Answer to Question 1
Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by episodes of extreme anger and acting out the anger through assaults or the destruction of property. A person with this disorder has spells or attacks and often feels remorseful afterwards. A recent study found that people diagnosed with IED are at greater risk for developing a number of adverse health conditions such as CHD, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, back or neck pain, headaches, chronic pain, arthritis, and ulcers (McCloskey, Kleabir, Berman, Chen, & Coccaro, 2010).
Answer to Question 2
The behavioral approach that is most effective in treating anxiety disorders is exposure therapy, a form of therapy in which the person in treatment systematically confronts the feared event or stimulus in a safe and controlled environment. Exposure may be through one's imagination (imaginal exposure such as systematic desensitization), reality (in vivo), or virtual reality. In addition to working with the therapist during sessions, individuals receiving exposure therapy will usually engage in homework between sessions (e.g., confronting fearful situations) without the therapist being present to generalize the positive effects outside of the therapeutic setting. The reduction of anxiety or fear symptoms is believed to occur through a classically conditioned process of extinction and habituation. The fear or anxiety response that is linked to the stimulus gradually diminishes over 8 to 12 sessions (a standard length of treatment).