Buy the Book : Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Disorders of Overcontrol
Order NowSelf-control – the ability to inhibit competing urges, impulses, behaviors, or desires and delay gratification in order to pursue future goals – is often equated with success and happiness. Indeed, failures in self-control characterize many of the personal and social problems afflicting modern civilization, including substance abuse, criminal activities, domestic violence, financial difficulties, teen pregnancy, smoking, and obesity (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994; Moffitt et al., 2011).
Due to the high value most societies place on capacities to delay gratification and inhibit overt or public displays of potentially destructive emotions and impulses—problems linked with excessive inhibitory control or ‘overcontrol’ have received little attention, or been misunderstood, and in these conditions it has been difficult for clinicians to recognize such problems.
However, too much self-control can be equally problematic. Excessive self-control is associated with social isolation, poor interpersonal functioning, and severe and difficult-to-treat mental health problems, such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (e.g., Lynch & Cheavens, 2008; Zucker et al., 2007).
Maladaptive overcontrol is characterized by four core deficits:
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