ABSTRACT
The term acting out has a long history. We will use its common 21st-century meaning: acting on impulses without thinking. If the impulses are displaced from some other situation and have significance, we might use the term symptomatic behavior. 19 The usual problematic wishes involved in impulsive behavior are oral (eating or depending), sexual, and hostile-aggressive. We see them in obesity, sexual addiction, philandering, destructive temper outbursts, and self-destructiveness (such as cutting).
