Many traffic crashes are the result of people just losing their cool and becoming impatient with other people on the road. This is commonly known as road rage.

Leave it to the mental health industry to “diagnose” this condition as an actual disorder. I couldn’t believe this when I heard it on NPR the other day, but a new study funded by the National Instititute of Mental Health has coined yet another diagnosable coondition they call Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

Here’s more about this study from the Associated Press.

The next step will surely be drug companies rushing out drugs to curb IED and millions of people will no longer have to take personal responsibility for their behavior.

I’m not sure if this will have a positive or negative effect on the safety of our roads. While I’m cynical of yet another disease and another excuse to medicate our already overly-medicated society, I hope this new research raises awareness of road rage and helps people identify the problem within themselves.