I suppose you could argue that almost everyone has a moment of impulsive behaviour at some point in their lives, some more often than others. But it was a simple as buying a need food or going to a gig of a band you have never heard of before it wouldn’t be a problem. When it comes to BPD it is more like extreme impulsive behaviour. On this page, we will take a look at how bad this can get, what you can to do stop it and a little more about what it really means…
What is the BPD Symptom of Impulsive Behaviour?
When I said on this page it does tend to be ‘extreme impulsive behaviour’ I am not kidding as the two main types of impulsive behaviour in BPD are Self-Harm and Self-Destruction. I won’t go into these here as it will make this page highly triggering, but it is basically a lack of personal control. At any time and in any situation you can act quickly with no thought to the consequences, from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye. Sure, most people will have impulsive behaviour, but that lack of thinking about the consequences is what makes this a main symptom of BPD.
What Can Cause Impulsive Behaviour?
While you might think this is mostly an environmental trigger (the people you hang out with, the things you do and see) it runs a lot deeper than that and could even be down to brain connectivity or function. While they are not part of the main trigger you can often put impulsive behaviour down to things like childhood trauma or personal trauma, so you try to ‘run away’ and escape the reality of your own thinking. In short, you do something impulsive because you are not thinking straight, you are not thinking of others or the consequences of your actions.
How Bad Can Impulsive Behaviour be?
Sadly this is where things will get a little dark so here is your Tigger Warning. Impulsive behaviour could mean something small but still significant like bingeing on drugs, food or gambling, oversharing personal information about others or even the destruction of something like property or personal relationships. But it can also be as extreme as self-harm, physical violence or even committing a crime. While it sounds like a small thing it really can be life-changing if left to get out of control.
Does Everyone With BPD Suffer From Impulsive Behaviour?
You could say most of us will suffer from this at one point in our lives, but when it comes to those of us with BPD is can be quite a common form in one form or another. Sadly that is the main problem with this symptom as it can manifest itself in so many different ways. Even those who suffer from it might not know that they are. To be honest impulsive behaviour is something an outsider will often point out rather than yourself. Just be aware that if things get too bad you should seek professional help and advice if you are unsure about your diagnoses or indeed getting a diagnosis in the first place.
How Can I Stop Impulsive Behaviour?
the key to living with this symptom is learning alternative behaviours. Before you do anything that might be redeemed as “impulsive” stop and take a deep breath and reevaluate your own thinking. Something like breath awareness and mindfulness meditation can really help with this and should improve your life if it is affecting you that badly. If things are that bad you could always SSRIs or antidepressants to try and deal with those impulse control disorders, but that is something you should speak to your doctor about.
Well, I hope this has answered your question. As always with any posts/pages on this site, we would love to hear from you in the comments below. Is this a question you wanted answering? Are there any questions you have relating to BPD that we have not covered? If so please leave a comment to if you want more privacy do please to get in touch with us via the Contact page.
