The Devastating Impact of Impulsivity & Emotional Dysregulation
back from the borderline
English - October 04, 2021 00:43 - 45 minutes - 86 MB - ★★★★★ - 362 ratingsMental Health Health & Fitness Education Self-Improvement spirituality podcast cptsd recovery complex trauma trauma healing childhood trauma self sabotage generational trauma jungian psychology depth psychology codependent podcast Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Impulsivity (a core feature of BPD) has been defined as 'rapid and unplanned action.' However, a preference for immediate gratification and discounting of longer-term rewards might better describe the impulsive behaviors that people with BPD use to regulate their emotional distress. The most up-to-date research proposes that BPD develops due to a complex interplay of genetics, increased affective sensitivity/reactivity, and stressful life events. The idea is that these factors prevent those of us with BPD from developing healthy emotional coping mechanisms, which results in a severe form of emotional dysregulation.
Our difficulty regulating our emotions (a struggle common in both BPD and CPTSD) is what leads to our increased use of impulsive coping strategies. Usually, without even being conscious of it, we are using these impulsive behaviors to help self-soothe (also called "down-regulate) and further repress our deep feelings of shame and self-hatred. The key here is that for people with BPD, impulsivity usually occurs in response to the stress and negative emotions we've taught ourselves to avoid. Regardless of the specific impulsive act, it is generally indicative of an inability to self-soothe and an attempt to create a distraction from underlying emotional issues.
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Below is a breakdown of the subjects covered in today's episode:
• What is impulsivity?
• How people with BPD use impulsive behaviors to regulate their emotional distress
• How impulsive behaviors develop in people with borderline personality disorder
• Examples of impulsive behaviors experienced by someone with BPD
• What exactly makes a behavior go from "nothing to worry about" to impulsive? (exploring the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale to analyze impulsive behaviors)
• Examples of impulsive behavior from the /rBPD subreddit
• How to treat BPD impulsivity (how to manage impulsive behaviors)
• How DBT is used in decreasing impulsive behaviors and emotional dysregulation
Resources:
The Minimalist's interview with Patreon Founder & CEO, Jack Conte
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