Intermittent Explosive Disorder

[RepresentingCaution]

Here's the link on the clinical definition:
Intermittent explosive disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

I feel like every person with a fully functional Y chromosome gets blinded by testosterone sometimes. It's an inescapable part of our biology. However, it's not OK to lose control in modern society. Some have better coping mechanisms than others, but the urge is still there. As such, can it really be considered a disorder?

Personally, I think it's something we need to talk about more openly so we can deal with volatile emotions in safe ways. Every man I've ever lived with, including my dad, has had temper tantrums. None of them ever physically harmed me or anyone I know, but sometimes, it gets pretty scary. My husband has told stories of his dad doing similar things. My mtf trans friend says she felt like exploding at her spouse, and she resisted, but the feeling scared her.

Does this happen in your family? Do you explode or feel like exploding sometimes? What do you do?

 

[BackWoodsJ_ACK]

I consider it normal. There are just days when you involuntarily choose to become a walking bomb of violence that’ll go off at the slightest mistake.
That pent up anger that accumulated over times has to go somewhere and sadly it’s more times than not in the form of a temper tantrum.

 

[Deleted member 42060]

I rarely get angry, but when I do, it’s often an explosive one. My parents rarely get angry too, but we do get irritated sometimes, which is normal, especially if you’re in a stinky mood. When I feel like exploding, I just try to walk away. The absence of the source of my anger helps. I still have temper issues, so I try my best not to attack—it’s better to punch a wall than to punch a person, and that was my technique before. Or, and I know this is a bad idea, it’s better to harm yourself than to harm other people. When you feel like exploding, always try not to hurt people. Resisting anger doesn’t help, so I just solve that with extreme exercise. And after exercise, I feel better. (Of course, I’m not going to say that exercise can cure the intermittent explosive disorder. Exercise doesn’t cure everything.) Since genetics is also part of the factor, I can’t say if it’s a disorder or normal male behavior.​

 

[peelsdeeni]

I'm not too sure honestly. The definition of a disorder is "A wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior."

So technically, it is. but then again, the definition is a bit broad. If you think about it, with this definition, love is a disorder. Although I wouldn't really know since all my knowledge of love comes from anime, manga, novels, and movies.

It should also be noted that females can also get IED. Females also produce testosterone albeit not as much and whatever does get produced is usually turned into estrogen.

The males that I interact with (ie my friends and family) don't really have any outbursts like the ones you're describing. Whenever they do have any outbursts, it's usually cause they've had a bad day.

From my viewpoint, no, it isn't normal. but from another's viewpoint whose lived like this their whole life, yes, it is normal. I think your question depends on your perspective. But I could just be horribly wrong and am just making a fool of myself. Oh well, I spent way too long typing this out sooo, yeah.

 

[Zirrboy]

I'm a choleric who was raised by an impulsive choleric. The result is me being obsessed with control over my thoughts and actions.

I don't think the sort of behavior you mention should be excused. How to deal with them would depend on what is more constructive, which I have no clue about.

On the other hand, if every male in your life is exhibiting such behavior, I am inclined to question your association preferences.

 

[Southdog]

I feel like every person with a fully functional Y chromosome gets blinded by testosterone sometimes. It's an inescapable part of our biology. However, it's not OK to lose control in modern society. Some have better coping mechanisms than others, but the urge is still there. As such, can it really be considered a disorder?

Then something is messed up with modern society, don't you think? Man is a creature, society is a construct. Something's terribly messed up that a man's "inescapable biology" is a problem that must be solved with coping mechanisms and treated as a disorder. You can't tell men to be more in touch with their emotions then treat anger, depression, and anxiety as mental afflictions. The idea of the "halfway stoic man" that only shows positive emotions has done more to destroy young men than anything else in this world. People who don't have an outlet lash out and hurt themselves trying to find any relief.

Does this happen in your family? Do you explode or feel like exploding sometimes? What do you do?

My dad gets pissed off all the time. His marriage sucked, so he divorced. The Navy broke his back, so he smokes weed. I'm not a perfect child, so he accuses me of all sorts of things. It's petty bullshit that he can't let go even in his old age. He's said some unforgivable things about me and my mother, and I hope he rots, but I'm not gonna act like it's all baseless.

I'm a belligerent, loud, disagreeable person, and honestly, I feel GREAT. If I have a problem, I make it known. I don't feel like exploding, because I don't bottle things up enough to let it get to that point. If there's a problem, I'm not going to lay around and let it get worse. If I'm angry, I'm going to let it be known, I don't care if people tell me to lower my voice. I only have so much time on this Earth and I don't have time for petty bullshit.

 

[gogo7966]

as someone who specificly suffers from it i can with confidence say that it's a real disorder and that this "normal male behavior" described here pales in comparison to the consistent and destroctive precense it has had on my life

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Same as PMS. So, I go with normal.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

In my country of residence, both. It it culturally expected for men to act out the symptoms of the very real intermittent explosive disorder. The difference is that these men are only 'acting out of control,' and while they may be succumbing to peer pressure, societal expectations of bad behavior, and 'locker room talk', they retain their normal mode of thought and normal control of their body during these affectations of rage. This 'acting' and the social expectation of being out of control also predisposes men in my region to developing IED for real.
As far as men in my family go about dealing with anger, honestly we mostly stonewall, sulk, and pout.

 

[Cipiteca396]

My mom and dad both have short tempers, and I either inherited it or learned it from them. Of course, my mom definitely has the worse temper of the two. I can only laugh when you point to it as a 'male thing'.

 

[theInmara]

It's not the Y chromosome. It's not testosterone (though, hormones can have an emotional affect on different people in different ways). It's not even gendered, except in the way that our various cultures expect things of different genders and condition people of different genders to handle their emotions in different ways.

But we've seen people of all body types, birth assignments, and dominant hormones struggle with anger in this way, whether we're talking about the disordered level of it or not.