What is impulsivity?

Impulsivity refers to the tendency to act hastily without considering potential consequences. You struggle to restrain yourself or suppress certain impulses, leading to quick anger outbursts, imprudent decisions, or unnecessary risk-taking. This can also result in disrupted social relationships or difficulty completing certain tasks, such as work. As a result, it may feel like failure and can cause you to become more insecure.

There is no direct identifiable cause of impulsivity. However, research has shown it can arise from emotional neglect or trauma in childhood or have a biological basis, such as in ADHD. In addition to ADHD, impulsivity is also present in other conditions like addiction issues, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders.

How to cope with impulsivity?

To better manage impulsivity, it is important to know yourself well and be aware of situations or circumstances that trigger impulsive behaviour. It is also important to pay attention to the amount of stimulation and seek calm moments. The following tips can help you

  • Try to become aware of situations that can provoke impulsive behaviour and avoid them if you’re not certain you can prevent risks.
  • Learn from impulsive mistakes and actively think about what you would like to do differently next time.
  • Try to be cautious when others propose ideas or reconsider a decision if you later regret it. You don’t have to say ‘yes’ to everything.
  • If you make a wrong decision and it affects others, offer your apologies or make amends with them.
  • Pay attention to the amount of stimulation you’re exposed to by limiting distractions or overwhelming situations.
  • Make use of quiet spaces, take sufficient breaks, or take a moment for yourself when you notice you’re feeling overstimulated.
  • Practice and apply mindfulness to become more aware of your feelings and reactions.
  • Utilize timeouts or STOP! moments. Regularly pause and take a minute to evaluate if you might be acting impulsively.

Sources

What is frustration tolerance?

Frustration is the feeling when you want to achieve something but are being hindered. Frustration tolerance is the degree to which you can handle frustrating situations. This includes dealing with setbacks and obstacles, tolerating negative emotions or unpleasant physical sensations, as well as motivating yourself to achieve long-term goals or accepting things that are beyond your control.

When you have low frustration tolerance, you may find yourself easily triggered by seemingly minor things like traffic or an unexpected rain shower. It can also mean giving up quickly, avoiding challenging tasks, or being very impatient. Another characteristic of low frustration tolerance is wanting to solve everything quickly, procrastinating, or exaggerating discomfort (“I absolutely can’t handle this traffic jam today!!”).

How can you increase frustration tolerance?

As you might have guessed, to increase your frustration tolerance, you will need to practice tolerating these feelings. This means, for example, discovering your capacity to endure unpleasant things or finding ways to expand this. But it’s also important to become aware of unhelpful behaviors or thoughts. The following tips can help you get started:

  • Be aware of unhelpful thoughts like “It’s always so unfair” or “I really can’t handle this.”
  • Explore what is within your control and take action on that part.
  • Be aware of exaggerations and try to look at situations realistically. Change thoughts like “I always have bad luck with traffic” to “Traffic is annoying, but it’s always gonna be part of traveling.”
  • Encourage yourself instead of avoiding a situation immediately. Take a moment to count to 10, take a few deep breaths, or speak encouraging words to yourself. You’ll find that you can handle more than you think!
  • Don’t shy away from challenges; see them as opportunities to learn. The path of most resistance yields the greatest rewards. Motivate yourself to focus on long-term goals.
  • Practice and apply mindfulness to become more aware of your feelings and reactions.
  • Pay attention to your rest. Engage in sufficient relaxing activities and be mindful of caffeine, nicotine, and sugar. These can raise your blood pressure and exacerbate physical symptoms when you’re frustrated.
  • Challenge yourself by seeking discomfort. Take a walk in the rain, deliberately skip a shower, or watch a movie that you don’t like at all. Practice makes perfect!

Sources

 

There is often a focus on the negative symptoms or consequences of having ADHD, which can lead to overlooking the fact that ADHD can also lead to beautiful things. Below you will find a list of various positive aspects of ADHD:

  • Because you process a lot more stimuli, you often have the ability to think outside the box and come up with original ideas.
  • The extra input of stimuli fosters tremendous creativity. People with ADHD are often very skilled in music, dancing, painting, and other art forms.
  • If you are easily distracted, you can also switch gears more quickly.
  • Your impulsivity prevents you from seeing “obstacles,” which often results in a positive and enthusiastic attitude.
  • Being impulsive makes you straightforward. You are honest, direct, and spontaneous.
  • Your need for variety and challenge often leads to gaining new experiences.
  • The multitude of new experiences provides you with many interesting conversation topics.
  • Your hyperfocus can make you extremely driven and lead to excellent results.
  • Due to ADHD’s sensory processing, you are likely to have a strong visual orientation.
  • Because you can think in black and white, some things are less complicated for you.
  • Your ADHD makes you stand out. Your impulsivity, restlessness, and chaos bring life to the party.
  • Although people with ADHD may struggle with concentration, they can also experience hyperfocus on activities they find captivating or interesting. This can result in increased productivity and efficiency.
  • You often have abundant energy and enthusiasm, which can be contagious and inspiring to those around you.
  • You are often flexible and can adapt quickly to changing circumstances, making you a good problem solver.
  • Your ability to experience intense emotions and high level of empathy make you a good listener and a compassionate person.
  • Your impulsivity drives you to seize opportunities outside your comfort zone, and taking risks sometimes brings you greater rewards.

Source

  • Vink, S. (2021). Cognitieve gedragstherapie bij volwassenen met AD(H)D. Handleiding voor therapeuten. BSL.

In the treatment of ADHD, you start with psychoeducation, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or skills training may be implemented to target specific aspects or symptoms. The following components may be included in the treatment of ADHD:

    1. Reducing stimulation
      Many ADHD symptoms result from an excess of external stimuli and subsequent overstimulation. In this component, you learn to recognize overstimulation based on thoughts, emotions, physical reactions, behaviors, and consequences. You then practice consciously managing these stimuli by moderating, managing, or avoiding them.
    2. Negative thoughts and skill training
      Procrastination can arise from unhelpful thoughts about oneself and unrealistic estimations of time and tasks. In this component, you learn to make more realistic estimations, and then practice alternative behaviors or new skills.
    3. Managing impulsivity
      Impulsive behaviour can be a result of overstimulation. In the impulsivity component, you work on recognizing impulsivity, finding practical solutions, and developing recovery skills (such as making amends with others).
    4. Improving frustration tolerance
      Having ADHD can lead to stronger reactions to setbacks due to unhelpful thoughts about oneself and the world. In this component, you develop skills to better cope with frustrations.
    5. Self-image
      Due to attention deficits, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity, you may make more mistakes or feel a sense of failure. This can lead to a low self-image. This component focuses on improving your self-image.

Medication

Medication can be an adjunct to treatment if it is not fully effective. It can be helpful when symptoms such as attention deficits, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are significantly present. Commonly prescribed medications include stimulants such as methylphenidate (Ritalin, Focalin, Methylin, Concerta) and amphetamines (Adderall, Dexedrine, DextroStat). The effects of medication are temporary: skipping or stopping medication will result in a return of ADHD symptoms.

Post-treatment

Aftercare

During treatment, you learn to manage your symptoms differently. However, ADHD is typically a chronic condition. Therefore, it is important to continue applying the skills learned after treatment.

Peer support

Peer support can be beneficial during and after treatment. Here, you can share your story with others who have similar experiences, receive support, advice, and insight into how others manage the challenges of ADHD. For example:

  1. The Impuls & Woortblind Association, for and by people with ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. They share knowledge from experience, and you can reach out to them to ask any type of question.
  2. ADHD cafés, which take place monthly in various cities and also have online meetings every week. Organized by the Impuls & Woortblind Association.

Source

  • Vink, S. (2021). Cognitieve gedragstherapie bij volwassenen met ADHD. Handleiding voor therapeuten. BSL.

 

In the human brain, there are various brain regions involved in emotions, executing tasks, planning, memory, decision-making, and so on. Scientific research has shown differences in development, brain structure, and brain activity in people with ADHD. These differences relate to areas responsible for attention, impulse control, and planning. This may be the reason why the brain has more difficulty processing information and stimuli, leading to concentration problems or difficulties with planning.

The ADHD model

To visualize information and sensory processing in ADHD, you can take a look at the following model. In this model, it shows that in individuals with ADHD, the “filter” for stimuli from the environment is less effective. When receiving a lot of stimuli, it becomes more challenging to focus attention on what is important. Attention problems arise as a result. To process all the stimuli, the brain automatically retrieves relevant information from memory. With a large amount of stimuli, this can be quite overwhelming and quickly lead to mental restlessness or hyperactivity. As it also requires a lot of energy and brain capacity, it becomes more difficult to think about what to do with the incoming stimuli. This often leads to impulsive plans or feeling paralyzed. Moreover, if there is no feedback on whether your choice was successful, it remains equally challenging to handle stimuli in a helpful manner the next time. The second model shows how information and sensory processing work in individuals without ADHD.

Information processing individuals without ADHD

 

Sources

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that affects your attention and behavior. This is partly due to brain differences in development, brain structure and brain activity. ADHD has three different subtypes, focusing either on attention deficit (commonly referred to as ADD), hyperactivity/impulsivity, or a combination of both. ADHD occurs in 1 out of 20 adults and in 1 out of 10 children. It is more common in males, but in women, it often goes unnoticed because it manifests differently.

The core symptoms of ADHD

The core symptoms of ADHD can be divided into three categories. Some are also related to childhood:

  • Attention deficit
      • Missing details or making easy mistakes
      • Difficulty in sustaining attention
      • Others feeling like you’re not listening when spoken to directly
      • Trouble following instructions or completing tasks
      • Difficulty with organization and planning
      • Struggling with tasks that require mental focus
      • Frequently losing things
      • Being easily distracted
  • Hyperactivity
      • Difficulty staying seated
      • Frequently getting up in situations where you should remain seated
      • Running or climbing excessively in inappropriate situations
      • Difficulty engaging in quiet play or leisure activities
      • Often being “on the go” or appearing restless
      • Talking excessively
  • Impulsivity
      • Acting quickly without thinking about the consequences
      • Blurting out an answer before a question is completed
      • Others finding you annoying or feeling like you intrude on them

Other notable characteristics

Not all of these symptoms apply to everyone with ADHD, but there are several situations or consequences that may be recognizable. These can include intense emotional reactions due to overstimulation or difficulties in processing negative events. Additionally, there is often a strong need for variety and challenges, leading to engaging in multiple activities or never doing the same thing for long. Another occurrence is hyperfocus, where someone becomes extremely focused on a task, becoming insensitive to internal or external stimuli (such as hunger or their phone) or losing track of time. It’s also common for individuals with ADHD to develop low self-esteem due to persistent difficulties.

Comorbidity and treatment

ADHD can be accompanied by behavioral problems, anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep problems, or learning disabilities such as dyslexia or dyscalculia. There is also an increased susceptibility to addiction. Sedatives can be attractive as they reduce restlessness, while stimulants help improve concentration. Eating disorders and personality issues are also more common. Additionally, there is a significant overlap with autism, leading to misdiagnosis at times.

The preferred treatment for ADHD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, possibly combined with medication. Within the treatment, the focus may be on addressing overstimulation, skill training, and self-esteem.

Sources

People who suffer from panic attacks can also suffer from agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is also known as fear of public spaces. If you suffer from agoraphobia, you are afraid of places where you feel that you cannot escape easily. You are afraid you will not be helped if something suddenly happens to you. This results in feelings of defencelessness and fear while in public, which can manifest as a panic attack. Panic attacks do not always have to coincide with agoraphobia. The central feature of agoraphobia is the fear of ‘not being able to leave’ or ‘getting stuck’. Examples of situations such as these are:

  • queuing at the checkout
  • travelling via public transport
  • when you are in a shopping centre or a large store
  • when there are many people around you

Agoraphobia is not so much about the fear of certain locations, but it is about finding yourself in such an anxious situation. The feeling of being alone is often also a scary experience. This feeling is reduced if you are with someone you trust.

Source: Keijsers, G. P. J., Van Minnen, A., Verbraak, M., Hoogduin, C. A. L. & Emmelkamp, P., (2017). Protocollaire behandelingen voor volwassenen met psychische klachten.

 

The history of Progressive Relaxation

The Progressive Relaxation Exercise is one of the most well-known relaxation exercises in existence. The American doctor Edmund Jacobson developed this exercise in the 1920s. This doctor discovered that restlessness, excitement, stress and anxiety are all associated with increased muscle tension. If the muscle tension that arose in, for example, a stressed person could be reduced, the stress was subsequently reduced as well.

The meaning of progressive

Jacobson’s method stimulates progressive development. This means that you start by focusing your attention completely on one muscle, performing the exercise, and then shifting your attention to a completely different muscle group. This builds up with increasing difficulty. For example, you start with your hands and arms, and finish with the organs associated with speech and breathing.

Our body and mind are closely connected with each other. Therefore, physical relaxation can lead to mental relaxation and a decrease in negative thoughts and feelings. A good way to acquire physical relaxation is to do a relaxation exercise. With this Jacobson Progressive Relaxation exercise, you will, one by one, tighten and then relax each muscle group of the body. Using this method, you will learn how it feels to have tension in your muscles and also how the absence of tension feels. The purpose of this exercise is to learn to let go of the tension.

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(Work) Stress can lead to various stress related complaints. Someone suffering from these stress complaints is usually still able to do his or her work, but it can be difficult for them to perform at the same level. Short-term stress is not necessarily unhealthy; it is quite normal to be tired after a hard day’s work. After such a day, you can easily recover from the stress, but as soon as there are too many of those days, recovering starts to become more difficult. There is not enough time to recover and the stress can start to build up. It is therefore important that you rest sufficiently after busy days and that you do not take on too much for a long period of time.

 

What is chronic stress?

Chronic stress is the inability to relax after a period of work stress. Your body does not get enough rest and can no longer adapt. Complaints such as restlessness, headaches, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, low mood and irritability may arise. Some people can no longer work because of these complaints. Chronic stress has a relatively short lead time, is temporary and has a favourable outlook. An average of 80% of overworked employees will be back at work within six to twelve weeks.

 

What is burnout?

Burnout is exhaustion of body and mind after years of high-pressure work or stressful working conditions, such as a requirement to continually work at a high standard, insufficient coordination between the person and the workplace, and on-going tension at work. People who are perfectionist or ambitious are at relatively higher risk than others. Similar complaints can also arise in other consistently stressful situations that have nothing to do with work, when you are experiencing long-term relationship or family problems, for example.

 

Biological process of burnout

Mental overload leading to exhaustion is not solely a psychological issue, it is also influenced by biological processes. When biological processes (that regulate alertness in our body) are constantly triggered, this has repercussions on the brain. The brain will adapt itself over the course of months and years. As a result, people are less able to deal with stress and feel increasingly more resistance to mental exertion. People experience this increasing resistance to mental exertion as fatigue.

 

How can chronic stress or burnout occur?

There are various factors that can influence the development of chronic stress:

  • Stressful work characteristics: time pressure, work that’s too hard, little autonomy, structural overtime, being stuck in traffic for a long time, being bullied, or receiving too little support from a manager or from colleagues.
  • Personal characteristics: perfectionism, great ambitions, fear of failure, great sense of responsibility, being too nice, or not being assertive enough.
  • External influences: relationship problems, financial problems, arguments, or major life events such as a death.

Which complaints are related to stress and chronic stress?

Stress can cause all kinds of different complaints:

  • Physical complaints: fatigue, insomnia, pain (muscle, head, back), heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, increased cholesterol.
  • Psychological complaints: mental exhaustion, insecurity, worrying, anxiety, stubbornness, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, irritability, and low mood.
  • Behavioural complaints: underperforming, smoking more, eating or drinking more alcohol, avoiding social contact.

 

What can you do about it?

It is important to reduce your complaints to an acceptable level. There are specific skills you can learn to help you with this. For example, a good sleeping routine is important; various hormones (communication regulators) in our body influence our sleep. The production of these hormones is influenced by daylight and exercise. Therefore, ensure you spend a sufficient amount of time in daylight and exercise during the day to promote sleep. Your physical fitness also has an important influence on the stress system, so it is twice as important to maintain or improve your fitness. Tips on how to deal with work stress can be found on this page.

 

How can your coach support you?

Your coach can discuss and tackle certain things with you. Together, you can look for certain characteristics (such as perfectionism) and explore your ambitions and things that you think are important in life. In addition, you can learn how to effectively communicate your boundaries and limits, both in your private life and at work. You will learn this by performing a number of exercises, which will teach you to be more assertive. You can discuss specific events in which certain intentions were successful or when things didn’t go as well with your coach. By analysing and talking about the situation, you can determine what is already going well and what you might want to change.

 

If you work or are going to work somewhere, it is important that you have a number of skills. These skills contribute to your self-confidence and ensure that you are able to do your job properly.

What are employee skills?

By employee skills, we mean the following skills: motivation, communication, independence, assertiveness, stress resistance, cooperation and flexibility.

It is important to be aware of which employee skills you already possess and which you can improve on.

Motivation

Being motivated means that you work on a task with enthusiasm, do your best to perform a task well and do extra work if necessary. Self-confidence and autonomy lead to increased motivation to take on tasks. Do you struggle with motivation to work or to learn? Consider these two factors. Perhaps you feel insecure about yourself or experience too little independence at work. If you do your job well, but feel unappreciated, your motivation can plummet. It can be useful to ask for feedback from your colleagues, too: what am I doing well?

Communication

Communication takes place in many different forms: verbally (written/talking) or non-verbally (facial expression/posture). Good communication is about receiving, processing and returning information in the correct manner. Good communication is necessary for good cooperation. It ensures that you can clearly communicate ideas, assignments or plans. Therefore, think carefully before you communicate anything and be specific. While communicating with another person you may not always agree. That’s not a bad thing, bring that into the discussion, too.

Independence

If you are independent, you feel responsible and complete your work. You are brave enough to make choices and there is progress in your work. Do you find yourself dependent on the approval of others? Or, for example, do you prefer to consult with your manager before making choices? If so, it can help to practice being independent. Try taking on tasks independently and solving problems by yourself before asking for confirmation.

Assertiveness

Assertive behaviour focuses on standing up for yourself, with respect for your own goals and those of others. If you often tend to say ‘yes’ to requests that you are not actually required to carry out, ask yourself ‘what makes me inclined to say yes?’ If you want to say ‘no’, do so early in the conversation with a co-worker. The longer someone explains their request, the more difficult it is to reject a request. If you find it difficult to say ‘no’ right away, you can tell them that you are going to think about the request and get back to them.

Stress resistance

Being resistant to stress means that you can continue to perform under time pressure, the pressure of multiple or difficult tasks, social pressure or in the event of setbacks and/or disappointment. For example, if you are stress resistant, you will be able to carry out your work even if you are in a rush. You can increase your resistance to stress by taking good care of yourself. You can do this by getting enough sleep, relaxing, exercising and eating well. In addition, it is important to have the strength to say ‘no’, to learn to focus on your tasks, to have your tasks in order and to take stress signals seriously.

Working together

When collaborating on a task with someone else, you want to complete a task, but you need someone else’s help in order to do so. In general, when someone provides assistance, they would also like something in return for their help. You can achieve more when you work with someone than when you work on a task independently. When working in collaboration, it is important that you indicate your needs and wants, and, also, give something in return for their assistance. When working as a team, meet up and get to know each other; this will help to ensure that you enjoy working together. Take a look at your previous collaborations. Who did you enjoy working with and who did you not? How come and what were you missing in this collaboration?

Flexibility

You are flexible if you can adapt well to changing (working) circumstances, and if you are prepared to take on tasks caused by unexpected circumstances. It is important that both employer and employee adopt a flexible attitude to a certain extent. You can also be flexible by, for example, coming up with a solution or a different approach.

 

Sources:

Keijsers, G. P. J., Van Minnen, A., Verbraak, M., Hoogduin, C. A. L. & Emmelkamp, P., (2017). Protocollaire behandelingen voor volwassenen met psychische klachten.

https://www.evofenedex.nl/sites/default/files/2019-01/Ilja%20van%20Beest%20-%20De%20psychologische%20aspecten%20en%20principes%20van%20samenwerken….pdf

https://verkenjegeest.com/zes-technieken-voor-meer-werkmotivatie/

https://www.talentontwikkelen.nl/wp-content/uploads/Bijlage-Checklist-werknemersvaardigheden.pdf

http://www.carrieretijger.nl/carriere/solliciteren/overtuigen-met-profiel/eigenschappen-vaardigheden-aantonen