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Adult head‐banging and stereotypic movement disorders
Author(s) -
Mendez Mario F.,
Mirea Adrian
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.870130512
Subject(s) - psychology , tics , anxiety , clinical psychology , psychiatry
Stereotypic movement disorders (SMD) such as head‐banging, which are common among children with mental retardation or pervasive developmental disorders, may also occur in intellectually normal adults. We report a 27‐year history of daily head‐banging with self‐injury in a 49‐year‐old man with normal cognition. The patient had no personal or family history of Tourette's syndrome, tic disorder, obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), or mental retardation. The frequency of his stereotypical head‐banging increased with anxiety, loud noises with startle, and boredom. He reported a sense of pleasure from his head‐banging, and the frequency of this behavior decreased when he was treated with the opioid antagonist naltrexone. Although not diagnostic, the selfstimulatory or pleasurable component of head‐banging, bodyrocking, thumb‐sucking, and other SMD may help distinguish them from tics, Tourette's syndrome, OCD, and deliberate selfharming behavior. This report reviews the disorders associated with SMD and discusses the potential mechanisms for these behaviors. The treatment of SMD includes drugs that work through opioid, serotonergic, or dopaminergic systems.