Imprinted Arousal Pattern (IAP): A Transdiagnostic Clinical Reasoning for Compulsive Behaviors

Abstract

Objective: Compulsive behaviors across psychiatric diagnoses often recur despite diagnostic clarity, pharmacologic stabilization, and structured psychotherapy. Substance use disorders and behavioral addictions demonstrate high relapse rates, particularly under stress, while many patients describe not a pursuit of pleasure but an inability to tolerate stillness, boredom, or emotional deadness. Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) provides descriptive reliability and the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework advances dimensional neurobiological insight, neither alone offers a clinically operational explanation for stress-triggered recurrence. Methods: This discussion paper proposes the Imprinted Arousal Pattern (IAP) framework, a transdiagnostic clinical reasoning model conceptualizing compulsive behaviors as conditioned arousal–affect–meaning–behavior loops consolidated through reinforcement and stress sensitization. The framework draws from addiction science, conditioning theory, attachment research, and trauma-informed neurobiology and is mapped onto RDoC domains. Results: IAP reframes compulsive behaviors as learned regulatory architectures—once adaptive solutions for managing threat, shame, or dysregulation, now rigid and self-perpetuating across contexts. The framework provides a structured explanation for intolerance of low-arousal states and predictable stress-reactive relapse and translates into practical assessment and treatment considerations for psychiatric–mental health nurse practitioners. Conclusions: By shifting focus from symptom suppression to restructuring maladaptive regulatory systems, IAP offers a coherent, dignity-preserving formulation for compulsive behaviors. As a portable explanatory framework, it provides structured language for patterns long recognized in psychiatric nursing practice but insufficiently named.