Impulsivity is one of the most common symptoms of women with ADHD and the different aspects of impulsivity are described in the ADHD diagnostic criteria in the DSM-V such as talking excessively, difficulty waiting their turn to speak, blurts out answers before questions are completely asked and completes others’ sentences and interrupts or intrudes on others’ conversations or activities without permission or takes over what others are doing the difficulties that come with impulsivity can be wide raging especially with personal relationships, social interactions, impulse buying, unsafe driving, rash communication and career self-sabotage. Trying to manage impulsivity requires a mindful way to change your behavior such as trying to think and plan ahead to avoid or manage risky situation. If you are a women with ADHD, there are many different strategies when dealing with impulsivity, here are some recommendations to do cope with this
Learn How Your ADHD Impacts Your Impulsive Behavior- Leaning how your ADHD impacts your impulsivity may entail becoming aware of where you are likely to do the impulsive behavior such your personal risk factors, being overtired, moodiness, anger or when your medication starts wearing off
Know Your Triggers– Once you become more aware of what triggers your impulsivity, the next step is to try to avoid those risk situations.
Planning- Taking the time to plan your coping strategies on how you will handle your risky situations, having these impulsivity strategies planned out shows the behaviors you are trying to change
Learn From Your Mistakes- identify and learn from the mistakes from the situation, and then adjust your coping strategies.
Impulsivity can be difficult for a women with ADHD to deal with, however with learning how impulsivity, knowing what your triggers are, planning out your strategies and learning from your mistake’s impulsivity can be effectively managed.