Disturbances in the sphere of emotional reactions

Emotional disorder

is a state of mental suffering that can manifest itself in a wide variety of forms. This may be the result of a mental health problem or special circumstances such as relationship difficulties or financial strain. Emotional disorder is a term that can refer to a wide range of symptoms of various mental disorders. However, anyone can experience symptoms of an emotional disorder, even if they do not meet the criteria for a mental disorder.

Emotional Disorder - Symptoms

Emotional disorder covers a wide range of symptoms, but the hallmarks are symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Mental illness can present with symptoms of emotional distress that persist over a long period of time or occur in cycles. Symptoms of an emotional disorder are sometimes severe and can develop into a mental disorder. Some symptoms of emotional distress include:

• weakness and helplessness
• feeling guilty for no clear reason
• anxiety
• sleep disturbance
• change in appetite
• use of psychotropic substances such as alcohol
• isolation from other people
• anger or irritability
• fatigue
• unexplained pain

The characteristics of an emotional disorder depend on the presence of any underlying mental disorders. For example, in a patient with borderline personality disorder, emotional distress may cause both outbursts of anger and intense feelings of loneliness.

EMOTIONAL STRESS

Emotional stress

(French emotion excitement, excitement; English stress tension; synonym
emotional overstrain
) - a state of a person’s pronounced psycho-emotional experience of conflicting life situations that acutely or long-term limit the satisfaction of his social or biological needs.

Emotional stress underlies adaptive physiological reactions that allow the body to overcome conflict situations by mobilizing reserve capabilities. However, under certain conditions, emotional stress can cause neuroses, hormonal dysfunctions, as well as the development of pathologies of the cardiovascular, digestive and other systems (see Cortico-visceral pathology, Psychosomatics).

The concept of “emotional stress” was introduced by G. Selye and O. Levy when studying the so-called distress (see Stress). Unlike “classical” stress, which develops on the basis of changes in the pituitary-adrenal relationship (see Adaptation syndrome), emotional stress is based on primary changes in the emotional side of an individual’s mental activity.

Physiological experiments show that negative emotional arousals (negative emotions) are characterized by a long aftereffect and summation, perversion of chemicals. sensitivity of brain neurons, in particular to neurotransmitters (see Mediators) and neuropeptides (see Neurochemistry). Such properties of negative emotions in long-term or frequently recurring conflict situations determine the possibility of the transition of negative emotional arousal into the form of the so-called. stagnant stationary emotional arousal, which can persist in the central nervous system even after the corresponding conflict situation has been eliminated. Sustained emotional arousal acquires the ability to constantly activate brain structures and various somatic-vegetative processes, and if there is a corresponding weak link in the body, it can have a pathogenic effect on both brain functions and the implementation of individual somatic or autonomic functions.

Conflict situations that cause emotional stress in a person are mainly built on a social basis (social conflicts). In the conditions of scientific and technological progress, with the increasing pace of life, information overload, physical inactivity, a person is increasingly exposed to psycho-emotional overload. Therefore, it is necessary to develop social and medical measures in order to prevent violations of human physiological functions in these conditions. Experimental modeling and research into the nature of emotional stress in animals helps solve this problem.

In 1956, D.I. Miminoshvili was the first to demonstrate the importance of a conflict situation in the development of arterial hypertension and myocardial infarction in monkeys when their herd hierarchy is artificially disrupted.

Animal studies have revealed some general biological patterns in the development of emotional stress. In the same type of conflict situations (forced immobilization of an animal, restriction of satisfying biological needs, etc.), stable individuals were identified, on the one hand, and unstable individuals, predisposed to disturbances of various physiological functions, on the other. Under conditions of emotional stress, neuroses develop in individual animals (see Neuroses), cardiac dysfunction occurs, stable arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, nephrosclerosis, gastric ulcers, changes in the blood coagulation system are observed, and immune system disorders are observed. The nature of changes in blood pressure as a result of successive repeated stimulation of the negative emotiogenic centers of the ventromedial parts of the hypothalamus in immobilized animals reflects their resistance to emotional stress. Animals resistant to emotional stress, in response to repeated electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus, respond predominantly with pressor-depressor vascular reactions. In this case, animals that are unstable to emotional stress exhibit predominantly pressor reactions. A decrease or increase in the overall level of blood pressure under conditions of emotional stress is an unfavorable prognostic sign. The behavior of animals in unfamiliar environments may also reflect their resistance to emotional stress. In particular, in rats, which are most sensitive to the development of emotional stress, an increase in motor activity is observed in a new environment.

In the genesis of emotional stress, as physiological experiments show, the leading role belongs to primary changes in the activity of a number of brain structures. Thus, a hypertensive vascular reaction upon stimulation of negative emotiogenic centers of the ventromedial hypothalamus in immobilized animals can be enhanced by the destruction or functional shutdown of the basolateral region of the amygdala and weakened by the destruction of the septal region and reticular formation (see) of the midbrain. Experimental bilateral destruction of the reticular formation of the midbrain at the level of the anterior colliculus prevents the development of arterial hypertension and an increase in cortisol levels in the blood in animals under chronic emotional stress.

Increasing resistance to stressful stimuli can be achieved not only by physical and pharmacological means, but also by so-called behavioral measures. The term “behavioral medicine” has become widespread in the scientific literature. Proponents of “behavioral medicine” are trying to apply, especially to psychosomatic diseases, non-drug treatment methods associated with special procedures: autogenic training, breathing exercises, hypnosis, relaxation, etc. The theoretical foundations of “behavioral medicine” were laid by I. P. Pavlov, which, based on the method of conditioned reflexes (see), not only showed the possibility of obtaining experimental neuroses in animals (see Experimental neuroses), but also demonstrated ways of their “behavioral” elimination.

Special physiological experiments confirm the importance of positive emotions as a powerful anti-stress factor. When negative emotional states caused in animals by stimulation of negative emotiogenic centers of the brain are combined with irritation of positive emotiogenic centers, no disturbances in physiological functions are observed. The use of a number of physiotherapeutic influences, in particular UHF fields, as well as some endogenous factors (oligopeptides), helps to increase the resistance of animals to the development of emotional stress. For example, after the administration of substance P (see Neurochemistry), normalization of the content of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain structures was found in animals prone to emotional stress. An increase in the resistance of rats to acute emotional stress was also found after administration of a peptide that induces delta sleep (see Sleep).

Prevention and treatment of the pathological consequences of emotional stress should be carried out taking into account the so-called “golden rule of the norm” - periods of the highest emotional stress in a person, even in the most acute conflict situations, are not dangerous to health if they end with periods of active rest, relaxation, accompanied by positive emotional sensations. This rule corresponds to the pattern of their behavior developed by the evolution of living organisms: any dominant need must be satisfied. Satisfaction of the need, in turn, is accompanied by positive emotions that authorize the success of the search activity.

Bibliography:

Anokhin P.K., Emotional stress as a prerequisite for the development of neurogenic diseases of the cardiovascular system, Vestn. Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, No. 6, p. 10, 1965; Waldman A.V., Kozlovskaya M.M., and Medvedev O.S. Pharmacological regulation of emotional stress, M., 1979, bibliogr.; Vedyaev F. P. and Vorobyova T. M. Models and mechanisms of emotional stress, Kyiv, 1983, bibliogr.; Gromova E. A. Emotional memory and its mechanisms, M., 1980, bibliogr.; Smyk L.A., Psychology of stress, M., 1983, bibliogr.; Kositsky G.I., Civilization and the Heart, M., 1977; Makarenko Yu. A. Systemic organization of emotional behavior, M., 1980, bibliogr.; Fundamentals of space biology and medicine, ed. O. G. Gazenko and M. Calvin, vol. 2, book. 2, p. 153, M., 1975; Sokolov E. I., Podachin V. P. and Belova E. V. Emotional stress and reactions of the cardiovascular system, M., 1980, bibliogr.; Sudakov K.V. Systemic mechanisms of emotional stress, M., 1981, bibliogr.; aka, Experience in applying the theory of functional systems to assess human health in real production conditions, Vestn. Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Ka 1, p. 10, 1984; Fedorov B. M. Emotions and cardiac activity, M., 1977, bibliogr.; Khomulo P. S. Emotional stress and atherosclerosis, L., 1982; Chazov E.I. Emotional stress and cardiovascular diseases, Vestn. Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, No. 8, p. 3, 1975; Emotional stress, ed. K. Levy, trans. from English, L., 1970; Biological mediators of behavior and disease neoplasia, ed. by S. M. Levy, NY ao, 1982; Corson SA a. Corson E O., Interaction of genetic and psychosocial factors in stress-reaction patterns, a systems approach to the investigation of stress-coping mechanisms, Psychother. Psychosom., v. 31, p. 161, 1979; Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety, v. 2, Geneva, 1983; Henry J., P. a. Stephens PM Stress, health and the social environment, NY ao, 1977; Stress and distress in response to psychosocial stimuli, ed. by L. Levi, Stockholm, 1972.

K.V. Sudakov.

Emotional Disorder - Causes

The causes of emotional distress usually involve a combination of factors. For some people, the disorder is caused by a traumatic experience or event, such as a death in the family. It may also be the result of underlying mental illnesses. In other cases, certain situations cause emotional distress.

Emotional distress at work

The workplace can be a stressful environment, and while some stress can be motivating, it can often be overwhelming. Some causes of work-related emotional distress may include:

• concerns about job security
• performance concerns
• work takes a lot of time
• low pay
• poor working conditions
• increased responsibility
• lack of control over working relationships with colleagues

Sometimes circumstances come together and combine in unexpected ways to cause upset. Long working hours can be a particularly common cause of emotional distress. For example, a 2011 study found that people who work more than 55 hours a week are more likely to have depression and anxiety in the future than those who work 35 to 40 hours a week.

Emotional distress at home

Among the many possible causes of emotional distress at home are personal or environmental factors, such as:

• Problems with your partner, other family members, or friends
• major life changes, such as moving or having a baby
• low income
• discrimination
• feeling of loneliness and isolation
• presence of debt
• unhealthy lifestyle choices, which may include smoking and low levels of physical activity

Pathological emotional states

Patol affects and delusions. Affect consists of strong, stable ideas that arise in people. With patholo af-x, this manifests itself in the emergence of delusional ideas. Delusional ideas are associated, as a rule, with the most intimate side of the patient’s personality, therefore evoking in him a lively emotional attitude towards them. Delusions of grandeur in progressive paralytics and delusions of self-obsession in melancholics owe their origin to the core of their emotional sphere. It is the connection with emotions that explains the persistence of delusional ideas, their resistance to any logical arguments. Geffding believes that since the reason for this is the conditioning of the idea by emotion, only another emotion, and not experience and reason, can resolve or refute this idea. The patient begins to realize the absurdity of his delusions only during the period of recovery, when the emotion caused by the painful state of the brain has already disappeared and delusional ideas are only memories, devoid of experiences and a sensory tone.

Fears (phobias). Psychopathic individuals have unimaginable fears that defy any logical arguments and take over the consciousness to such an extent that it makes the life of these people painful. Such fears also occur in those suffering from psychasthenia, fear neurosis and expectation neurosis.

Persons with fear neurosis are divided into “thymics”—those suffering from non-definitive fears—and “phobics”—those suffering from specific fears. There are also various phobias:

- Agarophobia - fear of squares;

- Aichmophobia - fear of sharp objects;

- social phobia - fear of personal contacts;

- eretophobia - fear of blushing, etc.

Undifferentiated (objectless) fear is understood as protopathic fear with the experience of a diffuse, non-specific threat. Night fear occurs mainly in children of preschool age (from five years old) and primary school age. Night fear is also present in adults. At night they become more suspicious.

Hyperthymia. With hyperthymic psychopathy, pseudopsychopathy, and endogenous diseases, elevated mood may be observed, having various shades.

In combination with motor and speech excitation, acceleration of thinking and associative processes, increased desire for activity, subjective feeling of strength, health, vigor, hyperthymia forms a manic syndrome.

Complacency occurs in mental retardation and organic lesions of the central nervous system. Patients live in a momentary cloudless present, experiencing a feeling of contentment, with indifference to the external situation, the mood and attitude of others, their condition and their fate, with carelessness, good-naturedness, weak or completely absent reactions to unpleasant events. They are content with idleness, indifferent to comments and reproaches.

Exaltation - an elevated mood with excessive enthusiasm, overestimation of the sacredness of one’s personality, appearance, capabilities, is the basis of many outpatient manias in adolescents. Har-na also for psychopathic personalities and accentuated personal hyperthymic and hysterical types.

Euphoria is an increased carefree and cheerful mood, combined with complacency and contentment in the absence of desire for love. For euphoria, oppression is characteristic of thinking with extremely poor speech production

Moriah is a combination of manic excitement, complacent gaiety, carelessness, foolishness and dementia. Manifested in organic diseases of the central nervous system.

Hypotymia is a decreased mood of various shades. It occurs with dysthymic personal accentuations, psychopathy such as “innate pessimism”, post-process pseudopsychopathy, after a suicide attempt, and drug addiction. Hypotymia is the core of the depressive syndrome and manifests itself in combination with slowness of thinking, inhibition of movement, pessimism in ideas and somatic disorders.

Negative experiences worsen - sadness, guilt, anxiety, fears, melancholy. The consequence of deep depression can be diseases of the internal organs, cardiovascular and nerve systems.

One of the manifestations of hypothymia is dysphoria. This is a pathological affect, characterized by gloominess, gloominess, and irritation of the patient.

Showing dissatisfaction with everything, unkindness, a tendency toward anger and aggression, rudeness, and cynicism. St. for patients with various forms of org damage to the central nervous system, with depressive states of various etiologies.

Melancholy is a depressive emotion that manifests itself in the experience of deep sadness, hopelessness, and mental pain. In its classic form, melancholy is accompanied by painful physical sensations: a feeling of tightness and heaviness in the chest or pain behind the sternum.

Asthenic state. Asthenia occurs with various diseases, as well as with excessive mental and physical stress, prolonged conflicts and negative experiences. It is characterized not only by weakness and increased fatigue, but also by significant changes in the emotional sphere. Emotional instability appears, frequent mood swings, irritability, tearfulness. People experience their own low value, shame, timidity.

25.

Consciousness is the highest form of reflection of reality, the use of a stock of knowledge to create ways to remake the environment to meet human needs, a product of the activity of the brain.

Human consciousness is formed as a result of historical development; it not only reflects the current events of the objective world, but also uses the stock of knowledge to create ways to remake the environment to meet human needs. For the formation of human consciousness, a human environment, the presence of a human society, is necessary. It is known that children raised in the den of the beast do not show signs of a formed human consciousness.

The physiological basis of clarity of consciousness according to I.P. Pavlov is the optimal activity at a given moment of a certain part of the cerebral cortex, which, if we assume that the bones of the skull are transparent, moves in the form of a bright spot across the surface of the brain. This idea about the mobility of the focus of the most optimal activity of consciousness is confirmed by electroencephalographic studies.

Conscious activity is an activity that is carried out with knowledge of the objective significance of its tasks, taking into account all the features of situations and the consequences of the activity for both the individual and for society.

An automated act is a person’s ability to carry out, without realizing it, a strengthened action. This ability is developed in the process of human historical development and is expedient.

The act of automation is based on traces of nervous processes that arose during the training process.

Unconscious activity is understood, on the one hand, as its forms when a person is not sufficiently aware of the purpose, objectives and consequences of his activity. On the other hand, these are actions that at a certain stage of their formation were conscious, and then became automated, involuntary.

K. Jaspers (1923) formulated the signs of syndromes of impaired consciousness:

detachment from the outside world;

disorientation;

amnesia for the period of impaired consciousness.

Detachment from the outside world should be understood as the loss of the ability to perceive current events, analyze, use past experience and draw appropriate conclusions, i.e., a violation of the analysis and synthesis of current events. In all mental disorders, there is an altered perception of the environment, especially in cases of hallucinatory and delusional disorders.

Disorientation is a violation of orientation in the environment, in time and in relation to one’s own personality.

Amnesia is a memory impairment, loss of the ability to retain and reproduce existing knowledge.

There are two main forms of amnesia: retrograde (manifested as memory impairment for events preceding the disease) and anterograde (memory impairment for events that occurred after the onset of the disease).

Amnesia can be total and can only concern certain situations, for example, the patient cannot remember real events, but remembers some painful experiences, as is observed in delirium.

In order to talk about a state of impaired consciousness, it is necessary to identify in the patient all three signs noted by K. Jaspers. For example, a patient who is in a catatonic stupor seems to be detached from the world around him, does not react to current events, does not make contact, and does not answer questions. However, after recovering from a painful state, such a patient can talk about the events that happened around him, revealing the ability not only to perceive, remember, but also to analyze what is happening. This indicates that consciousness was not impaired, despite the detachment from the environment.

Personality pathology

Personality is a system, a relation to the environment, primarily to the social and to oneself.

Personality is the most complex mental construct in which many social and biological factors are closely intertwined. A change in even one of these factors significantly affects its relationship with other factors and the personality as a whole. This is due to the diversity of approaches to the study of personality - different aspects of the study of personality come from different concepts, they differ methodologically according to the object of which science the study of personality turns out to be.

In recent years, interest in research into the personality characteristics of mentally ill patients has increased significantly, both in psychiatry and in clinical psychiatry. This is explained by a number of circumstances: firstly, personality changes have, to a certain extent, nosological specificity and can be used to resolve issues of differential diagnosis;

secondly, an analysis of premorbid personality traits may be useful in establishing the possible causes of a number of diseases (not only mental, but also somatic, for example, peptic ulcers, diseases of the cardiovascular system); thirdly, the characteristics of personality changes during the course of the disease enriches our understanding of its pathogenetic mechanisms; fourthly, taking into account personality characteristics is very important for the rational construction of a complex of rehabilitation measures.

Personality disorders in international and American classifications mean pronounced and persistent disturbances of character and behavior that interfere with social adaptation.

The basis of personality is character. To a large extent, it is determined by hereditary inclinations, but is finally formed under the influence of upbringing, and can be distorted under the adverse influence of various factors - from chronic mental trauma to organic brain damage.

The premorbid personality type refers to its main traits, the type of character before the mental disorder arose. This type is usually described from the words of both the patient himself and his relatives when presenting the life history. Assessment of premorbid type is important for diagnosis (the risk of certain mental disorders is different for different types), prognosis and choice of methods of psychotherapy and rehabilitation.

One of the most famous and developed taxonomies of personality types is the classification of “accented personalities” by the German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard. These types are based on character accentuations. Accented personalities (as opposed to psychopathy and personality disorders) are extreme variants of the norm.

The following main types of accentuated personalities and character accentuations are described (according to K. Leonhard and A. E. Lichko).

Hyperthymic type. Persons with this personality type are almost always distinguished by high spirits, high vitality, activity, bursting energy, and independence. Short outbursts of irritation and anger in patients cause opposition from others, suppression of their vigorous activity, and a desire to interfere in everything. They do not tolerate strict discipline and a regimented regime; are indiscriminate in their choice of acquaintances.

Cycloid, or affectively labile, type. Characterized by alternating periods of recovery, when patients behave like hyperthymic, periods of decline in mood and tone. The most minor troubles during periods of recession are experienced very hard. There may be long periods of even mood between highs and lows. The duration of the periods ranges from several days to several months.

Emotionally labile (emotive, affective-exalted) type. The main feature of people with this personality type is extreme variability of mood, swings of which occur even from an insignificant reason. Well-being, performance, sociability and attitude towards everything depend on your mood.

Sensitive (anxious, fearful) type. The main traits of people with this personality type are great impressionability and a sense of inferiority. Among strangers and in unfamiliar surroundings, patients are timid and shy. They are sociable with those they are used to. Patients have a hard time experiencing the unkind attitude of others towards them.

Psychasthenic (pedantic) type. Persons with this personality type combine indecision, a tendency to reasoning with anxious suspiciousness in the form of fears for their future and their loved ones. Pedantry and formalism become a defensive reaction against constant internal anxiety. Patients are prone to introspection and soul-searching. Responsibility is a heavy burden for them, especially when they have to answer not only for themselves, but also for others.

Schizoid (introverted) type. This personality type is known as the pattern of introversion. Although formal contacts are usually not difficult for people with this type, emotional contacts are usually an impossible task for them. Closedness is combined with external restraint and even coldness. They usually live in an inner world that is filled with hobbies and fantasies. Patients fantasize to themselves and do not share their fantasies with others. They are also distinguished by their independence and tendency to nonconformism.

Epileptoid (explosive, excitable) type. Persons with this personality type are usually distinguished by a tendency to short periods of angry and melancholy mood with simmering irritation and a search for an object on which to “take it out.” During these periods, affective explosiveness is especially evident. Instincts are very strong, especially sexual attraction. The tendency to sexual excesses is combined with strong jealousy, and sometimes with sadistic and masochistic tendencies. In relation to others, authority is manifested. All behavior - from motor skills and emotionality to thinking and personal values ​​- is characterized by ponderousness, stiffness, and inertia.

Hysterical (demonstrative, histrionic) type. Individuals with this personality type attract attention with an insatiable desire to be the center of attention. This is served by deceit and fantasy, a tendency to show off and pose, feigned and exaggerated expression of emotions, and excessive dramatization of events.

Unstable type. Personalities of this type are characterized by a constant hedonistic attitude - a continuous increased craving for pleasure, entertainment, idleness, and idleness. They strive to avoid any work, from fulfilling duties and obligations. They live for today and do not set any long-term goals for themselves. Any hard work repels them. They never feel real affection for anyone - neither to family nor to friends.

Conformal type. This type is represented by people from “their environment.” Their life rule is to think, act, live “like everyone else,” that is, like their usual environment, so they completely turn out to be a product of their microenvironment. In a good environment, these are good people and workers; in an unfavorable environment, they can easily become drunkards and take the path of crime. Mixed types are very common.

The pathological development of personality is manifested by its increasing changes in a certain type due to mental traumatization, which is addressed to the “place of least resistance” of this type of character accentuation. In extreme cases, personality changes during such developments can reach the level of psychosis, when the ability to account for and manage one’s actions is lost.

Personality defects arise as a consequence of severe mental illness or organic brain damage. The changes that occur are persistent. There are several types of personality defects: schizophrenic, epileptic, organic, etc.

Psychopathy is an anomaly of character that determines the mental appearance, leaving a powerful imprint on the entire mental make-up; during life, they do not undergo any drastic changes and interfere with adaptation to the environment. These signs were used by O.V. Kerbikov as the basis for the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy: 1) the totality of pathological character traits; they appear everywhere - at home and at work, at work and at leisure, in everyday conditions and under emotional stress; 2) stability of pathological character traits; they persist throughout life, although they are first detected at different ages, most often in adolescence, sometimes from childhood, less often during adulthood; 3) social maladjustment is a consequence of pathological character traits, and is not caused by an unfavorable environment.

Age-related crises - puberty and menopause - are caused mainly by biological factors. The period of puberty more strongly reveals and sharpens pathological character traits in boys; the menopause in this regard has a stronger effect on women.

Compensation is a temporary mitigation of psychopathic characteristics by changing the “microenvironment” (family, work) to one where these characteristics do not interfere with the best adaptation (for example, a solitary lifestyle with the ability to devote oneself entirely to a favorite hobby or interests in schizoid personality disorder). Less often, compensation is carried out through the active development of psychological defense mechanisms, lifestyle, behavior patterns, sometimes contrasting with psychopathic traits and obscuring these traits. However, in difficult situations these mechanisms turn out to be insufficient and true psychopathic characteristics reappear.

Decompensation is a sharpening of psychopathic traits, usually accompanied by behavioral disorders and social maladjustment. It occurs more often under the influence of unfavorable environmental factors, but is usually quite tolerated by healthy individuals. Sometimes decompensations occur for no apparent reason - due to endogenous mechanisms, for example, after dysphoria in epileptoid psychopathy. It happens that psychopaths themselves create a psychotraumatic environment around themselves, which then leads to decompensation.

Treatment

Emotional distress can become overwhelming and affect daily functioning. Treatment usually involves identifying triggers and practicing stress reduction techniques. Triggers for emotional distress are not always obvious, and talking to family, friends and a therapist can help identify them and come up with alternative ways of coping.

For example, cognitive behavioral therapy is a standard method for identifying and addressing the sources of emotional distress. There are many types of therapy, and the best type for each depends on the situation. There are stress management strategies, including relaxation techniques such as breathing and guided imagery.

Some people use mindfulness meditation as a long-term stress management strategy. Certain lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking and increasing physical activity, may also help. Evidence suggests that regular exercise can relieve anxiety and depression. Even light physical activity can be beneficial. A 2021 study found that teens who engage in light activity have a lower risk of developing depressive symptoms at age 18.

Disorders of emotions and affect

Emotions are mental states that reflect the body’s reaction to changes in the surrounding world or another person. The pathology of emotions is expressed in a decrease in mood - depression, an increase - mania, as well as dysphoria, ecstasy, moria, anxiety, incontinence of affect, emotional lability.

History, norm and evolution

Behavior and perception are accompanied by subjective experiences that we call feelings, mood changes, or emotions. Emotional responses are found when discussing a feeling issue. In all cultures, feelings are identified in similar ways, for example, anger, hatred, love, envy, jealousy, fear, feeling bad. This is worthy of attention, since we recognize emotions clearly. At the same time, we do not learn emotions per se, but we learn love and hatred for a specific object. The fact that we can tell others about our feelings and be understood by them shows that emotions have a biological basis.

Emotions are associated with the organization and structure of the neural network of the viscero-limbic system. Therefore, data on functional operation at this level can be obtained based on responses to tests; these data make it possible to clarify the connection between emotions and specific behavior (R. Plutchik, CE Izard).

Subjective experiences are caused by biochemical processes in the brain. Social influence activates cerebral chemistry, and this manifests itself in emotions. When a smile is perceived, cerebral chemistry is generally activated, causing a friendly mood, and a smile is produced in response. The same is true for crying that evokes lamentation or sympathy. Social cues, such as facial expressions and vocalizations, involve chemical processes that cause us to express the same emotions and display the same expressions as our social partner. MR Liebowitz has published some interesting thoughts on the brain chemistry of love.

Emotions are subjective experiences, but the presence of self-control of emotions shows that they are accompanied by specific expressive movements (muscle actions). We can record physiological responses that are typical of individual emotions. One can also collect the results of other people's evaluations of subjective expressions within different cultures and notice that they are similar. In deaf-blind children, emotions are expressed in the same way as in ordinary children, therefore, their expression is innate (I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt). In literary language, emotions are used metaphorically, their classification into anger, sadness, fear, joy, surprise, disgust is preserved throughout the world.

Physiological expressions of emotion are accompanied by changes in skin temperature, galvanic skin resistance, blood pressure and pulse rate. The heart rate increases with fear, although skin temperature decreases. With joy, both the pulse rate and skin temperature moderately increase, a more pronounced increase is noticeable with anger, and a decrease in these indicators is characteristic of disgust, while the type of response depends entirely on the antagonistic functions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

Expressive movements are indicators of emotional state. Since Ch. Darwin identifies a certain number of such states. SS Tomkins, R. McCarter identified 7 basic emotional categories, which included joy, fear, rage, surprise, pain, interest and shame. Other researchers add disgust and contempt to these categories. However, the taxonomy of emotions was inconclusive until the neuropsychological basis of these phenomena was understood. Promising steps in this direction have been made by J. Panksepp. He tried to systematize emotions by linking them to large mammalian brain structures that control specific behavior. He identified the emotions: (1) interest - desire (expectation), (2) irritability - anger (rage), (3) trepidation - anxiety (fear), (4) loneliness - sadness (separation distress, panic), (5) pleasures - passions. Darwin, comparing the external expressions of emotions in humans and animals, discovered their similarities. This research became one of the facts of his evolutionary theory of human origin. One of the fundamental emotions is fear; all primates, including humans, are afraid of snakes and reptiles, insects. Among a person's fears, the following ranks respectively: fear of strangers, which first appears in a child at the age of about 1.5 years; fear of contracting an incurable disease (infection); fear of unpredictable situations; fear of death; loss of social face; child and love; habitual stereotypies; and, finally, the fear of losing the meaning of life, which occupies the highest place in the hierarchy. Emotions develop into feelings. Love occupies an important place in the system of feelings. However, this feeling consists of many emotions and has its own typology. Thus, they distinguish romantic love, love-hate, sublimated love, maternal love and the love of a child for his mother. In the Platonic sense, in addition to sexual love, one can distinguish love for the homeland and even an idea. According to Masters-Johnson, in the structure of romantic love there are sequences from readiness to love to falling in love - a love union, which further includes the dynamics of love, with experiences of the return of reality, boredom, irritability, disappointment and resentment, accompanied by analysis leading to conflict or truce and probable cooling, breaking up and searching for a new love object. However, the dynamics of feeling are completely different if a love union does not arise in stages, but love itself directly arises from falling in love. The escalation of hatred also contains stages, from dehumanization of the enemy to confrontation and truce.

The sum of emotions over a period of time is called mood. And strong expressions of emotion with a distinct nonverbal component are called affect. Emotional expressions and feelings are expressed differently among different national groups, although the fundamental emotions are the same for all. Thus, a Japanese smile may not be associated with joy, but is a manifestation of politeness and respect.

Diagnosis of emotional disorders

There is no clinical diagnosis for emotional disorder. Anyone can develop an emotional disorder and possibly be part of a mental disorder. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish emotional distress from depression or anxiety. To help determine the cause of your symptoms, your doctor may ask about recent and major life events that may be sources of distress.

The doctor may also ask about additional symptoms that may indicate a mental disorder, such as suicidal thoughts or feelings of hopelessness.

When to see a doctor

Many people report emotional stress, which can go away on its own or after the stressful situation ends. In other cases, symptoms resolve slowly as people adapt or find stress management techniques that help them. If your emotional distress is uncontrollable or your symptoms do not improve, it is recommended that you consult a psychiatrist or mental health professional. This is especially important if you have other signs of mental illness, such as depression or anxiety.

Prevention

It is not always possible to prevent emotional distress. Unpredictable life events and other stressors have the potential to become overwhelming for anyone. However, the following strategies can limit the impact of this disaster:

• Be aware of potential triggers at home or work and take action as soon as possible
• accept support from colleagues, friends or family members
• maintaining physical activity and a healthy diet
• avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption
• practice stress reduction techniques such as mindfulness meditation