3.2iv Mental health disorders: Impulsivity

Outline - Chapter 3: Mental health problems

• Why do people develop mental health problems?
• Mental health disorders
  • Anxiety
  • Mood
  • Psychosis
  • Impulsivity
• Personality disorders

Impulsivity disorders problems result from behaviour where the urge to do something is greater than the person's ability to understand that the behaviour has a high risk of being harmful to him- or herself or others.

Examples of impulsivity problems include substance use disorders and other behaviours such as problem gambling, antisocial behaviour, and problems related to anger and aggression.

A person with impulsivity problems needs to learn to think before acting. Too often the person reacts to a situation, and the action has consequences that could have been anticipated if her or she had sought more information and reflected more before acting.

Impulsive behaviour is often an attempt to control a situation that feels unsafe or threatening. In a smaller percentage of cases, the person doesn't care about the impact of his or her behaviour on others or even himself or herself. This type of behaviour is likely to be diagnosed as conduct disorder in young people or as antisocial behaviour in adults.

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