mental states- temporary, current originality of the individual, due to the content and conditions of his and his attitude to this activity.

Classification of mental states.

In situations of constant difficulty in activity, in conditions of systematic presentation of unsolvable tasks, an individual can form a stable state learned helplessness. It tends to generalize - being developed in one situation, it spreads to the entire style of the individual's life. A person ceases to solve the tasks available to him, loses faith in himself, resigns himself to the state of his own helplessness.

Crisis states of personality.

For many people, individual everyday and work conflicts turn into unbearable mental trauma, acute mental pain. The mental vulnerability of a person depends on its moral structure, the hierarchy of values, the values ​​that it attaches to various life phenomena. For some people, the elements of moral consciousness may not be balanced and certain moral categories acquire the status of supervalue, resulting in the formation of moral accentuations of the personality, its “weak points”. Some are highly sensitive to the infringement of their honor and dignity, injustice, dishonesty, others - to the infringement of their material interests, prestige, intra-group status. In such cases, situational conflicts can develop into deep crisis states of the individual.

An adaptive personality, as a rule, reacts to psychotraumatic circumstances by a defensive restructuring of its attitudes. The subjective system of its values ​​is directed to the neutralization of the impact that traumatizes the psyche. In the process of such psychological protection there is a restructuring of personal relationships. The mental disorder caused by psychic trauma is replaced by a reorganized orderliness, and sometimes pseudo-orderliness - social alienation of the individual, withdrawal into the world of dreams, into the pool of narcotic states. Social maladaptation of an individual can manifest itself in various forms. Let's name some of them:

• negativism- the prevalence of negative reactions in the individual, the loss of positive social contacts;
• situational personality opposition- a sharp negative assessment of individuals, their behavior and activities, aggressiveness towards them;
• social alienation(autism) personality - a stable self-isolation of the individual as a result of prolonged conflict interaction with the social environment.

The alienation of the individual from society is associated with a violation of the value orientations of the individual, the rejection of group, and in some cases general social norms. At the same time, other people and social groups are perceived by the individual as alien and even hostile. Alienation is manifested in a special emotional state of the individual - a persistent feeling of loneliness, rejection, and sometimes in anger and even misanthropy.

Social alienation can take the form of a stable personality anomaly - a person loses the ability to social reflection, taking into account the position of other people, his ability to empathize with the emotional states of other people is sharply weakened and even completely inhibited, social identification is violated. On this basis, strategic meaning formation is violated - the individual ceases to care about tomorrow.

Prolonged and unbearable loads, insurmountable conflicts cause a person to have a state of depression(from lat. depression- suppression) - a negative emotional and mental state, accompanied by painful passivity. In a state of depression, the individual experiences painfully experienced depression, melancholy, despair, detachment from life, the futility of existence. The self-esteem of the individual is sharply reduced.

The entire society is perceived by the individual as something hostile, opposed to him; going on derealization- the subject loses a sense of the reality of what is happening or depersonalization- the individual does not strive for self-affirmation and the manifestation of the ability to be a person. Lack of energy security of behavior leads to agonizing despair from unresolved tasks, commitments, unfulfilled debt. The attitude of such people becomes tragic, and their behavior becomes ineffective.

One of the crisis states of personality is alcoholism. With alcoholism, all the former interests of a person fade into the background, alcohol itself becomes a meaning-forming factor in behavior; it loses its social orientation, the individual descends to the level of impulsive reactions, loses the criticality of behavior.

Borderline mental states of the individual.

Mental states adjacent between the norm and pathology are called border states. They are borderline between psychology and psychiatry. We refer to these states: reactive states, neuroses, character accentuations, psychopathic states, mental retardation (mental retardation).

In psychology, the concept of mental norm has not yet been formed. However, in order to identify the transition of the human psyche beyond the limits of the mental norm, it is necessary to determine its limits in general terms.

to essential characteristics of the mental norm We attribute the following behavioral features:

• adequacy (correspondence) of behavioral reactions to external influences;
• determinism of behavior, its conceptual ordering in accordance with the optimal scheme of life activity; consistency of goals, motives and ways of behavior;
• correspondence of the level of claims to the real possibilities of the individual;
• optimal interaction with other people, the ability to self-correct behavior in accordance with social norms.

All borderline states are abnormal (deviating), they are associated with a violation of any essential aspect of mental self-regulation.

reactive states.

Reactive States- acute affective reactions, shock mental disorders as a result of mental trauma. Reactive states arise both as a result of simultaneous psycho-traumatic effects, and as a result of prolonged trauma, as well as due to the individual's predisposition to a mental breakdown (weak type of higher nervous activity, weakening of the body after illness, prolonged neuropsychic stress).

From a neurophysiological point of view, reactive states are a disruption of nervous activity as a result of an exorbitant effect that causes an overstrain of the excitatory or inhibitory processes, a violation of their interaction. At the same time, there are humoral shifts- the release of adrenaline increases, hyperglycemia occurs, blood clotting increases, the entire internal environment of the body is rebuilt, regulated by the pituitary-adrenal system, the activity of the reticular system (the system that provides energy to the brain) changes. The interaction of signaling systems is disturbed, there is a mismatch of functional systems, interactions of the cortex and subcortex.

Non-pathological reactive states are divided into: 1) affective-shock psychogenic reactions and 2) depressive-psychogenic reactions.

Affective-shock psychogenic reactions arise in acute conflict situations containing a threat to life or basic personal values: in case of mass disasters - fires, floods, earthquakes, shipwrecks, traffic accidents, physical and moral violence. Under these circumstances, a hyperkinetic or hypokinetic reaction occurs.

With a hyperkinetic reaction, chaotic motor activity increases, spatial orientation is disturbed, uncontrolled actions are performed, a person “does not remember himself”. The hypokinetic reaction is manifested in the occurrence of stupor - immobility and mutism (loss of speech), excessive muscle weakness occurs, and clouding of consciousness occurs, causing subsequent amnesia. The consequence of the affective-shock reaction may be the so-called "emotional paralysis" - the subsequent indifferent attitude to reality.

Depressive psychogenic reactions(reactive depressions) usually arise as a result of great life failures, the loss of loved ones, the collapse of great hopes. This is a reaction of grief and deep sadness to life's losses, deep depression as a result of life's adversity. The traumatic circumstance steadily dominates the psyche of the victim. The agony of suffering is often aggravated by self-accusation, "remorse", obsessive detailing of a traumatic event. In the behavior of an individual, elements of puerilism (the appearance in the speech and facial expressions of an adult of features characteristic of childhood) and elements of pseudodementia (acquired decrease in intelligence) may appear.

neuroses.

neuroses- disruptions of neuropsychic activity: hysterical neurosis, neurasthenia and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

1. Hysterical neurosis occurs in psychotraumatic circumstances mainly in persons with pathological character traits, with an artistic type of higher nervous activity. The increased inhibition of the cortex in these individuals causes an increased excitability of the subcortical formations—the centers of emotional-instinctive reactions. Hysterical neurosis is often found in individuals with increased suggestibility and autosuggestibility. It manifests itself in excessive affectation, loud and prolonged, uncontrollable laughter, theatricality, demonstrative behavior.

2. Neurasthenia- weakening of nervous activity, irritable weakness, increased fatigue, nervous exhaustion. The behavior of the individual is characterized by intemperance, emotional instability, impatience. Sharply increases the level of anxiety, unreasonable anxiety, constant expectation of an unfavorable development of events. The environment is subjectively reflected by the individual as a threat factor. Experiencing anxiety, self-doubt, the individual is looking for inadequate means of hypercompensation.

Weakness, exhaustion of the nervous system in neuroses is manifested in disintegration of mental formations, individual manifestations of the psyche acquire relative independence, which is expressed in obsessive states.

3. obsessive-compulsive disorder expressed in obsessive feelings, inclinations, ideas and sophistication.

Intrusive feelings of fear called phobias(from Greek. phobos- fear). Phobias are accompanied by autonomic dysfunctions (sweating, increased heart rate) and behavioral inadequacy. At the same time, a person is aware of the obsession of his fears, but cannot get rid of them. Phobias are diverse, we note some of them: nosophobia- fear of various diseases (carcinophobia, cardiophobia, etc.); claustrophobia- fear of enclosed spaces; agoraphobia- fear of open spaces; eichmophobia- fear of sharp objects; xenophobia- fear of everything alien; social phobia- fear of communication, public self-manifestations; logophobia- fear of speech activity in the presence of other people, etc.

Obsessions - Perseverations(from lat. perseveratio- perseverance) - cyclic involuntary reproduction of motor and sensory-perceptual images (this is what, in addition to our desire, "climbs into the head"). obsessive attraction- involuntary inappropriate aspirations (count the sum of numbers, read words the other way around, etc.). Obsessive sophistication- obsessive thoughts about secondary issues, meaningless problems (“Which hand would be right if a person had four hands?”).

With neurosis obsessive movements the individual loses control over the manners of his behavior, commits inappropriate actions (sniffs, scratches his head, makes inappropriate antics, grimaces, etc.).

The most common type of obsessive-compulsive disorder is obsessive doubts(“Is the iron turned off?”, “Did you write the address correctly?”). In a number of acutely critical situations, when a certain danger dominates in the mind, obsessive urges to counter actions, opposite to those dictated by the situation (the desire to move forward, standing on the edge of the abyss, to jump out of the "ferris wheel" cab).

Obsessive states occur mainly in people with a weak type of nervous system in conditions of weakening their psyche. Separate obsessive-compulsive states can be extremely stable and criminogenic.

In addition to the above, there may be other obsessive states that cause inappropriate behavior. Yes, at obsessive state of fear of failure a person is unable to perform certain actions (some forms of stuttering, impotence, etc. develop according to this mechanism). At neurosis of anticipation of danger a person begins to panic fear of certain situations.

The young woman was frightened by her rival's threats to douse her with sulfuric acid; she was especially terrified at the possibility of losing her sight. One morning, when she heard a knock on the door and opened it, she suddenly felt something wet on her face. The woman thought with horror that she had been doused with sulfuric acid, and she developed sudden blindness. Only pure snow fell on the woman's face, accumulating over the door and falling off when it was opened. But the snow fell on mentally prepared soil.

Psychopathy.

Psychopathy- disharmony of personality development. Psychopaths are people with anomalies of certain behavioral qualities. These deviations may be pathological, but in many cases they appear as extreme variants of the norm. Most psychopathic individuals themselves create conflict situations and react sharply to them, obsessing over insignificant circumstances.

The whole variety of psychopaths can be combined into four large groups: 1) excitable, 2) inhibitory, 3) hysteroids, 4) schizoids.

excitable psychopaths are characterized by extremely increased irritability, conflict, a tendency to aggression, social maladjustment - they are easily amenable to criminalization and alcoholization. They are characterized by motor disinhibition, anxiety, loudness. They are uncompromising in primitive desires, prone to affective outbursts, intolerant of the demands of others.

Brake psychopaths are timid, timid, indecisive, prone to neurotic breakdowns, suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorders, withdrawn and unsociable.

hysterical psychopaths are extremely eager to be the center of attention at all costs; impressionable and subjective - emotionally very mobile, prone to arbitrary assessments, violent affective manifestations - tantrums; suggestible and self-suggestible, infantile.

Schizoid psychopaths are highly sensitive, vulnerable, but emotionally limited (“cold aristocrats”), despotic, prone to reasoning. Psychomotor is defective - clumsy. Pedantic and autistic - aloof. Social identification is sharply disturbed - they are hostile to the social environment. Psychopaths of the schizoid type lack emotional resonance to the experiences of other people. Their social contacts are difficult. They are cold, cruel and unceremonious; their inner motives are obscure and often due to orientations that are overvalued to them.

Psychopathic individuals are extremely sensitive to certain psycho-traumatic influences, they are touchy and suspicious. Their mood is subject to periodic disorders - dysphoria. Tides of malicious melancholy, fear, depression cause them to increase pickiness to others.

Psychopathic personality traits are formed with extremes in the methods of education - oppression, suppression, humiliation form a depressed, inhibitory personality type. Systematic rudeness, violence contribute to the formation of aggressiveness. The hysterical personality type is formed in an atmosphere of universal adoration and admiration, the fulfillment of all the whims and whims of a psychopathic individual.

Excitable and hysterical psychopaths are especially prone to - (attraction to people of the same sex), (attraction to people of senile age), (sexual attraction to children). Other behavioral perversions of an erotic nature are also possible - (secret peeping at the intimate acts of other people), (transfer of erotic feelings to things), (test of sexual satisfaction when dressing in clothes of the opposite sex), (sexual satisfaction when exposing one's body in the presence of persons of the opposite sex ), (erotic tyranny), (autosadism), etc. All sexual perversions are signs.

Mental retardation.

The level of mental development is determined by intelligence tests, their age scales.

Mental states of disturbed consciousness.

Consciousness, as already noted, is psychic self-regulation based on the reflection of reality in socially developed forms - concepts and value judgments. There are some critical levels of categorical coverage of reality, criteria for the minimum required level of mental interaction of an individual with the environment. Deviations from these criteria mean impaired consciousness, loss of interaction between the subject and reality.

Signs of disturbed consciousness are the disappearance of the subject distinctness of perception, the connectedness of thinking, orientation in space. So, with craniocerebral injuries, acute disorders of the central nervous system, a condition arises stunned consciousness, at which the thresholds of sensitivity rise sharply, associative connections are not established, indifference to the environment occurs.

With oneiroid (dream) stupefaction consciousness, detachment from the environment arises, which is replaced by fantastic events, vivid representations of all kinds of scenes (military battles, travel, flights to aliens, etc.).

In all cases of impaired consciousness, there is depersonalization of the individual, violation of his self-consciousness. This allows us to conclude that self-consciousness of the individual, personal formations are the core of conscious self-regulation.

On the examples of mental anomalies and disorders of consciousness, we clearly see that the psyche of an individual is inextricably linked with his socially determined orientations.

Mental states of non-pathological disorganization of consciousness.

The organization of a person's consciousness is expressed in his attentiveness, in the degree of clarity of awareness of the objects of reality. Different levels of mindfulness - an indicator of the organization of consciousness. The absence of a clear direction of consciousness means its disorganization.

In investigative practice, when evaluating the actions of people, it is necessary to keep in mind the various non-pathological levels of disorganization of consciousness. One of the states of partial disorganization of consciousness is distraction. Here we have in mind not that “professorial” absent-mindedness, which is the result of great mental concentration, but general absent-mindedness, excluding any kind of concentration of attention. This kind of absent-mindedness is a temporary violation of orientation, a weakening of attention.

Absent-mindedness can arise as a result of a quick change of impressions, when a person does not have the opportunity to focus on each of them separately. Thus, a person who has come to the workshop of a large factory for the first time may experience a state of absent-mindedness under the influence of a wide variety of influences.

Absent-mindedness can also arise under the influence of monotonous, monotonous, insignificant stimuli, with a lack of understanding of the perceived. The reasons for distraction may be dissatisfaction with one's activity, the consciousness of its uselessness or insignificance, etc.

The level of organization of consciousness depends on the content of the activity. Very long, continuous work in one direction leads to overwork- Neurophysiological exhaustion. Overfatigue is first expressed in a diffuse irradiation of the excitation process, in a violation of differential inhibition (a person becomes incapable of fine analysis, discrimination), and then a general protective inhibition, a sleepy state occurs.

One of the types of temporary disorganization of consciousness is apathy- a state of indifference to external influences. This passive state is associated with a sharp decrease in the tone of the cerebral cortex and is subjectively experienced as a painful state. Apathy can occur as a result of nervous overexertion or in conditions of sensory hunger. To a certain extent, apathy paralyzes a person's mental activity, dulls his interests, and lowers his orienting-exploratory reaction.

The highest degree of non-pathological disorganization of consciousness occurs during stress and affect.

Ergonomics is the science of optimizing the means and conditions of human activity.

Anxiety is a diffuse fear that gives rise to a feeling of general ill-being, the impotence of the individual in the face of impending threatening events.

The beginning of the scientific development of the concept of mental state in Russian psychology was laid by the article by N. D. Levitov, written in 1955. He also owns the first scientific work on this issue - the monograph "On the Mental States of Man", published in 1964.

According to Levitov's definition, mental condition- this is a holistic characteristic of mental activity for a certain period of time, showing the originality of the course of mental processes depending on the reflected objects and phenomena of reality, the previous state and mental properties of the individual.

Mental states, like other phenomena of mental life, have their own cause, which most often consists in the influence of the external environment. In essence, any state is a product of the inclusion of the subject in some kind of activity, during which it is formed and actively transformed, while exerting a mutual influence on the success of this activity.

Continuously changing, mental states accompany the course of all mental processes and activities of a person.

If we consider mental phenomena in the plane of such characteristics as "situational - long-term" and "variability - constancy", we can say that mental states occupy an intermediate position between mental processes and mental properties of a person. Between these three types of mental phenomena there is a close relationship and a mutual transition is possible. It has been established that mental processes (such as attention, emotions, etc.) under certain conditions can be considered as states, and frequently repeated states (for example, anxiety, curiosity, etc.) contribute to the development of appropriate stable personality traits.

On the basis of modern research, it can be argued that the non-innate properties of a person are a static form of manifestation of certain mental states or their combinations. Mental properties are a long-term basis that determines the activity of the individual. However, the success and characteristics of activity are also greatly influenced by temporary, situational mental states of a person. Based on this, we can give the following definition of states: a mental state is a complex and diverse, relatively stable, but changing mental phenomenon that increases or decreases the activity and success of an individual's life in a particular situation.

Based on the above definitions, one can distinguish properties mental states.

Integrity. This property is manifested in the fact that states express the relationship of all components of the psyche and characterize all mental activity as a whole over a given period of time.

Mobility. Mental states are changeable in time, have the dynamics of development, which is manifested in the change of stages of flow: beginning, development, completion.

Relative stability. The dynamics of mental states is expressed to a much lesser extent than the dynamics of mental processes (cognitive, volitional, emotional).

Polarity. Each state has its antipode. For example, interest - indifference, cheerfulness - lethargy, frustration - tolerance, etc.

The classification of mental states can be based on various criteria. The following classification features are the most common.

1. According to what mental processes prevail, the states are divided into gnostic, emotional and volitional.

To gnostic mental states usually include curiosity, curiosity, surprise, amazement, bewilderment, doubt, puzzlement, daydreaming, interest, concentration, etc.

emotional mental states: joy, grief, sadness, indignation, anger, resentment, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, cheerfulness, longing, doom, depression, depression, despair, fear, timidity, horror, attraction, passion, affect, etc.

Volitional mental states: activity, passivity, decisiveness and indecision, confidence and uncertainty, restraint and incontinence, absent-mindedness, calmness, etc.

2. Similar to the previous one, but has some differences, the classification of states based on a systematic approach. According to this classification, mental states are divided into volitional (resolution - tension), affective (pleasure - displeasure) and states of consciousness (sleep - activation). Volitional states are divided into praxic and motivational; and affective - on humanitarian and emotional.

3. Classification on the basis of relation to personal substructures - the division of states into the states of the individual, the state of the subject of activity, the state of the personality and the state of individuality.

4. By the time of flow, short-term, protracted, long-term states are distinguished.

5. According to the nature of the influence on the personality, mental states can be sthenic (conditions that activate vital activity) and asthenic (conditions that suppress vital activity), as well as positive and negative.

6. According to the degree of awareness - the states are more conscious and less conscious.

7. Depending on the prevailing influence of a person or a situation on the occurrence of mental states, personal and situational states are distinguished.

8. According to the degree of depth, states can be deep, less deep and superficial.

The study of the structure of mental states made it possible to identify five factors in the formation of states: mood, assessment of the probability of success, level of motivation, level of wakefulness (tonic component) and attitude to activity. These five factors are combined into three groups of states, different in their functions:

1) motivational and incentive (mood and motivation);

2) emotional-evaluative;

3) activation-energetic (level of wakefulness).

The most important and meaningful is the motivational-incentive group of states. Their functions include conscious stimulation by the subject of his activity, the inclusion of volitional efforts for its implementation. Such states include interest, responsibility, concentration, etc. The function of the states of the second group is the initial, unconscious stage of the formation of motivation for an activity based on the emotional experience of needs, an assessment of the attitude to this activity, and upon its completion, an assessment of the result, as well as a prediction of possible success or failure of the activity. The function of the states of the third group, preceding all other states, is awakening - the extinction of the activity of both the psyche and the organism as a whole. The awakening of activity is associated with the emergence of a need that requires satisfaction, the extinction of activity - with the satisfaction of a need or with fatigue.

From the entire vast space of human mental states, it is customary to single out three large groups: typically positive (sthenic) states, typically negative (asthenic) states, and specific states.

Typical positive mental states of a person can be divided into states related to everyday life, and states related to the leading type of human activity (for an adult, this is training or professional activity).

Typical positive states of everyday life are joy, happiness, love, and many other states that have a bright positive color. In educational or professional activities, these are interest (in the subject being studied or the subject of labor activity), creative inspiration, determination, etc. The state of interest creates motivation for the successful implementation of activities, which, in turn, leads to work on the subject with maximum activity, full return of strength, knowledge, full disclosure of abilities. The state of creative inspiration is a complex set of intellectual and emotional components. It enhances concentration on the subject of activity, increases the activity of the subject, sharpens perception, enhances imagination, stimulates productive (creative) thinking. Decisiveness in this context is understood as a state of readiness to make a decision and enforce it. But this is by no means haste or thoughtlessness, but, on the contrary, balance, readiness to mobilize higher mental functions, actualize life and professional experience.

To typically negative mental states include both states that are polar, typically positive (grief, hatred, indecision), and special forms of states. The latter include stress, frustration, a state of tension.

The concept of stress was discussed in detail in a lecture on the emotional sphere of the psyche. But if there the emphasis was on emotional stress, then in this context stress is understood as a reaction to any extreme negative impact. Strictly speaking, stresses are not only negative, but also positive - a state caused by a powerful positive impact is similar in its manifestations to negative stress. For example, the state of a mother who learns that her son, who was thought to have died in the war, is actually alive, is a positive stress. Psychologist G. Selye, a researcher of stressful states, proposed to call positive stresses eustresses, and negative ones - distresses. However, in modern psychological literature, the term "stress" without specifying its modality is used to refer to negative stress.

Frustration is a state close to stress, but it is a milder and more specific form of it. The specificity of frustration lies in the fact that it is a reaction only to a special kind of situation. In general, we can say that these are situations of “deluded expectations” (hence the name). Frustration is the experience of negative emotional states, when, on the way to satisfying a need, the subject encounters unexpected obstacles that are more or less amenable to elimination. For example, on a hot summer day, a person, returning home, wants to take a cool refreshing shower. But an unpleasant surprise awaits him - the water is turned off for the next day. The condition that occurs in a person cannot be called stress, since the situation does not pose a threat to life and health. But a very strong need remained unsatisfied. This is the state of frustration. Typical reactions to the impact of frustrators (factors that cause a state of frustration) are aggression, fixation, retreat and substitution, autism, depression, etc.

Mental tension is another typically negative state. It arises as a reaction to a personally difficult situation. Such situations can be caused by each individually or by a combination of the following factors.

1. A person does not have enough information to develop an optimal model of behavior, make a decision (for example, a young man loves a girl, but knows her too little to predict her reaction to his attempts at courtship or explanation, so when he meets her, he will experience tension state).

2. A person performs a complex activity at the limit of concentration and actualizes his abilities as much as possible (for example, a state of vigilance, solving an intellectual problem, complex motor-motor actions are required at the same time - the situation of performing a combat mission).

3. A person is in a situation that causes conflicting emotions (for example, the desire to help the victim, the fear of harming him and the unwillingness to take responsibility for someone else's life - this complex set of emotions causes a state of tension).

Perseveration and rigidity are two similar negative mental states. The essence of both states is a tendency to stereotypical behavior, reduced adaptation to changes in the situation. The differences lie in the fact that perseveration is a passive state, close to a habit, malleable, stereotypical, and rigidity is a more active state, close to stubbornness, uncompromising, resisting. Rigidity characterizes a personal position to a greater extent than perseveration; it shows a person's unproductive attitude to any changes.

The third group - specific mental states. These include states of sleep - wakefulness, altered states of consciousness, etc.

Wakefulness is a state of active interaction of a person with the outside world. There are three levels of wakefulness: quiet wakefulness, active wakefulness, extreme level of tension. Sleep is a natural state of complete rest, when a person's consciousness is cut off from the physical and social environment and his reactions to external stimuli are minimized.

Suggestive states refer to altered states of consciousness. They can be both harmful and beneficial for human life and behavior, depending on the content of the suggestible material. Suggestive states are divided into heterosuggestive (hypnosis and suggestion) and autosuggestive (self-suggestion).

Heterosuggestion is the suggestion by one person (or social community) of some information, states, patterns of behavior and another person (community) in conditions of reduced awareness in the subject of suggestion. The impact of television advertising on people is a suggestion that comes from one community and affects another community of people. The state of lowered awareness is achieved by the very structure of commercials, as well as by the “wedging” of advertising at such moments of television films or programs, when viewers have heightened interest and reduced critical perception. Directed suggestion from one person to another occurs during hypnosis, when the subject of suggestion is immersed in a hypnotic sleep - a special, artificially induced type of sleep, in which one focus of excitation remains, reacting only to the voice of the suggestor.

Self-hypnosis can be arbitrary and involuntary. Arbitrary - a conscious suggestion by a person to himself of certain attitudes or states. On the basis of self-hypnosis, methods of self-regulation and state management were built, such as G. Schultz's auto-training, the affirmation technique (mainly associated with the name of Louise Hay, the most famous popularizer of this technique), the original tuning technique developed by G. N. Sytin. Involuntary self-hypnosis occurs as a result of fixing repetitive reactions to a certain stimulus - an object, a situation, etc.

Altered states of consciousness also include trance and meditation.

Euphoria and dysphoria are two more specific states. They are opposites of each other.

Euphoria is a state of increased cheerfulness, joy, complacency, carelessness, not justified by objective reasons. It can be either the result of exposure to psychotropic drugs or narcotic substances, or a natural reaction of the body to any internal mental factors.

For example, a prolonged stay in a state of extreme tension can cause a paradoxical reaction in the form of euphoria. Dysphoria, on the contrary, manifests itself in an unreasonably low mood with irritability, anger, gloominess, increased sensitivity to the behavior of others, with a tendency to aggression. Dysphoria is most characteristic of organic brain diseases, epilepsy, and some forms of psychopathy.

Summing up, we can say that, in terms of their structure, mental states are complex formations that differ in sign (positive - negative), subject orientation, duration, intensity, stability and are simultaneously manifested in the cognitive, emotional and volitional spheres of the psyche.

Diagnostics mental states is carried out at two levels: psychophysiological and actually psychological. Psychophysiological studies reveal the structure, flow pattern, intensity of states and some other factors that allow revealing their nature. The study of the dynamics of the content of mental states, that is, that which subsequently makes it possible to control states and correct them, is carried out by psychological methods. One of the most common psychodiagnostic methods are questionnaires. Among the most popular, for example, is the SAN questionnaire aimed at diagnosing well-being, activity and mood. It is built on the principle of the Likert scale and contains 30 pairs of statements relating to mental states (10 for each scale). The technique developed by Ch. D. Spielberger and adapted by Yu. L. Khanin is also often used. With its help, they diagnose personal anxiety and reactive anxiety. The latter acts as a mental state. You can also specify the "Questionnaire of neuropsychic stress" by T. A. Nemchin.

Of the projective methods for diagnosing mental states, the Luscher color test is often used: the preference for blue means the motive of affiliation (benevolent - hostility), the preference for green - the motive of self-affirmation (dominance - submission), the preference for red - the search for sensations (excitement - boredom), yellow - the motive constructive self-expression (reactivity - lethargy).

Among other methods for diagnosing mental states, one can single out the method of expert visual determination of the emotional state by facial expressions, automated diagnostics of emotional reactivity based on color or shape preference in the structure of a mental image, diagnostics of emotional tension by speech features, etc.

Mental condition- this is a temporary originality of mental activity, determined by its content and the attitude of a person to this content. Mental states are a relatively stable integration of all mental manifestations of a person with a certain interaction with reality. Mental states are manifested in the general organization of the psyche. The mental state is the general functional level of mental activity, depending on the conditions of a person's activity and his personal characteristics.
Mental states can be short-term, situational and stable, personal.
All mental states are divided into four types:

1. Motivational (desires, aspirations, interests, drives, passions).

2. Emotional (emotional tone of sensations, emotional response to the phenomena of reality, mood, conflict emotional states - stress, affect, frustration).

3. Volitional states - initiative, purposefulness, determination, perseverance (their classification is related to the structure of a complex volitional action)

4. States of different levels of organization of consciousness (they manifest themselves in different levels of attentiveness).

The mental state of a person manifests itself in 2 variants:

1) in the option of an individual state (individualized)

2) mass condition (group effect)

Mental states include:

Manifestations of feelings (moods, affects, euphoria, anxiety, frustration, etc.),

Attention (concentration, absent-mindedness),

Will (decisiveness, confusion, composure),

Thinking (doubt)

Imaginations (dreams), etc.

The subject of special study in psychology is the mental states of people under stress under extreme circumstances (in a combat situation, during exams, if an emergency decision is needed), in critical situations (pre-launch mental states of female athletes, etc.). Pathological forms of mental states are also studied - obsessive states, in social psychology - massive psychological states.

Psychic features. states:

integrity (coverage of the entire psyche)

mobility (variability)

quite stable and can accompany activity for several hours, or even more (for example, a state of depression).

Manifold

Negative mental states are:

affect as a mental state is a generalized characteristic of the emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of the subject's psyche in a certain, relatively limited period of time; as a mental process, it is characterized by stages in the development of emotions; it can also be considered as a manifestation of the mental properties of the individual (temper, incontinence, anger).

A state of equanimity. In Greek ethics, he denoted peace of mind, which for a wise person should be the ideal of life aspirations and which is achieved by refusing to reflect on metaphysical issues (about God, death, society) and express any judgments about them. Rapidly and violently flowing, the most powerful emotion of an explosive nature, uncontrolled by consciousness and capable of taking the form of a pathological affect. Also, in general psychology, affect is understood as a whole emotional and sensory sphere of a person. Mental states characterized by a noticeable emotional coloring: emotional states, a state of affect, mood, etc. A mental state characterized by overexcitation that interferes with healthy sleep. Mental state, the highest degree of concentration of attention, a sharp increase in performance in actions. Normal mental state of a person, characterized by adequate work of consciousness as a mental integrator; the ability to adequately perceive the words and actions of others. A special mental state, intermediate between sleep and wakefulness, usually accompanied by increased suggestibility. Mental state of "awake sleep", developed fantasizing. The mental state of a person, which determines the direction, selectivity of thinking, depending on the task. A state of gloomy, grouchy, irritable, angry mood, accompanied by increased anxiety in response to any external stimulus. Dysphorias can last for hours or days and are distinguished by an angry-dreary coloring of the mood. A state of neuropsychic tension, characterized by a variety of disorders in the field of vegetative, psychomotor, speech activity, emotional, volitional, thought processes and a number of specific changes in self-awareness that occurs in a person who constantly experiences difficulties in certain situations of interpersonal informal communication, and is his personal property . A mental disorder in which motives that seem to be unknown to the patient cause a narrowing of the field of consciousness or impairment of motor or sensory function. The patient can attach psychological and symbolic value to these disorders. There may be conversion or dissociative manifestations. The first more or less systematic study of PS begins in India 2-3 millennium BC, the subject of which was the state of nirvana. Philosophers of ancient Greece also touched upon the problem of PS. Attunement to perform repetitive, ritual actions, failure to perform which leads to anxiety, frustration. Unstable mental and physiological state of a person. The functional state of a person that occurs as a result of monotonous work: a decrease in tone and susceptibility, a weakening of conscious control, a deterioration in attention and memory, stereotyping of actions, the appearance of feelings of boredom and loss of interest in work. The state of "waking dreams" that occurs during periods of dreamy absent-mindedness. The direction of thinking is determined by affectively colored memories and desires. Characterized by leaps of thought. It proceeds in the form of assumptions and objections, questions and answers. There are inclusions close to hallucinatory, such as illusions and hallucinations of the imagination. These kinds of states of involuntary thinking proceed with a constantly changing level of consciousness. A mental condition in which a person has intrusive, disturbing, or frightening thoughts (obsessions). A special mental state of a person, characterized by a high intensity of physiological and mental processes as a result of stress. Relatively long, stable mental states of moderate or low intensity, manifesting themselves as a positive or negative emotional background in the mental life of an individual. A condition characterized by emotional instability, anxiety, low self-esteem, autonomic disorders. A mental state characterized by longing for something or someone, dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. A mental state characterized by self-confidence, in the future, the desire to feel the fullness of being. A persistent condition in which morbid anxiety strikes one person or group of people to whom the panic condition is transmitted. A group of not pronounced disorders bordering on a state of health and separating it from the actual pathological mental manifestations. A mental state characterized by mild depressive manifestations: decreased mood, low physical activity, low sense of purpose, and depressed will. The state of readiness of an athlete to participate in a sports competition. A mental state that occurs when a person performs a complex task and negatively affects activity (destructive activity). Mental tension has a lowering effect on the stability of mental and motor functions, up to the disintegration of activity. Mental state caused by monotonous, meaningless activities. Signs: loss of interest in work and an unconscious desire to vary the ways of performing. An independent manifestation of the human psyche, always accompanied by external signs of a transient, dynamic nature, which are not mental processes or personality traits, expressed most often in emotions, coloring the entire mental activity of a person and associated with cognitive activity, with the volitional sphere and personality as a whole. A holistic characteristic of a personality that ensures its resistance to the frustrating and stressful effects of difficult situations. The state of strong and prolonged muscle contraction, due to a change in the tone of the nerve centers that innervate these muscles. A temporary mental state characterized by a rather sharp decrease in the integrative function of attention. Mental state: uncertainty, often anxiety and frustration, disorientation, revision of the value-semantic sphere, strategic and tactical principles of activity. A condition that develops mainly in asthenics and emotively labile people, in connection with a serious diagnosis carelessly reported to them or because of their own assumptions. Psychopathological states caused by a rather local effect of mental trauma in time. Types: reactive depression and affective-shock reactions. A state of rest, relaxation that occurs in the subject as a result of stress relief after strong experiences or physical efforts. The state of a person's high mood, combined with a high tone, readiness to perform spontaneous (arbitrary, volitional) actions. (from lat. regulare - to put in order, to establish) - the expedient functioning of living systems of different levels of organization and complexity. Mental self-regulation is one of the levels of regulation of the activity of these systems, expressing the specifics of the mental means of reflecting and modeling reality that implement it, including the reflection of the subject. Short-term fainting, loss of consciousness caused by a violation of cerebral blood flow. Confusion arises in situations where the recognition of the fact of an act is accompanied by internal hesitation, uncertainty about the correctness of the choice made, the return of the rejected and the reaffirmation of one's rightness. This is the state of a person for whom any choice turns out to be insufficiently internally motivated, any refusal is unjustified. The state of high mood, the absence of internal conflicts. The state of a rather sharp increase in the integrative function of attention. A state of temporary increase in critical attitude to reality. Qualitatively different states of consciousness: normal state, sleep, trance, meditation and others. Mental state, characterized by normal tone, balance, sufficient criticality. A positive emotional state associated with an increase in the level of vital activity and is characterized by the appearance of a feeling of excitement, joyful excitement, uplift, cheerfulness. A term used to refer to a wide range of human conditions that occur in response to a variety of extreme exposures. Cheerfulness, the ability to do more actions per unit of time, activity. One of the main parameters of a person's mental state: a transitional state, experiencing new sensations, new meanings; more or less significant change in the inner world. An emotional state that occurs in situations of uncertain danger and manifests itself in anticipation of an unfavorable development of events. Unlike fear as a reaction to a specific threat, anxiety is a generalized, diffuse or pointless fear. Anxiety is usually associated with the expectation of failure in social interaction and is often due to the unconsciousness of the source of danger. Functionally, anxiety not only warns the subject of a possible danger, but also prompts him to search for and specify this danger, to actively study the surrounding reality with the installation to identify a threatening object.

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A person is able to carry out any activity in various modes. And one of them, as you know, is mental states.

What are the types of mental states?

All kinds of mental states are closely interconnected. And this relationship is so strong that it is very, very difficult to separate and isolate individual mental states. For example, the state of relaxation is associated with states of pleasure, sleep, fatigue, and so on.

However, there are certain systems for categorizing mental states. Most often, states of intellect, states of consciousness and states of personality are distinguished. Of course, there are other classifications - they consider hypnotic, crisis and other types of states. At the same time, a lot of criteria are used to categorize states.

Criteria for categorizing mental states

In most cases, the following group of criteria for categorizing mental states is distinguished:

1. Formation source:

• Conditions that are caused by the situation (reaction to punishment, etc.)
• Personally conditioned states (sharp emotion, etc.)

1. The degree of external expression:

• Mild, superficial conditions (mild sadness, etc.)
• Strong, deep states (passionate love, etc.)

1. Emotional coloring:

• Negative states (despondency, etc.)
• Positive states (inspiration, etc.)
• Neutral states (indifference, etc.)

1. Duration:

• Prolonged conditions that can last for years (depression, etc.)
• Short-term states that last a few seconds (anger, etc.)
• States of medium duration (fear, etc.)

1. Degree of awareness:

• Conscious states (mobilization of forces, etc.)
• Unconscious states (sleep, etc.)

1. Level of manifestation:

• Psychological states (enthusiasm, etc.)
• Physiological conditions (hunger, etc.)
• Psychophysiological states

Guided by these criteria, it is possible to present a comprehensive description of almost any mental state.

It is also important to mention that, simultaneously with mental states, there are also so-called "mass-like" states - mental states that are characteristic of specific communities: societies, peoples, groups of people. Basically, such states are public moods and public opinions.

Now it is worth talking about the basic mental states of a person and their properties.

Basic mental states. Properties of mental states

The most common and typical mental states inherent in most people in their daily and professional life are the following states:

Optimal working condition- ensures maximum effectiveness of activities taking place at an average pace and intensity.

The state of intense work activity- Occurs when working in extreme conditions.

Properties of the state: mental stress, due to the presence of a goal of increased importance or increased requirements, strong in achieving the desired result, increased activity of the entire nervous system.

State of professional interest- plays an important role in productivity.

Properties of the state: the conscious significance of professional activity, the desire and desire to learn as much information as possible about the work performed, the concentration of attention on objects that are associated with the activity. In some cases, there is a sharpening of perception, an increased ability to repeat what has already been learned, an increased power of imagination.

monotony- a condition that develops with long-term and regularly repeated loads of medium or low intensity, as well as with repeated monotonous information.

Properties of the state: indifference, reduced concentration of attention, boredom, impaired perception of the information received.

Fatigue- a state of temporary decrease in performance that occurs during prolonged and high loads. Associated with depletion of the body.

Properties of the state: reduced motivation for work and attention, enhanced processes of inhibition of the central nervous system.

Stress- a state of prolonged and increased stress, which is associated with the inability of a person to adapt to the requirements of the environment. Here, environmental factors play an important role, exceeding the ability of the human body to adapt.

Properties of the state: mental stress, anxiety, trouble, often - apathy and indifference. In addition, there is a depletion of adrenaline, which the body needs.

State of relaxation- a state of restoration of strength, relaxation and tranquility that occurs during or, for example, prayers or reading mantras, etc. The main reason for this condition is the cessation by a person of any strenuous activity in general.

Properties of the state: a feeling of warmth spreading through the body, a feeling of peace and relaxation at the physiological level.

sleep state- a special mental state characterized by the disconnection of human consciousness from external reality. Interestingly, the state of sleep has two pronounced phases that constantly alternate - this is slow sleep and REM sleep. Both of them can often be considered as independent mental states. And the process of sleep itself is associated with the need to systematize the flows of information that were received in the process of wakefulness, as well as the need for the body to restore its resources.

Properties of the state: switching off consciousness, immobility, temporary activity of various parts of the nervous system.

Waking state- a state opposite to the state of sleep. In a calm form, it can manifest itself in such activities as, for example, watching a movie, reading a book, listening to music. In a more active form, it manifests itself in physical exercises, work, walks, etc.

Properties of the state: average activity of the nervous system, the absence of pronounced emotions (in a calm state) or, conversely, violent emotions (in an active state).

We repeat that the above mental states are typical for most people. Any relationship between these states, as well as the dynamics of the process of their development, are of paramount importance, both in a person's ordinary life and in his professional activity.

Based on this, mental states can be safely called one of the subjects of study by various areas of psychological science, such as, or labor psychology.

Throughout time, people have tried to understand the essence of mental states, and these attempts do not stop even in our time. The reason for this is, perhaps, that a person and the features of his personality are a great mystery both for ordinary people and for scientific minds. And one cannot fail to say that today in the study of human personality, tremendous progress has been made, which boldly continues its path forward. But it is likely that this mystery will never be completely solved, because nature in any of its forms is truly incomprehensible.