A drug often used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression may cause compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop and have sex, the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday.

The drug, aripiprazole, which goes by the brand names Abilify, Abilify Maintena or Aristada, will now carry these warnings on its packaging and on patient guides. Pathological gambling already was listed as a side effect on the drug's label, but the FDA said in its latest guidance that this description doesn't convey the scope of what patients could experience.

While the FDA reported that these additional problems were rare, it warned that they could be harmful to a patient or to those around them.

Aripiprazole has been on the market for 13 years, and since that time it has been prescribed to about 1.6 million patients. Of those, 184 cases of impulse-control problems have been reported to the FDA, but the agency hinted that instances likely go unreported. Gambling was the most commonly reported problem, with 164 cases.

Patients who filed reports about issues also reported that the urges stopped when they stopped taking the medication or when they reduced the dosage. Still, the FDA warned that patients should first talk to their doctors about side effects before making any changes to their dosage themselves.

The agency also urged doctors to ask patients specifically about whether they were experiencing any uncontrollable urges, particularly for monitoring those who already have impulse-control problems, including those who have abused drugs or alcohol or those who have obsessive-compulsive disorder or bipolar disorder.

"Consider reducing the dose or stopping the medicine if such urges develop," the FDA warning said.