Most of us have urges to engage in behaviors that we know aren't good for us. We might buy a lottery ticket for a million dollar jackpot, or we might treat ourselves to an expensive dinner out when we know we don't have the money, or we might take the towels home from the hotel to remember a vacation. For millions of people, however, urges like these rage out of control. Day after day, they wrestle with irresistible impulses to shop, steal, gamble, have sex. Their uncontrolled impulses leave them broke, sick, or in trouble with the law; they leave behind the wreckage of broken families and ruined careers. For years, impulse control problems have taken a back seat to other types of behavior problems, such as substance abuse and overeating. Now, however, groundbreaking new research has led to new discoveries about impulse control and new ways of treating the problem. Drs. Jon Grant and S.W. Kim are the nation's leading specialists in impulse control disorders, and their pioneering work at the University of Minnesota, where they conduct their clinical research, has attracted patients from all over the world and the attention of the American Psychiatric Association and The Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. In Stop Me Because I Can't Stop Myself, Drs. Grant and Kim offer new help and hope for people who suffer from impulse control. They begin by defining the nature of this widely misunderstood problem, its neurobiological origins, and how it differs from Tourette's syndrome, alcohol addiction and other substance abuse problems. From there, they offer help to impulse control sufferers and their families, including: How to know if you have a problem; Forms of impulse control disorders; The impact of these disorders on everyday life - at work, at home, legal problems, alcohol and drug use, and suicide. Impulse control problems in children and adolescents, as well as the elderly; Medical and pharmacological treatments; Therapy and other treatments; What doesn't work; What family, friends, and patients themselves can do; The first book of its kind on the subject, Stop Me Because I Can't Stop Myself offers the latest in new research and practical help for the 12 million people in the U.S. alone who have been diagnosed with some form of this disorder.