Impulse control disorders: clinical characteristics and pharmacological management.

This article reviews the current knowledge of the clinical characteristics and pharmacological management of pathological gambling, kleptomania, and compulsive buying. Specifically, the article summarizes the phenomenology and associated psychopathology of these disorders and presents study results of the various pharmacological agents used to treat these disorders--serotonin reuptake inhibitors, opioid antagonists, mood stabilizers, and atypical antipsychotics.