Hello Everybody I found this very interesting article just a while ago and I thought I would share it with you all. The reason I found it so interesting is because it poses actually two questions at the same time. One, how do we define an mental illness and two, can it be treated with medication. This particular mental illness has to do with a very common part of the daily lives of those of us who live in big cities with a lot of traffic. ROAD RAGE. Please reply with your thoughts on this. COVER Driving ourselves crazy Is road rage a mental illness? Rush-hour traffic crawls through Atlanta’s downtown connector—but is it enough to drive you crazy? CREDIT: Barry Williams/Getty Images “They're not paying attention; they're oblivious of their surroundings.”—Rome Cagnina, a motorist in Druid Hills on drivers who irritate him CREDIT: Kevin Daniel By Stephanie Ramage “Do I ever get road rage?” Elizabeth’s blue eyes take on a piercing intensity and her voice slows to mark the gravity of each word as she pumps fuel at a gas station on Howell Mill Road. “Every day I visualize having a very large shotgun and blowing the heads off of every f***ing idiot that cuts me off. I wish they would die.” Then, she quickly adds, “Of course, you know, I don’t.” Elizabeth, who lives in Atlanta’s West End, wants to keep her last name anonymous—for reasons that she says should be obvious. Besides, she’s just one of the thousands of drivers in the city fed up with its traffic and inconsiderate drivers. As the driver of a diesel truck, she has to deal with this stuff on a daily basis. Road rage has become a fact of life for congested cities across the country, affecting people’s commutes, work productivity and relationships, but Atlanta, believe it or not, is one of the most laid-back cities in the nation when it comes to edgy tempers in traffic. Not that we don’t have frustrations—and even the occasional shoot-’em-up and traffic fatality. But while that may sound crazy enough, isn’t road rage just one big temper tantrum? Or is it, in fact, a verifiable psychiatric disorder? These days, some researchers are going with the latter. They say it’s a manifestation of “intermittent explosive disorder” (IED), a condition characterized by multiple outbursts far out of proportion to the situation. According to an article published in the Archives of General Psychology earlier this month, a new study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health found that about 5 to 7 percent of the 9,282 American adults studied face-to-face from 2001 to 2003 had the disorder, which would equate to roughly 16 million Americans—more than those diagnosed with better-known mental disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. According to the study, the average number of lifetime attacks was 43, with $1,359 in property damage per person. About 4 percent have suffered recent attacks. Specialist maintain that the disorder involves inadequate production or functioning of the mood-regulating chemical serotonin and that, along with therapy like anger management, treatment with antidepressants has often proved helpful. But William Narrow, director of research for the American Psychiatric Association, cautions that the study’s questions and criteria leave far too much room to definitively designate road rage as a manifestation of IED—about which, he adds, not much is known. “Let’s say someone cuts you off and you tailgate them for a few blocks and give them the finger. Well, that’s not intermittent explosive disorder,” says Narrow. “If you pull them out of the car and smash their windows with a tire-iron, that’s more like intermittent explosive disorder.” http://www.sundaypaper.com/NEWS/News/NewsArchives/tabid/202/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1545/061806-NewsCover.aspx May a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and be there waiting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, when you awaken. Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt Mental Health And Political Forums Respectively http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/8212/ShowForum.aspx http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/9637/ShowForum.aspx --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi William, I read a similar article in our local paper. It also points out the one time unexplainable act of violence of men againt women or children....unmeditated and extreme in explsoion. We have 2 instances in recent weeks of young, intelligent males who murdered the girl they love in our community. Hard to explain except there must be some chemical malfunction. The one family dearly loved their daughters male friend and said that the other family was fond of their daughter. High school sweethearts, honor students, with bright futures destroyed by a sudden act of violence. Of course the availability of the gun wrote the closing chapter. After killing her he turned it on himself. Two young lives snuffed out in a moment of rage. The second instance, he killed her but not himself.

Hello Mary Thanks for stopping by and posting. You have mentioned two terrible acts of violence here and there does seem to be an increase in these types of crimes in recent years. You have also pointed out that you think access to guns played a major role in these tragedies. This is a topic that I have studied quite a bit and there is no evidence that gun controll reduces crime. In fact, the opposite is true. Other factors play a much bigger role in crimes like the two you mentioned. The stress of everyday living has increased in recent years. There is much pressure put on people these days to live a certain way. One thing that I attribute gun crimes to is the increase in societal controll and greater penalties for crimes committed. Example, the so called war on drugs. There is no question that drugs have become a major problem in our society but the excessive penalties have caused many more problems than the drugs have. Simply put, If you are facing 40 years in prison for a drug offense, you are much more likely to shoot your way out of this situation than if you were facing maybe two years in prison with counsiling and rehabilitation. The more sever the penalty, the more desparate one is to avoid it. The war on drugs has caused the drug wars. By this I mean, stiffer penalties have caused drug prices to soar. More money being involved leads to more corruption within the legal system. More violence over establishing "turf" and a greater need for criminals to carry and use guns. In every study that I have ever read about the results of countries having taken away the citizens right to bear arms, crime rates have gone up. Gun controll does one thing. It takes away the right and the ability of individuals to protect and defend themselves. You can outlaw guns for the people but you can't take the guns away from outlaws. So Mary, I think that if we are going to take steps towards reducing these types of crimes, we have to look more towards the reasons for these crimes rather than the availability of guns. Guns don't kill people. Other people kill people. Thanks again Mary for your viewpoint and please do come back soon. May a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and be there waiting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, when you awaken. Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt Mental Health And Political Forums Respectively http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/8212/ShowForum.aspx http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/9637/ShowForum.aspx Great New Product And Biz Op. Came to me highly recommended by a very good friend. I am just starting and I will keep you all informed as to progress. It really looks good. Here is my link http://www.aatcm.com/billdaddy

Hi William, I can agree with what you answered. The British do claim that they have fewer people killed with guns but as you say it may not be the lack of guns but a different society. After posting the first time, I thought about the reason for the rage. Road rage is frustration from being on the road for many hours trying to get home. We designed our cities and suburbs wrong. Long comutes contribute to frustration. It is nice that they gave it a name but its time to look at causes and solutions. Here's my opinion. Rage takes over when the frustration becomes so great with a feeling of frustration that they can't solve the situation. Sitting in traffic for 2 hours, all lanes close and slow down, someone cuts in front, getting low on gas, tired, hungry, trouble at work and there is no way out.....so yell at the person who cut in front and a few gesturers are the only alternative. Anger releases chemicals to the brain??? Is it the feeling of hopelessness?? What do you think??? Some people are control freaks. When they can't control someone else they lash out. Thus a husband who wanted his eggs over easy and the yolk was somewhat cooked, over reacts....picks up his wife and throws her against the wall. This is the person he loves and gave birth to his children. What is wrong??? Feeling hopeless that he can't control everything in his life???

Hello Again Mary Ah HAh! You have brought up a very interesting point here. One that I had not given much, if any thought to. The issue of controll. Looking back over the last 3 0r 4 decades it seems to me that there have been many changes with regard to controll in our societies. Possibly the one with the most significant impact on society is the womens liberation movement. Many religions teach subserviance on the part of the woman. Therefore, the woman, having been in a controlling relationship for all of her married life could feel less compelled to be controlled by outside factors. this could cause a bit of an over reaction I suppose. Also, due to the fact that men are losing comtroll due to women being less willing to accept their controll, this might explain their need to regain controll in other ways. With regard to manhood, controlling our women has been very much a part of it all. With regard to women, breaking away from these controllers has become an objective. The end result being more frustratuon and stress in relationships thus causing more short tempers in the outside world. Mary, I think we might be on to something here. LOL. I believe this is an example of the kinds of things that we need to look at in order to explain the state of mind that can lead to irrational, violent behaviour. Thanks again Mary. May a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and be there waiting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, when you awaken. Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt Mental Health And Political Forums Respectively http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/8212/ShowForum.aspx http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/9637/ShowForum.aspx Great New Product And Biz Op. Came to me highly recommended by a very good friend. I am just starting and I will keep you all informed as to progress. It really looks good. Here is my link http://www.aatcm.com/billdaddy