Pathological gambling, When do social issues become medical issues?

Dopamine agonists have been implicated in causing compulsive behaviors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). These have included gambling, hypersexuality, hobbyism, and other repetitive, purposeless behaviors ("punding"). In this report, we describe 7 patients in whom compulsive eating developed in the context of pramipexole use. All of the affected patients had significant, undesired weight gain; 4 had other comorbid compulsive behaviors. In the 5 patients who lowered the dose of pramipexole or discontinued dopamine agonist treatment, the behavior remitted and no further weight gain occurred. Physicians should be aware that compulsive eating resulting in significant weight gain may occur in PD as a side-effect of dopamine agonist medications such as pramipexole. Given the known risks of the associated weight gain and obesity, further investigation is warranted.

Compulsive Behavior↗

PubMed2006

Compulsive aspects of impulse-control disorders.

Impulsivity and compulsivity have been considered opposite poles of a continuous spectrum, but their relationship seems to be more complex. Disorders characterized by impulsivity often have features of compulsivity and vice-versa. Impulse-control disorders (ICDs) are characterized by repetitive behaviors and impaired inhibition of these behaviors, suggesting a similarity to the frequently excessive, unnecessary, and unwanted rituals of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). There are, however, important differences be-tween ICDs and OCD. The construct of compulsivity as related to ICDs and OCD warrants additional investigation to identify the similarities and differences and to examine the implications for prevention and treatment strategies.

Compulsive Behavior↗

PubMed2006

Is compulsive buying a real disorder, and is it really compulsive?

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Compulsive Behavior↗