Emotions: A Psychology of Understanding, Impulsivity, and Growth

Emotions and Their Impact on Behavior

People usually don’t talk about emotions, but we all display or act on them at some point. There are eight basic emotions: fear, joy/happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, disgust, interest, and contempt. They can be combined in many ways. Emotions can affect a person’s thinking/decision-making, cause stress and/ or anxiety, and the way we act. I can recall acting out in anger, causing impulsivity, confusion, and self-hate.

Anger and Impulsivity: A Destructive Duo

Impulsivity is to act or do something without carefully thinking or planning. When I’m angry, I tend to forget healthy cognitive thinking skills. I often get angry when someone discredits or doesn’t acknowledge my hard work and efforts. This can be family, friends, children, employer, and/ or my boss. I let my emotions get the best of me last week. One of my co-workers was talking with the administration, attempting to have one of my clients kicked out. She stated, “He hasn’t learned anything since he’s been here. He needs to be in a mental hospital.” I immediately got angry. I’ve been working overtime helping the client with outbursts, coping skills, relapse prevention, and restoration of his family. Without carefully using my healthy thought process, I became defensive and argumentative. Throughout the day, I felt as if I could not function.

Confusion Amidst Anger

While being angry for the majority of the day, I became confused as to why she would build a case on the client whom she hadn’t worked with. I tried my hardest to put everything into perspective, but I was angry and confused. Nothing made sense; I had forgotten details of what led to me becoming angry. My mind had drawn a blank. The only thing on my mind was confronting her on her defects of character. I wasn’t able to get things in order, so I stopped everything and started to pray.

Lastly, once I calmed down I was able to process my thoughts and everything that had taken place, I began to hate myself. I began to hate myself for the way I behaved. My spirit was convicted. I apologized to my co-worker even though I knew she was treating the client unfairly; however, my behavior was ridiculous.

From Anger to Empowerment

I concluded that I could no longer act upon anger. Shame and fear stem from anger. I’ve learned to carefully think things through before getting angry. Using my thought-processing skills will avoid impulsivity. Helping me to be able to remember details and look at situations from a positive perspective. Processing what I’ve learned would show growth and loving myself for being a better person.