
Pathological gambling is classified by the DSM-IV as an impulse-control disorder (ICD). Diagnosticians broadly define ICDs as mental disorders characterized by harmful behaviors performed in response to irresistible impulses. A recent investigation hypothesized that ICDs may be closely related to bipolar disorders. Periods of mania or hypomania, usually alternating or occurring with periods of depression, characterize bipolar disorders. These two types of disorders share similarities in comorbidity, phenomenology, course, family history, biology, and treatment response. Similarities in comorbidity were examined by a recent review of 11 (uncontrolled) studies of ICDs. This review revealed that these conditions evidence comorbidity with one... Read more →