Deviations in the emotional-volitional sphere. Medical educational literature. Causes and consequences of emotional disorders in children

Emotions in a person act as a special class of mental states, which are reflected in the form of a positive or negative attitude towards the world around, other people and, above all, oneself. Emotional experiences are determined by the corresponding properties and qualities formed in objects and phenomena of reality, as well as certain needs and needs of a person.

The term "emotions" comes from the Latin name emovere, which means movement, excitement and excitement. The key functional component of emotions is the motivation for activity, as a result of which the emotional sphere is called the emotional-volitional sphere in a different way.

At the moment, emotions play a significant role in ensuring the interaction of the organism and the environment.

Emotions are mainly the result of reflecting human needs and assessing the likelihood of their satisfaction, which are based on personal and genetic experience.

How pronounced the emotional state of a person is depends on the importance of the needs and the lack of necessary information.

Negative emotions are manifested as a result of a lack of necessary information that is required to satisfy a number of needs, and positive emotions are characterized by the complete availability of all necessary information.

Today, emotions are divided into 3 main parts:

Affect, characterized by an acute experience of a certain event, emotional stress and excitement;
Cognition (awareness of one's state, its verbal designation and assessment of further prospects for meeting needs);
Expression, which is characterized by external bodily motility or behavior.

A relatively stable emotional state of a person is called mood. The scope of human needs includes social needs that arise on the basis of cultural needs, which later became known as feelings.

There are 2 emotional groups:

Primary (anger, sadness, anxiety, shame, surprise);
Secondary, which include processed primary emotions. For example, pride is joy.

Clinical picture of emotional-volitional disorders

The main external manifestations of violations of the emotional-volitional sphere include:

Emotional stress. With increased emotional tension, there is a disorganization of mental activity and a decrease in activity.
Rapid mental fatigue (in a child). It is expressed by the fact that the child is not able to concentrate, it is also characterized by a sharp negative reaction to certain situations where it is necessary to demonstrate their mental qualities.
A state of anxiety, which is expressed by the fact that a person in every possible way avoids any contact with other people and does not strive to communicate with them.
Increased aggressiveness. Most often occurs in childhood, when the child defiantly disobeys adults, experiences constant physical and verbal aggression. Such aggression can be expressed not only in relation to others, but also to oneself, thereby causing harm to one's own health.
Lack of ability to feel and comprehend the emotions of other people, empathize. This sign, as a rule, is accompanied by increased anxiety and is the cause of mental disorder and mental retardation.
Lack of desire to overcome life's difficulties. In this case, the child is in a constantly lethargic state, he has no desire to communicate with adults. The extreme manifestations of this disorder are expressed in the complete disregard for parents and other adults.
Lack of motivation to succeed. The main factor in low motivation is the desire to avoid possible failures, as a result of which a person refuses to take on new tasks and tries to avoid situations where even the slightest doubt about ultimate success arises.
Expressed distrust of other people. Often accompanied by such a sign as hostility towards others.
Increased impulsivity in childhood. It is expressed by such signs as lack of self-control and awareness of one's actions.

Classification of violations in the emotional-volitional sphere

Violation of the emotional sphere in adult patients is distinguished by such features as:

Hypobulia or a decrease in volitional qualities. Patients with this disorder do not have any need to communicate with other people, there is irritability in the presence of strangers nearby, lack of ability or desire to maintain a conversation.
Hyperbulia. It is characterized by increased attraction in all spheres of life, often expressed in increased appetite and the need for constant communication and attention.
Abulia. It is distinguished by the fact that a person's volitional drives are sharply reduced.
Compulsive attraction is an irresistible need for something or someone. This disorder is often compared with the animal instinct, when a person's ability to over the awareness of their actions is significantly suppressed.
Obsessive desire is a manifestation of obsessive desires that the patient is not able to independently control. Failure to satisfy such desires leads to depression and deep suffering of the patient, and his thoughts are filled with the idea of their realization.

Syndromes of emotional-volitional disorders

The most common forms of disorders of the emotional sphere of activity are depressive and manic syndromes.

depressive syndrome

The clinical picture of a depressive syndrome is described by its 3 main features, such as:

Hypotomy, characterized by a decrease in mood;
Associative retardation (mental retardation);
Motor retardation.

It is worth noting that it is the first of the above points that is a key sign of a depressive state. Hypotomy can be expressed in the fact that a person constantly yearns, feels depressed and sad. In contrast to the established reaction, when sadness arises as a result of an experienced sad event, in depression a person loses contact with the environment. That is, in this case, the patient does not show a reaction to joyful and other events.

Depending on the severity of the condition, hypotomy can occur with varying intensity.

Mental retardation in its mild manifestations is expressed in the form of a slowing down of monosyllabic speech and a long reflection on the answer. A severe course is characterized by an inability to comprehend the questions asked and solve a number of simple logical problems.

Motor inhibition manifests itself in the form of stiffness and slowness of movements. In severe depression, there is a risk of depressive stupor (a state of complete depression).

manic syndrome

Often, manic syndrome manifests itself in the framework of affective bipolar disorder. In this case, the course of this syndrome is characterized by paroxysmal, in the form of separate episodes with certain stages of development. The symptomatic picture that stands out in the structure of a manic episode is characterized by variability in one patient, depending on the stage of development of the pathology.

Such a pathological condition as a manic syndrome, as well as a depressive one, is distinguished by 3 main features:

Increased mood due to hyperthymia;
Mental excitability in the form of accelerated thought processes and speech (tachypsia);
Motor excitation;

An abnormal increase in mood is characterized by the fact that the patient does not feel such manifestations as melancholy, anxiety and a number of other signs characteristic of a depressive syndrome.

Mental excitability with an accelerated thought process occurs up to a jump of ideas, that is, in this case, the patient's speech becomes incoherent, due to excessive distraction, although the patient himself is aware of the logic of his words. It also highlights the fact that the patient has ideas of his own greatness and denial of the guilt and responsibility of other people.

Increased motor activity in this syndrome is characterized by the disinhibition of this activity in order to obtain pleasure. Consequently, in manic syndrome, patients tend to consume large amounts of alcohol and drugs.

The manic syndrome is also characterized by such emotional disturbances as:

Strengthening instincts (increased appetite, sexuality);
Increased distractibility;
Reassessment of personal qualities.

Methods for correcting emotional disorders

Features of the correction of emotional disorders in children and adults are based on the use of a number of effective techniques that can almost completely normalize their emotional state. As a rule, emotional correction in relation to children consists in the use of play therapy.

Often in childhood, emotional disorders are caused by a lack of gameplay, which significantly slows down mental and mental development.

The systematic motor and speech factor of the game allows you to reveal the capabilities of the child and feel positive emotions from the game process. The study of various situations from life in play therapy allows the child to adapt to real life conditions much faster.

There is another therapeutic approach, namely the psychodynamic one, which is based on the method of psychoanalysis, aimed at resolving the patient's internal conflict, understanding his needs and the experience gained from life.

The psychodynamic method also includes:

art therapy;
Indirect play therapy;
Fairy tale therapy.

These specific effects have proven themselves not only in relation to children, but also to adults. They allow patients to liberate themselves, show creative imagination and present emotional disorders as a certain image. The psychodynamic approach also stands out for its ease and ease of conduct.

Also, common methods include ethnofunctional psychotherapy, which allows you to artificially form the duality of the subject, in order to realize their personal and emotional problems, as if focusing their gaze from the outside. In this case, the help of a psychotherapist allows patients to transfer their emotional problems to an ethnic projection, work them out, realize them and let them through themselves in order to finally get rid of them.

Prevention of emotional disorders

The main goal of preventing violations of the emotional-volitional sphere is the formation of dynamic balance and a certain margin of safety of the central nervous system. This state is determined by the absence of internal conflicts and a stable optimistic attitude.

Sustainable optimistic motivation makes it possible to move towards the intended goal, overcoming various difficulties. As a result, a person learns to make informed decisions based on a large amount of information, which reduces the likelihood of error. That is, the key to an emotionally stable nervous system is the movement of a person along the path of development.

The concept of emotional regulation and emotional norm, individual psychological features of the manifestation of emotions and feelings. Classification of emotional disturbances. Emotional disorders in various pathological processes and conditions. Methods and techniques for studying emotions (MTSV Luscher, MPV Szondi, questionnaire for assessing the emotional state, drawing projective methods).

Pathopsychological classification of volitional disorders: violations at the level of the motivational component of the volitional act (oppression and strengthening of the motives of activity, perversion of impulses), pathology at the level of the implementation of the volitional act (oppression and strengthening of motor functions, parakinesia). The study of volitional qualities of personality.

Emotions- this is a mental process of subjective reflection of the most general attitude of a person to objects and phenomena of reality, to other people and to himself in relation to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of his needs, goals and intentions.

Individual psychological characteristics - depend on the person's age, temperament and personality as a whole. Emotions as complex systemic psychological formations that make up the emotional sphere of a person are characterized by many parameters: sign(positive or negative) and modality(the quality of the emotion) duration and intensity(by force) mobility(speed of change of emotional states) and reactivity(speed of occurrence, severity and adequacy of the emotional response to external and internal stimuli), as well as the degree awareness emotions and their degree arbitrary control.

Classification of emotional disorders:

- emotional lability(weakness) - excessive mobility, ease of changing emotions.

- emotional rigidity(inertia, stiffness) - the experience of emotions persists for a long time, although the event that caused it has long passed.

- emotional excitability It is determined by the minimum strength, intensity of external or internal stimuli that can cause an emotional reaction in a person.

- explosiveness(explosiveness)

- emotional monotony(cold)

- emotional paralysis- acute, short-term shutdown of emotions.

- apathy(indifference)

Emotional instability (emotions are less amenable to conscious control).

Emotional intemperance is the inability to control and own one's emotions.

Pathology of the emotional sphere

Symptoms of emotional disorders are varied and numerous, but five main types of pathological emotional response can be distinguished:

catatim type- usually occurs in stressful situations, pathological emotional reactions are relatively short-lived, changeable, psychogenic (neurosis and reactive psychosis);

holotimic type- characterized by endogenous conditioning (primacy), mood disorders, which is manifested by the polarity of emotional states, their stability and frequency of occurrence (manic-depressive and involutional psychosis, schizophrenia);

parathymic type- characterized by dissociation, a violation of unity in the emotional sphere between emotional manifestations and other components of mental activity (schizophrenia);

explosive type- characterized by a combination of inertness of emotional manifestations with their explosiveness, impulsiveness (signs of paroxysmal), dominated by an angry-dreary or ecstatically elated mood (epilepsy, organic diseases of the brain);

dement type- combined with increasing signs of dementia, uncriticality, disinhibition of lower drives against the background of complacency, euphoria or apathy, indifference, spontaneity (senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type, atherosclerotic dementia, progressive paralysis, and other diseases).

In pathology, the following are of great practical importance: hypothymia(pathological decrease in mood background), hyperthymia(pathological increase in mood background) and parathymia(perverted emotionality).

Methods for studying emotions MCV Luscher, MPV Szondi, questionnaire for assessing the emotional state, drawing projective techniques

Luscher Test (Color Choice Method)). Includes a set of eight cards - four with primary colors (blue, green, red, yellow) and four with secondary colors (purple, brown, black, gray). The choice of color in order of preference reflects the focus of the subject on a certain activity, his mood, functional state, as well as the most stable personality traits. It is impossible to apply the Luscher test as an independent technique in the practice of examination, professional selection, and personnel assessment.

Emotional State Assessment Questionnaire- this technique is effective if it is necessary to identify a change in the emotional state of a person over a certain period of time. The following indicators are determined:
I1- "Calmness - anxiety" (individual self-assessment - I1- equals the number of the judgment chosen by the subject from this scale. Similarly, individual values are obtained for indicators I2-I4).
AND 2- "Energy - fatigue."
FROM- "Elevation - depression."
I4“A feeling of self-confidence is a feeling of helplessness.”
I5– Total (on four scales) assessment of the state

Will violations.

Will is a mental process of conscious control and regulation of one's behavior, ensuring the overcoming of difficulties and obstacles on the way to the goal.

Pathology of volitional and voluntary regulation

1) Violations at the level of the motivational component of a volitional act - three groups: oppression, strengthening and perversion of motives of activity and inclinations.

A) Oppression of the motives of activity

Hypobulia- decrease in intensity and decrease in the number of urges to activity with regression. Extreme severity - aboulimia - complete absence of desires, aspirations and motivations for activity.

B) Strengthening the motives of activity

Hyperbulia- a pathological increase in the intensity and quantity of impulses and motives for activity. Hyperbulia usually gives the patient's behavior an inadequate character. Excessive activity and an increase in the number of impulses are also found in painfully elevated mood (manic states) and intoxication. Very characteristic of hyperbulia is reduced fatigue of patients.

C) Perversion of motives and motives of activity

Parabulia- qualitative changes, distortion of both the motivational and intellectual components of the volitional act, can manifest itself in three main forms:

1. They resemble rituals and are more common in neurotic disorders. Usually, only those obsessive actions are performed that do not threaten the life of the patient himself and those around him, and also that do not contradict his moral and ethical principles.

2. Compulsive actions - realized compulsive drives. In most cases, compulsive drives are monothematic and manifest as peculiar recurring insurmountable paroxysms of behavioral disorders. Quite often they are stereotypically repeated, acquiring the character of a kind of morbid obsession (“monomania”) with arson, senseless theft, gambling, etc.

3. Impulsive actions are manifested in absurd actions and deeds that last seconds or minutes, are performed by patients without deliberation and are unexpected for others. The motives for these behavioral reactions are little understood and incomprehensible even to the patient himself.

4. Violent actions, i.e. movements and actions that arise in addition to will and desire. These include violent crying and laughter, grimaces, coughing, smacking, spitting, rubbing hands, and others. Violent actions are most often found in organic diseases of the brain.

For normal life and development in society, it is of great importance emotional-volitional sphere personality. Emotions and feelings play an important role in human life.

Will a person is responsible for the ability that manifests itself during the regulation of its activities. From birth, a person does not possess it, since, basically, all his actions are based on intuition. With the accumulation of life experience, volitional actions begin to appear, which become more and more difficult. The important thing is that a person not only learns the world, but also tries to somehow adjust it for himself. This is what volitional actions are, which are very important indicators in life.

The volitional sphere of the personality most often manifests itself when various difficulties and trials are encountered on the path of life. The last stage in the formation of the will is the actions that must be taken to overcome external and internal obstacles. If we talk about history, then volitional decisions at different times were formed due to certain labor activities.

What diseases occurs violation of the emotional-volitional sphere:

Schizophrenia

manic syndrome

depressive syndrome

obsessive phobic syndrome

Psychopathies

Alcoholism

Addiction

Certain social conditions can be attributed to external stimuli, and heredity can be attributed to internal stimuli. Development occurs from early childhood through adolescence.

Characteristics of the volitional sphere of personality

Volitional actions can be divided into two groups:

Simple actions (do not require the expenditure of certain forces and additional organization).

Complex actions (imply a certain concentration, perseverance and skill).

In order to understand the essence of such actions, it is necessary to understand the structure. A volitional act consists of the following elements:

method and means of activity;

decision-making;

implementation of the decision.

Violations of the emotional-volitional sphere

Hyperbulia, a general increase in the will and inclinations, affecting all the main inclinations of a person. For example, an increase in appetite leads to the fact that patients, while in the department, immediately eat the food brought to them. Hyperbulia is a characteristic manic syndrome.

Hypobulia characterized by a general decrease in the will and inclinations. Patients do not feel the need for communication, they are burdened by the presence of strangers and the need to maintain a conversation, they ask to be left alone. Patients are immersed in the world of their own suffering and cannot take care of their loved ones.

Abulia This disorder is limited to a sharp decrease in will. Abulia is a persistent negative disorder, together with apathy it constitutes a single apathetic-abulic syndrome, characteristic of the end states in schizophrenia.

Obsessive (compulsive) attraction involves the emergence of desires that the patient can control in accordance with the situation. Refusal to satisfy the desire gives rise to strong feelings in the patient, thoughts about an unsatisfied need are constantly stored. Thus, a person with an obsessive fear of pollution will restrain the urge to wash his hands for a short time, but he will definitely wash them thoroughly when strangers are not looking at him, because all the time he suffers, he constantly thinks painfully about his need. Obsessional drives are included in the structure of the obsessive-phobic syndrome.

Compulsive attraction a very powerful feeling, since it is comparable in strength to instincts. The pathological need occupies such a dominant position that a person quickly stops the internal struggle and satisfies his desire, even if this is associated with rude antisocial acts and the possibility of subsequent punishment.

At the moment, emotions play a significant role in ensuring the interaction of the organism and the environment.

Emotions are mainly the result of reflecting human needs and assessing the likelihood of their satisfaction, which are based on personal and genetic experience.

How pronounced the emotional state of a person is depends on the importance of the needs and the lack of necessary information.

Today, emotions are divided into 3 main parts:

Affect, characterized by an acute experience of a certain event, emotional stress and excitement;
Cognition (awareness of one's state, its verbal designation and assessment of further prospects for meeting needs);
Expression, which is characterized by external bodily motility or behavior.

A relatively stable emotional state of a person is called mood. The scope of human needs includes social needs that arise on the basis of cultural needs, which later became known as feelings.

There are 2 emotional groups:

Primary (anger, sadness, anxiety, shame, surprise);
Secondary, which include processed primary emotions. For example, pride is joy.

Clinical picture of emotional-volitional disorders

The main external manifestations of violations of the emotional-volitional sphere include:

Emotional stress. With increased emotional tension, there is a disorganization of mental activity and a decrease in activity.
Rapid mental fatigue (in a child). It is expressed by the fact that the child is not able to concentrate, it is also characterized by a sharp negative reaction to certain situations where it is necessary to demonstrate their mental qualities.
A state of anxiety, which is expressed by the fact that a person in every possible way avoids any contact with other people and does not strive to communicate with them.
Increased aggressiveness. Most often occurs in childhood, when the child defiantly disobeys adults, experiences constant physical and verbal aggression. Such aggression can be expressed not only in relation to others, but also to oneself, thereby causing harm to one's own health.
Lack of ability to feel and comprehend the emotions of other people, empathize. This sign, as a rule, is accompanied by increased anxiety and is the cause of mental disorder and mental retardation.
Lack of desire to overcome life's difficulties. In this case, the child is in a constantly lethargic state, he has no desire to communicate with adults. The extreme manifestations of this disorder are expressed in the complete disregard for parents and other adults.
Lack of motivation to succeed. The main factor in low motivation is the desire to avoid possible failures, as a result of which a person refuses to take on new tasks and tries to avoid situations where even the slightest doubt about ultimate success arises.
Expressed distrust of other people. Often accompanied by such a sign as hostility towards others.
Increased impulsivity in childhood. It is expressed by such signs as lack of self-control and awareness of one's actions.

Classification of violations in the emotional-volitional sphere

Violation of the emotional sphere in adult patients is distinguished by such features as:

Hypobulia or a decrease in volitional qualities. Patients with this disorder do not have any need to communicate with other people, there is irritability in the presence of strangers nearby, lack of ability or desire to maintain a conversation.
Hyperbulia. It is characterized by increased attraction in all spheres of life, often expressed in increased appetite and the need for constant communication and attention.
Abulia. It is distinguished by the fact that a person's volitional drives are sharply reduced.
Compulsive attraction is an irresistible need for something or someone. This disorder is often compared with the animal instinct, when a person's ability to over the awareness of their actions is significantly suppressed.
Obsessive desire is a manifestation of obsessive desires that the patient is not able to independently control. Failure to satisfy such desires leads to depression and deep suffering of the patient, and his thoughts are filled with the idea of their realization.

Syndromes of emotional-volitional disorders

The most common forms of disorders of the emotional sphere of activity are depressive and manic syndromes.

depressive syndrome

The clinical picture of a depressive syndrome is described by its 3 main features, such as:

Hypotomy, characterized by a decrease in mood;
Associative retardation (mental retardation);
Motor retardation.

Depending on the severity of the condition, hypotomy can occur with varying intensity.

Motor inhibition manifests itself in the form of stiffness and slowness of movements. In severe depression, there is a risk of depressive stupor (a state of complete depression).

manic syndrome

Such a pathological condition as a manic syndrome, as well as a depressive one, is distinguished by 3 main features:

Increased mood due to hyperthymia;
Mental excitability in the form of accelerated thought processes and speech (tachypsia);
Motor excitation;

The manic syndrome is also characterized by such emotional disturbances as:

Strengthening instincts (increased appetite, sexuality);
Increased distractibility;
Reassessment of personal qualities.

Methods for correcting emotional disorders

Often in childhood, emotional disorders are caused by a lack of gameplay, which significantly slows down mental and mental development.

The psychodynamic method also includes:

art therapy;
Indirect play therapy;
Fairy tale therapy.

Prevention of emotional disorders

The birth of a child in a family with certain deviations from normal development is always stressful for both parents. It is very good when they are helped to cope with the problem by relatives, friends or specialists in psychological rehabilitation.

The first signs of a violation of the emotional-volitional sphere begin to appear during the period of active communication in a peer group, which is why you should not ignore any deviations in the child's behavior. These disorders are rarely noted as an independent disease, often they are harbingers or components of rather serious mental disorders:

Schizophrenia;

Depression;

Manic syndrome;

Psychopathy;

Autism.

The decrease in intellectual activity in children is manifested in the form of insufficiently complete regulation of emotions, inappropriate behavior, a decrease in morality, and a low level of emotional coloring of speech. Mental retardation in such patients can be veiled by inadequate behavior in its extreme expression - apathy, irritability, euphoria, etc.

Classification of violations in the emotional-volitional sphere

Among the violations in the field of emotional-volitional expression of personality in adults, there are:

1. Hypobulia - lowering the will. Patients with such a disorder have absolutely no need to communicate with people around them, they are annoyed by the presence of strangers nearby, they are not able and do not want to maintain a conversation, they can spend hours in an empty dark room.

2. Hyperbulia is an increased attraction in all spheres of human life, more often this violation is expressed in increased appetite, the need for constant communication and attention.

3. Abulia - a sharp decrease in volitional drives. In schizophrenia, this disorder is included in a single symptom complex "apatic-abulic".

4. Compulsive attraction is an irresistible need for something or someone. This feeling is commensurate with animal instinct and makes a person commit acts that, in most cases, are criminally punishable.

5. Obsessive attraction is the occurrence of obsessive desires that the patient cannot control on his own. Unsatisfied desire leads to deep suffering of the patient, all his thoughts are filled only with ideas about his embodiment.

The main deviations in the emotional and volitional sphere in children are:

1. Emotional hyperexcitability.

2. Increased impressionability, fears.

3. Motor retardation or hyperactivity.

4. Apathy and indifference, indifferent attitude towards others, lack of compassion.

5. Aggressiveness.

6. Increased suggestibility, lack of independence.

Soft correction of emotional-volitional disorders

Hippotherapy around the world has received a lot of positive feedback both in the rehabilitation of adults and in the rehabilitation of children. Communication with a horse is a great pleasure for children and their parents. This method of rehabilitation helps to unite the family, strengthen the emotional connection between generations, and build trusting relationships.

Thanks to adults, children and adolescents, the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral cortex are normalized, motivation to achieve goals is increased, self-esteem and vitality increase.

With the help of horseback riding, every rider can learn to control his emotions smoothly and without breaking the psyche. In the process of classes, the severity of fears gradually decreases, confidence appears that communication with an animal is necessary for both participants in the process, and their own significance increases in closed individuals.

A trained and understanding horse helps children and adults to cope with their goals, acquire new skills and knowledge, and become more open to society. In addition, hippotherapy develops higher nervous activity: thinking, memory, concentration.

Constant tension of the muscles of the whole body and maximum concentration during riding lessons improves balance, coordination of movements, self-confidence even for those students who cannot make a single decision without the help of outsiders.

Various types of hippotherapy help reduce anxiety and depressive mood, forget about negative experiences and increase good spirits. When you achieve your goals in the classroom, they allow you to develop will and endurance and break down the internal barriers of your insolvency.

Some students enjoy interacting with animals so much that they are happy to start equestrian sports at a school for the disabled. In the process of training and at competitions, the volitional sphere develops perfectly. They become more assertive, purposeful, self-control and endurance improve.