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Impulsivity: Why is she a bad advisor when it comes to making decisions?
That expression that says “let your impulses guide you” sounds nice, but being realistic, impulsiveness is a very bad adviser. When we don't take a minute to reflect on our decisions, we may have to ask for forgiveness often.
Impulses, emotions and hunches sometimes lead us down the right path, but this does not mean that it happens often. There must always be a balance and in aspects that involve decision-making, reason cannot be left aside.
What is impulsive behavior?
Basically, it is about acting guided by feelings, desires and sensations, endless motivations that cause actions to be carried out without much thought. Whoever has this type of behavior has an intense need to satisfy himself.
The person who is impulsive does not reflect or analyze the consequences of his actions, he only cares about the present moment. This type of behavior makes him act without any restrictions, where he does not measure his actions or his responses, nor is he afraid of the results.
This behavior is very common among young people, motivated by their lack of maturity and their intense curiosity.
Impulsivity becomes very dangerous, as this lack of fear of risk causes many to make tragic mistakes that affect themselves and others.
If this type of behavior is not dealt with during the juvenile stage, it is likely to carry over into adult life. Being impulsive will bring with it a series of conflicts that will hinder your personal growth
Dangers and risks of being impulsive
Feelings and emotions are a very strong psychological engine that can take us very far or sink us very deep. Impulsivity is fed and motivated by these, which makes a person very unpredictable and unstable.
Impulsive people tend to hurt others frequently with their words, as they speak their minds without measuring their expressions. When you speak from emotions like anger, the result is unfavorable, so impulsiveness is bad for communication.
As for financial life, it is well known that emotions must be kept out of business, calculations and opportunities. Many misinvest, squander, or get ripped off based on impulse and not logic or conscience.
And when impulsivity is analyzed from a physical and health point of view, not reflecting on certain decisions regarding our body has caused illnesses, accidents, psychological damage and much more, due to living acting without considering the future.
In short, being impulsive can result in different tragic scenarios in all aspects of your personal development.
Impulsivity as a psychological disorder
Having an impulsive behavior and an impulsivity disorder are different things, the way of acting is very similar, but the disorder makes the impulsivity much more acute. The disorder is classified as the inability to resist committing an act.
When someone has impulsive behavior, their actions are a little more moderate, but when it becomes a disorder, it is a very serious problem. In this case we are not only talking about hurtful words, but about acts that entail legal complications.
Some examples of psychological conflicts motivated by impulsivity disorder are the following:
Gambling : It is about that person who cannot control his desire to bet on machines and games of chance.
Compulsive buying: An uncontrolled impulse to acquire things, even when this exceeds the economic budget that one has.
Pyromania: It is based on a harmful need to set things on fire.
Kleptomania: It consists of an irrepressible desire to steal objects, not for the economic value, but to satisfy the impulse.
All these conditions have in common that they respond to the need to satisfy impulses, and often after this occurs there is a feeling of guilt or remorse.
Causes of impulsivity
It has not been possible to establish exact and verifiable causes that explain the origin of the behavior and the impulsive disorder. However, some reasons are suggested based on the study of many cases that share similarities regarding this problem.
Genetics.
Personality disorder.
Low self-esteem.
Depression.
What to do in the face of impulsivity to control it?
Before talking about methods, tricks and tools to control impulses, the first thing you must accept is that it is a dangerous problem and you should visit a mental specialist. For extra help we present some useful tips.
Exercise your ability to analyze: Impulsive actions are basically reactions without analysis. Practice daily sitting quietly for a moment and analyzing fictitious situations, studying pros, cons and consequences.
Meditate: Meditation is a practice that helps you think, gain concentration and teaches you to stay calm in stressful situations.
Locate your impulse responses and replace them: If you can identify your frequent impulse actions, you can replace them. Sample of them is that if your impulse is to respond to the first, replace it with a mental count or breath and analysis.
Learn to breathe: A simple breathing technique can do wonders for an episode of impulsivity. It is only enough to practice it for a few seconds and it will be enough to restrain an immediate action and analyze it better.
It only takes one minute of acting impulsively to ruin a career, a financial opportunity, or a relationship. We must be able to control our emotions and not live dominated by them, live free and take risks, but do not give up control to impulses.
