IED is exemplified by repeated episodes of aggressive, violent behavior in which an individual reacts grossly out of proportion to the situation. Later, people with excessive anger and rage may feel remorse, regret or embarrassment.

IED affects as many as 7.3 percent of adults - 11.5-16 million Americans - in their lifetimes. Nearly 82 percent of those with IED also had other disorders such as depression, anxiety or alcohol and drug abuse, yet only 28.8 percent ever received treatment for their anger. Behavioral experts have suggested that treating anger early might prevent some of these co-occurring disorders from developing.

Explosive eruptions, usually last 10 to 20 minutes. These episodes may occur in clusters or be separated by weeks or months of nonaggression.

Evidence suggests that IED might predispose toward depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse disorders by increasing stressful life experiences, such as financial difficulties and divorce.

To be diagnosed with IED, an individual must have had three episodes of impulsive aggressiveness "grossly out of proportion to any precipitating psychosocial stressor," at any time in their life, according to the standard psychiatric diagnostic manual. The person must have "all of a sudden lost control and broke or smashed something worth more than a few dollars... hit or tried to hurt someone... or threatened to hit or hurt someone." People who had three such episodes within the space of one year - a more narrowly defined subgroup - were found to have a much more persistent and severe disorder, particularly if they attacked both people and property.

Studies suggest that patients with intermittent explosive disorders respond to treatment with antidepressants and mood stabilizers. These patients often need psychological treatment along with medication. IED is not something that can be quantified - there is no measurement to it. Even in the same person, for instance, there might be ebbs and surges of the way they react to things at different times in their life.