Formation of "I" and psychoemotional states of a teenager. "Mental states of adolescents" material on psychology on the topic Psychological state of adolescents

29.06.2020

Adolescence is a very important period in the life of every person. This is the time when the child is on the verge of growing up. He begins to comprehend himself as a person, a value system is formed in him, he thinks about questions that a couple of years ago would not have crossed his mind. Such "reformatting", naturally, is accompanied by a number of mental manifestations. Which ones? We will talk about this today.

It's no secret that the mood of adolescents changes a hundred times a day: from openness and trust, he can go on to aggression and anger, bouts of frankness are replaced by hours of isolation and detachment. Naturally, this behavior causes concern among parents.

It should be remembered that the reason for everything is hormonal changes in the body, which is not only characterized by active growth and development of the body, but also in a certain way affects the state of the psyche.

Most researchers agree that the mental states of adolescents are also directly related to the communicative sphere: his self-feeling and, consequently, his actions depend on who and how a teenager communicates.

Psychologists name a number of traits inherent in the emotional sphere of children aged 12 to 16 years. First, it is heightened emotional excitability: almost all adolescents are different irascibility, passion, maximalism... They are harsh and intolerant, ready to ardently defend their views, but at the same time they are easily carried away by new ideas and tasks. At the same time, their emotional experiences, in comparison with, say, young children, are characterized by great stability.

Secondly, many adolescents have increased levels of anxiety: they are afraid to seem funny, to be unacceptable in the circle of peers, etc. A significant part of the experiences that arise are associated with their own. Third, adolescents, like no one else, strive to belong to a certain social group, and therefore it is extremely painful to experience the disapproval of their comrades. In this regard, one can also name a strong fear of rejection, which almost all young people are subject to.

Negative psychological states of adolescents

If we talk directly about negative manifestations, then we should first of all note the constant irritability, internal discomfort that accompanies growing up. Many teenagers at the doctor's office complain that it is difficult for them to collect their thoughts, cope with their emotions, and control their behavior. As a rule, their actions and deeds directly depend on the situation.

As a rule, the attitude towards others is rather negative, and these feelings can be directed both at a specific subject (parents, a certain teacher), and at all at once (all adults, school). Hence the affective outbursts that arise in adolescents every now and then: bouts of rage, rudeness, a desire to break discipline at all costs.

It should be noted that the mental states of adolescents can change to exactly the opposite: this is the time when the child is swinging on a kind of emotional "swing": from self-confidence to the realization of his own insignificance, from elation to apathy, from joyful excitement to lethargy and detachment. Most often, such manifestations are a variant of the norm, and therefore should not become a cause for concern.

How to help a teenager during a crisis?

Parents often complain to a specialist that they cannot cope with their unlucky child, moreover, they simply have no idea how to communicate with him. In most cases, doctors advise simply to wait out this difficult period - sooner or later it will end, and the child's behavior will become more even and restrained.

Of course, living under the same roof with a rebellious teenager is far from sugar, but it is at this time that understanding, patience and wisdom should be shown. If your son or daughter pisses you off, try to understand them. Believe me, it is very difficult for them too. Show them respect, try to communicate with them as equals.

Do not put pressure on the child, but also do not condone him: it is necessary to grope for a fine line that runs between total control and permissiveness. Remember that at this age children feel very vulnerable and lonely, even if they try with all their might to demonstrate otherwise. They need you - your help, kindness, attention.

There are some mental states that are especially relevant in adolescence: anxiety; aggressiveness; frustration; loneliness; rigidity; emotional sensations: stress, affect, depression; alienation.

Anxiety plays an important role in understanding how a person will perform a particular activity, especially when someone else is doing the same thing next to him.

Anxiety - the property of a person to come into a state of heightened anxiety, to experience fear and anxiety in specific social situations.

The manifestations of anxiety in different situations are not the same. In some cases, people tend to behave anxiously always and everywhere, in others they reveal their anxiety only from time to time, depending on the prevailing circumstances. Situationally stable manifestations of anxiety are usually called personal and associated with the presence of a person's corresponding personality trait (the so-called "personal anxiety"). Situationally variable manifestations of anxiety are called situational, and a personality trait exhibiting this kind of anxiety is referred to as "situational anxiety."

In connection with the spread in the world of not only altruism, but also ignoble human deeds: wars, crime, interethnic and interracial clashes - psychologists could not help but pay attention to behavior that is essentially the opposite of altruism (a character trait that prompts a person to selflessly come to the rescue people and animals) - aggressiveness.

Aggressiveness (hostility) - human behavior towards other people, which is characterized by the desire to cause them trouble, harm: moral, material or physical.

A person has two different motivational tendencies associated with aggressive behavior: a tendency towards aggression and towards its inhibition. The tendency towards aggression is the individual's tendency to assess many situations and people's actions as threatening him and the desire to respond to them with his own aggressive actions. The tendency to suppress aggression is defined as an individual predisposition to evaluate one's own aggressive actions as undesirable and unpleasant, causing regret and remorse. This tendency at the level of behavior leads to suppression, avoidance or condemnation of manifestations of aggressive actions.

Aggressive people find many opportunities to justify their actions, among them the following can be distinguished:

Comparing his aggressive actions with the actions of a more serious aggressor and an attempt to prove that, in comparison with his actions, the actions committed are not terrible;

- "noble goals";

Lack of personal responsibility;

Impact of other people;

The belief that the victim “deserves” such treatment.

Aggressiveness can cause an accumulation of frustration, which leads to an increase in a person's inferiority complex and the emergence of aggression.

An abnormal attitude, which, being predominantly personal, and which can act in the field of interpersonal group relations, is frustration.

Frustration - emotionally difficult experience of a person of his failure, accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness, collapse of hopes in achieving a certain desired goal.

Frustration is accompanied by disappointment, irritation, anxiety, and sometimes despair; it negatively affects the relationship of people, if at least one of them is in a state of frustration.

Responses to frustration vary from person to person. This reaction can take the form of apathy, aggressiveness, regression (a temporary decrease in the level of intelligence and intellectual organization of behavior).

In a state of frustration, a person is almost constantly in a negative emotional state. He has needs and wants, but they cannot be realized; he has set goals for himself, but they are not achievable. The more pronounced the needs and desires, the more significant the goals and the more significant the obstacles to their implementation, the more emotional and energetic stress the psyche experiences.

A frustrated person usually betrays himself with harsh expression, a tendency to rip off evil on partners, rudeness, unfriendly communication.

One of the most serious problems of humanity is the problem of loneliness, when relationships for some reason do not develop, not giving rise to friendship, love, or enmity, leaving people indifferent towards each other.

Loneliness - a severe mental state, usually accompanied by a bad mood and painful emotional experiences.

The concept of loneliness is associated with the experience of situations that are subjectively perceived as an undesirable, personally unacceptable deficit in communication and positive intimate relationships with people around a person. Loneliness is not always accompanied by the social isolation of the individual. You can constantly be among people, contact them and at the same time feel your psychological isolation from them, i.e. loneliness (if, for example, these are strangers or people alien to the individual).

Genuine subjective states of loneliness usually accompany the symptoms of mental disorders, which take the form of affects with a clearly negative emotional connotation, and different people have different affective reactions to loneliness. Some report feelings of sadness and depression, for example, others report fear and anxiety, and still others report bitterness and anger.

Lonely people tend to dislike others, especially the outgoing and happy ones. This is their defensive reaction, which, in turn, prevents them from establishing good relations with people themselves. I suppose that it is loneliness that forces some people to abuse alcohol and drugs, even if they themselves do not admit they are lonely.

Rigidity - inhibition of thinking, manifested in the difficulty of refusal of a person from once made a decision, a way of thinking and acting.

Emotions - a special class of subjective psychological states, reflected in the form of direct experiences, sensations.

Emotional sensations in the biological sense have become entrenched as a way of maintaining an optimal life state by a living organism.

The norm for a person is a positive emotional attitude, which also plays a kind of protective (protective) function. As soon as the optimal life state deteriorates (well-being, health, the appearance of external stimuli), emotions also change (positive to negative). This is called a decrease in emotional tone.

Affect - a short-term, rapidly flowing state of strong emotional arousal, resulting from frustration or some other reason that strongly affects the psyche, usually associated with the dissatisfaction of very important needs for a person.

The development of affect obeys the following law: the stronger is the initial motivational stimulus of behavior and the more efforts had to be spent on it, the less the result obtained as a result of all this, the stronger the affect arising.

Depression - a state of passion with a negative coloration. Depression is understood as a strong melancholy, accompanied by despair and a crisis of the spirit. In a state of depression, time seems to slow down, rapid fatigability sets in, and efficiency decreases. Thoughts about their own insignificance come, suicide attempts are possible.

Another kind of affect - stress - is a state of strong and prolonged psychological stress as a result of overloading the human nervous system.

Stress disorganizes human activity, disrupts the normal course of his behavior. Stresses, especially if they are frequent and prolonged, have a negative effect not only on the psychological state, but also on the physical health of a person.

Alienation - manifests itself in the fact that a person, finding himself in a conflict situation, cannot get out of it on his own. To escape the conflict, he must sever the connection between his self and the traumatic environment. This gap creates a distance between the person and the environment, and later it develops into alienation.

So, in this section, we examined the main types of mental states that are most characteristic of adolescence.

The process of becoming self-awareness, etc. first of all, such an important component of it as self-esteem is closely correlated with various psychological states of the adolescent, in particular, such as anxiety, fears, self-doubt, etc. These are a kind of emotional indicators of the development of both self-esteem and self-awareness.

As noted by A.I. Zakharov, the fears experienced by adolescents are largely due to one of the main contradictions of this age: the contradiction between the adolescent's desire to be himself, to preserve his individuality and at the same time to be with everyone, i.e. belong to a group, correspond to its values and norms. ”To resolve it, a teenager has two ways: either to withdraw into himself at the cost of losing connections with peers, or to give up excellent freedom, independence in judgments and assessments and completely submit to the group. the choice of either egocentrism or conformism This contradictory situation in which a teenager finds himself is one of the main sources of his fears, which have obvious social conditioning;

One of the first places in this series is the fear of not being yourself, in fact, it means the fear of change. His "provocateur" is the adolescent's experiences caused by changes in the image of his body. Therefore, adolescents are so afraid of their own physical and mental ugliness, which is paradoxically expressed in their intolerance to this kind of shortcomings of other people or in obsessive thoughts about the ugliness of their figure.

For adolescents, fears of attack, fire, and getting sick are also characteristic, which is especially typical for boys, as well as the elements and confined space, which are more typical for girls. All of them are in the nature of fears and in one way or another are associated with the fear of death.

The number of fears in the field of interpersonal relations, which were noted in previous ages, also increases at this age. One of the stimulants of such fears is the lack of emotionally warm relationships with parents, as well as conflict relationships with them. This narrows the teenager's social circle and leaves him alone with his peers. Since the value of communication at this age is extremely high, the teenager is afraid of losing this only channel of communication.

The consequences of fears are manifold, but the main ones are growing insecurity, both in oneself and in other people. The first becomes a solid basis for suspicion, and the second - suspicion. As a result, it turns into a prejudiced attitude towards people, conflict and isolation of the "I". A.I. Zakharov qualifies all this as a manifestation of obsessive fears or anxiety. Obsessive fear (anxiety) is perceived by a teenager as something alien, going involuntarily, as some kind of obsession. Attempts to cope with it on their own only contribute to its strengthening and an increase in anxiety. "

It was found that at the age of 13-14 the feeling of anxiety is significantly higher than at the age of 15-16. At the same time, if in the former it practically remains unchanged, then in the latter at the age of 15 it significantly decreases in comparison with the previous period, and at the age of 16 it rises sharply again. And one more interesting fact. If at 13-14 years old (grades 7-8) there are no differences in the level of anxiety in boys and girls, then

At the age of 16 (grade 10), girls have this level higher than that of boys. Thus, anxiety at the age of 13-14 is an age characteristic that overlaps the individual characteristics of development, which should be taken into account in terms of preventing the mental development of a teenager.

By comparing the dynamics of anxiety with the dynamics of self-esteem, it is easy to discover their close interdependence. and especially in high school. The higher and more adequate self-esteem, the less anxiety and more confidence in oneself and one's capabilities.

Another feature in the formation of self-awareness of a teenager is a heightened sense of self-esteem. Often it seems to a teenager that they want to humiliate him. For him, as noted above, in general, an increased need for human kindness is characteristic. He painfully reacts to falsehood, pretense, although he often behaves in a similar way.

So, although 15-16-year-old adolescents have all aspects of personality self-awareness, there is no need to talk about its completeness and formation. This conclusion is also true for the period of early adolescence (16-17 years).

As for the younger adolescent Age, it is difficult to talk about the structural readiness of self-awareness. Some of its components are just being formed.

More on the topic "I" and the psychoemotional states of a teenager:

Socialization of a teenager's personality as a stage in the formation of self-awareness
Comprehensive assessment of the health status of children and adolescents
PHYSICAL AND NERVO-MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD. COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN'S HEALTH. ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

. Formation of "I" and psychoemotional states of a teenager

The process of becoming self-awareness, etc. first of all, such an important component of it as self-esteem is closely related to various psychological states of the adolescent, in particular, such as anxiety, fears, self-doubt, etc.
These are peculiar emotional indicators of the development of both self-esteem and self-awareness.

The fears experienced by adolescents are largely due to one of the main contradictions of this age: the contradiction between the teenager's desire to be himself, to preserve his individuality and at the same time to be with everyone, that is, belong to a group, correspond to its values and norms.
D for his permission, the teenager has two poo ty:
- either withdraw into oneself at the cost of losing connections with peers,
- either give up excellent freedom, independence in judgments and assessments and completely submit to the group.
In other words, the adolescent is faced with the choice of either self-centeredness or conformity. This contradictory situation in which a teenager finds himself is one of the main sources of his fears, which have an obvious social conditioning.

One of the first places in this row is occupied by fear of not being yourself, essentially meaning fear of change.
His "provocateur" is the adolescent's experiences caused by changes in the image of his body. Therefore, adolescents are so afraid of their own physical and mental ugliness, which is paradoxically expressed in their intolerance to this kind of shortcomings of other people or in obsessive thoughts about the ugliness of their figure.

For adolescents, and fears of attack, fire, getting sick, which is especially true for boys, as well elements and confined spaces a, more typical for girls. All of them are in the nature of fears and in one way or another are associated with the fear of death.

Increases at this age and the number fears in the field of interpersonal relations not observed in previous ages.
One of the stimulants of such fears is the lack of emotionally warm relationships with parents, as well as conflict relationships with them.
This narrows the teenager's social circle and leaves him alone with his peers. Since the value of communication at this age is extremely high, the teenager is afraid of losing this only channel of communication.

The consequences of fears are manifold, but the main ones are growing insecurity, both in oneself and in other people.
The first becomes a solid basis for suspicion, and the second - suspicion. As a result, it turns into a prejudiced attitude towards people, conflict and isolation of the "I".
All this also qualifies as a manifestation of obsessive fears or anxiety. Obsessive fear (anxiety) is perceived by a teenager as something alien, going involuntarily, as some kind of obsession. Attempts to cope with it on their own only contribute to its strengthening and an increase in anxiety.

And one more interesting fact. If at the age of 13-14 there are no differences in the level of anxiety among boys and girls, then at the age of 16 this level is higher among girls than among boys.
Thus, anxiety at the age of 13-14 is an age characteristic that overlaps the individual characteristics of development, which should be taken into account in terms of preventing the mental development of a teenager.

Comparing the dynamics of anxiety with the dynamics of self-esteem, it is easy to discover their close interdependence, and especially in high school. The higher and more adequate self-esteem, the less anxiety and more confidence in oneself and one's capabilities.

Another feature in the formation of a teenager's self-awareness is in heightened self-esteem.
Often it seems to a teenager that they want to humiliate him. For him, as noted above, in general, an increased need for human kindness is characteristic. He painfully reacts to falsehood, pretense, although he often behaves in a similar way.

Behavior correction
1. Affectively unstable type.
An insignificant reason from others greatly increases his excited state, after which he completely refuses to work, is daring, rude.

Tactic: in time to influence arousal and calm down. Therefore, you need to be able to: timely ascertain the growth of feelings of discontent; - the power of suggestion to prevent a possible reaction. Action with a look, tone.

2. Insecure, fearful, hysterical, depressed.
He closes himself off from any influence, lives an intense inner life, is completely occupied with his own interests (introvert). It is difficult to influence him, because he treats with distrust, negativism.

Suggestion will not help, because it is not perceived by him. He goes only towards complete mental balance. Calm, casual conversations.

3. Weak-willed, unrestrained with a highly developed sexual instinct.
"Loafers", "windy heads" - superficial contacts, lies, theft, sexual excesses

You cannot act on their feelings and moods. Business, consistent, strict, non-irritating straightforward actions are needed here. The main method is example, action that convinces.
4 Weak, insecure, timid, dependent. Calming and reassuring.

We began our characterization of adolescence by describing its myths prevalent among adults.

My goal was to debunk these myths with the help of modern scientific psychological knowledge about this period of development. These views, it seems to me, contribute to the debunking of mythological views of the adolescent.
Adolescence is not a time of pathology.
it normal and absolutely necessary period e human development.

Most adolescents cope with all age-related problems.

1. Not a single period in a person's life (except that only intrauterine) is characterized by such a rapid pace of development as adolescence.
A 6-year gap is possible between a fast-growing girl and a slow-growing boy.
Differences in the mental, emotional and social development of adolescents can be just as great.

2. Yes, some adolescents are still children, but many (especially sexually) are already adults.

3. Any development of a teenager (physical, emotional, mental or personal) does not occur synchronously, but unevenly.
Physically well-developed boys and girls are not always and not necessarily as well-developed mentally and emotionally.
Children, on the other hand, with delays in physical or sexual development, on the contrary, cannot be ready to perform serious duties along with adults.

4. Adolescence is a transitional, crisis period in a person's life and it is characterized by its own characteristics.
Problems and difficulties should not be exaggerated, nor should they be understated.

The task of adults, knowing the characteristics of a teenager, is to help him create conditions for independent and successful resolution of these problems and difficulties.

We all went through difficulties in due time. But only by becoming parents, we can fully appreciate the full severity of this period of life. Someone fears that his child does not fall into a bad company, someone is alarmed by the child's overly aggressive or, conversely, apathetic behavior. It is worries about children that force us to delve into the psychology of adolescents, to look for ways to solve their problems. However, do not be surprised if a child rejects your help: in puberty, all advice, especially from adults, is taken with hostility.

To help a teenager overcome difficulties, one should bear in mind the variety of mental states of his personality during this period. Let's find out what the mental and emotional states of adolescents can be and why this happens.

Mental characteristics of adolescents

Everyone knows that the mood of children aged 11-15 can very often change to the opposite. The reason for this is hormonal changes in the body of a child who is already preparing to become an adult. And it is not surprising that these changes affect the psyche - after all, this is the most vulnerable spot, the "Achilles heel" of any person. Psychologists distinguish the following types of psychoemotional state of adolescents:

activity - passivity;
infatuation - indifference;
agitation - lethargy;
tension - emancipation;
fear is joy;
decisiveness - confusion;
hope is doom;
anxiety - serenity;
confidence - self-doubt.

Despite the fact that these mental processes are opposite, in adolescents they can alternate and change over short periods of time. As mentioned above, this is due to a hormonal storm and can be typical for a completely healthy, normal child. Now he can chat with you in a friendly way, and after two minutes he can withdraw into himself or make a scandal and leave, slamming the door. And even this is not a cause for concern, but just a variant of the norm.

However, those states that prevail in the behavior of a child at this age contribute to the formation of the corresponding character traits (high or low self-esteem, anxiety or cheerfulness, optimism or pessimism, etc.), and this will affect his entire future life.

Methods of regulation and self-regulation of mental states in adolescence

The most common advice for parents of a teenager - you just need to "get through", endure this time. Indeed, a mentally healthy child is able to overcome the difficulties that arise in him. Parents should simply be sympathetic to his behavior and be no more strict with him than usual. On the contrary, the easier you relate to your growing up child, the easier it will be for him to build a relationship with you. Reconsider your principles in the parent-child relationship, communicate with him, if not on an equal footing, then at least as an equal. Remember that at this age the child is very vulnerable, even if he does not show it. And he should know that parents are always on his side, that he is not alone, and in case of problems, you will come to him anyway. help. But at the same time, you should not impose this help - it will be relevant only if the teenager is unable to cope on his own and asks for help, or you see that he is in dire need of it.

If necessary, do not hesitate to seek the advice of a psychologist who specializes in, and for more serious problems, a qualified psychiatrist.

Dear Parents! Remember to build a relationship of trust with your child from a very young age. This will avoid many problems during adolescence.