What Is Impulsivity? Its Causes And Effects On Behavior
One of the defining characteristics of the human being is that it is an animal provided with the ability to reason about its emotional impulses, imposing “reason” as the basis on which its actions are based in the world that unfolds in front of it. This is why we delight in thinking of ourselves as a “rational animal.”
This would draw a differential line with the rest of the creatures that populate the earth, often understood (although it is not always this way) as slaves of instinct and the need to survive, feeling ourselves as something independent and different from the fabric that It makes up the inherent nature of all living beings.
What is really true, despite this widespread belief, is that We do not always act in a rational or thoughtful manner ; But on many occasions we allow ourselves to be carried away by the flow of our most primitive instincts. There are even people who, in fact, react this way in almost all situations.
In this article we will address precisely the issue of impulsivity both the way in which it is defined and its possible causes and its neurological roots, since it is a trait that harbors a certain mystery and that conditions the life of those who present it and their environment.
Impulsivity is a complex concept, which has attempted to be clearly defined many times, but for which there is still no clear consensus. The most common thing is that a succession of defining traits are used, which are presented together in someone who is said to be impulsive, but which do not reach the descriptive level necessary to convince the entire scientific community. In this way, attributes such as “impetuous”, “thoughtless” or “hasty” would be used.
Another difficulty in delimiting its nature is found in the fact that This symptom usually manifests itself in the context of other mental disorders, and rarely in an isolated way. It is common for it to occur in borderline personality disorder (thoughtless behavior), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (precipitation and interruption), pathological gambling (irresistible desire to gamble) or binge eating disorder (voracious and uncontrollable overeating).
Besides, It is also a risk factor in many other mental health problems ; such as drug abuse and/or behavioral disorders during childhood; and it is one of the most important reasons why some people abandon psychological approaches or other forms of intervention. Thus, it appears diluted with many other physical and psychological alterations, making it difficult to discriminate those that can be attributed to it from those that really cannot.
Its facets
Some researchers have attempted to carry out classifications of the different ways in which impulsivity can be expressed, in such a way that some degree of agreement seems to be defining regarding three basic dimensions: cognitive (hastiness in the decision-making process), motor (development of an action devoid of any prior process of reflection) and/or unplanned (total absence of consideration of the future when undertaking an action). In any case, there is a risk of very negative consequences for the person or third parties.
Even so, an attempt at conceptualization implies the enumeration of expressions that distinguish it as an independent entity. The most essential ones will be detailed below.
1. Difficulty delaying reward and seeking immediacy
Impulsivity is characterized by problems stopping impulses, that is, inhibiting behaviors even though some potential negative consequence is estimated. This process unfolds in the face of varied appetitive stimuli, considered desirable, despite the fact that waiting could translate into an increase in the intensity or quantity of the reward chosen. Therefore, immediacy prevails in the way of conducting multiple aspects of life. It is also one of the common causes of interpersonal violence.
2. Failure to consider options and risks, and lack of planning
Impulsivity is oriented only towards the present moment, so the person who exhibits it does not weigh the consequences of their actions on the future. Likewise, she does not manage to make structured plans on how to deal with an event that precipitates a difficult emotional response, but instead chooses to face the situation head-on without foreseeing how it will evolve or the unforeseen events or contingencies that may arise. With that It hinders their ability to orchestrate a consistent and satisfactory life plan.
3. Urgency to act
Impulsivity can also be expressed in the form of urgency in stress, so that it seems impossible to sustain the tension that accumulates in the case of inhibiting the action. All impulse control disorders have the common axis of this “urge”, such that the “burden” would only be resolved when one gives in to carrying out the behavior (such as setting fire to a forest in pyromania or performing of a new bet on pathological gambling), which ends up maintaining the base problem over the years due to negative reinforcement.
4. Search for sensations
Another trait that is consistently associated with impulsivity is the need for novel stimuli, which is expressed in the search for experiences that can even put physical or emotional integrity at risk.
Thus, it is possible that situations such as substance abuse or unprotected sexual activities occur, in which Immediate pleasure predominates to the detriment of any guarantee of minimum security. As a consequence of all this, boredom occurs very frequently when life becomes too regular, this feeling being very difficult to tolerate and manage.
5. Little perseverance
Impulsivity has the consequence that, in the face of any error or failure resulting from one’s own hasty action, the person feels unable to continue making an effort to turn the situation around. This fact is associated with the difficulty in tolerating frustration, which is experienced as a difficult stimulus which is faced in an accelerated manner through active escape behavior. Thus, this abandonment is nothing more than a new expression of impulsiveness in the face of the emotional tension of mistakes.
Impulsivity also manifests itself as the difficulty in regulating emotions, that is, in exercising deliberate control over them to prevent their unbridled emergence into daily life. Emotional regulation requires internal spaces arranged to observe in detail what is happening inside, to be able to accept it and channel it in the form of behaviors with some adaptive value. When this is not the case, the emotion can become unbearable in its intensity or frequency, and precipitate events that end up worsening the problem.
The influence of education
Impulsivity in children and adolescents has been consistently associated with a series of social factors, especially related to the environment where they invest the most time in their lives: the family. And there is evidence that certain parenting patterns, or even particular episodes of relational violence, can persistently shape the way in which a person learns to regulate what unfolds inside them.
Situations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse increase the risk that children and adolescents develop disruptive or antisocial behaviors over the years, in which impulsivity emerges as a cardinal trait. They may also be the consequence of parental care in which coercion, threats and emotional outbursts of an unpredictable nature are so frequent that the infant is unable to foresee his future and the consequences of his actions; selecting impulsivity as a way of coping.
As can be seen, impulsivity It is a trait that can be learned in the family, especially when disorganization prevails and the child or adolescent cannot develop more cohesive habits, through which they learn to efficiently manage the resources available to them (temporal, material, etc.). Along the same lines, it is possible that these families do not realize the importance of prosocial behaviors, ignoring their relevant reinforcement and preventing their consolidation in the child’s heritage (basic behavioral repertoire).
All of this is particularly important to the extent that Impulsivity can have profoundly negative consequences for a person’s life, both in the short and long term. Thus, it would be associated with drug use in adulthood, the diagnosis of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), low educational level, precarious access to the labor market, poor perception of income for the activity carried out and even the risk of engaging in criminal behavior or residing in socially depressed areas.
These latter consequences, in general, cannot be explained solely by the fact of being impulsive, but also depend on the additional problems that usually coexist with this (such as those described in one of the preceding paragraphs).
Its neurological bases in the brain
Impulsivity cannot be understood, as inferred from everything previously mentioned, as an isolated behavior; but rather in the prism of a tendency to act quickly and without any meditation, with the aim of resolving a situation (external demand) or an emotion (feeling that is difficult to manage). All of this can be better understood when we investigate the brain activity of those who tend to react in this way, since there is evidence of particularities in a set of neurological structures associated with impulsivity which we proceed to describe.
One of the most important, without a doubt, is found in the prefrontal cortex; where multiple structural and functional differences have been appreciated when comparing impulsive subjects with those who are not. This area is one of the main structures involved in reasoning about our actions, as well as in planning and inhibiting unwanted behaviors or thoughts. It is currently known that damage to it causes changes in personality, or even triggers pseudodepressive and pseudopsychopathic symptoms.
Within the same prefrontal cortex, which brings together many other structures with differentiated functions, The orbitofrontal cortex has a special role in impulsivity. More specifically, it moderates the relationship between emotional responses and motor acts, dealing with the influence of the amygdala (area that processes emotional experience) and the prefrontal cortex (where all responses that could arise from the emotions are elicited or inhibited). own affections). Thus, it acts to “stop” or “allow” our actions in the face of some precipitating stimulus.
This connection is carried out through the role played by two well-known neurotransmitters: serotonin and dopamine. These are responsible for establishing the communication channel between the amygdala (limbic area and located in the depths of the brain) and the prefrontal cortex (most recent area from the perspective of evolution and located in the anterior region of the parenchyma); through independent pathways for each of them, despite the fact that in recent years it has been possible to corroborate that they interact by inhibiting each other.
In general, it has been observed that a low level of serotonin is associated with greater impulsivity; including participation in risky activities, acts of heteroaggression, self-harm, suicide and subjective feeling of laxity in self-control. Dopamine, in a specular way, is related to impulsivity in its excess; since the increase in its availability in the synaptic cleft links with the immediate search for reinforcements. All of this contributes to the basic features of impulsivity, as described throughout this article.
In short, impulsivity is a phenomenon that harbors great complexity, both in its clinical expression and in its etiology (social, biological and psychological). So much so, that it is therefore difficult to conceptually delimit its reality. It is necessary to continue researching the issue in the future, as this will lead to more effective treatments to reduce its impact on the life of those who live with it or those close to it.
