Repetitive love proposing: A case report and review of phenomenology of impulsivity and compulsivity

Abstract

Interest in opposite sex is a normal phenomenon; however, when this interest starts affecting one's own or others life in a pathological manner, it warrants clinical attention. We report the case of a young man who had a tendency to propose love to girls impulsively. Apart from the presence of this, otherwise, normal behavior in a pathological manner, another dimension of this case was that he was having obsessive-compulsive disorder too. Since both impulsivity and compulsivity are repetitive in nature and result in a sense of relief when the act is committed, the chance of impulsivity to be misconstrued as compulsivity is high. In light of important differences between compulsive and impulsive behavior, the psychopathology of the present case has been discussed.