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Daily Telegraph

Road rage drivers are mentally ill, not thugs
(Filed: 06/06/2006)

Aggressive, angry drivers are not mindless yobs - they are suffering from a serious psychological condition, according to US scientists.

Road rage and other violent outbursts are caused by "intermittent explosive disorder", a condition which could affect up to 16 million Americans.

The main symptoms of the disorder are frequent outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation, often including threats and violence.

Dr Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school and the report's co-author, said: "People think it's bad behaviour and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this."

The disorder typically first appears in adolescence. In the study, the average age of onset was 14.

The National Institute of Mental Health study found that between 5 and 7 per cent of its sample of 9,282 people suffered from the condition.

Extrapolated across the country, the figures suggest that 16 million Americans could be affected.

Intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, has been included in psychiatric textbooks for the last few decades, but is little-studied and was not thought to affect anywhere near so many people.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

So that makes it ok?

‘News just in: mindless yobs are not mindless yobs’

What PC thug thought up this one? Will they also apply this to others who are 'legally challenged' such as burglars, joyriders, rapists, murderers.....

brilliant!

Is this a good place to provide a link to www.deep-philosophical-debates.com/dowe ... tioned.htm
?

Is it correct to call something that affects up to 7% of the population a 'disorder'? Seems to me that anything affecting 7% of the population falls into any reasonable definition of 'normal'.

Comments?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

You might have a point there, but I would worry about giving the impression that such undesireable behaviours tending to be considered as acceptable.

Thanks. Just in case anyone misunderstood, I was suggesting that something affecting 7% of the population may not be suitable to regard as a disorder.

I made no comment on acceptable behaviour, and obviously road rage is not acceptable behaviour.

But of couse if there's no disorder then we have every right to hold people fully responsible for their actions. If there's a disorder, then we might have a problem because disorders diminish responsibility.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I'd say it's the opposite! Describing anti-social behaviour as a "disorder" gives it a cloak of acceptability and gives the aggressor the opportunity to claim to be a "victim".

I can appreciate that understanding the mindset of what causes people to react with unwarranted aggression might well be very useful in terms of treating them, but that's as far as this should go.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

But at a certain utilitarian level society has to treat the offence rather than the cause, someone who is violent as a result of a mental illness may not be responsible for their actions, but they still need to be kept away from society until such time as they can be trusted to return, if ever.

I don't understand what you're saying in the context of this thread. The new study suggests that 7% of people have this 'condition' for life. If 7% of people have a condition, then I cannot see it as a disorder - it must fall within the definition of 'normal human behaviour'. As such it cannot represent an excuse for unacceptable actions.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

What actually defines "road rage"?

Is it when you mutter "stupid wanker" under your breath at the other driver?
Is it when you trade insults in the form of hand signals?
Is it when you both get out of the car & start trading verbal insults?
Or is it when you both get out & start trading punches (or worse)?

If "road rage" falls in to either of the first two (or possibly the third) categories, then it has been around for as long as I can remember.

If it falls in to the 4th category then it has still been around since day one, however I do think that the amount of (what I would call) "road rage" incidents are on the increase to (say) compared 25 years ago.

Which leads me to my next question......why is it on the increase?

Is it because there are more road users, and hence the chances of having the encounter rise accordingly?
Is it because our diet has changed over the last 20 odd years in the form of all the chemicals we now ingest in our food?
Is it because life on the road is more stressful than what it was 20 odd years ago in the form of camera's, fuel costs, etc?

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

I'm saying that whether or not it can represent an excuse, the response has to be, if possible, to prevent it discomforting other members of society. In the same way that why someone attacks someone else is of secondary interest to preventing them from doing it.

..

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

For one - IED? What a crock of sh*t! We all get angry and most of us are able to control ourselves well enough to avoid killing someone (very hard sometimes ) So these people are 'ill' because they have no self control or a bad temper? Rubbish. Its like SAD - everyone gets a bit down in the winter, its human nature not a bloody illness!

Gixxer - I'm sure you're aware that its been fairly well proven that a diet of junk food tends to cause poor concentration and aggressive behaviour in children, so I guess its fair to say that the same holds true for adults too. There are more cars on the roads and it would appear that standards have fallen, so it would stand to reason that driving IS more stressful now than it used to be. I think life in general is more stressful (not that I would be able to compare to life 20 years ago... ) and people are in more of a rush. I also wonder if its just the fact that its reported more now - its been given a flashy title for people to latch onto, rather than just saying 'some nutter...etc'

As for defining 'road rage'? Personally I would say that option 3 is minor road rage and option 4 is proper road rage. I think if you defined it as option 1 and 2 we'd all be guilty!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Long enough to have been considered a problem among the chariots of ancient Rome (and I'm not kidding!)

Interesting question...

But there's a very fundamental difference between people who become ill and people who have a personality characteristic for life in common with 7% of the population.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Hmm - there's an interesting thought - take the road ragees, but them in an arena with swords and let em fight it out Gladiator stylee!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Next thing you know, they'll be performing psych screening along with theory and hazard perception tests...

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

There's no way on earth that that could work because it's far too easy to learn to pass the test. People can 'mask' dangerous attitudes easily in such tests.

But if it could be done, would it really be a bad thing? We'd have a shot at recognising the real nutters.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I don't think its a bad thing at all to remove the 'real nutters'. What worries me is their definition of 'real nutter'. We all have bad days, get in a bad mood or whatever. Are they going to say that you have to be 100% passive 100% of the time to be allowed to drive?

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.