Impulsivity

Impulsivity Get rid of unwanted habits in four weeks! Overcome your negative impulses and take back control of

The hidden cost of impulsivity isn’t just in what you do – it’s in what your body has to carry.Research has consistently...
05/06/2026

The hidden cost of impulsivity isn’t just in what you do – it’s in what your body has to carry.

Research has consistently linked impulsivity with real physical consequences. Studies show it is a strong predictor of substance misuse, is directly related to binge eating (even when people are not physically hungry), and is associated with disrupted sleep, avoidance of medical care, and irregular medication adherence.

Your body keeps the record your mind dismisses.

Part 4 of 5 — The cost nobody talks about.

If you’re noticing patterns with alcohol or food that feel “out of proportion” to your intentions, you’re not weak – you’re likely dealing with an impulse system that has learned to override your long‑term goals. Our Stop Binge Drinking and Beat Binge Eating psychoeducational courses are built to target that pattern, not to shame the behavior.

👉 Explore the courses at impulsivity.com.au/courses

Psychoeducational courses only — not a substitute for clinical treatment for addiction, eating disorders, or medical conditions. This content is general in nature and not individual psychological advice. Please seek a qualified health professional for assessment or treatment.
Dr Yuliya Richard, Clinical Psychologist

The career cost of impulsivity is often the most painful to admit — and the least discussed.Not because it’s rare, but b...
04/06/2026

The career cost of impulsivity is often the most painful to admit — and the least discussed.
Not because it’s rare, but because it’s easy to minimise until something important is lost.

Longitudinal research on professional derailment has consistently identified impulsivity and related “disinhibited” traits as key predictors of leadership failure and stalled careers, often more so than gaps in technical skill or experience.

It’s rarely one dramatic event. More often, it’s:
– The promotion that went to someone less reactive.
– The patient or client relationship strained by a single unfiltered comment.
– The team that stopped trusting your judgment after a moment they never quite forgot.

Your CV does not show what impulsive moments have cost you.
But your body, your reputation, and your opportunities usually remember.

This post is Part 3 of 5 in a series on the hidden costs of impulsivity in professional lives — the parts many people only talk about behind closed doors.

If you recognise yourself in this, you’re not alone — and it’s not a character flaw. There are evidence‑based ways to change the patterns.

👉 The Psychology of Self‑Control is a psychoeducational course for professionals who want to understand and work with impulsivity in a structured, research‑informed way: impulsivity.com.au/courses

Psychoeducational content only. This course is not a substitute for personal career counselling, psychological assessment, or clinical treatment. Please consider your own circumstances and seek individual professional advice where needed.
– Dr Yuliya Richard, Clinical Psychologist

Are you “good with money” but still find yourself impulse‑buying when you’re stressed or exhausted?It might be less abou...
03/06/2026

Are you “good with money” but still find yourself impulse‑buying when you’re stressed or exhausted?
It might be less about budgeting… and more about your brain under load.

Consumer research shows that many impulsive purchases are driven by emotional states and moment‑to‑moment self‑control, rather than a lack of financial knowledge or intelligence (Rook & Fisher, 1995, Journal of Consumer Research).

Related psychological models of self‑control suggest that when your brain is fatigued from a full day of decisions and emotional effort, it becomes harder to resist short‑term rewards, making late‑day impulsive spending more likely (Baumeister & colleagues’ self‑control research).

In other words, budgeting apps can help you track the numbers — but they rarely address the emotional and neurobiological drivers that sit underneath your spending patterns.

This post is Part 2 of 5 in our series, “The Cost Nobody Talks About,” looking at how impulsivity shows up in everyday financial micro‑decisions you barely remember making.
If you recognize yourself in this pattern and want to work on the impulse rather than just the spreadsheet, you may find our psychoeducational course helpful:

👉 Control Your Impulsive Overspending
https://impulsivity.com.au/product/course-control-your-impulsive-overspending/

Compliance / disclaimer
This content is for general information and psychoeducation only and does not constitute personal financial advice, psychological assessment, or therapy. It is not a substitute for individual financial counselling, psychological treatment, or emergency support.

Course presented by Dr Yuliya Richard, AHPRA‑registered psychologist (Australia). Please consider your own circumstances and seek independent professional advice where appropriate.

The relationship cost of impulsivity is the one nobody names directly.It’s rarely the single blow‑up that breaks a relat...
02/06/2026

The relationship cost of impulsivity is the one nobody names directly.

It’s rarely the single blow‑up that breaks a relationship. It’s the accumulation — escalating conflict cycles, broken trust, and the slow emotional withdrawal of the people who love you most.

Gottman’s longitudinal research has consistently shown that patterns like contempt and emotional withdrawal are among the strongest predictors of relationship breakdown, over and above how often couples argue.

The apology matters. But the pattern matters more.

This week, we’re running a 5‑part series: The Cost Nobody Talks About — exploring the hidden price of unmanaged impulsivity across relationships, finances, career, health, and self‑trust.

Save this post and follow along. By Friday, one of these will have named something you’ve been carrying.

👉 Start with the free 4‑minute Impulsivity Test: impulsivity.com.au
Developed by Dr Yuliya Richard, Australian registered psychologist Psychoeducational content only — not personalised assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual results vary.

Why do smart, high‑achieving people keep making decisions they later regret?It’s not a lack of intelligence. And it’s no...
31/05/2026

Why do smart, high‑achieving people keep making decisions they later regret?

It’s not a lack of intelligence. And it’s not just “poor self‑control”.

Psychological research on self‑regulation and inhibitory control shows that the brain systems involved in pausing, evaluating and choosing can be disrupted by emotional arousal, chronic stress and long‑standing behavior patterns.

In simple terms: the brain’s “pause” function can get bypassed — not because you don’t know better, but because impulses are activated more quickly than your reflective system can respond.

This pattern has been linked to behaviours like binge drinking, impulsive spending, explosive anger, relationship conflict and chronic procrastination. It reflects a vulnerability in self‑regulation circuits rather than a personal “character flaw”.

The encouraging part is that aspects of inhibitory control and self‑regulation can be strengthened with structured strategies and practice.

The Impulsivity courses developed by Dr Yuliya Richard, an Australian clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience working in impulse‑related difficulties, are designed as educational programs to help people understand their patterns and build practical skills in this area.

If you’re curious about your own impulsivity profile, you can start with the free 4‑minute Impulsivity Test (educational, not a diagnostic tool):
https://impulsivity.com.au/impulsivity-test/

What if understanding impulsivity could change the way you support your clients forever?We designed this training for th...
30/05/2026

What if understanding impulsivity could change the way you support your clients forever?

We designed this training for the professionals who sit with complexity every day... psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, healthcare workers, and allied professionals.

Here's what 5 days in Coron Palawan will give you:

→ A neuroscience-backed framework for understanding impulsive behavior
→ Practical clinical tools to apply from day one
→ 20 APS-Approved CPD Hours (tax-deductible continuing professional development)
→ Meaningful connection with a community of like-minded practitioners
→ A world-class learning environment, overlooking one of the most beautiful island destinations in the Philippines

The Psychology & Neuroscience of Impulsivity
July 13–19, 2026 | Princesa Garden Resort, Coron Palawan

This is the kind of training that stays with you. Professionally and personally.

Message us to learn more or to register. Spots are limited.
https://413zm1.share-na2.hsforms.com/2DdKXUx77SkG2innIQoTuew

Impulsivity is one of the most clinically misunderstood constructs I encounter in practice.It tends to be treated as a s...
29/05/2026

Impulsivity is one of the most clinically misunderstood constructs I encounter in practice.

It tends to be treated as a symptom to be managed, a behaviour to be redirected, a deficit in inhibitory control and while that framing is not wrong, it is incomplete in ways that limit our clinical effectiveness.

What the neuroscience of the last decade has clarified is the interaction between inhibitory control and reward sensitivity and how that interaction shifts across different populations, presentations, and trauma histories.
When we understand impulsivity through that lens, the clinical picture changes.

The formulation becomes richer and the strategic management becomes more precise and more humane.

This is what the second Eudora retreat is built around.

The Psychology & Neuroscience of Impulsivity is a 5 days clinical intensive training designed for psychologists, counsellors, and allied health professionals who want to translate contemporary research into trauma-informed practice. And that happens to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world:
Palawan, Philippines. 13–19 July 2026.

25 APS-approved CPD hours — Event #25178.
Early bird rates open.

Register here: https://413zm1.share-na2.hsforms.com/2DdKXUx77SkG2innIQoTuew

178,000 people in the United States die from excessive drinking every year — that is about 488 deaths every single day.B...
25/05/2026

178,000 people in the United States die from excessive drinking every year — that is about 488 deaths every single day.

Binge drinking is responsible for a large share of this harm and is now one of the leading preventable causes of death.

Many young adults binge drink at least once a week, often without seeing it as a serious risk.

This is not about a “bad personality” or weak willpower. It is about what happens when powerful impulses to keep drinking outrun the brain’s capacity to pause, reflect, and stop.

That small gap — between “I feel like another drink” and “I’m going to pause” — is exactly where behaviour change becomes possible.
Learning skills to lengthen that gap is a key part of evidence‑based approaches to reducing harmful alcohol use.

At Impulsivity, we offer a structured, psychoeducational online course focused on binge drinking.
It is private, self‑paced, and draws on current research on impulsivity and behaviour change.
It is not a substitute for assessment, diagnosis, or treatment with a registered health professional.

You can learn more about our psychoeducational course and complete a free self‑check
https://impulsivity.com.au/binge-drinking-self-assessment/

If you are worried about your drinking, consider:
Talking with your GP or a registered mental health professional
Contacting a national alcohol helpline in your country for confidential support

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and related federal datasets on excessive alcohol use and binge drinking.

What drives risky drinking and drug use?Mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression and trauma can increase the r...
25/05/2026

What drives risky drinking and drug use?
Mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression and trauma can increase the risk that people use alcohol or other drugs as a form of self‑medication. Socioeconomic factors like unemployment, financial stress and reduced access to education and services also add to vulnerability.

Another factor that is often overlooked is impulsivity.

Research in psychology and neuroscience shows that difficulties with inhibitory control — the gap between the urge to drink/use and the ability to pause — are consistently linked with higher risk of substance use and later substance‑related problems. This is not about personal weakness; it reflects patterns in the brain and nervous system that can develop early and then become reinforced over time.

The good news is that these patterns can be worked with. Evidence‑informed approaches that target impulsivity and self‑control skills can reduce risky behaviours and support longer‑term change.

Why many people don’t get help
Even when people want to cut back or stop, getting support can be hard.

A recent Australian report highlights common barriers, including:

Lack of available services

Cost

Difficulties organising access or fitting help around work, family and other commitments

Online options, self‑directed programs and brief interventions can help fill part of this gap for some people, especially when they are private, flexible and tailored to underlying patterns like impulsivity.

About the Stop Binge Drinking course
For people noticing that impulsivity is driving their drinking, Impulsivity.com.au offers an evidence‑informed online program called Stop Binge Drinking.

It has been:

Developed by Dr Yuliya Richard, an Australian clinical psychologist with over 20 years’ experience in impulsivity and addiction‑related presentations.

Designed to be completed online and in private, at your own pace, without waiting lists or referrals.

Structured to help you understand and work with the impulsive patterns that sit behind binge drinking, rather than focusing only on counting drinks.

The cost is less than a typical individual therapy session, which can make it more accessible for some people. It is not a crisis service and does not replace personalised medical or psychological care where that is needed.

A starting point if you’re concerned
If you’re:

Drinking more than you planned,

Finding it hard to stop once you start, or

Worried about someone you care about,

it can help to start by getting clearer on what’s happening.

You can take a free, confidential Binge Drinking Self‑Assessment at impulsivity.com.au to better understand whether impulsive patterns are contributing to your drinking.

This is intended as general information and an educational starting point, not a substitute for personalised professional advice.

Anger. Binge drinking. Overspending. Binge eating. Procrastination. Relationship damage. Sexual impulses that don’t line...
24/05/2026

Anger. Binge drinking. Overspending. Binge eating. Procrastination. Relationship damage. Sexual impulses that don’t line up with your values.

If you recognize yourself in any of these, you’re not alone. These behaviours can be part of impulsive patterns rather than proof that you’re “lazy”, “weak” or “out of control.” Research on impulsivity, emotion regulation and decision‑making shows that past experiences, stress, and brain‑based processes can all influence how quickly we react and how hard it is to slow down.

That also means there is room for change. Patterns that were learned over time can often shift when we increase awareness, build specific skills and have the right support around us.

At Impulsivity, our psychologist‑developed resources and online courses are informed by peer‑reviewed research and clinical practice, and are designed to help you better understand your impulsive patterns and experiment with new responses in everyday life.

You can start by taking our free 4‑minute impulsivity test at impulsivity.com.au. It may give you a clearer picture of what is going on and offer some ideas for next steps.

https://impulsivity.com.au/impulsivity-test/

These resources are psychoeducational and for skills‑building only. They are not a diagnosis and do not replace individual assessment or treatment with a health professional. If you are in crisis or concerned about your safety, please contact emergency services or a local crisis support line.

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