The Therapist Diaries

 Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries, Impulsivity: When the Urge Feels Louder Than the Pause Impulsivity is something most of us recognize instantly, sometimes in ourselves, sometimes in others. It’s the text sent too quickly, the purchase we regret, the sharp words that tumble out before we’ve had time to breathe. I often tell clients that if you’re human, you’ve been impulsive. I certainly have. I’ve seen impulsivity show up in the therapy room in countless ways: clients who interrupt their own healing by ending relationships abruptly, people who make big life decisions in moments of emotional overwhelm, or those who when describing a recent argument say,  “I don’t know why I said that it just came out.” And while impulsivity often gets labeled as “poor self-control,” the truth is far more compassionate and complex. So, let's start here,  impulsivity is not a character flaw, it's a nervous system response. Why Impulsivity Happens At its core, impulsivit...