Impulsivity and self-control

Impulsivity is a personality trait. Impulsive people are characterized by a tendency to start or continue a behavior without considering the consequences. They do not evaluate whether their actions or words may cause discomfort, both for themselves and for others. That is, they act following an impulse and not thinking or analyzing the variables.

Hyperactivity disorder or bipolarity are related to impulsivity, as well as the abuse of certain addictive substances. And it has been proven that This need to do things without thinking has a large genetic component. It can even be hereditary.

How do impulsive people behave?

Impulsive people are often prone to aggression. They have serious problems with the consumption of alcohol, drugs or pharmaceuticals and are related to the inclination to gamble and bet in an addictive way. They also have problems adapting to different situations.

An individual with impulsive behavior will have a lower tolerance threshold than others. In addition, you will suffer a lot in everyday situations, since everything is “passed on” emotionally. lImpulsiveness leads to despair, to loss of self-control. As well as recklessness, anger, frustration, feeling attacked by others, indignation, etc.

Impulsive people act without thinking. They seek risky experiences and have a low tolerance for boredom. They are disorganized and do not plan activities. They are forgetful and arrive late everywhere. They are also fickle and change tasks all the time. They find it difficult to wait their turn to speak and act inappropriately.

Impulsivity under study

A study carried out and published in Biological Psychiatry was in charge of measuring, through a brain scan, the content of GABA in people without a psychiatric history, with low levels of impulsivity and who did not consume drugs. The results revealed a greater amount of neurotransmitters in a specific area of ​​the brain.

GABA is the most abundant neurotransmitter in our brain. It is an amino acid that induces sleep and relaxation, in addition to balancing the brain by inhibiting overexcitation. It contributes to motor control, vision and other cortical functions. It regulates anxiety and some medications tend to increase its levels, for example in cases of epilepsy attacks or to calm tremors in patients with Huntington’s disease.

However, Impulsivity is considered a psychiatric disorder.. According to Dr. Frederic Boy, the head of the aforementioned research, brain scan images allow us to recognize various areas of people’s minds and behavior. The actions of each of us are based on the interaction of several factors: genetic, environmental and social.

Study results

The participants in this study were adult men who were not dependent on any substances (alcohol, tobacco, drugs, drugs). They completed a form to assess different aspects of impulsivity. They underwent a specialized MRI called spectroscopy, which measures the amount of GABA in different regions of the brain.

The men who had the most GABA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain were those with the least tendency to impulsivity or also known as “feeling of urgency”. That is, that need to act rashly in response to distress or another strong emotion, such as anxiety or depression.

Jhon Krystal, director of Biological Psychiatry, indicates that the results of this research add to the evidence that shows that Having low levels of GABA can be a risk factor. This could increase your chances of experiencing panic attacks, insomnia, or depression. Although women were not included in this study, specialists believe that the results could be similar. Although in this case, female hormonal fluctuations would have different effects in relation to impulsivity.

The next stages of research will focus on determining the relationship between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and GABA. Then it will be evaluated how to treat the neurotransmitter deficiency in this brain area.. The bad thing about this is that since GABA is present throughout the brain, raising its content indiscriminately could have incalculable and unforeseen consequences.

Impulsivity as frustration

Although impulsive people may be impulsive due to everything explained above, we must not forget that our learning history is also decisive. If since childhood we have been accustomed to having everything, the day we do not have what we want, we may feel frustrated. This frustration will lead us to anger, and anger will lead us to impulsiveness. “I want it no matter what”, does this phrase sound familiar to you? We are not satisfied with just getting some things; we want it all.

Impulsive people usually lack adequate emotional self-control, which is why first act and then think. Hence, on many occasions it tends to invade the blame. That is why it is so important to learn to know yourself. The Intrapersonal Intelligence that Howard Gardner talks about encompasses those aspects such as emotional intelligence. By developing this type of intelligence we would learn to know ourselves better on an emotional level. In this way we would be aware of our emotional state, thus being able to, self-control and not letting ourselves be carried away by the first impulse we feel.

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