Reactive behavior basically means when a person does not make strategic decisions in life; when a person makes impulsive decisions and then reacts to what happens to them. This reaction can sometimes be positive and sometimes negative. Our feelings give hype to reactive behavior. When we feel stressed, angry, depressed, or hurt, we tend to make reactive decisions; this reactive behavior is known as emotional reactivity. In such situations, our emotions are driving us, and we don’t understand the situation we are in, and we end up making impulsive decisions.
Reactive behaviour is something that can take over a person’s life and has numerous consequences. It can cause problems between our friends and families. Reactive behaviour can lead to a state of anger and aggression and in some cases, can cause sadness, guilt, anxiety and depression. It is because of reactive behaviour that people know that such strong emotions exist in a person.
How can we deal with our reactive behaviour?
To respond rather than react, there are various things that we can do. Firstly, before taking any action, we need to pause, and then you need to understand the emotion you’re feeling without being anxious about getting rid of that certain emotion. We then need to reflect on our inner self and think about the choices we have in that situation and need to carefully understand them, and then we need to make a decision on how to respond to this situation. You need 10 to 20 minutes for this process at most. You develop a good habit if you think about your situation before responding rather than just reacting impulsively.
Also, if you feel someone is behaving negatively towards you, instead of reacting, you need to think of all the positive things that behavior holds. Furthermore, you shouldn’t be pressured into making an impulsive and should take some time to think about your decision. When I’m feeling nervous or anxious, I put cold water on my face as it slows down my heart rate and protects me from making impulsive decisions. Aerobic exercises help when we feel fearful or discouraged as they help in boosting your confidence.
Difference between proactive and reactive strategies
There are two types of strategies that we get normally get confused between, proactive and reactive strategies. There are evident differences between both strategies. Proactive strategies are techniques to prevent challenging behaviour from happening, whereas in reactive strategies, there are techniques that we can use during an incident of challenging behaviour. In proactive strategies are always an incident of challenging behaviour can be very stressful for an individual and affect their well-being. While attacking the triggers that can lead to challenging behaviour and trying to avoid them is an example of a proactive strategy. If we distract an individual whose behaviour is challenging is a reactive strategy.
Wrapping it up
To stop the reactive behaviour, whenever an obstacle occurs, we need to understand that our impulsive reaction will be our enemy. By doing so, we shut down our reactive system, and proactive behaviour comes to surface. We should be aware of our trigger points and try our best not to go to the point where it can bring the reactive behaviour out of us. People take our instabilities as our weak points, and if we hand them what affects us the most, they can use it against us. We should take any measure that we can to avoid being fooled. Stay calm and keep your mind at rest. A clear, healthy mind is a place for great inventions.