Question

How can we relate intermittent impulsive disorder to Freuds phycosexual stage:latency, defensive mechanism:displacement , Freuds unconscious theory. How do these approaches explain intermittent impulsive behavior

Answer 1

Intermittent Impulsive disorder (IID) includes unexpected episodes (instances) of aggressive, impulsive, violent conduct, or verbal angry outpouring. Individuals tend to react disproportionately to circumstances. Freud’s theories of unconscious, psychosexual stages, and defense mechanism can explain symptoms of IID.   

Freud stipulates that human conduct is an outcome of one’s desires, memories, and impulses which have been repressed to unconscious state. Impulsive aggression, in IID, is said to stem from the impact of childhood encounters, and childhood trauma over development of frustration tolerance gratification delay, self-control, planning ability which are integral in self-prevention/ avoiding of impulsive and aggressive outpouring (outbursts).

IID is linked to social impairment, psychosocial difficulties, and impaired relationships (difficulty in relationships). IIDs beginnings are usually traced to adolescence or childhood. Latency stage, in Freud’s concept of psychosexual stages, is the origin of one’s social skills. Latency stage (6 years-puberty), is when children are actively engaged in making friends, intellectual development, thereby forming (developing) one’s social (interpersonal skills). Issues in this stage lead to impaired social (interpersonal skills), and lack(dearth) of inner control.

People with IID tend to display (exhibit) hostile attribution bias and negative response (reaction) to ambiguous (indistinct) stimuli due to higher level of immature defenses (defense mechanisms): acting out, rationalization, displacement, and others. Displacement involves aggressively reacting to someone or a situation, as the person is unable to express aggression to the original source of provocation, or incitement. Immature development of defenses leads to overuse of defenses like displacement and results in disproportionate display of anger to ambiguous situations or stimuli.