The acronym IED used to refer to information and education dissemination. It has now a new meaning in the field of psychology and it's good that Chigaco University's medical school came out with a findings that 16 million Americans are now afflicted with IED.

Intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts of an individual that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. It is a disease.

"People think it's bad attitude and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know…is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this", said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chair of psychiatry of the University of Chicago's medical school.

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Coccaro said that the disorder involved inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behavior-inhibiting brain chemical.

Treatment with antidepressants including those that target serotonin receptors in the brain, according to the report published in the Philipine Daily Inquirer, is often helpful along with behavior therapy akin to anger management.

The question now is, are there people around us who are also afflicted with IED? We would never know. But according to Dr. David Fassler, psychiatry professor of the Uhniversity of Vermont, the IED findings confirm that for most people, the difficulties associated with the disorder begin during their childhood or adolescence and they often have a profound and on-going impact on the person's life.

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We were in Manila last Friday when the Dallas Mavericks took the psychological advantage in the NBA 2006 Finals against the Miami Heat via a 90-80 victory in their home court.

Considering that both teams are neophytes in an NBA Finals, we dare say that it is still anybody's ball game. Miami may have the advantage with coach Pat Riley and titanic center Shaq O'neal who have the only championship rings among all those in the hardcourt.

However, if Dallas continues to enjoy the crest of a hometown crowd and their scientific basketball with no center, they may sustain the bandwagon in Game 1. The NBA 2006 Finals follows the 2-3-2 format with four games played in the Dallas home court. At any rate, this will be an exciting championship series.

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Speaking of our Manila trip, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has scheduled a three-day data survey here starting on Wednesday in connection with the petition of Bohol Water Utilities to increase its water rates.

Our motion for reconsideration for NWRB to give the City Government of Tagbilaran the opportunity to cross-examine BWUI's witnesses has been denied. The Board did not consider our argument that the failure of the city, as an oppositor to the petition, to cross-examine BWUI's witnesses was due to the deteriorating health of the late City Councilor Nerio Zamora at the time that they were presented.

We have secured a copy of the NWRB's internal rules of procedure and we shall exhaust all the remedies available. In the meantime, we also alert the provincial legal officer of the scheduled data survey.

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The gentleman's agreement on the Senate presidency between Senators Franklin Drilon and Manuel Villar is quite admirable.

You see, the senators are easy to work with when their personal interests are at stake. Drilon promised to nominate Villar to the Senate presidency when the third session of the 13th Congress opens in July. Villar reportedly secured the signatures of 14 senators needed to catapult him to the highest post in the Upper Chamber.

It is therefore quite incomprehensible why the senators cannot agree with the Lower House in the passage of the 2006 national budget. By virtue of the automatic appropriation clause, the national government will now be operating under the national budget next year to the detriment of new public infrastructures and vital government projects.

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