Psychosocial and biosocial problems in psychology

If we have problems, then the best thing we can do is to look within ourselves for the reasons - this is the wise advice everyone gives us, including me. For example, if you got involved with a tyrant husband, then look for the reason in yourself and eliminate it, otherwise everything will happen again. Everything is true, but one unpleasant trap awaits us on this path, which lies in the fact that the search for reasons is often replaced by the search for excuses. And the results of such searches do not help solve the problem, but aggravate it, driving the seeker into even greater despair.

What is a psychological problem

Most of the causes of discomfort, failure, any kind of addiction, dissatisfaction and stress are in the psyche (in the heart), and external events in life only aggravate the internal causes. Any psychological problems cause a person obvious or latent suffering. For this reason, it is with great difficulty that a person manages to change himself and his position. However, even after changing something, it is not always possible to achieve satisfaction and spiritual harmony.

In this case, we can openly say that the problem is predominantly psychological, spiritual, and not external, social. In this case, a psychotherapist can help a person become a confident and harmonious person. It is enough to put in some effort, time and professional knowledge of a specialist, and this problem will quite possibly be solved.

How to quickly get rid of psychological problems?

I often hear this question from people who turn to a psychologist for the first time.

In our narcissistic times, everyone now wants FAST results:

➽Get married quickly

➽Earn a million rubles quickly

➽Lose weight quickly and so on...

Now imagine this situation:

A man comes to a fitness club and says to the trainer: “I would like to lose 30 kilograms, and then, after I lose weight, I also need to pump myself up. I want to have a beautiful body - so that my butt is like OrEshEk and I also want cubes on my stomach. But the main thing is that I need it quickly! For vacation. So in 2-3 visits to the gym. How can I quickly get myself in order?

It sounds funny and ridiculous. Is it true? =)

No sane person would voice such a request. Especially if his body was never familiar with sports and he accumulated these extra pounds on himself for 30-40-50 years...

Sane people understand perfectly well that to achieve such goals it will take months, or even years, of regular work on themselves.

But as far as psychological work on oneself is concerned, everything is not so obvious. A person comes to a psychologist for the first time and brings with him 30 kilograms of extra psychological defenses, maladaptive attitudes, behavioral patterns worked out to the point of automatism, a bunch of suppressed and repressed feelings. And he asks to get rid of him in the same way in 2-3 meetings. But he, too, has been collecting all this on himself for 30-40-50 years... And he wants to get rid of it in a few meetings...

And when the psychologist explains that the request is not real, many begin to get angry, curse, accuse them of fraud and extortion of money...

These are the difficulties we encounter every day in the process of working with client requests.

Therefore, trainings like:

➽How to get married in three months

➽How to make a million in six months

➽How to lose excess weight in 30 days

Selling very well! And the fact that as a result 99% of students do not achieve the promised result is already kept silent by the coaches...

And unpretentious psychotherapy, where we offer long, difficult, painstaking work on oneself, is naturally not in great demand yet... But it gives results. Just not fast!

But it does! And that's good news! Gradually, during the therapy process, a person begins to feel better, calmer, and begins to slowly solve problems that have not been resolved for years... And then it becomes obvious that what is more important here is not speed, but awareness and motivation for change.

Moreover, I notice that if a client is fussing and wants to speed up processes, he cannot concentrate and constantly “slips” in one place...

Yes, of course, some customer problems can be resolved in 2-3 meetings. But these are, as a rule, situational tasks that do not involve transformation of the client’s personality, but require simple answers to the questions: “What exactly can be done now, in this situation, to “put out the fire”?”, or to quickly reduce the severity of the experience.

But most requests require AT LEAST short-term therapy - about 10 meetings to get a tangible result. And this is 2.5 months of work (classic international practice - 1 meeting per week). But EVEN THIS seems too long for many...

And then people want it quickly, but it doesn’t work out quickly...

In such situations, I remember a joke:

— Why do the Chukchi plant potatoes in the morning and then dig them up in the evening?

- I really want to eat...

But we won’t grow anything like that... Really?

Therefore, when I am asked a similar question: “How to QUICKLY get rid of psychological problems,” it sounds to me like a similar question to a fitness trainer: “How to QUICKLY get rid of extra pounds and get in shape?” Or: “How to grow potatoes in one day?”

And I answer honestly: I don’t know...

Copyright © Irina Shevtsova

vk.com/life_in_harmony_spb

The emergence of psychological difficulties

Typically, psychological complexes arise when a person has an unconscious psychological fixation on some object or subject, as if connected (in the opinion of the person himself) with achieving the desired result. And any person has only two types of desires:

• to get something (possession, development, realization, desire, etc.), in other words, “the desire for...”;
• to get rid of something (escape, destruction, liberation, etc.), in other words, “the desire from...”.

If this cannot be achieved, a problem arises. This question is the main problem of practical psychology.

Causes of difficulties

Difficulties have psychological, social and physiological prerequisites.

Psychological reasons include:

• unmet needs;
• living against one's nature;
• systematic suppression of feelings, emotions, desires.

In simple words, a person either worries that he is missing something, or suffers from the fact that he cannot get rid of something. One way or another, we are talking about self-suppression. This is what makes the individual unhappy.

Interesting! For most people, the habit of suppressing emotions, feelings and desires appears in childhood, when parents keep repeating: “Don’t scream”, “Don’t cry”, “You’ll get by”, “This is impossible”, “I don’t want a lot of things either, but necessary".

The second group of psychological prerequisites is strong emotional shocks or many minor experiences. For example, the death of someone close is a strong shock. An example of frequent minor shocks is systematic humiliation, insults, and beatings.

Social and psychological reasons include:

• poverty or unstable income, delays in payments, dim prospects;
• unemployment;
• unstable situation in society;
• drastic changes in life (divorce, move, job change, dismissal, wedding, retirement).

In addition, physiological causes of psychological problems can be identified. Prolonged or severe illness, head injuries, tumors, intoxication, hormonal imbalance can also cause disturbances. Abnormal functioning of neurotransmitters leads to depression, anxiety disorders, apathy, irritability and other problems.

Low self-esteem

The main psychological problem, according to most psychologists, is the low self-esteem of a huge number of people.

Low self-esteem can affect various aspects of a person's life. People with low self-esteem tend to say a lot of negative things about themselves. They may criticize themselves, their actions and abilities, or joke about themselves with sarcasm. People with low self-esteem tend to doubt themselves or blame themselves when they encounter any obstacles along the way. They may also not recognize their positive qualities. When someone with low self-esteem receives compliments, they may simply think that they are being flattered or that their positive qualities are being exaggerated.

These people don't value their abilities and focus on what they haven't done or the mistakes they've made. People with low self-esteem may expect that they will not succeed. They often feel depressed and anxious. Low self-esteem can affect your performance at work or school. People with low confidence achieve less than people with adequate self-esteem because they believe that they are less worthy and capable than others.

This category of people tends to avoid problems, fearing that they will not cope. People who do not value themselves may work very hard and force themselves to overwork because they believe that they need to hide imaginary shortcomings. They have a hard time believing any positive results they receive. Low self-esteem makes a person shy and very shy, not believing in his own abilities.

Mental trauma as causes of psychological problems

Childhood trauma

When we start looking for reasons within ourselves, we usually turn to the past. And the first reason for our troubles that we find is based on the well-known teaching from psychology that all problems originate in childhood. After reading several articles about this, we remember the dawn of our lives, and, to our horror, we discover that our relationship with our parents leaves much to be desired - they, poor things, did not love us, and tyrannized, and manipulated without a twinge of conscience... Here we are as a result and grew up afraid of intimacy, with low self-esteem and other bouquet of mental illnesses.

The reason has been found, hurray! But what next? Childhood has already passed, it cannot be changed... And then we can only mourn our bitter fate, curse our parents and feel sorry for ourselves. This discovery doesn’t give us anything more... Although no, it does, and how! - It gives us an excuse , a universal indulgence for all our past, present and future mistakes: what can you do, they made me like this, I have a childhood trauma ...

Even if our loved ones, due to their blatant spiritual callousness, do not show due respect and sympathy for the tragedy of our childhood, giving us the appropriate “discount”, we can do it ourselves. Discovering that we made a mistake somewhere or acted ugly, instead of apologizing, drawing conclusions and reconsidering our views and behavior, we are relieved to attribute everything to an ill-fated childhood trauma and sigh heavily. Alone with a pillow or a glass, we will shed tears, and of course, secretly sulk at the insensitivity of loved ones who do not understand and do not want to accept us for who we are - traumatized. We may not even admit it to ourselves, but simply feel sorry for ourselves...

What will such a position transform our inner and outer life into? Firstly, this life will not change - after all, we have no opportunity to change anything. Secondly, we will always look for someone who “understands” us, and if we find it, we will become attached to him to the point of dependence. Thirdly, we will become irritable, impatient - these people do not understand (but they should!) that I am a special person, I am entitled to a discount for life. Against this background, any vices can bloom wildly - after all, we give ourselves a discount, right? This means that there is no demand from us - we can make scandals, become despondent, and get involved in destructive relationships. It's a trauma!

Trauma from a failed past relationship

If nothing criminal was discovered in childhood, but the problems are still evident, let’s look closer for the reasons - in previous relationships, for example. Did the first guy dump you? - Here it is, trauma and the cause of all troubles! It is he, such a bastard, who is to blame for everything - he mortally wounded a tender girl’s soul, and now I don’t love myself - but how can I love if someone has abandoned me? And that’s why I also enter into codependent relationships. And I also became a bitch, because now I can’t trust anyone. Then everything follows the scheme from the previous paragraph, only now in the area of ​​relationships.

Another option: he deceived me. I was so pure and trusting, and he pretended to be a prince so well that I believed him. Who is guilty? - He, of course! And also my gullibility, which is actually a virtue. For this virtue I am literally a martyr - a victim of a scoundrel who insidiously took advantage of it. Beautiful! Almost sacred. And there are more indulgences. Here you can even openly gather the sympathy and admiration of your friends together in curses of the “goat” who met on the path of such a holy soul: “He’s not worth you!” And the result? Yes, the same one... - the trauma again, plus the inability to trust anyone now.

Trauma from a destructive relationship with a tyrant

Almost the same thing happens when a woman, realizing that she was or is still in a destructive relationship, begins to feel sick, broken, with a destroyed soul and personality... Here everything is somewhat more complicated - all these feelings: depression, weakness, humiliation, uncertainty about themselves - very real. And they appeared in a relationship with a tyrant. They appeared a long time ago and took a long time to get worse. And his aggression, violence, insults are also real. All this is true. So, is there any trauma here? And, obviously, he, the artiodactyl, is to blame! He, the villain, deliberately broke my psyche, tormented and mocked me - and now, I am crushed because I could not resist his devilish art of a psychological sadist.

However, even here everything is not so clear that one can legitimately feel like a poor victim, with all the ensuing self-pity and indulgences. For example, a person tries to insult me ​​and calls me a bad word. He really has such a desire - to insult. But whether I should be offended and whether I take this word personally or not is my decision. If it is important for me what he thinks about me and I certainly want him to think well, then his bad word destroys my illusion of his good attitude. And it hurts me. From the word? - No, from a destroyed illusion and from an unfulfilled desire.

And on whom do my illusions that he treats me well and the desire for this to be so depend? From me! These are my own dreams - nothing more, he has nothing to do with it at all! If I instead just accept the reality that he treats me badly, it will raise the question: is this person worth communicating with? - but it will not affect my self-esteem in any way and will not bring pain. Oh, I believed him, because he sang something else before? Well, I was mistaken, which means that from now on we will understand people better and not believe every nightingale. Yes, and I believed it, to be honest, because I wanted to believe so much that I didn’t think to check...

Or you can go further and think - not about yourself, but about him. And then I will see that he is generally incapable of treating anyone well, that he generally hates women, does not consider them to be people, and is afraid. And he doesn’t respect himself either... And this bad word has nothing to do with me personally at all - he thinks so about everyone, and cannot do otherwise. He has problems, however. He has a close person who loves him, but he can neither see nor accept this love, because the trouble inside is incurable... What emotion will I have then? Pity for him. Maybe disgust. And again the question: is it worth continuing a relationship with a person who is incapable of normal relationships? - But not pain, not humiliation. Then there will be no injury!

It turns out that whether I will have an injury or not depends not on the events that happen to me, but only on me - on how I personally interpret these events. It is my choice . If for many years I interpreted these events in favor of pain and humiliation, took them personally, cultivating a victim complex - it became a habit, accumulated, and got to the point where I no longer feel like a human being... So what now? You can’t change the past, and neither can he. Will we cry and feel sorry for ourselves? Well, it has crept in again, instead of a reason - an excuse... But we are adults and are quite capable of replacing the habit we have cultivated with another, for example.

Inferiority complex

An inferiority complex is an extreme pathological degree of self-doubt and is a huge psychological problem for a person. In essence, it is a lack of self-worth, doubt and very low self-esteem, as well as a feeling of inability to live up to standards.

It is often subconscious and it is believed that people suffering from this complex try to compensate for this feeling, which is expressed in high achievements or extremely antisocial behavior. In modern literature, it is preferable to call this psychological phenomenon “lack of hidden self-esteem.” The complex develops through a combination of genetic characteristics of the individual and upbringing, as well as life experiences.

An inferiority complex can increase when feelings of inferiority are triggered by failure and stress. Individuals at risk for developing the complex typically exhibit signs of low self-esteem, have low socioeconomic status, and also have symptoms of depression.

Children raised in environments where they were constantly criticized or did not live up to their parents' expectations may also develop an inferiority complex. There are many different warning signs for those who may be more prone to developing an inferiority complex. For example, someone who is attracted to attention and approval may be more receptive.

Psychosocial and biosocial problems in psychology

In psychology, two directions of research are clearly visible, says B. F. Lomov. One is focused on the natural sciences, the other on the social sciences. The desire to develop a complete theory inevitably leads to the formulation of the problem of the relationship between the social (from the Latin socialis - public) and the biological (from the Greek bios - life) in man. Social refers to what distinguishes humans from animals: the presence of society and culture, socialization.

SOCIALIZATION (from Latin socialis - social) is the process of assimilation by a human individual of a certain system of knowledge, norms and values ​​that allow him to function as a full member of society; includes both targeted influence on the personality (upbringing) and spontaneous, spontaneous processes influencing its formation. Studied by philosophy, psychology, social psychology, sociology, history and ethnography, pedagogy, theology.

Biological refers to everything natural that unites humans and animals. It should be noted that the biological also contains the social. The social is also represented in human heredity.

Jung Carl Gustav (1875–1961) – Swiss psychologist and philosopher, founder of “analytical psychology”. Introduced the technique of “free associations”. He developed the doctrine of the collective unconscious, in whose images, the so-called archetypes, he saw the source of universal symbolism, including myths and dreams (“Metamorphoses and Symbols of Libido”).

K.-G. Jung "Psychology of the Unconscious"

Here another new stage of our cognitive process begins. We continued the analytical dissection of the infantile transference phantasies until it became sufficiently clear to the patient that he had made of his doctor a father and mother, an uncle, a guardian and a teacher, and whatever other parental authorities were called. However, as experience shows again and again, other fantasies arise, representing the doctor even as a Savior or as a god-like being - of course, in complete contradiction with the common sense of consciousness. In addition, it turns out that these divine attributes go beyond the Christian worldview, in the atmosphere of which we grew up, and take on pagan contours, for example, often images of animals.

Transference in itself is nothing more than a certain projection of unconscious contents. First, the so-called surface contents of the unconscious are projected, which can be learned from dreams, symptoms and fantasies. In this state, the doctor arouses interest as a possible lover (like that young Italian from our story). Then he acts more like a father: either good-natured or, say, formidable, in accordance with the qualities that his actual father possessed in the eyes of the patient. Sometimes the doctor takes on maternal characteristics for the patient, which looks somewhat strange, but is still within the bounds of the possible. All these fantasy projections are based on personal memories.

Finally, fantasies may appear that go beyond the boundaries of the ordinary. The doctor is then endowed with rather creepy properties, acting, say, as a sorcerer or a demonic criminal, or as the personification of the corresponding good: as a Savior. Or it appears as a mixture of both sides. Of course, it does not necessarily appear to the patient’s consciousness in this form, but fantasies simply come to the surface, endowing the doctor with such features. It is often very difficult for such patients to understand that in fact their fantasies originate from themselves and, in fact, have nothing (or have very little) in common with the character of the doctor. This misconception occurs because there are no personal base memories for this type of projection. It is possible, if necessary, to prove that already at a certain childhood age similar fantasies were associated with the father or mother, for which, however, neither the father nor the mother actually gave a reason.

In one of his small works, Freud (Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci, 1910.) showed what influence the fact that he had two mothers had on Leonardo da Vinci in his later life. The fact of having two mothers, or dual origins, was real in the case of Leonardo, but a similar idea played a role in other artists. Thus, Benvenuto Cellini had a fantasy about a double origin. In general, it represents some kind of mythological motif. Many heroes had two mothers in their stories. This fantasy has its source not in, say, the actual fact that the heroes had two mothers, but there is a generally widespread, “primordial” image that belongs to the secrets of the history of the human spirit and does not belong to the sphere of personal memories.

In each individual person, in addition to personal memories, there are great “primordial” images, as Jacob Burckhardt once aptly called them, that is, the inherited possibilities of human representation as it was from ancient times. The fact of this inheritance explains the essentially strange phenomenon that well-known fairy-tale images and motifs are repeated throughout the Earth in identical forms. He further explains how, for example, our mental patients are able to reproduce exactly the same images and relationships that we know from ancient texts. I gave some examples of this kind in my book “Transformations and Symbols of the Libido” (New edition: Symbole der Wandlung, 1952. Ges. Werke, Bd. 5. cf. also Ueber den Begriff des kolektiven Unbewussten, 1936 Ges. Werke, Bd. 9.). By this I do not at all claim that ideas are passed on by inheritance; only the possibility of representation is passed on by inheritance, and this is a big difference.

So, at this next stage of treatment, when fantasies are reproduced, no longer based on personal memories, we are talking about manifestations of a deeper layer of the unconscious, where universal, primordial images lie dormant. I called these images and motifs archetypes (and also “dominants”).

This discovery marks a further step forward in the development of our concept, namely the recognition of the existence of two layers in the unconscious. The point is that we must distinguish between the personal unconscious and the non- or superpersonal unconscious. We also designate the latter as the collective unconscious (The collective unconscious is objective-psychological, and the personal unconscious is subjective-psychic.) - precisely because it is separated from the personal and is absolutely universal, and because its contents can be found everywhere, which cannot be said about personal contents. The personal unconscious contains lost memories, repressed (deliberately forgotten) painful ideas, the so-called subliminal (subliminal) perceptions, that is, sensory perceptions that were not strong enough to reach consciousness, and, finally, contents that are not yet ripe for consciousness. It corresponds to the image of the Shadow that is often found in dreams (By Shadow I understand the “negative” part of the personality, namely the sum of hidden, disadvantageous properties, insufficiently developed functions and contents of the personal unconscious. For a general review, see: T. Wolff, Einfuhrung in die Grundlagen der komplexen Psychologie. In: Studien zu S. G. Jungs Psychologie, 1959, p. 151 ff.).

Primordial images are the most ancient and most universal forms of representation of humanity. They are equally a feeling and a thought; they even have something similar to their own, independent life, like the life of partial souls, which we can easily see in those philosophical or Gnostic systems that have the perception of the unconscious as their source of knowledge. The idea of ​​angels, archangels, “thrones and dominions” in Paul, archons in the Gnostics, heavenly hierarchy in Dionysius the Areopagite, etc. comes from the perception of the relative independence of archetypes.

<…>

This idea has thus been imprinted in the human brain from time immemorial. Therefore, it is laid out in ready-made form in everyone’s unconscious. Only certain conditions are required to bring it to the surface again. In the case of Robert Mayer, these conditions were obviously present. The greatest and best thoughts of humanity are formed on top of the original images, which represent, as it were, a primary drawing. I have often been asked about the origin of these archetypes, or prototypes. It seems to me that the situation is as if their occurrence could not be explained in any other way than by supposing that they represent a reflection of the constantly repeated experience of mankind. One of the most common and at the same time most impressive phenomena given to human experience is the daily apparent movement of the Sun. In any case, we cannot detect anything related to this in the unconscious as long as we are talking about a physical process known to us. On the contrary, we find the myth of the solar hero in all its countless variations. This myth, and not a physical process, is the reality that forms the archetype of the Sun. The same can be said about the phases of the moon. An archetype is a kind of readiness to reproduce again and again the same or similar mythical ideas. Accordingly, it appears, therefore, that it is as if what is impressed upon the unconscious were purely a subjective representation of phantasy, brought about by a physical process. One could therefore assume that archetypes are repeatedly repeated imprints of subjective reactions (Cf: Die Struktur der Seele in: Seelenprobleme der Gegenwart, 1950, p. 127. Ges. Werke, Bd. 8.). Such an assumption, naturally, only leads away from solving the problem. Nothing prevents us from assuming that certain archetypes are already found in animals and that they are therefore based on the specificity of the living system in general and are thus only the expression of life, whose status can no longer be explained. It seems that archetypes are not only imprints of constantly repeating typical experiences, but at the same time they empirically act as forces or tendencies to repeat the same experiences. The fact is that whenever a certain archetype manifests itself in a dream, in fantasy or in life, it always carries within itself some special “influence” or force, thanks to which its effect is numinous, that is, enchanting or motivating to action.

<…> The patient must learn to distinguish between what is “I” and what is “not-I”, that is, the collective psyche. Thus, he receives material that, from this moment on, he will have to deal with for a long time. His energy, which was previously contained in unsuitable, pathological forms, has now found its proper sphere. The distinction between “I” and “not-I” includes the fact that man in his I-function stands on firm feet, that is, fulfills his duty in relation to life, so that he is in all aspects a viable member of human society. <…>

<…> To the extent that our current experience allows, we can put forward the statement that unconscious processes are in a compensatory connection with consciousness. I explicitly use the word “compensatory” and not the word “contrasting” because consciousness and the unconscious are not necessarily opposite to each other, but are mutually complementary to the whole - the self. In accordance with this definition, the self is a value superior to the conscious Self. The Self covers not only the conscious, but also the unconscious psyche, and therefore, so to speak, there is a person, which we also are. We can well imagine that we have parts of the soul. For example, we can easily see ourselves as a person. But to clearly realize that we are the self is beyond our imagination, for then the part would have to understand the whole. And there is no hope that we will ever achieve even an approximate awareness of the self, for no matter how much we become aware of ourselves, there will always remain an indefinite and indefinable amount of the unconscious, which also belongs to the totality of the self. Thus, the self will always remain a value superior to us.

Unconscious processes that compensate for the conscious self contain all those elements that are necessary for self-regulation of the entire psyche. At the personal level, these are personal motives that appear in dreams and are not recognized by consciousness; or meanings of daily situations not noticed by us; or conclusions not reached by us; or affects that we did not allow ourselves; or criticism we kept to ourselves. But the more we become aware of ourselves through self-knowledge and corresponding behavior, the more intensely the layer of personal unconsciousness that lies on top of the collective unconscious disappears. Thanks to this, a consciousness arises that is no longer squeezed into the petty and personally sensitive world of the I, but is involved in the wider world, the object. This broader consciousness is no longer that sensitive, egoistic tangle of personal desires, fears, hopes and ambitions, which must be compensated or at least corrected by the opposite unconscious-personal tendency, but that function of relationships associated with an object, the world, which moves the individual into unconditional, binding and indestructible community with the world. The collisions that arise at this stage are no longer conflicts caused by egoistic desires, but difficulties affecting both myself and the other. At this stage we are ultimately talking about collective problems that set in motion the collective unconscious, since they require collective rather than individual compensation. Here we can finally calmly admit that the unconscious produces contents that are significant not just for the person to whom they relate, but also for others, even for many and perhaps for everyone.

SOCIOBIOLOGY is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the biological foundations of the social behavior of animals and humans, using data from ethology, genetics, ecology, evolutionary theory, social psychology, ethnography, etc. It emerged in the 70s. XX century (mainly in the USA - E. O. Wilson, D. Barash, C. Lumsden, etc.). Sociobiology proceeds from the possibility of discovering in animals the prerequisites for behavioral forms characteristic of humans. By studying altruistic, egoistic, aggressive, sexual and other types of behavior, sociobiology seeks to establish their invariants in animals and humans. Sociobiology poses the problem of the relationship between biological and cultural development (the concept of the so-called gene-cultural coevolution), the synthesis of biological and socio-humanitarian knowledge.

Psychoanalyst Adler's Study

According to classical Adlerian psychology, feelings of inferiority arise again when adults want to achieve some unrealistic goal or feel a constant need for improvement. Stress associated with feelings of inferiority causes a pessimistic attitude towards life and an inability to overcome difficulties. According to Adler, every person, to one degree or another, has a feeling of inferiority, but this is not a disease, but rather a stimulator of healthy, normal aspirations and development. It becomes a pathological condition only when the feeling of inferiority suppresses the personality, and does not stimulate him to useful activity. The complex makes the individual depressed and incapable of further personal development.

Psychosomatics

Psychosomatics is a branch of medical psychology that studies the relationship between illness and stress. According to this theory, any internal conflict, suppressed emotions and needs result in bodily diseases. You can suspect a connection between the psychological and the somatic by analyzing a person’s speech:

• “Doesn’t let you breathe peacefully” – ac – gastrointestinal diseases;
• “I can’t digest it” – bowel disorder;
• “My backbone will soon break” - fatigue due to the abundance of responsibilities, hyper-responsibility.

At first glance, it seems that the psyche and physiology are in no way connected, but this is not so. Illness is the last desperate attempt of the subconscious to point out the problem. For example, sick leave allows you to take a break from work. And the disease allows a person to stop caring about others and get at least a little attention himself. Childhood illnesses can also be an attempt to reconcile parents.

The principle of the development of psychosomatics is this: internal conflict turns into chronic stress, which leads to hormonal disruption and depletion of the body’s main systems. The general immunity weakens, various diseases arise. And it happens that there are no physical disorders, but the symptoms are felt - this is also psychosomatics.

Psychological trauma

A very common psychological problem is the consequences of experienced stressful situations.

By their nature, these are various mental disorders after affective (very powerful and destructive) experiences. The incidents that caused such intense feelings can be very diverse: isolation, illness, death of a loved one, the birth of a child, divorce, stress, conflicts, war and hostilities, danger to existence, rape and more. These events have a powerful impact on the mental state, disrupting perception, thinking, emotions, behavior, making the personality not entirely adequate.

Interpersonal conflicts

Another area that is studied by both practical and scientific (theoretical) psychology is various kinds of conflicts.

Open and unobvious conflicts with other people are harmful to a person’s mental activity and represent a serious problem of a socio-psychological nature. These conflicts can be classified:

• Family conflicts (different values, problematic relationships with children, sexual dissatisfaction, feelings of misunderstanding and resentment, betrayal, divorce).
• Conflicts in the workplace (conflict situations, emotional stress, chronic fatigue syndrome, stress, dissatisfaction, aggression, the feeling that this interferes with mutual understanding, work and career advancement).
• Conflicts with friends and family (psychological irritation, envy, painful jealousy, resentment).
• Conflicts with strangers (street conflicts, in vehicles, indoors with strangers).

Children's difficulties

Psychological problems in children arise at different periods of their lives. They are of different nature. These may be the following difficulties:

• children's aggression and impulsiveness;
• isolation;
• moodiness and tearfulness;
• timidity and shyness;
• low self-esteem;
• high level of anxiety;
• increased sensitivity;
• stubbornness;
• fears and all kinds of phobias;
• inattention;
• difficulty remembering information;
• various problems of psychological development;
• poor performance at school;
• difficulties with adaptation to a school or kindergarten;
• problems communicating with peers and adults;

If any kind of psychological difficulties arise, it is necessary to seek advice from a child psychologist, since the child’s psyche is a very fragile structure.

Maslow's pyramid of needs

From the perspective of the pyramid of needs of the great American psychologist Abraham Maslow (a pyramid that shows basic human needs), it is obvious that the issue of safety and food is not relevant for people at the present time. Of course, there are exceptions, but the vast majority of people can feed themselves. Products have become accessible, their variety is great, and safety in society is maintained at a decent level. According to Maslow's theory, if it is possible to satisfy basal needs, then a desire arises to satisfy higher needs, such as community or to feel part of a social group, self-realization, or the desire to realize oneself as a specialist, as an individual. It is at the stage of satisfying higher needs that the main socio-psychological problems of modern society arise.

Addiction is a problem

Many people suffer from problems such as:

• periodically encounter this problem
• Depression.
• Stress.
• Tobacco addiction.
• Alcohol addiction.
• Drug addiction.

This is not a complete list. There are a lot of reasons for this , from material problems and unsettled life in general to psychological problems. All people are different from each other, some can cope with any of them on their own, while others need help and support, and it is best if this is professional advice from knowledgeable people or an intelligent article on our website.

Perhaps the most common disease is alcoholism; it affects not only people who drink alcohol, but also their loved ones. A person who abuses alcohol gradually begins to degrade, losing his human appearance.

Such people lose everything: jobs, housing, family, friends. The same can be said about drug addiction. Only in her case, 95% of addicted people even commit crimes in order to get money for the next dose. They begin to take things out of the house, take money from relatives, when all valuable things have already been taken out and exchanged for drugs, they try to get them in an easy way elsewhere, for example, by stealing them.

How to get rid of them

To cure addicted people, it is important to first understand the causes of the disease , it is necessary to understand why the addicted person began to use illegal substances and alcoholic beverages, what led to this. Why is it enough for one person to drink a glass of wine and he can stop there, but for another even two bottles will not be enough?

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In most cases, it all starts with a feeling of loss, hopelessness, there was no person nearby who could lend a helping hand, indicate the necessary guidelines, and set priorities. In order to do this correctly and convey the necessary information to a person suffering from addiction, it is important to have certain knowledge in psychology.

Many years of experiments by scientists have revealed that drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking are a kind of barrier that people use to hide from their problems . By using various substances, they are transported to another world, where they do not need to think about how to get a good job, how to solve problems with their wife or husband, etc.

Surely, you have at least once heard from the wife of an alcoholic: “in general, he is a good person, but he drinks a lot.” It seems like alcoholic drinks are to blame, but he’s good. In most cases, the problem can be solved with the help of psychology.

The problem of choice in the modern world of consumption

To generalize, we can say that a person, having satisfied his basic needs, tries to direct his forces to satisfy higher psychological and social desires. At this moment we are faced with modern problems. At the moment there is a huge selection of different goods and services. The selection criterion can be color, appearance of packaging, reviews, price, and not just quality. All products a priori perform their functions, but their differences are made on minor characteristics.

In the future, it is these insignificant properties that are imposed on a person as selection criteria, and this makes people feel doubts when the purchase has already been made. Most people do not have the opportunity to purchase all types of one product, and often they remain dissatisfied due to doubts about the correctness of their choice.

Accelerated pace of life

People began to cover long distances in a short time, which means that they are more likely to engage in any type of activity. Scientific development has made it possible to save time on some things, but at the same time it has also given the opportunity to spend the saved time on others. In the modern world, dependence on computer games and social networks is growing. And in this way, people only increase the stress on the psyche instead of resting; the brain is increasingly overloaded. This is confirmed by many psychological studies. Psychological problems caused by the fast pace of life in society are a real scourge of our time, psychologists say.

We should not ignore the painful signals of our psyche and engage in the prevention of psychological disorders. If there is no way out of a problematic situation, then it would be optimal to simply switch to something distracting and more useful. Sometimes an excellent solution to psychological problems is to visit a psychologist.