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.