How to control your Impulsivity and Impulsive Behaviors
In this article you will learn the following
-What is impulsivity and impulsive behaviors
-How some personality-types, emotional-insecurities and habits are responsible for impulsive behaviors
- Few Medical conditions which may trigger impulsivity
-27 Signs and symptoms of Chronic Impulsive Behavior
-28 Tips How to control your impulsivity
Without exception each one of you would have acted impulsively at least once - or done something you now wish you could have avoided.
It could be blurting something unimaginable, taking some reckless and self-destructive decision and action, buying something for which there is no need, gambling and putting something significant at stake, tasting drugs or substance-abuse just to prove or to be part of a group, doing something that goes against your core values or by giving in to your carnal gratifications and pleasures.
Impulsivity is the urge to take immediate action without thinking through.
When you are growing up especially as a teenager and you behave impulsively - it is part of your development and growth process which also teaches you the importance of having better self-control.
Sometimes the impulsivity can be because of some underlying psychological, emotional-mental or physical conditions.
Take immediate remedial measures - if you realize that the impact of your impulsivity is landing you and your loved-ones into very deep troubles and creating unwanted financial, legal, emotional, medical, social, professional, physical and relationships issues.
There are also biological or hereditary reasons - which may be responsible for people's impulsive behaviors - you may find that certain personality types are wired to behave impulsively.
Then there are people who are sensation-seekers - they live for thrills and excitement, through whatever means - irrespective of how temporary and how illusive their pleasures are and how harmful they may turn out.
And there are people who love to suffer and they feel great when others sympathize with them - these people may deliberately go for self-harming behaviors to seek attraction, attention and sympathy.
Few Medical conditions which may trigger impulsivity
- 1.Depression, ADHD, Autism, Bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorders, Phobia-Mania-Fear, Anti-social-personality disorders, Kleptomania and impulse control disorders, losing your anger control, Borderline personality disorder orIntermittent explosive disorder - triggers regular impulsivity.
- 2.Strokes or brain injuries can also cause changes in the brain and potentially cause an increase in impulsivity.
- Treating
Chronic debilitating impulsivity due to non-medical causes can be treated through combination of applied behavior analysis, Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to build skills that reduce your impulsive behaviors and increase your ability to think and reflect before acting and CBT cognitive behavior therapy for identifying which of your thought pattern, mindset and perception is harmful and how you can control - read my blog how you can use CBT yourself if you have mild symptoms - along with tips given in this article.
Treating Impulsivity which is due to Medical Conditions may require Medications in addition to various therapies - sometimes people may by prescribed by their doctors - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and/or antipsychotic and/or mood-stabilizers to control anxiety and impulsive behaviors due to nervousness.
The cause of being impulsive may not always be evident.
If you realize that you frequently behave impulsively - you need to learn effective coping techniques to manage your impulsive urges.
27 Signs and symptoms of Chronic Impulsive Behavior - these people may
- 1.Display Aggressive behavior
- 2.Throw tantrums - Displays lots of drama elements
- 3.Have Frequent Emotional outbursts - like frequent crying, yelling and lashing out at others
- 4.Are Restless, Fidgety and squirming -have Trouble staying seated or stationary
- 5.Try to control others - Interrupt others frequently
- 6.Get distracted easily
- 7.Overeat
- 8.Lose self-control easily with certain situations and with few specific people etc. - becomes angry at the drop of a hat
- 9.Share even very private, intimate and confidential details
- 10.Change plans suddenly without any solid reasons
- 11.Lies and cheats
- 12.Engages in high-risk sexual activity
- 13.Breaks and throws things and destroys own or other's in a moment of flash anger
- 14.Magnifies minor insignificant situations and turns them into a catastrophe
- 15.Indulges in physical violence
- 16.Overreacts even when things are normal - Displays Lack of patience
- 17.Ignores dangers
- 18.Gets into risky behaviors - which could even be mutilating self
- 19.Few may even try to commit suicide
- 20.Hot-headed, Rash, Unpredictable, Unstable, undependable, dangerous to self and others
- 21.Joins and quits a lot of groups
- 22.Jumps to conclusions fast - judges people wrongly
- 23.Apologizes too much
- 24.Overspends
- 25.Quits job suddenly in a moment of heat
- 26.Threats to harm self and others
- 27.Talks Excessively
28 Tips How to control your impulsivity - for most of the tips, you will find various related articles among my 900+ blogsin two websites and 3000+ answers on my Quora page
- 1.Identify triggers which makes you go for impulsive behaviors, decisions and actions
- 2.Identify situations and people or group who trigger or cause reckless unthoughtful actions
- 3.Take a major impulsive behavior that you indulged in and Do an analysis from the instance you went for impulsive behaviors, during the impulsive behavior what thoughts and emotions dominated and controlled you
- 4.Play Devil's Advocate to challenge your assumptions
- 5.Don't Shy Away From feeling uncomfortable - learn to be comfortable - learn to face the truth about yourself - ask questions to understand what needs you are trying to meet when you engage in impulsive behavior
- 6.Identify if you have anxiety or depression - and taking steps to manage it
- 7.Learn to manage your stress better
- 8.Learn and practicing skills - which can make you handle difficult people and tough situations better - read my various blogs on these
- 9.Understand The WHYs Of Your impulsive Behavior - what fear, anxiety, lack of self-confidence or any other deep emotional insecurities are making you act irrationally
- 10.Ask Yourself If You are basing your decisions On Facts - Consider various possibilities, outcomes and options
- 11.Become aware about what is happening in your life - which are upsetting, disturbing and disrupting your personal, professional, social and relationship issues
- 12.Learn to reframe the situation - so as to enable you find solutions
- 13.Learn and Practice the art of ignoring people and situation
- 14.Learn to not to let your EGO make you go for dangerous decisions and actions
- 15.Learn to handle rejection and criticism
- 16.Learn and practice techniques which work for you - from various breathing exercises, meditation techniques and yoga exercises
- 17.Learn and practice the skill of disassociating from the people and situation to view it objectively - to find solutions under turbulent situations
- 18.Develop the mindset of looking for solutions
- 19.Become an action person - who takes actions on his/her big picture
- 20.Create barriers to some of your regular impulsive outages -Take precautionary measures
- 21.Seek professional help - if you are unable to control your impulsivity and it is creating grave consequences for you - Find a therapist who is experienced in behavior modification
- 22.Visualizing and mentally walking through potential scenarios and practicing how to stop and think before acting
- 23.Create nurture and join a support group
- 24.Learn and practice Replacing impulsive behaviors, thought-patterns habits and with healthy ones - read my blog on this
- 25.If you are prone to making decisions that goes wrong often - learn to Slow Down your Impulsive Decision-making - Give It 24 Hours
- 26.Before taking any decision think though in detail - bounce ideas with people who are wise and experienced
- 27.Have fun and relax
- 28.Become a problem solver