, people with IED very likely to abuse drugs (Bayer, 2000).

Continue reading “Intermittent Explosive Disorder (312.34) | Abnormal Psychology” →

The target article’s important point is easily misunderstood to claim that all revenge is adaptive. Revenge and forgiveness can overstretch (or understretch) the bounds of utility due to misperceptions, minimization of costly errors, a breakdown within our evolved revenge systems, or natural genetic and developmental variation. Together, these factors can compound to produce highly abnormal instances of revenge and forgiveness.

Continue reading “Pathways to abnormal revenge and forgiveness. – PubMed – NCBI” →

In the past few years, psychological scientists have discovered many ways in which the practice of revenge fails to fulfill its sweet expectations. Behavioral scientists have observed that instead of quenching hostility, revenge can prolong the unpleasantness of the original offense and that merely bringing harm upon an offender is not enough to satisfy a person’s vengeful spirit. They have also found that instead of delivering justice, revenge often creates only a cycle of retaliation, in part because one person’s moral equilibrium rarely aligns with another’s. The upshot of these insights is a better sense of why the pursuit of revenge has persisted through the ages, despite tasting a lot more sour than advertised.

Continue reading “The Complicated Psychology of Revenge – Association for Psychological Science” →

It might also be comforting to know that not everyone acts out on their desire to seek revenge. One 2006 study found that men get more pleasure from the idea of revenge. Male participants were found to have more activity in the reward circuit of the brain than women when they saw cheating opponents receive an electric shock. In another 2008 study, Ozlem Ayduk of the University of California, Berkeley and colleagues, found that those with specific personality types were more likely to act violently after rejection. She found that certain individuals had higher levels of “rejection sensitivity” – who were more likely to expect rejection based on past experiences.

These individuals were also found to be more neurotic and to show anxiety and depression. “They have this tendency to see rejection even where it doesn’t exist. Rejection is an existential threat, so that expectation [of rejection] actually prepares – both mentally and physiologically – the person to defend themselves,” says Ayduk. Retaliatory aggression for these individuals was therefore a “knee-jerk” reaction to feeling rejected.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170403-the-hidden-upsides-of-revenge

Continue reading “BBC – Future – The hidden upsides of revenge” →

1. Revenge is predominantly emotional; justice primarily rational. Revenge is mostly about “acting out” (typically through violence) markedly negative emotions. At its worst, it expresses a hot, overwhelming desire for bloodshed. As perverse as it may seem, there’s actual pleasure experienced in causing others to suffer for the hurt they’ve caused the avenger, or self-perceived victim (cf. the less personal Schadenfreude).

Continue reading “Don’t Confuse Revenge With Justice: Five Key Differences | Psychology Today” →

What to Do with Revenge:

Revenge re-opens and aggravates your emotional wounds. Even though you might be tempted to punish a wrong, you end up punishing yourself because you can’t heal.

But what do you do if you were wronged? How can you deal with the intense emotional feelings of retribution? What do you do if you feel an intense need for revenge?

There is a healthy way to deal with these feelings that can help you heal and give your brain the same amount of rewards without the consequences.

Healthy Revenge:

Are you ready for it? This one comes from the amazing, prolific, Frank Sinatra. In his words:

“The best revenge is massive success.” –Frank Sinatra

The next time you feel the dark tendrils of revenge creeping into your soul, I want you to take that intensity and put it towards succeeding.

Put it towards your goals.

Put it towards hustling to get what you want.

Put it towards growth.

Get the reward center of your brain pumping by thinking about how sweet it will feel when you meet your goals. This shifts the focus onto you and your mission and makes your perpetrator irrelevant–which is exactly where they should be.

Continue reading “To all the vengeful alienators” →

The Long-Term Effects of Revenge:

We often believe that exacting revenge is a form of emotional release and that getting retribution will help us feel better. Movies often portray the act of revenge as a way of gaining closure after a wrong. But in fact, revenge has the opposite effect.

Even though the first few moments feel rewarding in the brain, psychological scientists have found that instead of quenching hostility, revenge prolongs the unpleasantness of the original offense.

Instead of delivering justice, revenge often creates only a cycle of retaliation.

“A man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal.” –Francis Bacon

Continue reading “The Psychology of Revenge | Science of People” →

The results suggest that, despite conventional wisdom, people—at least those with Westernized notions of revenge—are bad at predicting their emotional states following revenge, Carlsmith says. The reason revenge may stoke anger’s flames may lie in our ruminations, he says. When we don’t get revenge, we’re able to trivialize the event, he says. We tell ourselves that because we didn’t act on our vengeful feelings, it wasn’t a big deal, so it’s easier to forget it and move on. But when we do get revenge, we can no longer trivialize the situation. Instead, we think about it. A lot.

“Rather than providing closure, it does the opposite: It keeps the wound open and fresh,” he says.

Continue reading “Revenge and the people who seek it – Parental Alienators!!” →

BPD patients are thought to be particularly skilled manipulators with jealous and vindictive tendencies. Accordingly, mental health professionals often view sufferers negatively. BPD patients subject not only their loved ones, but their therapists and psychologists, to their emotional reactions and instability. Therapists tend to distance themselves when treating a BPD individual, which in turn affects the patient’s quality of treatment and outcome.

As further developments are made in dialectical behavioral therapy, aimed at borderline patients and the therapists who are unsure about treating them, the possibility of a successful outcome becomes more likely. However, just general demystification of the disorder and those it affects can aid in getting rid of the stigma that follows borderlines.

Continue reading “Borderline: Understanding the Patients that Psychologists Fear” →