Mood stabilizers are used for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. They have, however, many side effects and must be monitored carefully. Further, when you use mood stabilizers you have defined the problems and the patient's response rather than environmental stressors. One has an obligation to remove or minimize stressors before using any drug therapy with such wide-ranging effects as the mood stabilizers. I think there is utility in a limited number of cases, but my opinion is that this should be a diagnosis of last resort.
Aggression is a symptom and a behavior, and it is multiply determined.
It is critically important that professionals in our field advocate for a thorough and complex analysis of aggression when it occurs. Many interventions may help, and identifying stressors is essential. In addition, many treatable psychiatric disorders, such as depression, are missed because the person is irritable, has poor coping skills, and becomes aggressive on occasion. IED is by definition a diagnosis of exclusion and cannot be diagnosed if the aggressive episodes are better explained by another disorder or environmental conditions. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.