[hamster-bamster]

Now when I thought the relationship with my ex-husband was bad enough, I made it even worse. He cut out all contact - he won't respond to my calls or emails. I did it through impulsive acts - impulsive emails and calls. And something in me knows not to do it, but I STILL GO AHEAD. At the end of my rope as to what to do.

[BuggsBunny]

Oh Hamster, I'm sorry you are going thru this! I know impulsivity is a tough one to overcome. You could try the rubber band on the wrist trick, snap it every time you even think of contacting him. Put an extra large sticky note on your computer screen that says ABSOLUTELY NOT!, just to give you a second longer to think. As for the phone, delete his number so you can't quick dial him, and while you punch in his number the long way, you might have a second or two to rethink it. Mostly, tho, I think the rubberband snap every time you think about it will work best.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by BuggsBunny

Oh Hamster, I'm sorry you are going thru this! I know impulsivity is a tough one to overcome. You could try the rubber band on the wrist trick, snap it every time you even think of contacting him. Put an extra large sticky note on your computer screen that says ABSOLUTELY NOT!, just to give you a second longer to think. As for the phone, delete his number so you can't quick dial him, and while you punch in his number the long way, you might have a second or two to rethink it. Mostly, tho, I think the rubberband snap every time you think about it will work best.

Put on the rubber band, and I wish I knew this trick yesterday!

[moremi]

Im so sorry your going through that. I am so impulsive too. My meds do not help with that at all. The rubber band trick works good for other things I know. Good idea BuggsBunny, never thought of using it that way.

[hamster-bamster]

My meds do not do anything with impulsivity either.

[BipolaRNurse]

Lamictal seems to be useful for that, with me anyway. I can SO relate to your original post, hamster......I've done that all my life and driven people away more than once.

The last time was a few weeks ago, when my son and I had the worst fight of his life---he suddenly refused to answer his phone and would not call me back. Even though I knew I should leave him alone, I couldn't seem to stop trying to get him to respond to me, and I just LOST IT. Thank God for the Lamictal, it's chilled me out a lot and brought me out of the mixed episode I spent the last four months fighting.
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[redbull]

hamster, while I'm not bipolar I do have problems with being impulsive too.
I just plain don't think of the outcome of my actions And, I don't learn from previous mistakes.

Can I suggest maybe when you feel the need to act impulsively that you come on here first?
Post what you are feeling before doing it. Maybe it will be just enough time (while you are waiting for others on here to respond) to slow down the 'action' of doing something that might not be in your best interests. <3

[Irreplaceable]

I used to have issues with being impulsive. Specifically sending emails and texts. The way I dealt with it is, before i hit the Send button, I have to wait a whole day before I send it. Because it's based off of being impulsive, you can say or do things that you don't mean or things come out in a way that you maybe necessarily didn't intend. Or maybe you were being really honest in what you were sending but edit for clarity and as not to seem crazy or irrate. I always wait a day. 9 times out of 10, I find that what I wrote (or said during a call) was too much or I should never send it. When you get an impulse to call or talk to him, write out what it is that you want to say. When your fingers go towards the keyboard or phone, stop and think about how you have always felt after you called or sent him something. Waiting is my best friend.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Irreplaceable

I used to have issues with being impulsive. Specifically sending emails and texts. The way I dealt with it is, before i hit the Send button, I have to wait a whole day before I send it. Because it's based off of being impulsive, you can say or do things that you don't mean or things come out in a way that you maybe necessarily didn't intend. Or maybe you were being really honest in what you were sending but edit for clarity and as not to seem crazy or irrate. I always wait a day. 9 times out of 10, I find that what I wrote (or said during a call) was too much or I should never send it. When you get an impulse to call or talk to him, write out what it is that you want to say. When your fingers go towards the keyboard or phone, stop and think about how you have always felt after you called or sent him something. Waiting is my best friend.

Wow, 9 out of 10! I bet if I used your method, I would have discovered the same statistic.