The relation between acting out and disorders of impulse control

THE TERM acting out has been used in many different ways and has often been misused. It is frequently applied indiscriminately to behavior, especially antisocial behavior, which is viewed by the observer as difficult to understand or unacceptable. In this misuse, the term sometimes encompasses behaviors which reflect disorders of impulse control. However, acting out and disorders of impulse control differ in many ways and should be distinguished from each other. A previous communication (Frosch and Wortis, 1954) reported on the nosology of the impulse disorders without attempting to differentiate these from acting out in any extensive manner. In the present communication, it is my intention to pursue this differentiation phenomenologically, dynamically, genetically, and therapeutically.