Psychopathy: description of a psychopathological syndrome. What are the types of psychopathy and what are their differences? Sensitive psychopathy in an adult man

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of acceptance social norms, increased aggressiveness, impulsiveness, inability to form their attachments.

Psychopathy is manifested by the inadequacy of a person’s emotional experiences; he often has a tendency to obsessive and depressive states.

Diagnosis of psychopathy

Psychopathy, or personality disorder, draws attention to the discrepancy between a person’s behavior and the social norms existing in society.

Psychopathy is diagnosed if the patient has three or more points from the following criteria:

• Indifference, often callous to the feelings of other people.
• Irresponsibility, disregard for social norms, rules and responsibilities.
• Inability to build and maintain relationships with people.
• Lack of ability to withstand failures that arise, increased struggle to fulfill one's needs and desires, possibly with signs of aggression, even including violence.
• Lack of guilt, inability to analyze one’s life experience and benefit from it, especially from the punishments received.
• Constant conflict with society, which arises due to a pronounced tendency to blame others for everything, plausibly justifying one’s behavior.

When diagnosing, except general criteria, symptoms of psychopathy may appear the following points in human behavior:

Disrespect for laws, their violation, leading to arrests;

Frequent lies, hypocrisy, deception of others for personal gain;

Inability to plan, impulsiveness;

Severe irritability, aggressiveness, manifested in frequent fights;

Lack of a sense of security for yourself and those around you, excessive risk-taking;

Irresponsibility, inability to withstand the intense pace of work, to fulfill financial obligations;

Causing moral or physical harm to other people without feeling guilty afterwards, theft, etc.

Types of psychopathy

In practice, the following types of psychopathy are distinguished:

1.Asthenic type, when observed increased irritability and rapid exhaustion.

2. Excitable type, when there are outbursts of anger, inappropriate emotional reactions.

3.Hysterical type, when a person is characterized by impressionability, egocentrism and suggestibility.

4. Paranoid – showing suspicion, high self-esteem, a tendency to impose overly valuable ideas.

The types of psychopathy for each person are determined individually, based on their behavior.

Psychopathy: causes

Psychopathy occurs when the volitional and emotional character traits of a person develop incorrectly. There is an opinion that psychopathy is not a disease, but is caused by certain pathology character caused by:

Congenital inferiority nervous system;

Birth injuries, head trauma;

Hereditary factors, parental alcoholism;

Serious illnesses in early childhood;

Encephalitis.

Personal psychopathy can be caused by trauma, moral and living conditions and unfavorable conditions environment in general.

Personality psychopathy develops due to improper upbringing of children. This type of education is divided into four options:

1. Overprotection, when parents pay increased attention to their child, constantly impose their opinions on him, and do not allow him to show independence.

2. Hypocustody, when parents, on the contrary, show insufficient attention to their child and do not educate him.

3. “Idol of the family,” when the family praises the child, fulfills all his whims, constantly protects him, and does not teach him to work.

4. “Cinderella”, when a child does not receive affection from his parents, he is beaten, mocked, and pitted against other children.

Psychopathy does not always require treatment.

In its prevention, the main importance is given to measures of social influence: education in the family, at school, social adaptation, proper employment, which must correspond to the level of intelligence and mental makeup of the individual.

Diagnosed personality psychopathy requires treatment that uses psychotherapeutic methods: explanatory psychotherapy, hypnosis, autogenic training, family psychotherapy.

At drug treatment psychopathy is prescribed psychotropic drugs, but very individually and taking into account personal characteristics and psychopathological reactions.

Individuals with symptoms of psychopathy, emotional instability, are prescribed antidepressants, hysterical reactions - small doses of neuroleptics (triftazine, aminazine), states of anger, aggressiveness - neuroleptics (haloperidol, tizercin), with pronounced deviations in behavior, sonapax and neuleptil work well.

Psychopathy with severe asthenic reactions requires the prescription of stimulants (Sidnocarb) or natural drugs such as ginseng, zamanikha, Chinese lemongrass, Eleutherococcus, Leuzea, etc.

It should be understood that psychopathy is not a reason for self-medication! The selection of any drugs, doses and methods of their use should only be carried out by a psychiatrist!

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Psychopathy is a pronounced antisocial personality disorder that creates serious obstacles to adaptation in society. Usually such an anomaly of character is congenital, but it is finally fixed in adolescence, after which it no longer changes throughout life.

Once you experience a psychotic disorder, you will never confuse it with other mental illnesses.

Who are psychopaths?

Example psychopathic personality. Still from the film "A Clockwork Orange".

Many psychopaths are not ruthless criminals. On the contrary, they can often be successful businessmen, responsible managers, and excellent specialists in their field. Men with psychopathy are famous for their very high intelligence, they are excellent at making money, and have excellent manners, which often creates the illusion of normality. Psychopathic women are bright and artistic personalities who enjoy great success among men.

The problem with psychopaths is their absolute lack of higher moral feelings. A psychopath does not know what conscience, shame or compassion is. He cannot experience feelings of love, sympathy, affection. It's sad, but for psychopaths there are no such concepts as honesty and remorse.

Psychotic disorders

Psychopathy or psychotic disorder is a personality anomaly (congenital or emerging in early childhood), character pathology, higher-level defect nervous activity leading to mental disability. The name of the disease comes from two Greek words: soul and suffering. It is psychopaths that can be called “mentally ill” in the truest sense of the word.

There are no signs of organic brain damage in psychopathy, this indirectly confirms high development intelligence of a patient with this disorder. Anomalies of IRR usually manifest themselves in pronounced imbalance nervous processes(inhibition and excitation), in their special mobility, the predominance of any signaling system or insufficient regulation of the subcortex. The combination of these anomalies in different combinations determines the form of psychopathy.

The behavior of a psychopathic personality is very variable, it changes depending on the form of the disorder. Any psychopathy develops when a biologically congenital or acquired in early childhood deficiency of the nervous system reacts with unfavorable external conditions. A characteristic feature of a person diagnosed with psychopathy is dissonance between emotional and volitional spheres with intellectual integrity. The psychopathic characteristics of such a person greatly complicate his adaptation in society, and in case of acute psychotrauma lead to antisocial behavior.

Psychopathy is a reversible personality defect. If you create a psychopath favorable conditions for life, then their mental anomalies will be significantly smoothed out. But we must take into account that such people always walk on the edge of normal behavior. In all problematic situations, psychopaths always break down, which is a manifestation of behavioral maladjustment. A psychopath is characterized by an immature psyche, immaturity, suggestibility, a great tendency to exaggerate, and suspiciousness. In addition, psychopaths occupy almost the main place among people prone to violence and crime.

Even if psychopathy is inherent in a completely respectable citizen, his tendency to strange and unusual behavior, as well as sudden, causeless mood changes, will always be an integral sign of such a person. The presence of psychopathy always leaves an imprint on life.

Causes

In occurrence different types psychopathy involves a combination of various factors, but one of them is always of decisive importance.

Sometimes the leading factor in the occurrence of psychopathy is the innate features of the constitution, and sometimes it is the psychogenic interaction of society and the environment.

There are three groups of psychopathy according to their leading factors:

1. Nuclear or constitutional psychopathy. The main reason the disease is heredity or constitution (ie, biological factors), but situational factors are also significant (eg, family dysfunction);
2. Organic psychopathy. The cause of such psychopathies is mild organic deficiency (MCD) acquired in childhood. External situational factors play a more significant role the less pronounced the organic anomaly itself is. This type of psychopathy is also often called mosaic.
3. Edge psychopathy. Role biological factors is minimal, and the formation of the disorder depends on psychogenic and situational factors.

Symptoms

Psychopathy, regardless of its type, always has general symptoms. The disorder must meet the following criteria:

The diagnosis is made in the presence of three of the above characterological signs.

There are five major types of psychopathy: asthenic, schizoid, hysterical, paranoid and excitable psychopathy. Each type of psychopathy has its own symptoms:

Features of the disease

The peculiarity of psychopathy is that its signs appear much more often in men than in women. But psychopathic disorders in modern children are much more common conditions than people think (primary signs of the disorder can be noticeable as early as three years of age).

Psychopathic men

An example of a psychopathic personality. Still from the film "The Shining".

What are the most common manifestations of psychopathy in men? Regarding such men, it can be said that they are all pretenders and hypocrites. They simply portray their feelings and do not experience them in reality. Such men always have a strong desire to manipulate people around them. These are cold and immoral people, so there is emotional discord in the personal lives of psychopathic men. They constantly cause only anxiety and suffering to loved ones, as well as employees.

Women who are in personal relationships with them especially suffer from these men. Usually, love relationship with psychopaths lead to severe psychological trauma. Distinctive feature These men are constantly abuse of trust and humiliation of women, numerous senseless betrayals. Among male psychopaths there are a lot of bright personalities who have problems with the law. A close relationship with a psychopath puts a woman at risk of sexual and physical violence.

Psychopathic women

How does psychopathic disorder manifest itself in women? Features of manifestations of psychotic disorder in women have been studied less than in men. This is due to the fact that psychopathy is much less common in women. Researchers of female psychopathy argue that the behavior of typical psychopaths has its own characteristics. So, female psychopaths are still not as aggressive and cruel compared to male psychopaths. In addition, female psychopaths are much less likely than men to commit crimes while in a state of passion.

Psychopathy in women is usually accompanied by kleptomania, alcoholism, dependence on other psychoactive substances, a tendency to vagrancy and sexual promiscuity. Symptoms of antisocial behavior in women with psychopathy are detected as early as eleven years of age. However, if you do not pay attention to excessive sexual activity, then psychopaths are almost no different in their characteristics and behavior from men with psychopathy.

Children with psychotic disorders

The first signs of child psychopathy can appear as early as 2-3 years, but more often this occurs in adolescents. Psychotic disorder in small child may be expressed in his inability to sympathize and have compassion, in his lack of remorse for unacceptable behavior, but especially a clear sign is cruelty to other children, as well as animals.

Having matured, such children “do not fit” into the standards and norms of society. They like to constantly commit antisocial acts, take drugs or alcohol, and break the law (steal, hooliganism). Psychotic disorder in adolescents usually leads to registration in the children's police room, since their parents are extremely reluctant to go to doctors.

The main signs of a child with psychopathy traits:

• regular fights, theft or damage to other people's things;
• violation of parental prohibitions, for example, running away from home;
• there is no feeling of guilt for negative actions;
• indifference to the feelings of others;
• indifference about school performance;
• shows vivid emotions when he wants to greatly frighten or subjugate him to his will;
• refuses to take responsibility;
• lack of fear, conscious desire for risk;
• lack of response to the threat of punishment;
• values ​​personal pleasure most of all.

Psychopathy is often disguised as a “difficult character.” A person with psychopathy seeks to manipulate other people and does not take their interests into account at all. A psychopath does not care about other people's feelings; he has absolutely no remorse for his actions, even the most unpleasant ones. People with psychotic disorders They never draw conclusions from their behavior when problems arise and do not try to change it. Their behavior is very impulsive and deceitful, they ignore any danger, and are prone to cruelty to people and animals.

Classifications of psychopathy are very diverse. There have been attempts to reduce all types of psychopathy to two - excitable and inhibited; there were descriptions including more than a dozen types. The following types are included in ICD-10.

Schizoid personality disorder(schizoid psychopathy) according to ICD-10 is characterized by the following character traits:

• inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia);
• emotional coldness and inability to express warm or hostile feelings towards others;
• weak reaction to praise and blame; little interest in sexual intercourse with others;
• a tendency to fantasize to oneself (autistic fantasy) and introspection (immersion in the inner world);
• lack of close, trusting contacts with others;
• difficulty in understanding and assimilating generally accepted norms of behavior, which is manifested by eccentric actions.

The most striking character trait is isolation and unsociability (from childhood they preferred to play alone). They often live by their unusual interests and hobbies, in which they can achieve success (unique information in a narrow field, deep interest in philosophical and religious issues, unusual collections, etc.). Hobbies and fantasies fill the inner world, almost always closed to others. Fantasies are intended for oneself and can be ambitious or erotic (with outward asexuality). Emotional restraint looks like coldness, although inner feelings can be strong and deep. It is difficult to establish informal emotional contacts. Lack of intuition is manifested by the inability to understand other people's desires, fears, and experiences. They are prone to nonconformism - they do not like to act “like everyone else.” Situations where it is necessary to quickly and indiscriminately establish informal contacts, as well as the violent invasion of strangers into one’s inner world, are difficult to bear.

Dissociative identity disorder(psychopathy of an unstable type, antisocial personality disorder) according to ICD-10 is recognized by the following characteristics:

• disregard for the feelings of others and lack of empathy - the ability to penetrate into their experiences;
• irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules and responsibilities;
• inability to maintain stable relationships with others; low tolerance to frustration (inability to get what you want);
• ease of aggressive outbursts, including violence; lack of guilt and inability to learn from the past, especially from punishment;
• a tendency to blame others for everything and complain about failures;
• constant irritability.

The main feature is a constant thirst for light entertainment and pleasure, an idle lifestyle with evasion of all work, study, and fulfillment of any duties, both social and family. Since adolescence, they have been drawn to antisocial companies, alcohol, and drugs. Sex life serves only as a source of pleasure. They are unable to fall in love or become attached to loved ones and friends. They are indifferent to their future - they live in the present. They are weak-willed and cowardly, they try to run away from any difficulties and troubles. They do not tolerate loneliness well - they are unable to occupy themselves with anything. The situation of neglect, lack of guardianship and strict control is detrimental.

Emotionally unstable personality disorder(emotionally labile type of psychopathy, explosive, affective, impulsive, excitable, epileptoid psychopathy) according to ICD-10 represents a combined group with various disorders emotional sphere. In Russian psychiatry, it is customary to distinguish between two close, but not identical, types.

Explosive (affectively labile) psychopathy characterized by emotional outbursts at the slightest provocation, but anger is easily replaced by tears, swearing and throwing things - by moaning, aggression towards others - by self-harm, attempted suicide. The mood often changes, which leads to restlessness, lack of composure, and distractibility. They are completely uncontrollable, boil over at the slightest comments or opposition, and react extremely painfully to emotional rejection and any stress.

Epileptoid psychopathy differs in that, in addition to explosiveness (a tendency to uncontrollable affective reactions with aggression and auto-aggression), states of dysphoria periodically arise - a dark and angry mood, during which patients are looking for something to vent their accumulated evil on. Dysphoria lasts from several hours to several days. Violent affective reactions are usually preceded by a gradual boiling of initially suppressed irritation. In the heat of the moment, during fights, they become wild and are capable of inflicting heavy damage. Sometimes disturbances of impulses are revealed, most often sadistic-masochistic tendencies. They take pleasure in tormenting, sophisticatedly mocking or brutally beating the weak, defenseless, dependent on them, unable to fight back. Often, from childhood, they love to torture and kill animals. But they can receive sensual pleasure by causing pain to themselves with cuts and burns from burning cigarettes. Alcohol intoxication is more often of the dysphoric type. They like to get drunk to the point of insensibility. Suicidal attempts can be either demonstrative with the aim of blackmailing someone, or during dysphoria with the actual intention of committing suicide.

Histrionic personality disorder(hysterical psychopathy), according to ICD-10, can be diagnosed with:

• the presence of a tendency to self-dramatization, theatrical behavior, exaggerated expression of emotions;
• suggestibility, easy susceptibility to the influence of others;
• superficial and labile effectiveness; self-centeredness with the desire to forgive oneself everything and not take into account the interests of others;
• constant desire to be appreciated and slight vulnerability;
• thirst for situations where you can be the center of attention;
• manipulative behavior (any kind of manipulation) in order to achieve their goals.

Among the listed features the most striking character is constant desire to be the center of attention of the environment, demonstrativeness, pretentiousness. For this purpose, they even resort to performances depicting suicide attempts. Suggestibility, often highly emphasized, is in fact very selective: one can only suggest that which does not contradict egocentric aspirations. But the level of aspirations is high: they claim much more than their abilities and capabilities allow. Under the influence of severe mental trauma, hysterical psychosis can occur - twilight states, pseudodementia, etc.

Anancastic (obsessive-compulsive) personality disorder(psychasthenic psychopathy) according to ICD-10 is characterized by:

• indecision, constant doubts;
• excessive precautions regarding a possibly dangerous or unpleasant course of events;
• perfectionism (i.e. the desire to always achieve the highest results, to do everything in the best way, regardless of the unimportance of the matter);
• the need to re-check what has been done;
• extreme preoccupation with detail in trivial matters and loss of broad perspective;
• extreme conscientiousness, scrupulousness, concern, preventing one from experiencing pleasure;
• pedantry and adherence to conventions with limited ability to express warm feelings;
• rigidity and stubbornness, insistence that others obey the order they have established;
• the appearance of unwanted thoughts and impulses, which, however, do not reach the level of severe obsession;
• the need to plan all activities in advance in the most insignificant details.

Obsessive thoughts, movements, rituals, fears, self-invented “signs” and “prohibitions” are observed almost constantly, sometimes intensifying and sometimes weakening (for example, for important occasions, always wear the same clothes, walk only one route, do not touch anything). why black, etc.). Pedantry, the desire to foresee everything in advance and plan it in the smallest detail, and minute adherence to rules serve as compensation for constant fear for the future - one’s own and that of one’s loved ones. Other compensatory mechanisms may turn out to be exaggerated: indecision when already the decision taken turns into impatience, shyness turns into unexpected and unnecessary peremptoryness. This type of psychopathy usually manifests itself with school years, but it intensifies when they begin to live independently and need to be responsible for both themselves and others.

Anxious (“avoidant”) personality disorder(sensitive psychopathy) according to ICD-10 criteria can be recognized by:

• constant feeling of internal tension and anxiety;
• shyness and feelings of inferiority, self-doubt;
• constantly trying to please and be accepted by others;
• increased sensitivity to criticism from others;
• by tendency to refuse to enter into relationships with others until they are sure that they will not be criticized;
• a very limited circle of personal attachments;
• tendencies to exaggerate potential danger and the risk of everyday situations, avoiding some of them, which, however, does not reach persistent phobias (obsessive fears);
• according to a limited lifestyle that allows you to feel safe.

Great impressionability and a sense of inferiority are two main traits. They see many shortcomings in themselves and are afraid of being ridiculed and condemned. Their isolation is purely external - a consequence of being fenced off from strangers and unfamiliar situations. They are quite sociable with those they are used to and trust. The situation in which they become the subject of unkind attention from others, when a shadow falls on their reputation or they are subjected to unfair accusations, becomes intolerable. They are prone to depressive reactions, during which they can gradually and secretly prepare for suicide or are capable of unexpected desperate acts leading to serious consequences (including causing serious harm or killing their offenders).

Dependent personality disorder according to ICD-10 criteria corresponds to one of the types asthenic psychopathy. It is characterized by a tendency to shift responsibility for oneself onto others and to completely submit to the interests of the one on whom one depends, neglecting one’s own desires. They evaluate themselves as helpless, incompetent and unbearable. They have a fear of abandonment and a constant need for reassurance in this regard. They cannot stand loneliness and feel empty and helpless when ties with those on whom they depend are severed. Responsibility for misfortunes is transferred to others.

Mixed personality disorder types are diagnosed when it is difficult to identify a separate type because the traits different types presented relatively evenly. However, completely “pure” types of psychopathy are relatively rare - the type should be determined by the predominant features. Just as with character accentuations, mixed types can be intermediate (mainly hereditarily determined, for example, schizoid-epileptoid psychopathy), or amalgam (the endogenous core of one type is overlaid with the traits of another due to the long-term unfavorable influence of the environment, for example, on constitutional traits emotional lability when raised in childhood as a “family idol,” histrionic, i.e., hysterical, traits are superimposed).

Organic psychopathy is most often mixed, representing various combinations of emotionally labile, histrionic and dissociative traits (i.e. explosive, hysterical and unstable psychopathy). Diagnosis of organic psychopathy is based on following signs. There is a history of intrauterine, birth and early postnatal (first 2-3 years of life) traumatic brain injuries, brain infections and neurointoxication. Residual neurological “microsymptoms” are revealed: asymmetry of facial innervation, mild oculomotor disturbances, uneven tendon and skin reflexes, mild diencephalic disorders. X-ray of the skull shows abnormalities of ossification and signs of increased intracranial pressure, EEG usually shows pronounced diffuse changes. A pathopsychological examination reveals attention deficits and fatigue when repeating tasks.

Other classifications of psychopathy. Many classifications have been proposed. Some of them are descriptive - types are distinguished according to the most striking character traits, others are based on a certain principle. In Russian psychiatry, an example of the first is the taxonomy of P. B. Gannushkin (1933), and the second - his student O. V. Kerbikov (1968), as well as B. V. Shostakovich (1988) and A. E. Lichko (1977) .

P.B. Gannushkin described several groups of psychopathy.

The group of cycloids (constitutional-depressive, constitutionally-excited, cyclothymic, emotive-labile) are distinguished by the characteristics of the dominant mood - constantly depressed, elevated, periodically or frequently changing. The group of asthenics (neurasthenics, “overly impressionable”, psychasthenics) was united by a tendency to easy exhaustion and “ irritable weakness" In addition, groups of schizoids, paranoids, epileptoids, hysterical and unstable psychopaths, etc. were identified, most of which are included in ICD-10 under the same or different names. For classification, O.V. Kerbikov took the types of higher nervous activity of I.P. Pavlov and first of all divided psychopathy into excitable (explosive, epileptoids) and inhibited (asthenics, psychasthenics). But especially outside the chosen principle were “pathologically closed” (i.e. schizoid), hysterical, unstable, sexual and mosaic (i.e. mixed) psychopathy. B.V. Shostakovich used the psychological principle for taxonomy: the predominance of changes in the sphere of thinking (schizoids, psychasthenics, paranoid), in the sphere of affective disorders (epileptoids, excitables, cycloids, hysterical) or in the sphere volitional violations(unstable, sexy). A.E. Lichko combined the taxonomy of psychopathy and character accentuations, describing the same types, which are either variants of the norm (accentuation) or reaching a pathological level of deviation (psychopathy).

Psychopathy (Greek psyche - soul and pathos - suffering) – a borderline disorder of personality development, characterized by disharmony in the emotional and volitional spheres. This is an incorrect, painful development of character, an anomaly of character, from which both the person himself and society suffer (“deformity of character”). Psychopathy is not mental illness, but this is not a variant of the norm, not health.

Psychopathy is characterized by 3 main signs, established by the Russian psychiatrist P.B. Gannushkin:

1. The totality of pathological character traits that manifest themselves always and everywhere, under any conditions.

Stability of pathological character traits - they first appear in childhood or adolescence, less often in adults, and persist throughout a person’s life;

periodically they increase (decompensation) or weaken (compensation), but do not completely disappear.

Violation of social adaptation is precisely due to pathological character traits, and not due to unfavorable external influences.

Psychopathy is formed when a combination of congenital or acquired in early childhood (in the first 2-3 years) inferiority of the nervous system with adverse environmental influences (but based on the biological inferiority of the child’s nervous system).

There are many reasons for the occurrence of psychopathy, the main ones are the following:

hereditary factors - psychopathic parents most often give birth to children with a similar pathology (these are so-called constitutional, genetic psychopathy - the most unfavorable option, they cannot be corrected even with proper upbringing);

alcoholism and drug addiction in parents;

various factors that negatively affect the fetus in the intrauterine period of development (alcohol, nicotine, drug intoxication of the mother, taking medications, poisoning with anything, mental trauma and infectious diseases, especially viral ones, nutritional deficiencies, severe toxicosis of pregnancy, threat of miscarriage, placental abruption and etc.);

birth injuries, asphyxia during childbirth, prolonged difficult labor, application of forceps, etc.;

traumatic brain injuries, brain infections (meningitis, encephalitis), severe poisoning in the first 3 years of a child’s life;

disadvantages of upbringing (atmosphere of scandals, drunkenness, single-parent family, permissiveness, etc.)

Psychopathy should be distinguished from character accentuation.

Accentuation of character(Latin accentus - stress and Greek charakter - trait, feature) - these are mildly expressed deviations of character, sharpening certain traits personality. This is not a disease, but one of the normal variants.

The concept of accentuated personalities was developed by K. Leonhard.

With accentuation of character (as opposed to psychopathy):

social adaptation is not impaired (or the impairment of adaptation is minor and temporary);

features of accentuation do not appear everywhere and not always;

a person is aware of his shortcomings and tries to avoid situations that affect him, and with psychopathy there is an uncritical attitude towards himself and his own behavior.

Both psychopathy and character accentuations with similar manifestations are called the same.

Manifestations of psychopathy are diverse. Despite the rarity of pure types and the predominance of mixed forms, it is customary to distinguish the following classic types of psychopathy:

Explosive (excitable) psychopathy . From early childhood, the child is characterized by loudness, slight excitability, motor restlessness, light sleep with frequent awakenings, and twitching. Then the following main pathological features appear:

1. irritability and short temper, lack of restraint,

   bouts of uncontrollable rage,

   mood disorders (sadness, anger, fear),

   aggressiveness, vindictiveness, despoticism,

   tendency to quarrels and fights (aggressive reaction like a short circuit “stimulus-reaction”),

   the desire to assert oneself at the expense of the weak,

   self-centeredness, cruelty, etc.

Behavior at school is uncontrollable; such a child cannot be taught discipline. Does not show interest in classes, studies poorly, does not feel the distance between himself and the adult. The majority have been drinking alcohol since adolescence, and their pathological character traits become even more pronounced (this is the group with the highest risk of developing alcoholism). They can be energetic and active. Among them there are gamblers (as a rule, this takes on a painful nature). Conflicts with others run through their entire lives and cause disruption of social adaptation: they are intolerant at school, family, in the army, at work.

With excitable psychopathy in to a greater extent those around him suffer more than the psychopath himself (although in fights he also suffers).

Hysterical psychopathy . The first personality deviations appear in children at 2-3 years of age or in preschool age. Children are capricious, touchy, active, inclined to talk, imitate adults, imitate them; easily remember poems, jokes, anecdotes overheard from adults;

They are impressionable and emotional, often the idols of the family. They have high self-esteem.

Hysterical psychopathy is characterized by:

the desire to appear larger than it actually is;

desire to be the center of attention;

an unquenchable thirst for recognition;

selfishness (living at the expense of others), selfishness, indifference to others;

posturing, actions designed for external effect;

tendency to lie, fantasize;

the importance of assessing others;

ability to gain trust and rapport

Such children and adults usually have a good memory, uninhibited thinking, and quickly master a new profession, but they are not characterized by perseverance and hard work. They only like what comes easy. They prefer professions where they can be visible. They have big problems with honesty and integrity (they should never be trusted to manage money). Like all weak individuals, they are cowards, they will betray and sell everyone, because... They love themselves more than anything in the world. Prone to alcohol abuse. Unstable psychopathy

4. , in which there is blatant irresponsibility, lack of permanent attachments; people with such a character easily get married, easily leave, often change their place of work, place of residence (“rolling stones”), these are people who live for one minute. Asthenic psychopathy

.Its main features are:

timidity, shyness, timidity;

lack of self-confidence;

lethargy, decreased activity;

vulnerability, mimosis;

increased fatigue, by the end of the lesson their attention is scattered, unable to perceive new material.

5.An asthenic person at home must rest for a long time before doing homework. Usually such children do not have friends, they cannot call and ask for lessons, or they are embarrassed to do so. Parents should constantly help them with homework. They are very worried before any important event - an exam, a performance, etc. A slight complication in their life situation causes them to have neurotic reactions such as neurasthenia. They cannot carry out assignments or hold positions associated with great responsibility and the need to manage other people. Moreover, failures in such cases are very painful. . S.A. Sukhanov called psychasthenics anxious and suspicious individuals. Their main features:

indecision, suspiciousness;

tendency to doubt, difficulties in making decisions;

tendency to introspection, mental chewing gum;

a feeling of inferiority, but at the same time pronounced pride and increased appreciation;

touchiness;

communication difficulties

Since childhood, such people are fearful, impressionable and anxious, and are characterized by low physical activity. At school age, anxiety intensifies, they painfully endure reprimands, repeatedly check the correctness of solutions to problems, and take the longest to complete tests in class (they double-check!). at the same time, most of them are of the thinking type and have good intelligence. They have an inquisitive mind, a desire to meticulously get to the bottom of things, they are excellent performers, they ask a lot of questions (but only to their people), but the call to the board is painful. The “weakest” point is the need to make a quick decision or complete work in a short time .

Psychasthenic psychopathy is the option when the person himself suffers the most, and not society (they spend their whole life in a heroic struggle with themselves).

6.Paranoid psychopathy .Its distinctive features are

suspicion, suspiciousness;

a high degree of readiness to form highly valuable ideas (most often ideas of jealousy, litigiousness, and invention);

selfishness, self-confidence, lack of doubt;

belief in one's infallibility;

intransigence, activity in defending one’s idea

heightened self-esteem.

Schizoid psychopathy has the following features:

unsociability, isolation, isolation, secrecy;

phlegmatic, but also capable of outbursts of emotion;

emotional coldness, dryness;

lack of empathy;

greater proximity to nature and books than to peers (such people are always aloof, often lonely);

in friendship - constancy, importunity, jealousy;

one-sidedness and inflexibility of judgment (a person can be boring, corrosive)

Cycloid psychopathy, the main symptom of which is a constant change in mood (either high or low) with cycles from several hours to several months.

Pathological drives , which include kleptomania, pyromania, sexual psychopathy (in which sexual satisfaction is achieved only in a perverted way), including:

homosexuality (attraction to people of the same sex);

sadism (satisfying sexual feelings while causing pain to a partner);

masochism (satisfaction of sexual feelings when pain is caused by a partner);

pedophilia (sexual attraction to children);

sodomy, bestiality (sexual attraction to animals);

exhibitionism (satisfaction of sexual feelings by exposing the genitals in front of people of the opposite sex) and others.

Various psychopathic personalities quite often come into conflict with others. By creating conflict situations themselves, they make it even worse for themselves, because... during a conflict, an additional psychogenic effect occurs and a psychopathic reaction may develop with an exacerbation of abnormal character traits (the teacher must take this into account). A psychopathic reaction occurs suddenly, in response to insignificant (for a normal person) events (for example, someone accidentally touched someone while passing by), as a rule, it is inadequate, most often expressed in the form of protest, indignation, anger, malice, rage and even aggression.

3.Neuroses and neurotic conditions in children and adolescents

Neuroses are the most common group of neuropsychiatric diseases in children. The manifestations of their neuroses are very diverse.

The cause of neuroses is interpersonal conflicts (neurotic conflict). Neurosis is a form of mental adaptation (with the manifestation of signs of maladjustment). It is always conditioned constitutionally, associated with the characteristics of the psyche, and not with the nature of the traumatic situation. The form of neurosis in a person does not change throughout his life. The neurotic form of response is established in childhood as a manifestation of overcompensation of some quality when significant relationships with the microenvironment are disrupted and has a childish connotation. There are no organic changes in the brain during non-existence.

An important feature of neurosis is that a person is aware of his illness and strives to overcome it. The ability to adapt to the environment is retained.

There are three main forms of neurosis:

Neurasthenia (asthenic neurosis) - the most common form of neurosis. In the development of neurosis in children and adolescents, the main role belongs to stress or chronic psychological trauma , most often associated with conflicts in the family (quarrels between parents, alcoholism, their divorce, a conflict situation due to the lack of work of spouses, a sense of social injustice - the inaccessibility of much that other peers have) or protracted school conflicts. Has the meaning and the wrong approach to education (excessive demands, unnecessary restrictions), as well as child due to frequent illnesses, contributes to the development of non-carriage overloading the child with various activities , primarily intellectual (increased teaching load in specialized schools, additional classes in clubs, etc.). However, the factor itself of intellectual (as well as physical) overload in childhood and adolescence, although it can cause overwork and asthenia of the nervous system, in the absence of a traumatic situation, it usually does not lead to the development of asthenic neurosis.

Asthenic neurosis in its expanded form occurs only in children school age and adolescents (initial and atypical asthenic reactions are observed in children of early, preschool and primary school age).

The main manifestation of neurasthenia is the condition irritable weakness, characterized by On the one side, increased lack of restraint, a tendency to affective discharges of dissatisfaction, irritability and even anger, often aggression (excessive reaction to a minor issue), and with another- mental exhaustion, tearfulness, intolerance to any mental stress, rapid fatigue. Passive defense reactions are excessively expressed. At the same time, volitional activity is reduced, a feeling of futility arises against the background of over-responsibility, a depressed mood, dissatisfaction with oneself and everyone around is noted, depression is a strong melancholy, accompanied by a feeling of despair and anxiety, there may be attempts at suicide (suicide).

With neurasthenia, autonomic disturbances are always present: palpitations, a feeling of cardiac arrest or interruptions, pain in the heart area, a tendency to vascular fainting (with a rapid change in body position), decreased or increased blood pressure, shortness of breath, increased gag reflex, decreased appetite, shallow sleep, coldness hands, feet, sweating (hyperhidrosis), which contributes to the child’s colds, which in turn aggravate the course of asthenic neurosis.

Hysteria (Greek hystera - uterus) - in frequency it ranks second after neurasthenia. Occurs in infantile, hysterical individuals with poor mental adaptation (often with a pyknotic somatic constitution), often in a traumatic situation associated with a contradiction between what is desired and what is actually achievable (low academic performance, inattention from peers, etc.), with damaged pride, with dissatisfaction with their position in the team. Its forms are varied and are often disguised as various diseases(“big liar”, “big monkey” - this is how this type of neurosis is figuratively called). Its forms reflect two well-known animal (and children’s) types of reactions in the face of danger - “imaginary death” (freezing) and “motor storm” (frightening, avoidance, attack) – seizures (type of epilepsy). A hysterical attack usually occurs in the presence of spectators and is aimed at attracting their attention. Partial fixation can manifest itself as functional paralysis and paresis, disorders of pain sensitivity, coordination of movements, speech disorders (stuttering, soundlessness up to complete muteness), attacks of suffocation reminiscent of asthmatic ones, etc. “Flight into illness” plays the role of a kind of pathological defense of the individual from difficult situations. situations, justify the child’s poor performance or eliminate the need to go to school.

Obsessive-compulsive neurosis. It occurs more often in asthenics, people of a melancholic nature. It is believed that definite obsessive-compulsive neurosis cannot arise before the age of 10. This is due to the achievement of a certain degree of maturity of self-awareness of the child’s personality and the formation of an anxious and suspicious background of the psyche, on the basis of which obsessive phenomena arise. Children have more early age

It is advisable to talk not about neurosis, but about neurotic reactions in the form of obsessive states.

There are two types of neurosis:- obsessive anxiety neurosis (phobias). Their content depends on the age of the child. In younger children, obsessive fears of infection and contamination, sharp objects, and closed spaces predominate. In older children and adolescents, fears associated with the consciousness of their physical “I” dominate. For example, obsessive fears of illness and death, fear of blushing (ereitophobia), obsessive fear speech in people who stutter (logophobia). A special type of phobic neurosis in adolescents is no expectation,

which is characterized by anxious anticipation and fear of failure when performing any habitual action (for example, fear of giving oral answers in front of the class, despite being well prepared), as well as violation of it when trying to perform it.- neurosis of obsessive actions. However, there are often obsessive states

mixed character. In this case, the mood tends to decrease, and autonomic disorders occur. Children often have :

systemic neuroses disturbance of the rhythm, tempo and fluency of speech associated with muscle spasms involved in the speech act. It occurs more often in boys than in girls.

- Mutism ( lat.mutus - silence) is a disorder predominantly of school age (rare in adults), because

The child’s developing speech is the youngest function of the psyche, and therefore is more often broken under the influence of a wide variety of harmful factors.

Children with mutism need to be treated with care - not to punish, not to ridicule, not to insult, not to put them on the board until they speak.- neurotic tics – a variety of automated and unusual ;

- elementary movements (blinking, licking lips, twitching of the head, shoulders, various movements of the limbs, torso), as well as coughing, “grunting”, “grunting” sounds (so-called respiratory tics), which arise as a result of fixation of one or another protective action. Most often observed between the ages of 7 and 12 years. Tics can become obsessive in nature, in which case they are a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive neurosis anorexia nervosa

– refusal to eat;- neurotic sleep disorder –

disturbance of falling asleep, depth of sleep with night awakenings, night terrors, as well as sleepwalking (somnambulism) and sleep talking.- neurotic enuresis – ;

unconscious urinary incontinence, mainly during night sleep- neurotic encopresis –

involuntary release of feces, which occurs in the absence of disorders and diseases of the lower intestine. As a rule, the child does not feel the urge to defecate, at first does not notice the presence of bowel movements, and only after some time does he feel an unpleasant odor. Most often occurs at the age of 7–9 years, more often in boys. Treatment methods for neuroses are based on a combination pharmacological therapy

with various types of psychotherapy.

Buyanov M.I. Conversations about child psychiatry. – M.: Education, 1992

Buyanov M.I. Fundamentals of psychotherapy for children and adolescents. - M.: Education, 1998

Doroshkevich M.P.

Neuroses and neurotic conditions in children and adolescents: Textbook for students of pedagogical specialties of higher educational institutions / -Mn.: Belarus, 2004

Enikeeva D.D. Borderline states in children and adolescents: foundations of psychiatric knowledge. A manual for students. Higher Ped. Educational institutions.-M.: 1998 Fundamentals of psychological knowledge - Textbook. Author-compiler G.V. Shchekin - Kyiv, 1999 list the most

common signs mental states in children.

explain the need for knowledge about such conditions for the teacher.

characterize different kinds psychopathy

Having analyzed the causes of psychopathy, give recommendations for their prevention.

give the concept of neurosis.

talk about the types of neuroses and their prevention.

Questions submitted for independent study:

1. Factors for the risk of mental illness in the era of scientific and technological revolution: urbanization, physical inactivity, information revantation, etc..

Weiner E.N. Valeology: a textbook for universities. – M.: Flinta: Nauka, 2002. – pp. 68-74; 197-201.

Additional block of information.

The living conditions of modern man differ significantly from those in which he became a biosocial being. On early stages During the existence of Homo sapiens, he led a lifestyle close to natural. In particular, he was characterized by a high level of physical activity, which in itself corresponded to the neuropsychic stress necessary in the struggle for existence. People lived in small communities, living in an ecologically clean natural environment, which could be replaced (but not changed) by the entire community if it became unsuitable for life.

The development of civilization went in the direction of property stratification and professional specialization of people, necessary for mastering new tools, increasing the length of training and gradually lengthening the period of specialization of part of the population. From the perspective of the life of one generation, all these changes occurred rather slowly, against the backdrop of relatively slow changes in the environment, low population density and the preservation high level motor activity. All this did not represent any special requirements for the human psyche that went beyond the requirements established in evolution.

The situation began to change with the beginnings of the development of capitalism and progressive urbanization, and most radically in the second half of the 20th century, when human lifestyle began to change rapidly.

Urbanization(Latin urbanus – urban) – socio-demographic process, which consists in the growth of the urban population, the number and size of cities, which is associated with the concentration and intensification of technogenic functions, the spread of a changed urban lifestyle

Urban population growth is sharp increased the density of person-to-person contacts.. Increased speeds of human movement lead to an increasing number of interpersonal contacts, and to a significant extent - with strangers. From a mental point of view, these contacts often turn out to be unpleasant for a person (the danger of developing distress). On the contrary, family relationships have a beneficial effect, if, of course, the relationships between family members are good. However, unfortunately, favorable family relationships occupy only 20-30 minutes a day in the family, according to statistics. There is often a disruption of traditional family ties.

An undoubted influence on the psyche of modern man is exerted by some factors that have noticeably changed external environment. So, The noise level has increased significantly within the city limits, where it significantly exceeds the permissible norms (busy highway). Poor sound insulation, TV, radio, etc. turned on in your own apartment or in your neighbors. make the influence of noise almost constant. Unlike natural ones (wind noise, etc.), they have a negative effect on the entire body and on the psyche in particular: breathing rate and blood pressure change, sleep and the nature of dreams are disturbed, insomnia and other unfavorable symptoms develop. Such factors have a particularly strong impact on a growing child’s body, and the level of fear in children increases more clearly.

A special place in radioactive contamination plays a role in disruption of a person’s mental state(the nervous system is very sensitive to its effects), electromagnetic pollution in the form of radiation from a tangle of wires and electrical appliances (makes a person more aggressive). On the emotional sphere of a person Some forms of rock music also have an extremely unfavorable effect, which are characterized by a monotonous rhythm, emphatically emotionally intense coloring of the soloists’ voices, increased volume above normal levels and a special spectrum of sound.

It should be taken into account that the person himself is a source of weak electromagnetic and other physical fields. Perhaps a large crowd of people (and this is typical for a city) generates electromagnetic waves various characteristics, which at an unconscious level can have a negative effect on the brain.

Indirect influence on the state of the brain and mental health also has chemical pollution of the atmosphere(increase carbon monoxide in the inhaled air worsens gas exchange in the brain tissue and reduces its functional characteristics, etc.).

Destruction of the natural human environment(which itself is a part of nature), replacing it with an artificial environment made of stone and concrete, containing isolated spaces, etc., deforms the human psyche, especially the emotional component, disrupts perception, and reduces health potential.

The scientific and technological revolution led to a decrease in the share of physical labor, that is, to decreased level of physical activity(development of physical inactivity). This circumstance disrupted the natural biological mechanisms in which the latter was the final link in life activity, therefore the nature of life processes in the body changed and ultimately the stock of human adaptive capabilities and his functional reserves decreased.

According to Academician Berg, over the last century, energy expenditure on muscle activity in humans has decreased from 94% to 1%. And this indicates that the body’s reserves have decreased by 94 times. Physical inactivity is especially unfavorable in children during the period of maturation of the body, when energy deficiency limits not only physical development, but also psychological (including intellectual). There may be a need for doping, first psychological, then medicinal, and quite possibly narcotic.

Physical inactivity turns off the final link of the stress response – movement. This leads to tension in the central nervous system, which, given the already high information and social overload of modern man, naturally leads to the transition of stress into distress, reduces physical and mental performance, and disrupts normal brain function.

Modern life is associated with exceptionally large flow of varied information, which a person receives, processes and assimilates. According to some data, every 10-12 years the volume of newly acquired information in the world corresponds to that accumulated over the entire previous history of mankind. This means that modern children need to learn at least 4 times more information than their parents did at the same age, and 16 times more than their grandparents. But the modern human brain has remained almost the same as it was 100 and 10,000 years ago. This creates the preconditions for information overload. In addition, reducing the time for processing new information increases neuropsychic stress, which often causes negative reactions and conditions leading to disruptions of normal mental activity. At the same time, the brain tries to protect itself from excess and unfavorable information, which makes a person emotionally less sensitive, emotionally “dumb,” less responsive to the problems of loved ones, insensitive to cruelty, and then to kindness, aggressive. In some cases, this is already observed in young children.

The considered risk factors, characteristic of most cities, are associated with the so-called diseases of civilization - diseases widespread among economically developed countries: hypertension, ischemic disease heart disease, gastric ulcer, diabetes, metabolic diseases, bronchial asthma, neuroses, mental disorders, etc.

List the main health risk factors associated with the scientific and technological revolution.

Explain the negative impact of urbanization on human mental health.

Describe the connection between physical inactivity and human mental health

Describe the effect of excess information on the human psyche.

Give the concept of diseases of civilization.