PhronesisWe apply the Displacement Framework to Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), formalizing it as W_rage — a wrong attractor characterized by a critical asymmetry: abnormally low trigger threshold combined with abnormally high response amplitude, producing the signature 'intermittent explosive' pattern in which minor frustrations catastrophically amplify into violent outbursts grossly disproportionate to their provocation.
The affective regulation ground state S⁰_affective is defined as proportionate anger: anger arising in response to genuine provocations, remaining proportionate to trigger magnitude, and dissipating through normal regulatory mechanisms without aggressive action. W_rage is maintained by serotonergic dysregulation reducing 5-HT-mediated inhibitory control, amygdala hyperreactivity amplifying D(ξ_frustration), and OFC/PFC inhibition failure preventing cortical dampening of the ascending arousal cascade.
Nine formal propositions cover: S⁰_affective definition with proportionality condition (P1), W_rage asymmetric architecture — low threshold, high amplitude (P2), the frustration-cascade through serotonergic dysregulation and OFC failure (P3), the remorse loop — post-outburst guilt as D(ξ_guilt) that does not modify the attractor (P4), cumulative Φ_IED across legal, relational, and occupational domains (P5), childhood trauma as W_rage landscape pre-distortion in the majority of IED cases (P6), substance use as threshold lowerer — alcohol and stimulants reduce the D(ξ) required to enter W_rage (P7), CBT anger management as return path targeting trigger appraisal and impulse delay (P8), and SSRI treatment as serotonergic landscape modification (P9).
The paper formalizes IED's relationship to domestic violence and road rage.