Anger and intermittent explosive disorder statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) means repeated anger attacks that are out of proportion to what set them off. A review of twenty-nine studies in seventeen countries, including clinical, refugee and adolescent groups, found that 5.1% of those studied had IED at some point in their lives ¹.

How common it looks depends on the definition: conservative definitions, which also require the attacks to interfere with work, social life or relationships, give much lower figures than broad ones ². Each figure below names the people it counts and the place.

Most people with IED never receive treatment for their anger ³.

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

How common IED is worldwide

Household surveys using a conservative definition give a lower worldwide figure than the review of twenty-nine studies above ².

• Across household surveys of adults in sixteen countries, using a conservative definition, a weighted average of 0.8% had ever had intermittent explosive disorder, from 0.1% to 2.7% by country. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2016, fieldwork year not stated) ²
• Across the World Mental Health surveys in seventeen countries, 73% of people with intermittent explosive disorder had anger attacks that hurt other people. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2020, fieldwork year not stated) ⁴

IED by country

These figures come from national and regional surveys with different definitions and time windows. Read each with its label and do not rank them. DSM-IV is the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual.

Young people

Anger attacks are common in adolescence, and IED usually begins early ¹².

• In a national survey of adolescents aged thirteen to seventeen in the United States, 63.3% had had anger attacks that involved destroying property, threatening violence or violence. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2012, fieldwork year not stated) ¹²

IED alongside other conditions

Most people with IED also have another mental health condition, such as depression, anxiety or a substance problem ^{2 13}.

• In a population survey of the São Paulo metropolitan area in Brazil, 76.8% of adults with intermittent explosive disorder also had another psychiatric disorder. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2020, fieldwork year not stated) ¹³

Getting treatment for anger

• Among adolescents aged thirteen to seventeen in the United States with intermittent explosive disorder in the past year, only 6.5% were treated specifically for anger. (survey, past 12 months, published 2012, fieldwork year not stated) ¹²
• Among adults in China with intermittent explosive disorder, only 4.8% had ever consulted a doctor or other professional about their anger attacks. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2013-2015 data) ⁹

How to read these figures

Surveys define IED differently. Conservative and narrow definitions count only frequent or severe attacks and give lower figures.

Lifetime figures count anyone who has ever met the criteria; past-year figures count only recent cases.

The figures marked by a conservative definition come from the World Mental Health surveys and count anyone who has ever had IED.

If anger is causing problems at home or at work, a therapist can work on it with you. Our guide to anger management explains what that work involves. Our guide on finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Anger and intermittent explosive disorder statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/anger-and-intermittent-explosive-disorder-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 26 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Angry without Borders: Global prevalence and factors of intermittent explosive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review (Liu F et al.), 2025 europepmc.org.
2. [2] The cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV intermittent explosive disorder. Psychological medicine (Scott KM et al.), 2016 europepmc.org.
3. [3] The prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV intermittent explosive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of general psychiatry (Kessler RC et al.), 2006 europepmc.org.
4. [4] Intermittent explosive disorder subtypes in the general population: association with comorbidity, impairment and suicidality. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences (Scott KM et al.), 2020 europepmc.org.
5. [5] Lifetime and 12-month intermittent explosive disorder in Latinos. The American journal of orthopsychiatry (Ortega AN et al.), 2008 europepmc.org.
6. [6] Erratum. Psychopathology (Karger), 2016 doi.org.
7. [7] The prevalence and correlates of intermittent explosive disorder in Iraq. Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica (Al-Hamzawi A et al.), 2012 europepmc.org.
8. [8] Epidemiological aspects of intermittent explosive disorder in Japan; prevalence and psychosocial comorbidity: findings from the World Mental Health Japan Survey 2002-2006. Psychiatry research (Yoshimasu K et al.), 2011 europepmc.org.
9. [9] Epidemiology and psychiatric comorbidity of intermittent explosive disorders in China: Findings from the China Mental Health Survey. Comprehensive psychiatry (Ding R et al.), 2026 europepmc.org.
10. [10] Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV and DSM-5 Intermittent Explosive Disorder amongst Myanmar refugees living in Malaysia: a population-based study. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences (Tay AK et al.), 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] The cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV intermittent explosive disorder. Psychological medicine (Scott KM et al.), 2016 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] Intermittent explosive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement. Archives of general psychiatry (McLaughlin KA et al.), 2012 europepmc.org.
13. [13] Prevalence and psychiatric comorbidities of intermittent explosive disorders in Metropolitan São Paulo, Brazil. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology (Pereira DCS et al.), 13 April 2020 europepmc.org.