The Student Room Group

Unstable behaviour?

If someone is described as having "unstable behaviour" - what does that mean?
They are likely to trip over.
Erratic
Reply 3
Original post by Jackoclypse
They are likely to trip over.

Thanks. Can you clarify a bit? Trip over what? Or is 'trip over' jargon?
Original post by Emilin

Thanks. Can you clarify a bit? Trip over what? Or is 'trip over' jargon?

It's a medical phrase for losing balance and falling over although it does not always have to be a physical 'falling over' mental 'falling overs' are just as common.
Reply 5
Original post by Jackoclypse
It's a medical phrase for losing balance and falling over although it does not always have to be a physical 'falling over' mental 'falling overs' are just as common.


Do you mean like mental breakdowns?

We are concerned about a neighbour. Other people in the street have described him as having "unstable behaviour". He has a history of depression. Normally a nice guy...
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Emilin
Do you mean like mental breakdowns?

We are concerned about a neighbour. Other people have described it as "unstable behaviour". He has a history of depression. Normally a nice guy...


My friend is a doctor who did his PhD on unstable behaviour and tripping over. It sounds like your neighbour suffers from physically tripping over all the time. This is commonly caused by depression.
Reply 7
Original post by Jackoclypse
My friend is a doctor who did his PhD on unstable behaviour and tripping over. It sounds like your neighbour suffers from physically tripping over all the time. This is commonly caused by depression.


Thanks. Although, I still don't *get* what 'tripping over' actually means? Is it the same as erratic, as another poster suggested? Or is it literally just tripping over one self when walking?
Original post by Emilin
Thanks. Although, I still don't *get* what 'tripping over' actually means? Is it the same as erratic, as another poster suggested? Or is it literally just tripping over one self when walking?


Well kind of both I assume the other poster was talking about mental tripping over. Sometimes the two can be linked. I'll message my PhD friend and ask him to send me the proper definition for tripping over
As it says on the label: behaviour that isn't stable. They're impulsive, they indulge in something (e.g. drinking, drugs, sex, food), they act without thinking about the consequences. They might not care about the consequences. Their emotions might be all over the place. They might fixate on something and how to repair that something. For example, if they went through a breakup they might fixate on that and they might have a lot of sex with random people in order to sort of compensate for the loss. They might also binge eat/drink. The things they do are entirely self-destructive. They might do a lot of what they do because they convince themselves that that's what's necessary to stop themselves feeling whatever they might be feeling. I've experienced "unstable behaviour" a few times. It is as screwed up as it sounds.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 10
Original post by Vixen47
As it says on the label: behaviour that isn't stable. They're impulsive, they indulge in something (e.g. drinking, drugs, sex, food), they act without thinking about the consequences. They might not care about the consequences. Their emotions might be all over the place. They might fixate on something and how to repair that something. For example, if they went through a breakup they might fixate on that and they might have a lot of sex with random people in order to sort of compensate for the loss. They might also binge eat/drink. The things they do are entirely self-destructive. They might do a lot of what they do because they convince themselves that that's what's necessary to stop themselves feeling whatever they might be feeling. I've experienced "unstable behaviour" a few times. It is as screwed up as it sounds.


Thanks. So, basically, an unpredictable person?
Original post by Emilin
Thanks. So, basically, an unpredictable person?


Sort of, but unpredictable in a self-destructive sense.

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