graduate work

1.3 The impact of extreme situations on the psyche and actions of law enforcement officers

Once in extreme conditions, each law enforcement officer experiences large, and sometimes extreme loads, watching everything that happens and performing the necessary professional actions. He thinks a lot and intensely, evaluates, draws conclusions for himself, makes decisions, thinks over ways of behavior and actions, mobilizes his own strengths and capabilities, overcomes internal difficulties and fluctuations, subordinates his behavior to duty, solving tasks, etc. What happens in his psyche inevitably affects the quality of his professional actions, and not unambiguously.

It has been proven by experiments and in practice that extreme psychological factors have a positive effect on the psyche of a law enforcement professional if he is well prepared morally and professionally psychologically. For him mental activity in extreme situations are characterized by:

* a heightened sense of duty, responsibility and determination, coupled with the desire to solve the challenges without question and of high quality;

* complete self-mobilization, the manifestation of all forces and capabilities in the course of solving problems;

* combat excitement (within the limits of usefulness), increased energy and activity, greater perseverance and perseverance in achieving goals;

* activity maximalism, expressed in a passionate desire to achieve a result, and the highest and unconditional,

* increased vigilance, attentiveness, observation, quick and clear work of thought;

* composure and constant readiness for any surprises, for quick reactions to changing situations and the emergence of danger;

* resistance to temporary failures, etc.

Their actions, therefore, are of high quality, increased clarity, accuracy of fire, and effectiveness. Many of these workers experience professional excitement and pleasure in extreme conditions.

Positive changes are not only individual, but also group character. Thus, in combat groups, detachments, subunits, and highly trained units, there is a strengthening of the moral and psychological climate, healthy public opinion and an optimistic mood, relationships are subordinated to combat and service interests, interaction, mutual understanding, mutual assistance, manifestations of camaraderie, solidarity, mutual support, adherence to professional and combat traditions, etc.

However, extreme situations and their inherent factors have a negative impact on workers who are poorly trained in professional, moral-volitional and psychological terms. Their mental activity is dominated by:

* the transition of the intensity of mental stress beyond the limits of usefulness;

* anxiety, confusion, indecision, slow reactions;

* fear of failure, fear of responsibility, subordinating one's behavior to the motive of avoiding failure at all costs (instead of striving for the greatest possible success);

* deterioration in intelligence, observation, assessment of the situation, manifestations of memory lapses and illusions of perception (“Fear has large eyes”, “The frightened crow is afraid of the bush”);

* decrease in activity, perseverance, perseverance, resourcefulness and ingenuity in achieving a goal, an increase in the tendency to look for excuses (“Whoever wants, he is looking for ways, who does not want, is looking for reasons”);

* a constant feeling of weakness, fatigue, impotence, inability to mobilize;

* exacerbation of the sense of self-preservation, which sometimes captures the entire consciousness and becomes the only motivating force of behavior;

* increase in irritability, loss of self-control, etc.

These negative manifestations in mental activity are adequately reflected in actions and deeds. When passing through the limit of usefulness, tensions and the appearance of overvoltage (distress) are primarily lost creativity adequate understanding of what is happening; actions are made stereotyped and do not fully correspond to the situation. With a further increase in the intensity of mental stress, under the influence of the negative psychological phenomena that have arisen, errors begin to appear even in the developed skills and habits, their number gradually increases, and they themselves become more rude; performance is declining rapidly. When limit voltage occurs, gross errors appear (for example, the driver of a car instead of the brake pedal presses the gas pedal, and then, if he survives, he cannot explain why he did it); any instructions and recommendations "fly out of my head"; there are manifestations of outright cowardice, refusal to carry out risky assignments, deceit, dishonesty, lack of will, etc.

If the overvoltage continues to increase and further passes the critical point TO, transcendental tension sets in and a breakdown of mental activity occurs - a loss of the ability to understand the environment and be aware of one's behavior. A breakdown can be expressed in an inhibitory form (stupor, psychological shock, numbness, indifference, complete passivity and indifference, loss of consciousness, etc.) or hysterical (panic, senseless, chaotic behavior).

Negative phenomena also occur in poorly prepared groups: unhealthy and pessimistic moods, rumors, discontent, negative opinions, weakening of discipline, violations of statutory and official norms of behavior, a tendency to excessive drinking, conflicts in relationships, panic.

In the process of adaptation to extreme conditions, it is customary to distinguish the following stages, characterized by a change in emotional states and the appearance of unusual mental phenomena: preparatory, starting mental stress, acute mental reactions of entry, mental re-adaptation, final mental stress, acute mental reactions of exit and readaptation. In the genesis of unusual mental states, anticipation is clearly traced in a situation of information uncertainty (the stage of starting mental stress and the final stage); breakdown of the functional systems of analyzers formed in the process of ontogenesis or a long stay in extreme conditions, disturbances in the course of mental processes and changes in the system of relationships and relationships (the stage of acute mental reactions of entry and exit), vigorous activity of the individual in developing protective (compensatory) reactions in response to exposure psychogenic factors (the stage of re-adaptation) or the restoration of the old stereotypes of response (the stage of readaptation).

Practical experience suggests that with high-quality emotional-volitional and professional-psychological training, with serious personal work of an employee on himself, all possible negative effects of extreme conditions on him and his actions can be successfully neutralized.

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THE CONCEPTS "EXTREME CONDITIONS" AND "EXTREME CONDITIONS"

Life does not give anything without hard work and unrest.

Horace

Traditionally, in psychology, extreme conditions are understood as those that pose a real threat to human life or health (physical and mental) and have a detrimental effect on him. These are, as a rule, the most difficult, perhaps even unnatural conditions for a person.

Extreme conditions- intense, sudden, prolonged, life-threatening and health-threatening circumstances or outside the usual environment in which people's life activities are carried out.

However, from a psychological point of view, extreme conditions cannot include only external factors. Of particular importance is the internal (personal) aspect of the problems of extreme conditions. It is the internal factors that play a large role in assessing the extremeness of conditions and can affect a person even in the absence or very slight severity of external factors. For example,

V. V. Sreznevsky, referring to Schuster, cites the following case: “The conductor of an electric tram fell ill with a serious form of traumatic neurosis after a broken cable fell on his head. Meanwhile, it turned out later that there was no current in the circuit at the time when this misfortune occurred.

Most often, an equal sign is put between extreme situations and extreme conditions, especially for the conditions of professional activity (professions associated with risk: military, firefighters, rescuers, etc.), natural and climatic conditions, political upheavals, military operations, man-made disasters.

At the same time, attempts have been made in psychology to differentiate the concepts of "extreme situations" and "extreme conditions". So,

The concept of "extreme conditions of life" (Fig. 2.1), which is introduced by A. V. Pishchelko and D. V. Sochivko, includes, in addition to the situation (physical, temporal and psychological parameters determined by external conditions), also stimuli, episodes, environment (social relationships), environment (physical and social variables outside world).

Rice. 2.1.

Each of the components of extreme living conditions has both positive and negative consequences, depending on its significance and subjective assessment by the individual. At the same time, a person is characterized by a situational idea of ​​these components of extreme conditions, on the basis of which both intrapersonal (positive) changes and pathological changes in behavior can occur. When exposed to extreme stimuli, mental processes and human states (perception, sensations, thinking, memory, feelings, etc.) change. Possible pathological disorders can be depression, phobias, anxiety disorders. Extreme episodes transform the value system (what was previously unimportant becomes significant and valuable), but obsessions, manias, etc. may appear. Extreme situations contribute to a change in purposeful behavior, but conflict, aggressiveness, and irritability are possible. The environment changes the mental organization of a person for the better (empathy, complicity, help, etc.), but depression, psychopathic deviations, and psychological trauma can develop. The environmental factor contributes to changes in the spiritual organization of the individual (search for meanings, development of willpower, courage, heroism), but lack of spirituality, loss of moral guidelines are possible.

The environmental factor occupies an important place in defining conditions as extreme. The environment is seen as the "arena" of one event, a series of events and life in general. On this basis, O. S. Shiryaeva,

S. V. Kondrashenkova, Ya. A. Surikova distinguish spatio-temporal characteristics of extremity. The environment as the arena of life as a whole is considered as extreme conditions, and the environment as a series of events - as extreme situations. In our opinion, it should be added that from a psychological point of view, such an environmental factor as an extreme event in the conditions of a certain social system (social group, family, etc.) is also of great importance. This is an extremely important arena for the development of an extreme event, which is directly related to the individual involved in the process of interaction with the immediate environment. This environmental factor has all the characteristics inherent in one event, a series of events, cultural and historical conditions in which a person develops. An event can be of a sudden nature, be quite long and alternate with other events, be constant in terms of cultural and historical conditions characteristic of a particular historical era (Fig. 2.2).

Due to the relative immutability of previously formed habitual strategies and behavior patterns in extreme situations, a person always reacts to them through the system. interpersonal relationships(appeals for help, manipulates, shows aggression, helps others, etc.). He is, as it were, included in this or that interpersonal game, the way out of which can be extremely difficult. For example, a victim game in which roles are predetermined: Victim, Aggressor, Rescuer, which will be discussed in more detail in the following chapters. Relationships of this kind are built on the basis of unhealthy reactions of a person to an intrusion of an event of an extreme nature and often traumatize a person.

Rice. 2.2.

Thus, the assessment of the event, the attitude towards it in the conditions of a certain social system is influenced by cultural and historical conditions, the specifics of the situation itself (emergency, extreme), as well as the degree of formation of certain coping strategies, which allows us to speak of an individual history (biography). ) of a person.

This approach gives us the opportunity to differentiate the concepts of "emergency", "extreme situation" and "extreme conditions", to which we will return in the following chapters. Now it is important that extreme conditions, which are more permanent than situations, are woven into a person's biography and contribute to the development of a person's readiness or unpreparedness for extreme impact.

In the psychological readiness of the individual for extreme exposure

O. S. Shiryaeva, S. V. Kondrashenkova, Ya. A. Surikova distinguish five components:

• 1) a positive assessment of extremeness, including its assessment as a challenge;
• 2) non-normative activity as a creative focus on the processing of traumatic experience, an active life position, etc.;
• 3) orientation towards mutual support as a focus on cooperation, altruism as opposed to selfishness;
• 4) the strength of "I", meaning high neuropsychic stability, risk taking, responsibility, independence;
• 5) subjective saturation of life as an assessment of the fullness and quality of one's life, the desire for diversity and intensity of impressions.

These resources increase the adaptive potential of the individual, regardless of the nature of extremeness.

Thus, in psychological terms, we can talk about two layers of personality development under extreme conditions:

• 1) developing, contributing to the growth and development of the individual under the influence of extreme stimuli, episodes, relationships, situations, environment;
• 2) victimizing, turning a person into a victim of extreme stimuli, episodes, relationships, situations, extreme environment.

There is also a third layer (intermediate). Let's call it transformative: it's not development yet, but it's not victimization either. The person, as it were, is between two distinguished layers.

With the imposition of all these components, a person may find himself in extremely difficult conditions of life. However, these conditions can become for him not only an impetus to pathological changes and victimization, but also the possibility of transformation and positive high intrapersonal changes.

Let us note, referring to A. G. Asmolov, that "personality is generated by culture and history." The crucial point most often ignored when categorizing the concept of "extreme conditions". Moreover, culture, history (zeitgeist, social, political, economic conditions of a particular historical period), penetrating into the multidimensional world of a person, are able to form “sociotypical behavior”, which is manifested in the historical identity of a person, a historical personality type is formed (for example, a Soviet person ). These two factors - cultural-historical conditions (objective) and historical personality type (subjective) - must be taken into account when determining extreme conditions. In addition, everything related to character, identity, relationships between people and a person’s attitude to difficulties, etc. is important when highlighting the concept of “extreme conditions”. (metafactors).

Thus, when defining the concept of "extreme conditions", one should start from objective, meta- and subjective factors.

On this basis, extreme conditions will be defined by us as intense, prolonged, dangerous cultural and historical circumstances that, penetrating into the multidimensional world of a person, affect his historical identity, form a historical personality type with its own character, identity, capable of development, transformation or victimization. .

When analyzing extreme states, it is advisable to refer to the very term “mental state”, which was first introduced in 1955 by N. D. Levitov and was initially understood as “a holistic characteristic of mental activity over a certain period of time, showing the peculiarity of the course of mental processes depending on the reflected objects and phenomena of reality, the previous state and mental properties of the personality ". The mental state is usually clearly assessed and indicated by a person (for example, “I'm scared”, “anxious”, “I'm full of energy”, etc.).

N. D. Levitov himself does not introduce the concept of “extreme mental state”, but describes a number of examples that can characterize it to some extent. For example, the author noted the role of external significant factors upon the occurrence of one or another state: “The Great Patriotic War called Soviet people a great rise in patriotic mood, a state of readiness to sacrifice everything for victory over the enemy. Levitov also describes the opposite states caused by the war, taking as a basis the novel by A. A. Fadeev “The Young Guard”: “All this: racing cars, and people walking in a continuous stream, and this explosion that shook the sky and the earth, and the disappearance of the copra, - all this fell on the girls in one instant terrible impression. And all the feelings that were shy in their souls were suddenly permeated by one inexpressible feeling, deeper and stronger than horror for themselves - the feeling of the abyss of the end, the end of everything, opening up before them. At the same time, the same, even significant for the majority, events can cause different states in different people: for some they will become extreme, but for some they will not: much depends on the individual characteristics of the individual, past experience, previous states. When the environment is “over-demanding,” mental states go through a series of stages: aggression, regression, and recovery. However, the stress factor can be so intense that even a hardy organism, a strong character, cannot fully resist it. For example, V. N. Smirnov gives different data on the ability to maintain mental balance and a good level of performance in extreme conditions. Some experts (V. M. Melnikov, A. I. Ushatikov, G. S. Chovdyrova) indicate that approximately 12% to 30% of people maintain mental balance. According to the most optimistic forecasts (I. O. Kotenev, N. M. Filippov), 47% of participants in extreme events act effectively. The rest are characterized by a variety of negative mental states: fear, horror, panic, etc.

Referring to the studies of I. P. Pavlov, N. D. Levitov emphasizes the great role of internal physiological factors in the occurrence of extreme states of “irritable weakness” and “pathological inertia”. Irritable weakness means an overstrain of the excitatory process, which leads to strong explosive reactions as a result of the weakening of active inhibition. There is always a sharp drop after the “explosion”, and even the weakest stimuli can cause strong reactions (for example, quiet sounds are perceived as a strong blow). Irritable weakness is often accompanied by a state of severe anxiety and chaotic movements. This is an indicator of imbalance, not strength of a person. Pathological inertia - this is a state of exaggerated concentration on something in violation of the normal mobility of nervous processes, stuck stimuli. Leads to pathological immunity to everything that does not belong to the pathological "fad". With regard to life impressions and thoughts that could distract from this fad, stupidity is observed. Pathological inertness is expressed in phenomena morbid stereotypy(automatic repetition of the same gestures, movements, words, etc.) and perseveration(persistence in the repetition of emotions, sensations, phrases, etc.) as symptoms of hysteria.

The state of pathological inertia is characteristic of an obsessive neurosis. Those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder cannot switch from disturbing thoughts and ideas. It is believed that pathological inertia accompanies paranoia. A stable delirium develops, painful life events are processed in the patient's mind. At the same time, thoughts and actions in other areas of life that go beyond the delusional system remain intact and orderly. There is no criticism of his condition. Obsession is extremely strong, but the sick person does not suffer from it, but, on the contrary, evaluates delusional ideas as an achievement and a criterion for personality development. According to IP Pavlov, the nature of the pathological condition is accompanied by disturbances in the interaction of two signal systems. In psychasthenics, second-signal activity predominates, in hysterics - first-signal activity. Therefore, psychasthenics are characterized by an extreme expression of the mental type, hysterics - by the expression of the artistic type. Both have a weak nervous system, but the weakness is unevenly expressed in the signaling systems.

In psychiatry, attempts are made to designate the general mental state for a particular disease. For example, A. Wine and T. Simon singled out a state of split personality in hysteria; with insanity - a conflict between consciousness and will; with manic-depressive psychosis - the prevalence of certain types and functions of activity; for paranoia - a state of disorganization of mental life.

In mental illness, impaired consciousness has causes (due to neurophysiology):

• 1) pathological changes in the strength, mobility and balance of stimulation and inhibition;
• 2) pathological disorders of cortical and subcortical activity;
• 3) pathological disturbances in the relationship between the first and second signal systems.

All this serves as a basis not only for isolating a particular disease, but also for analyzing pathological conditions in the nervous activity of a person and organizing special assistance.

As we can see, any pathological personality changes are often defined as extreme states. They are based on mental disorders, violations of body functions, which becomes the main criterion for an extreme state.

D. G. Tagdisi and Ya. D. Mamedov (1991) describe the reactions of the body to extreme stimuli in the form of the dynamics of the development of extreme states: mobilization, resistance (stability, resistance), overstrain, exhaustion, protective inhibition (a kind of unconditional inhibition that occurs in brain cells with an excessive increase in the strength, duration or frequency of excitation of the corresponding cortical structures) and again exhaustion. If at first extreme states express the adaptive reactions of the body, then later (as a result of duration, superintensity, transcendence) they can acquire a pathological character.

The main pathological reactions of a person to extreme situations, their duration and the consequences of experiencing are presented by us in the textbook "The Psychology of Stress". Let us briefly dwell on some of them, since they are directly related to the problem of extreme conditions. It should be noted that the state of the individual today is considered in several aspects: it is an indicator of the dynamics of the individual and integral reactions of the individual, due to internal and external factors. As S. A. Druzhilov and A. M. Oleshchenko (2014) write, states in general characterize different levels of a person: mental, physiological, psychophysiological. And no matter how extensive the list of possible states is, they have one thing in common: “A state is a reaction of the body and psyche to external influences.” Therefore, a person's reactions to extreme situations are closely related to his states. Allocate forms of reactions and their duration.

• 1. Acute affective-shock reactions to an extreme situation develop in three forms:
• 1) hyperkinetic (affect, fear, twilight state of consciousness, chaotic motor activity);
• 2) hypokinetic (partial or complete immobility, numbness, lethargy, memory impairment);
• 3) subacute affective psychoses (depression, delusional disorders, hallucinations, aimless motor activity, obsessive fears).

The duration of affective-shock reactions, regardless of their form, is from several minutes to three days.

2. Reactive states and psychoses(hysterical psychosis, reactive paranoid delusions, reactive paranoid).

In hysterical psychosis, personality traits play a significant role: demonstrativeness, infantilism, egocentrism. There is a narrowing of consciousness with subsequent amnesia, vivid hallucinations. With hysterical stupor, immobility, a frozen mask of horror, paralysis of emotions are noted. Reactive paranoid delusions are accompanied by a lively emotional reaction, expressed in a delusional idea that clearly dominates the mind. Hypochondria, suspicion, anxiety, persecution mania are observed. This state lasts until the psychotraumatic situation disappears. Reactive paranoid arises against the background of a traumatic situation and manifests itself in focusing on the idea of ​​persecution, fear, in a change in consciousness, pseudo-hallucinations.

• 3. Acute reaction to an emergency occurs in the form of a response to physical and psychological stress in people without apparent mental disorders. Symptoms appear within an hour of exposure to a major stressor. Disturbances in the sphere of attention occur, disorientation, inadequate hyperactivity appear. Emotions are expressed in verbal aggression, there is an experience of despair, hopelessness, a pronounced experience of grief. Physiology also suffers: weakness, strong heartbeat, pressure surges, headache, etc. There are two stages in the course of acute stress disorders:
• 1) confusion, disorientation, narrowing of perception and attention;
• 2) anxiety, panic, despair, anger, stupor, vegetative-somatic symptoms, sometimes partial or complete amnesia.

With an acute stress disorder lasting more than two days, dissociative symptoms are observed: impaired consciousness, memory, depersonalization, a feeling of loss of connection with reality, insensitivity. In addition, there may be signs that are characteristic of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With a duration of more than a month, a diagnosis of PTSD is made.

• 4. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when exposed extreme situation leads to major changes in six areas of personality functioning:
• 1) feelings and emotions;
• 2) consciousness;
• 3) self-perception;
• 4) relationships with others;
• 5) somatics;
• 6) violations in the system of meanings.

The symptoms of PTSD can become more pronounced and become post-traumatic personality disorder (persistent personality changes after experiencing trauma). This disorder, its characteristics and diagnostic criteria will be discussed in more detail in the dedicated section 6.2.

• 5. Reactions to severe stress and adjustment disorder occur in response to an extreme event. This disorder is defined based on symptomatology and the existence of one of the following:
• 1) a strong stressful life event;
• 2) significant changes in life, leading to maladjustment and chronic troubles.

These reactions depend on the individual vulnerability of a person and manifest themselves in different forms:

• 1) asthenic form detects the prevalence of physical (decrease in physical tone, feeling of weakness, lethargy, sleep disturbance, gynothymic and hypersthenic reactions) or mental (deterioration in productivity, psychomotor retardation, attention disorders, changes in intellectual activity) weakness;
• 2) dysthymic form expressed in psycho-emotional shifts (internal overstrain, pessimism, anxiety, depression, etc.);
• 3) psychovegetative form characterized by general weakness, lethargy, dizziness, fluctuations in blood pressure, feelings of heat or, on the contrary, coldness, respiratory disorders, etc.

Let us present non-specific human reactions to extreme situations and events in the form of a table. 2.1.

Table 2.1

Nonspecific human reactions to extreme situations, events, their forms and duration

situations/	Reactions as a response to a situation	Reaction forms	Duration
extreme situations	Acute affective-shock reactions	Hyperkinetic, hypokinetic, subacute effects	From a few minutes to three days
	Reactive psychoses	Hysterical psychosis, reactive paranoid delusions, reactive iaranoid	Within a few months
	Acute reaction to stress; acute stress disorder	Hyperkinetic, hypokinetic, physiological	Several hours or days
	Post-traumatic stress disorder (IITCP)	Acute, chronic, delayed	From half a year to several years
extreme	Adjustment disorder	Short-term, prolonged, mixed anxiety-depressive! cha	From two to three months to half a head

As you can see, people's reactions to extreme situations (and events) depend on many factors: situational (significance and strength of the impact of the situation) and personal (spiritual, emotional, semantic, value, mental) levels of personality development. The more disharmonious the system of relations of the individual (to the world, to other people, to oneself), the more intense are the processes of mental maladjustment, manifested in a number of neurotic, somatic and psychotic disorders.

Thus, the concept of "extreme states" means finding a certain limit of the psychological and physiological adaptive resources of the individual (the beginning of destruction, the onset of pathology and death). Good human adaptability may prevent this limit from being set. The limiting state of death, destruction or pathology of the body is preceded by a number of adaptive states, accompanied by the activation of protective mechanisms aimed at preventing destruction. An intermediate state between the norm and the disease may be accompanied by unpleasant painful sensations that make a person avoid the risk factor. This is the first indicator of the presence of extreme impacts. As another indicator of extremeness, a person's capacity is used (activity, performance, decreasing with extreme exposure). The third factor of the extreme state is external, as a result of which there is a prolonged tension of the physiological, psychological and biological forces of the body, which inevitably leads to exhaustion. Even prolonged high mobilization can actualize existing diseases or cause other diseases. The fourth factor is the individual's subjective assessment of threatening external factors and their ability to overcome them.

Under the extreme state, E. B. Karpova understands the demarcation (demarcation) line in the functioning of the psyche. On the one hand, a person experiences feelings of maximum intensity, activity activity, is distinguished by a fast response rate (instantly intuitively or instinctively makes decisions), on the other hand, it is possible mental trauma tization, as a result of which the personality needs to be restored and self-restored, sometimes lasting for years. The author emphasizes that an extreme state is short-term, almost always caused by external circumstances, personal and is characterized by "a temporary imbalance of the psyche that does not allow a person to function, attracting his usual ways of emotional response, decision-making or behavioral algorithms" . As we can see, the time parameter of the extreme state is estimated differently in the scientific literature. In any case, the totality of various reactions to an extreme situation develops into extreme mental state.

A generalized description of extreme mental states is given by P. I. Sidorov, I. G. Mosyagin, S. V. Marunyak and distinguishes activation, tonic, tension and temporal characteristics. This emphasizes their dual nature.

• 1. Activation characteristics(intensity of mental processes) are determined by the motivational-need sphere of the personality. The degree of activation is determined by the strength of needs and motives, optimistic / pessimistic attitude to an extreme situation, self-assessment of one's capabilities. Activation is manifested in the pace of response to the situation, the energy of behavior and the severity of the desire to overcome difficulties. Activation parameters are characterized by two poles: on the one hand, excitation, an increase in the intensity of mental processes; on the other hand, inhibition, a decrease in the rate of response.
• 2. Tonic characteristics(resources, tone, energy). Increased readiness for activity, composure, energy are characteristic of increased tone; fatigue, scattered attention, asthenic type of response to extreme situations are characteristic of people with reduced tone.
• 3. Tension characteristics indicate the level of tension and are due to the peculiarities of the emotional-volitional sphere of the individual. The degree of tension is formed as a result of the severity of such psychological factors as increased demands on oneself, insecurity, fears, etc. On the one hand, this is psychological comfort, confident behavior, on the other hand, psychological discomfort, uncertainty of behavior.
• 4. Timing denoted by the stability and duration of the state.

Tension becomes an invariable criterion for extreme mental states, which is associated with an emotional attitude to the situation, therefore, as a variety of extreme mental states of a person, extreme emotional mental states characterized by emotional arousal, tension, tension. If emotional arousal occurs as a reaction of the nervous system to an extreme impact, and emotional stress is regarded as a strong-willed effort aimed at overcoming difficulties, then emotional tension is a decrease in the stability of mental processes (decline in activity, asthenia, etc.).

In studies of mental extreme states, a lot of attention is paid to the emotional sphere of a person. For example, G. Lange (1896) wrote that emotions play the role of the most important factors not only in the life of an individual. These are “the most powerful natural forces known to us. Each page in the history of both entire nations and individuals proves their irresistible force. And he continued: “The storms of passions have destroyed more human lives, devastated more countries than hurricanes; their flood destroyed more cities than the floods. Therefore, we cannot omit this most important aspect of the consideration of extreme states. Emphasize especially vivid emotions and feelings.

• 1. Affect- this is the sudden appearance or rapid growth of a feeling to a degree of such intensity that all other elements of consciousness are pushed aside, and this dominant feeling is its only dominant content. V. Serbsky attributed to affects only such representations that are of the greatest importance for a person. And he clarified: “Closest of all to them are ideas concerning:
• 1) our personal individual existence and
• 2) its continuation in offspring.

Therefore, the greatest intensity is possessed by the affects caused by unhappy love, the affects of jealousy, which often turn a person into a wild beast. Equally important are the affects of fear of imminent danger to life, the affects of despair. However, Serbsky writes, our life is not limited to this, and he singles out the third type of affects: ideas about ideals, beliefs, honor, dignity. “Our ideals and beliefs often become more precious than physical existence, and people sacrifice their lives to keep their beliefs. An insult to honor, an expectation of disgrace, can therefore cause just the same affect.

With any affect, changes are observed in the motor sphere, and some affects have an exciting effect, cause increased movements (sthenic), while others, on the contrary, paralyze activity (asthenic). Following the violent manifestation of a motor reaction, a sharp depletion of mental and physical forces occurs, which is characteristic of a pathological affect. An indicator of a pathological affect is a narrowed consciousness, complete or partial amnesia, senseless, aimless actions, and a sharp exhaustion of strength.

Here is how N. D. Levitov reveals the characteristics of affects: dominance (a person is subject to affect), turbulence (sharpness, brightness, inability to hide), strength, short duration. Forms of affect are two opposite states: agitation and a state of stupor.

Littered state characterized by pronounced erratic motor activity that occurs on the basis of anxiety. Fussiness appears, a person performs simple automated actions under the influence of random stimuli. There is a slowness of thought processes (lack of thoughts, a violation of logic), the perception of time changes, vegetative disorders occur in the form of sweating, palpitations, pallor, etc.

Stupor as a state in a situation of threat, it is characterized by numbness, but unlike an agitated state, intellectual activity is preserved during stupor.

2. Fear. Yu. V. Pustovoit refers fear to the number of words with a “dark origin”. He considers it through the prism of etymology, which allows a deeper analysis of this phenomenon. Fear is a numbness, freezing (in Lithuanian and German), devastation, defeat, warning, threat (in Latvian), passion, suffering, concussion of the soul, intimidation (common Slavic meaning), longing, closely, narrowly, squeezing the soul (in Latin), strict, severe (in Indo-European languages).

In psychology, fear is viewed as a feeling of internal tension (numbness, devastation, suffering, etc.) associated with expected or real threatening events of a psychological or physical nature. Of all the emotions, fear is most often the cause of painful phenomena or pathologies that may be incurable. According to V. V. Sreznevsky, fear can cause paralysis, epilepsy, mental disorders and many other nervous suffering, and sudden horror can even lead to death.

As a rule, fear arises in situations of threat to the biological, psychological and social existence of a person. On the one hand, fear evokes an idea of ​​salvation, which is associated with a pleasant sensual tone and for a moment displaces all other unpleasant emotions, then an impulse to escape follows, and this latter, also having a pleasant sensual tone, increases motor activity and turns into a saving flight. On the other hand, most psychiatrists recognize that fear is one of the causes of serious mental disorders and mental illness. This is especially true of traumatic neuroses. Indeed, even Charles Darwin noticed that fear activates the physiological mechanisms of a person (sharpening of vision, hearing, etc.), develops an orientation reflex (focusing on danger and avoiding it).

In psychology, fear and fear are distinguished. For us, both mental states of a person are important. So, in the fundamental work "Fear and mental processes" V. V. Sreznevsky characterizes fright as an emotional state arising from the sudden appearance of a sensation, perception, memory, of a threatening nature, lasting an instant. With fear, thinking is paralyzed, the ability to resist what is happening is lost. Fear can be called a short-term harbinger of fear. Fear is objective, motivates to process incoming threatening information and encourages activity in search of protection from harm. Fear can create the effect of "tunnel perception", limiting the thinking, perception and ability to process incoming threatening information. In this case, numbness occurs.

According to L. V. Kulikov, the state of fear can enhance the state of mass consciousness, mass mood and the dominant mass state (prevailing emotions).

• 3.Horror N. D. Levitov refers to the type of affective fear. This is the ultimate level of fear. Actually, this opinion is shared by most experts. Such fear contributes to disorganization, the emergence of a state of panic. Horror narrows mental activity, attention suffers, it is difficult for a person to maintain self-control. From horror, they either perform chaotic, erratic actions, or become numb. Unlike fear, with horror, a person never has surprise, interest, or a desire to explore the subject that caused horror. Therefore, horror can be called a strong, toxic, harmful emotion. Horror always signals the inevitability of disaster and death. Fear and horror are accompanied by behavioral manifestations; so a state of panic can develop.
• 4. Panic- one of the characteristic emotional states in extreme situations. The word "panic" is associated with ancient Greek mythology and comes from the name of the god Pan, the patron saint of shepherds and herds. In mythology, it is described how a herd driven by panic horror blindly and chaotically rushes into the abyss. Panic is accompanied by a loss of control over oneself, an uncontrolled experience of severe anxiety, fear.

Panic II. I. Sidorov, I. G. Mosyagin, S. V. Marunyak refer to a temporary experience of hypertrophied fear (horror), which contributes to uncontrollable, unregulated behavior of people, sometimes with a complete loss of self-control. At the heart of panic lies a state of helplessness in the face of an imagined or real threat and a focus on flight instead of fighting. Narrowed consciousness, erratic actions, exacerbation of the defensive reaction, or, conversely, numbness, loss of orientation, refusal to act - this is what underlies panic.

For example, V. M. Bekhterev designates panic as one of the brightest “psychic epidemics” of a short-term nature, arising as a result of imminent mortal danger and relating to a sense of self-preservation inherent in all living organisms, manifesting itself equally among intellectuals and among common people. This is "not simple cowardice, which can be overcome in oneself with a sense of duty and which can be fought with persuasion." Panic seizes with a sense of imminent danger "like an acute infection" almost suddenly a whole mass of people. Persuasion is completely powerless against panic. Panic arises not only on the basis of unexpected visual impressions (a sudden fire, a car accident, etc.), but also through a word deliberately or accidentally thrown into the crowd. According to V. M. Bekhterev, panic can stop only with the cessation of external influence.

Let us give an example of the description of panic in the work of N. N. Golovitsyn (1907): “... the burghers (townspeople) set off on a wild flight, leaving magnificent fortifications. Not even the slightest attempt was made on their part to hold positions behind them. It was a flight the like of which I have never seen before or since. All our efforts could not bring back any of the burghers who fled in panic. These were the same burghers whose bravery had previously been praiseworthy. And now it was impossible to believe that it was they. Here, N. N. Golovitsin emphasizes another feature of panic: it can change a person so much that he becomes unlike himself.

Panic can be individual, group and mass.

individual panic may be accompanied by panic disorders, the main features of which are recurring panic attacks, unpredictability. With panic disorders, a person experiences increasing fear, experiencing a sense of impending death. All this is accompanied by vegetative symptoms (increased heart rate, chest pain, feelings of suffocation, dizziness, sweating, a feeling of depersonalization or derealization). Panic states are distinct from panic attacks - the latter occur as part of phobic disorders and may be secondary to depressive disorders. There are two types of panic:

• 1) after extreme exposure, perceived as a mortal danger;
• 2) after a long stay in a state of anxiety, tension, as a result of fixation on the subject of anxiety, which leads to nervous exhaustion.

Panic disorders at the onset of the disease may not be clearly diagnosed - this is the first phase of the formation of vegetative-anxiety states with increasing intensity as a result of exposure to a stress factor. They are single, pass quickly, and are not recognized as anxiety. The disease begins with the second phase of the appearance of the most pronounced anxiety-vegetative states, qualitatively transforming self-awareness and self-perception. A panic attack is assessed as a severe borderline experience of loss of control over one's behavior and condition. The third phase of restrictive behavior is aimed at preventing panic attacks against the background of the development of phobic reactions. In the fourth phase, anxiety-vegetative states are supplemented by depressive disorders.

Panic, which is of a group nature, covers from two or three people to several tens and hundreds, and mass panic - thousands and tens of thousands of people. If people are in a confined space and the overwhelming majority is in panic, it is considered that the panic is massive, regardless of the number of people. Group and Mass Panic have effects infections And suggestion, what was called by V. M. Bekhterev "mental microbe". By itself, a group of people "turns into one huge personality, feeling and acting as one." Bekhterev emphasized the powerful effect of mutual suggestion on the crowd, which arouses the same feelings in individual people of the crowd, maintains the same mood, strengthens the thought that unites them and raises activity to an extraordinary degree. Mass panic is dangerous because a large number of people can die as a result of a stampede. There are many examples. The most tragically famous in terms of the number of victims were the panic on Khodynka field during the celebration of the coronation of Nicholas II (May 18, 1896), in which about 2 thousand people died and several tens of thousands were injured; panic during the funeral of I. Stalin on March 9, 1953 (statistics unknown).

Psychologists have identified factors that turn groups of people into a panicky crowd:

• social factors (tension in society due to expected disasters). Sometimes the tension is determined by the memory of the tragedy;
• physiological (cold, heat, hunger, fatigue, insomnia, nervous shock);
• psychological (fear, fear, lack of information about possible dangers and ways to overcome them, a sense of helplessness);
• ideological (lack of a significant common goal, low level of group cohesion, lack of authoritative leaders).

These reasons set the stage for panic.

The characteristics of panic are distinguished depending on the degree of panic infection of consciousness: mild, medium, at the level of complete insanity.

So, with mild panic (in situations of haste, sudden outbreaks, such as fireworks, etc.), surprise, concern and muscle tension are observed. In medium panic (situations of buying goods when rumors of shortages spread; small transport accidents; fires; emergencies, in which the person is not personally included), there is a significant deformation of the assessments of what is happening, criticality decreases, fear increases, suggestibility increases. With panic at the level of complete insanity (extreme situations of mortal danger), there is a blackout, loss of control over one's behavior, there is no criticality, hysterical symptoms are observed, social norms and rules break down, and aggression increases.

5. Stressful state. In the textbook "Psychology of Stress", we considered the stressful state as an independent complex psychological, physiological and social phenomenon, as a response of the body to the impact of extreme factors (stressors). The state of stress is characterized by increased physiological and mental activity and is transformed into an optimal state under favorable conditions, and into a state of high neuro-emotional tension - under unfavorable conditions. In a state of stress, intellectual actions are disturbed: there is a deterioration in attention, thinking, memory, a narrowing of perception, disturbances appear in the emotional sphere, stiffness or chaotic movements and actions are observed. But there are also positive effects of stress: acceleration of mental processes, improvement of working memory, flexibility of thinking, preservation of the process of producing useful information. As a rule, physiological and psychological reactions to stress are interrelated. Our body reacts to the impact of a stress factor by changes in the functioning of physiological systems (headaches, irritability, absent-mindedness, fatigue, weakness of the immune system, etc.). At the same time, mental processes are activated: emotional, cognitive, volitional. An extreme stress state can be called a state of distress.

Distress (from the Greek. dys- prefix meaning disorder, and English, stress- tension) is stress associated with pronounced negative emotions and has a harmful effect on health.

As stated in the Law "On the protection of the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies": "An emergency is a situation in a certain territory that has developed as a result of an accident, a natural hazard, a catastrophe, a natural or other disaster that may cause or have caused loss of life, damage to human health or environment, significant material losses and violation of the living conditions of people.

It is human nature to seek protection from various dangers that threaten him from the outside world. Different methods of protection are used - from healers and shamans who turn to the forces of nature with sacrifices in order to propitiate them to military protection their territories and the capture of new ones - less dangerous and richer. All these methods were the first attempts to ensure life safety.

Now medicine, military affairs, science and technology are developing. All this allows humanity to live more comfortably, to feel more secure - on the one hand. But, on the other hand, the fruits of technological progress in themselves threaten people with danger. The number of disasters is growing, their scale is constantly increasing. And the developed structure of the mass media becomes the reason that a huge number of people are voluntarily or involuntarily involved in the experience of an extreme situation.

In our country there is a unified state system prevention and liquidation of emergency situations.

The main tragedy of emergencies is the victims and the injured. The death of people, physical illnesses, injuries are indelible and tragic consequences of emergency situations. Recently, experts have begun to pay attention to the consequences that affect the psychosocial and mental health of the population.

The attention of specialists working with people who survived the disaster was drawn to the mental consequences of disasters - it turned out that they can be no less severe than somatic ones, and lead to serious illness and social problems, both for individual citizens of a person, and for social groups, and society as a whole.

Natural and man-made disasters, local armed conflicts, terrorist acts have a special effect on the psyche - they contribute to the fact that delayed and protracted reactions occur, and this affects not only the direct participants in the events, but also outside observers, who, as already mentioned, due to The media indirectly participate in these events.

Realistic reflection of current events in the media makes people forced to "immerse" in them, makes them, as it were, direct witnesses, accomplices.

Until recently, there was an opinion that only miners and astronauts had extreme working conditions. Changes in the life of society over the past 15-20 years have led to a sharp increase in the number of professions whose representatives work in extreme situations. The following professions can be called such: firefighter, rescuer, air traffic controller, collector, traffic police worker - all these specialties carry certain elements of extremeness.

In the event of an emergency, heads of enterprises and organizations whose work continues in extreme conditions are automatically included in this list.

The activities of workers with "dangerous professions" are divided into two types:

• 1. Everyday hard work, in which danger is given the place of a potentially possible event (the work of air traffic controllers, collectors).
• 2. Work in the conditions of so-called critical incidents, in which the employee sees human casualties and material losses, which has a real danger to his life, health or value system, and can also be associated with threats to the life, health, well-being of others (work rescuers, firefighters).

In the human mind, emergencies sharply divide life into “before” and “after”.

It is difficult to draw an unambiguous conclusion about which type of emergency has the most severe consequences on the mental state of people, and which are easier to experience - natural or man-made.

Extreme situations of an anthropogenic nature, like the tragedy in Beslan, have such a destructive effect on a person that they not only disorganize a person’s behavior, but also “blow up” the basic structures of his entire personal organization - the image of the world. A person's habitual picture of the world is destroyed, and with it - the entire system of life coordinates. From anthropogenic emergencies, according to a number of researchers, the situation of hostage is the most psychotraumatic. This is due to the existence of a real prospect of death for the hostages, feelings of paralyzing fear, the inability to counter terrorists in the circumstances, the denial of the inherent value of life and the identity of the hostage. Such situations give rise, both in the victims themselves and in society in general, a large number of aggressive reactions, anxiety, phobic disorders.

At the same time, there is an opinion that people usually experience natural disasters much easier than anthropogenic ones. Such natural disasters as earthquakes, floods, etc., are regarded by the victims as "God's will" or the action of impersonal nature - nothing can be changed here.

Some experts believe that among natural disasters, earthquakes cause the greatest damage to the psyche. The specific consequences of an earthquake associated with the mental state of people include the development of maladjustment reactions, the occurrence of phobic disorders associated with the fear of being in buildings, the fear of repeated tremors (people who survived an earthquake often have sleep disturbances, since their condition is characterized by anxiety and anticipation of aftershocks); fear for the lives of their loved ones.

But, strictly speaking, it is impossible to unambiguously divide emergencies according to severity. Each situation has its own specifics and characteristics, its own mental consequences for participants and witnesses, and is experienced by each person individually. In many ways, the depth of this experience depends on the personality of the person himself, his internal resources, coping mechanisms.

Of great importance for assessing and predicting mental consequences is the fact of whether a person was directly involved in emergency situations, whether he was a witness or participant in it, or experienced the loss of a loved one or relative as a result of emergency situations.

In accordance with the nature of the impact of the negative factors of the emergency, all people exposed to these factors are conventionally divided into the following groups.

The first group are experts. They have a mechanism psychological protection- dissociation (a look at the situation from the outside, from the outside, without personal emotional involvement), often manifested if a person, by the nature of his professional activity, is constantly faced with the pain and suffering of other people. This reaction is considered normal. However, work in extreme conditions does not always go unnoticed for specialists.

The second group is the victims. As a rule, people who survived an emergency spent a lot of energy fighting for life, and the very fact that they survived is a huge resource for them to further overcome the situation and return to normal life. Most of these people eventually return to normal life on their own or with the help of specialists.

The third group is the victims. It is they who experience the onset of the most severe emotional reactions, long-term negative experiences. The victims cannot come to terms, unable to accept the grief that has befallen them, they feel the impossibility of adapting to the changed conditions of life. This group reveals delayed mental consequences in the greatest number.

The fourth group includes eyewitnesses or witnesses of emergency situations.

The fifth group are observers. The degree of traumatization of people in these two groups largely depends on their personal characteristics and the presence of traumatic situations in the past. For some, extinguishing a fire in a residential building will only be a curious, exciting sight, for others it can cause mental disorders (fears, neuroses) and somatic consequences.

The sixth group includes TV viewers and Internet users. For example, the terrorist act committed in October 2002 in the building of the concert hall, where the performance of the musical "Nord-Ost" was held, was widely covered by various media. After that, there were many cases of people turning to specialists for help with complaints of fears, anxiety for themselves and their loved ones, a violation of the sense of security, a depressed state, poor physical health, and actualization of the traumatic experience gained earlier.

So, extreme and emergency situations arise in all areas of human life. Each person during his life there is a number of situations that are extreme for him. Therefore, everyone needs the basic knowledge, skills and abilities needed during an emergency.

Such baggage is especially necessary for the head of the enterprise and organization. In addition, he will need to know the basics of psychology in order to be prepared for people's reactions to a stressful situation.

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Introduction

1. Psychology of human behavior in extreme situations

1.1 Extreme situations in human life

1.2 Mental states and human behavior characteristic of extreme situations

2. Dependences of personality behavior in extreme situations

2.1 Dependence of behavior in an extreme situation on the type of nervous system and the nature of a person

2.2 Development of human tolerance to extreme situations

3. Experimental part

Conclusion

References

Applications

Introduction

Extreme situations go beyond the normal events of human life and occur in all its areas: every person from time to time finds himself in a number of situations that are extreme for him.

The psychology of extreme situations is a fairly new but rapidly developing branch of applied psychological science that studies the characteristics of human behavior during severe stressful situations and their psychological consequences, as well as helping to assess, anticipate and optimize mental states and human behavior.

The frequency of the impact of extreme situations on a person is only increasing every year. In addition to various natural disasters that threaten human life, modern man await new severe trials caused by the activities of human civilization: man-made disasters, accidents, wars, terrorism, crime, difficult working conditions. It is especially important that many complex types of human activity are capable of causing tense situations that require precise, quick and error-free actions from a person.

The relevance of the topic of this course work is due to the fact that with all the demand for studying the psychology of human behavior in emergency situations, it is still in a poorly understood state and therefore requires increased attention.

The purpose of the course work is to analyze the materials accumulated by psychological science containing information about the behavioral styles of a person in the first minutes and hours of an incident, and to determine the general psychological patterns of the impact of extreme situations on a person, to develop advice on developing tolerance to the effects of extreme factors.

Research hypothesis: the style of human behavior in an extreme situation depends both on the type of the situation itself and on the characteristics of the human personality.

Objectives of the course work:

Define the clear content of the concept of "extreme situation";

To identify the main features of the impact of extreme situations on the human psyche and behavior;

Establish the dependence of behavior in an extreme situation on the type of human character;

The object of the study are the features of human behavior.

The subject of the study is the behavioral styles of a person in extreme situations. The material for the study was the theoretical and practical literature on the psychology of extreme situations, articles in specialized publications, publications of research on this topic.

The main method of research term paper - theoretical and bibliographic analysis.

This work consists of three chapters: two theoretical and one practical. The first chapter studies and analyzes theoretical materials on the impact of extreme situations on human behavior. In the second chapter, a comparative analysis of the dependence of behavior on the characteristics of the human personality is made and recommendations are given for the development of resistance to extreme situations. In the practical part of the work, an analysis of testing to identify coping mechanisms was carried out according to the method of E. Heim. In the final part of the work, the general result of the study is summed up.

1. Psychology of human behavior in extreme situations

1.1 Extreme situations in human life

The word "extreme" comes from the Latin word "extremum", which means "extreme", and is used to refer to the concepts of maximum and minimum. The concept of "extreme" is used when one speaks not about the usual, normal and habitual conditions of activity, but about circumstances that are significantly different from them. Extremeness points to the limiting, extreme states in the existence of things. At the same time, extreme conditions are created not only by maximization (over-influence, overloads), but also by minimization (underloads: lack of movement, information, etc.) of acting factors. The effects of the impact on the activity and state of a person in both cases can be the same. The need to study the influence of extreme factors on the human psyche has led to the emergence and active development of a new area of ​​psychological science and practice - extreme psychology.

The term "extreme situation" in most cases means a situation that has suddenly arisen, threatening or subjectively perceived by a person as threatening his life, health, well-being, personal values ​​and its integrity. It is this threat that makes the situation difficult, stressful and extreme.

It is in extreme situations that a person experiences severe stress. Let's touch on this term. The word "stress" is translated from English as "pressure", "tension" and is used to refer to a wide range of human states and actions that are a response to a variety of extreme effects, which are called "stressors". Stressors are usually divided into physiological (pain, hunger, thirst, excessive physical exertion, high or low temperatures) and psychological (factors that act by their signal value, such as danger, threat, deceit, resentment, information overload, etc.) .

The level of individual stressfulness of each situation depends on the subjective value of the object, the loss of which is threatened by this situation. A sign of extremeness is also the absence in the social experience of the individual of ready-made stereotypes of response to the circumstances that have arisen. Such situations most often go beyond the boundaries of ordinary human experience, a person is not adapted to them and is not ready to fully act. The degree of extremeness of the situation depends on the strength, duration, novelty, unusual manifestation of the factors of each specific situation. Often, an extreme situation has an important event status on life path personality.

The range of problems associated with the concept of an extreme situation is constantly expanding. In addition to natural disasters, armed conflicts, man-made disasters, accidents, extreme situations caused by a certain profession, psychologists have recently noted family crises and conflicts, emotional crises, extreme leisure activities, alcoholism and diseases of loved ones, business emergencies and much more.

Extreme situations dangerous for a person are caused by the influence of various factors of the physical or social environment.

The physical environment is the external conditions of human life. It includes such factors as the area of ​​residence, climate, living and working conditions, regime and much more. The physical environment itself can pose a threat to human health and life. For example, a person can live in regions where earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc. occur. As a rule, people living in regions with an increased risk of natural disasters develop higher alertness and readiness to act in extreme situations.

The social environment includes the environment of a person, those people with whom he interacts. It is divided into macro environment and micro environment.

The macro environment combines factors such as:

Demographic (with a high population density, especially in a metropolis, the level of danger increases: a higher pace of life, crime, etc.)

Economic (with a bad economic situation, social tension increases).

Sociocultural (characterized by the presence and number of informal movements and groupings in society).

Religious (defined by the dominant religious teachings in the region and their coexistence).

National (characterized by interethnic relations in the region).

The macro environment is also greatly influenced by mass psychological phenomena inherent in large groups of people (crowd psychology).

The microenvironment is determined by the socio-psychological characteristics of the individual, the interaction of a person with other people, the characteristics of education, traditions, the direction of the reference group, and the strategy of behavior.

Extreme situations cause significant nervous tension and stress in a person. Sometimes nervous overload reaches the limit, followed by nervous exhaustion, affective reactions, pathological conditions (psychogeny).

People, as subjects of extreme situations, are divided into the following groups:

Specialists (they work in extreme conditions of their own free will or at the call of duty).

Victims (people who find themselves in an extreme situation against their will).

Victims (those people who suffered visible losses in the course of events).

Witnesses and eyewitnesses (usually located in close proximity to the scene).

Observers (specially arrived at the scene).

The sixth group - TV viewers, radio listeners and all those who are aware of the emergency situation and are worried about its consequences.

Some psychologists specifically divide extreme situations into types, depending on their degree of force of influence on a person. For example, the famous Russian psychologist A. M. Stolyarenko divided such situations into 3 types:

Paraextreme (cause significant nervous tension, can lead a person to failure);

Extreme (cause extreme stress and overvoltage, significantly increase risks and reduce the likelihood of success);

Hyper-extreme (dramatically change the behavior of a person, making demands on her that significantly exceed her usual abilities).

However, the situation becomes extreme not only because of a real, objectively existing threat, but also because of the attitude of the individual to what is happening. Each individual perceives the same situation individually, so the criterion of "extreme" may be in the inner, psychological plane of the individual.

Extreme situations can significantly disrupt a person's basic sense of security, his belief that there is a certain order in life, and it can be controlled. In this regard, anthropogenic (caused by human activity) extreme situations are especially difficult for the psyche of the individual.

The result of the impact of extreme situations on a person can be the development of various painful conditions - neurotic and mental disorders, traumatic and post-traumatic stress. In any case, they do not pass without a trace and are able to sharply divide human life into “before” and “after”. The most extreme situations can damage even the basic structures of the entire personal organization and destroy the image of the world familiar to a person, and with it the entire system of life coordinates.

Summing up, we note the most important factors that determine the extremeness of the situation:

1) the impact of adverse environmental conditions;

2) emotional effects associated with the suddenness, novelty, danger, difficulty, responsibility of the situation;

3) extreme mental, emotional and physical stress;

4) the presence of unsatisfied physical needs (hunger, thirst, lack of sleep);

5) lack or apparent excess of conflicting information.

In the experience of a person in an extreme situation, researchers distinguish three main stages:

1) The pre-exposure phase, which includes feelings of anxiety, threat immediately before a dangerous event.

2) The phase of influence, which is characterized by the predominance of the emotion of fear and sensations derived from it. It includes directly the time of intense impact of an emergency on a person. This phase is most important in considering personal behavioral styles and is the least studied, since researchers are not often eyewitnesses or participants in many extreme incidents, and if they are, they are not able to conduct accurate research at this time.

3) The after-effect phase, which begins some time after the end of the extreme situation. This phase is already fairly well understood, as it is what most psychologists deal with when working with disaster victims.

Above, we will consider the least studied phase of the impact, since it is interesting for us to study exactly characteristics human behavior at the immediate moment of extreme impact. As extreme situations, we will consider the most acute variants of events that carry a direct threat to human life and health.

extreme psyche behavior character

1.2 Mental states and human behavior characteristic of extreme situations

The impact phase of an extreme situation is usually quite short and may consist of several stages, which are characterized by their own mental states. These stages are well described by domestic researchers. We note the stages related directly to the phase of exposure:

1. The stage of vital reactions lasts up to 15 minutes from the moment of occurrence of an extreme situation that carries a real vital threat. At this time, a person's behavioral reactions are completely due to the instinct to preserve one's own life and may be accompanied by psychological regression. Psychic maladaptation occurs, manifested in a violation of the perception of space and time, unusual mental states, pronounced vegetative reactions. Characteristic states - stupor, agitation, affective fear, hysteria, apathy, panic.

2. Stage of acute psycho-emotional shock It lasts for 2-5 hours. At this time, the body adapts to a new extreme environment. It is characterized by general mental stress, extreme mobilization of the body's mental and physical reserves, sharpening of perception, an increase in the speed of thinking, reckless courage, an increase in working capacity, and an increase in physical strength. Emotionally, at this stage, there may be a feeling of despair.

Let us consider in more detail the mental states characteristic of the stage of vital reactions. So, the sudden occurrence of an extreme situation that threatens the very existence of a person causes mental maladaptation, which is characterized by three main types of behavior:

1. negative-aggressive;

2. anxious-depressive;

3. a combination of the first two types.

Disadaptation causes regression, expressed in a return to the forms of response and behavior inherent in a person at an earlier stage of life. In other words, the protective mechanisms inherited from our ancestors and the animal world are turned on. In this case, affective states often arise.

To begin with, let's consider the very concept of "affect" (from Latin affectus - emotional excitement, passion). It is a strong and relatively short-term emotional state, which is accompanied by pronounced vegetative and motor manifestations. Affect is often an "emergency" way of responding to unexpected stressful situations. In a state of affect, consciousness narrows, as attention is focused on affectively colored experiences and ideas associated with a traumatic situation. At the same time, the completeness of the reflection of the situation decreases, self-control decreases, actions become stereotyped and obey emotions, and not logical thinking. Especially dangerous is the pathological affect, which is the extreme degree of this state, in which the narrowing of consciousness can reach its complete shutdown.

The basis of affect in extreme situations that are dangerous to human life is fear. It is a mental state that arises on the basis of the instinct of self-preservation and is a reaction to real or imagined danger. Fear manifests itself in many forms, such as fear, fear, fear, horror, etc. The strongest type of fear is affective fear associated with a vital threat.

Affective fear occurs when a person is unable to overcome an unexpected and extremely dangerous situation. This fear can take possession of a person's consciousness, suppress his mind and will, and completely paralyze his ability to act and fight. From such fear, a person becomes numb, passively awaits his fate, or runs "wherever his eyes look." After exposure to such fear, a person sometimes cannot remember certain moments of his behavior, feeling depressed and overwhelmed. In a state of fear, there is always an extremely negative emotional background, maladjustment. Strong fear can cause many negative consequences for the body and psyche. Fear limits perception, makes it difficult for a person to be receptive to most of the perceptual field, often slows down the process of thinking, makes it more inert and narrow in scope. Fear greatly reduces the possibilities of the individual and the freedom of action. The state of fear causes such forms of behavior as flight, demonstrative and defensive aggression, and numbness.

A common state of fear in an extreme situation is an individual panic. Panic is distinguished by its inadequacy to a real threat. Man seeks to save himself by any means. At the same time, the level of self-control decreases, a person feels helpless, loses the ability to think and reason sensibly, navigate in space, choose the right means to achieve a goal, interact effectively with other people, there is a tendency to imitate and increased suggestibility. Individual panic often leads to mass panic.

The unexpectedness of the situation, in the absence of readiness for action, often causes affective states, which include agitation and stupor.

Agitation is a very common reaction to a dangerous situation. This is a very excited, restless, anxious state in which a person runs away, hides, thereby eliminating the situation that frightens him. Excitation during agitation is expressed in the fussiness of actions, and basically only simple automated movements are carried out under the influence of random stimuli. Thought processes, in a state of agitation, are significantly slowed down, because under the influence of the hormone adrenaline, blood rushes to the limbs (mainly the legs), and the brain lacks it. That is why in this state a person is able to run quickly, but cannot figure out where. The ability to understand complex relationships between phenomena, to make judgments and conclusions is impaired. A person feels emptiness in the head, the absence of thoughts. Agitation is accompanied by vegetative disorders in the form of skin pallor, shallow breathing, palpitations, excessive sweating, hand tremors, etc.

Stupor is a short-term condition in life-threatening conditions, characterized by a sudden numbness, freezing in place in one position. This condition is characterized by a decrease in muscle tone (“numbness”). Even the strongest stimuli do not affect behavior. In some cases, there are phenomena of "wax flexibility", expressed in the fact that individual muscle groups or parts of the body for a long time retain the position that they are given. Stupor usually occurs in people with a weak nervous system. The increased level of adrenaline paralyzes their muscles, the body ceases to obey, but intellectual activity remains.

The stage of vital reactions and the states inherent in it fit well into the “stage of anxiety” described by G. Selye, which is the first stage of the “stress reaction”. According to G. Selye, the stage of anxiety is the initial response of the human body to danger. It occurs to help cope with a stressful situation. This is an adaptive mechanism that arose at an early stage of evolution, when in order to survive it was necessary to defeat the enemy or run away from him. The body reacts to danger with an explosion of energy that increases physical and mental abilities. Such a short-term "shake" of the body involves almost all organ systems, so most researchers call this stage "emergency".

Further, G. Selye singled out the stage of resistance (resistance), which occurs during a longer stressful situation. At this stage, a person adapts to changing environmental conditions. This stage also intersects well with the above-mentioned stage of supermobilization, when adaptation to an extreme situation occurs. Of course, such a stage cannot continue for a long time, since the resources of the human body are not infinite.

Some intermediate states that are observed between the "emergency" and "adaptive" stages deserve additional attention. These are peculiar states of "discharge" after the initial extreme states of the organism. The vital reaction stage may end in brief states of uncontrollable trembling, crying, hysterical laughter, apathy and even deep sleep.

So, based on the mental states discussed above, the hallmark of a person's behavior in extreme conditions is the loss of his flexibility and freedom. In this case, complex and coordinated movements suffer greatly. At the same time, patterned and stereotyped movements proceed faster and often become automatic.

At the psychological level, at the first stage of the course of an extreme situation, the following processes occur:

Disorganized behavior;

Slow down the old skills;

The scope of attention narrows;

Difficulty dividing and switching attention

Inappropriate reactions to stimuli appear;

There are errors of perception, lapses in memory;

Unnecessary, unjustified and impulsive actions are performed;

There is a feeling of confusion;

It becomes impossible to concentrate;

Decreased mental stability

The performance of mental operations worsens.

In such conditions, the most important personal characteristic is high emotional stability, the ability to act without tension.

The behavioral response to a stressful extreme situation primarily includes actions to overcome it. In this case, two methods can be used: the flight reaction and the fight reaction.

The human body is not able to work in the "emergency" mode for a long time, so the stage of maladjustment ends quickly, and the human body restructures its work, allocating additional reserves to adapt to the increased requirements of the external environment. The stage of acute mental reactions of entering an extreme situation is replaced by the stage of mental adaptation, leading to the formation of new functional systems in the central nervous system, which allow adequately reflecting reality in unusual living conditions for the individual. There is an actualization of the necessary needs and the development of protective mechanisms that provide responses to the impact of extreme psychogenic factors.

2. Dependences of personality behavior in extreme situations

2.1 Dependence of behavior in an extreme situation on the type of nervous system and the nature of a person

Numerous studies of domestic and foreign experts have established the dependence of personality behavior styles in extreme situations on numerous individual and personal characteristics of a person. The main characteristics include:

Age;

Health status;

Type of nervous response and temperament;

Locus of control;

Psychological stability;

The level of self-esteem.

Let's consider each of them in more detail.

The least adapted to stressful extreme situations are the elderly and children. They are characterized by a high level of anxiety and mental stress. This does not allow them to effectively adapt to changing conditions. In their case, a prolonged emotional reaction to stress leads to a rapid depletion of the body's internal resources.

The state of health of the subjects of an extreme situation plays a very important role. Obviously, people with good health better adapt to changing environmental conditions and better tolerate the negative physiological changes that occur in the body under the influence of a stressor, and also have a greater supply of internal resources. People weakened by diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, bronchial asthma, hypertension, neuropsychiatric disorders and other diseases, in extreme conditions, these diseases get exacerbated, which can lead to serious consequences.

Type of nervous response and temperament in many ways. determine an individual's response to stress. This is due to the fact that it is largely predetermined by the innate properties of the human nervous system: its strength and weakness, balance and imbalance, mobility or inertia. Temperament, as a combination of the corresponding dynamic properties of human behavior, is an innate biological foundation on which a holistic personality is formed. It reflects the energy of a person, the dynamic aspects of his behavior, such as mobility, rhythm and tempo of reactions, emotionality. The classical, proposed by Hippocrates, description of the four main types of temperament (choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine and melancholic) no longer reflects the totality of the dynamic properties of human behavior, since their combinations are very extensive and varied. However, even this typology allows us to see in general terms how temperament affects the development of a stress response in a person. Temperament indicates the energy reserves of the individual and the speed of metabolic processes. Thus, the ways of responding to an extreme situation depend on it. For example, temperament affects the stability and switchability of attention. It also affects memory, t determining the speed of memorization, the ease of recall and the strength of information retention. The influence of temperament on the thinking process is manifested in the speed of mental operations, while the high speed of mental operations is not a guarantee of successful problem solving, since sometimes careful consideration of actions is more important than hasty decisions.

In extreme situations, temperament even more strongly influences the way and efficiency of activity, since a person is controlled by innate programs of his temperament, which require a minimum energy level and regulation time. In other words, people's behavior styles in extreme situations will differ depending on their temperament. Cholerics are prone to the manifestation of negative emotions of rage and anger, therefore, the most violent emotional reaction to stress is characteristic of a choleric temperament. Sanguine people are not predisposed to negative emotions, their emotions quickly arise, having an average strength and a short duration. Phlegmatic people are not prone to violent emotional reactions, they do not need to make efforts on themselves to keep their cool, so it is easier to resist a hasty decision. Melancholic people quickly succumb to negative emotions of fear and anxiety, they endure stress the most difficult. However, in an extreme situation, they have the highest level of self-control.

In general, people with a strong type of higher nervous activity tolerate the impact of extreme situations more easily and more often use active ways to overcome the situation. In turn, people with a weak type of nervous system tend to avoid stress.

As already noted, it should be borne in mind that the indicated typology of temperament is a simplified scheme, far from exhausting the possible features of the temperament of each individual person.

Locus of control determines how effectively a person is able to control the environment and influence its change. There are external (external) and internal (internal) loci of control. Externals perceive ongoing events as the result of chance and the action of external forces beyond human control. Internals, on the other hand, believe that almost all events are in the sphere of human influence. From their point of view, even catastrophic situations can be prevented by thoughtful human actions. They spend their energy on obtaining information that will allow them to influence the course of events, develop specific action plans. Internals can be more self-controlled and more successful in dealing with extreme situations.

Psychological endurance (resilience) shows how strongly a person is resistant to the effects of stressful and extreme situations. It includes a number of factors, among which is the locus of control, self-esteem of the individual, the level of criticality, optimism, the presence or absence of internal conflicts. The best psychological endurance is also served by beliefs and moral values ​​that make it possible to give personal meaning to an extreme situation.

Personality is formed under the influence of the social environment. Therefore, the indicator of a person's security or his propensity for danger is not only an innate quality, but also the result of development. Insufficient formation of individual characteristics of a person manifests itself in extreme situations (and these are usually the situations preceding and accompanying accidents). Significantly increases a person's susceptibility to danger emotional imbalance, inability to quickly distribute attention and highlight the main object among a large set of other objects, insufficient endurance and immoderate (excessively large or excessively small) risk appetite.

Individual qualities inherent in people with a high degree protection from danger, affect their position in the social group. Indeed, such qualities as good coordination, attention, emotional balance and others contribute not only to better security of a person, but also increase his status. As a rule, people who possess them are leaders, enjoy respect and authority in the team. They are better than others at handling extreme situations and can afford to take risks when necessary.

So, the degree of awareness of the situation and the adequacy of behavior in the event of an unexpected threat to life are largely determined by the innate characteristics of the personality, its attitudes, the type of nervous system, and a number of other psychobiological indicators. It is not always possible to teach a person to behave correctly in unforeseen life-threatening situations, therefore people often turn out to be unprepared for action in them.

2.2 Development of human tolerance to extreme situations

An important practical part of the study of personality behavior in extreme situations is the task of forming and developing tolerance to extreme situations. The term tolerantia (lat.) Expresses several intersecting meanings: stability, endurance, tolerance, acceptable value, resistance to uncertainty, stress, conflict, and behavioral deviations.

The psychological portrait of a person with tolerance to extreme situations includes the following features: strength, mobility, balance of nervous processes; activity, sensitivity. Choleric and sanguine people often underestimate the difficulties and show excessive self-confidence.

The psychological qualities of a person necessary for developing tolerance to extreme situations include:

High level of development of analytical thinking;

Criticality, independence, flexibility of thinking;

Developed social intelligence;

Reflective and intuitive qualities;

Stability of emotions;

Dominance of positive emotions;

Developed volitional regulation;

An adequate assessment of the magnitude of the load and own resources;

High ability to self-regulation;

Lack of anxiety.

The following behaviors should be developed:

Organization and externally oriented behavioral activity;

situational courage;

Calm, confident, unhurried, not tense behavior;

High performance;

A large number of options for overcoming behavior in the individual behavioral repertoire;

Experience in overcoming difficult situations;

Prosociality and flexibility of behavior;

The predominance of coping strategies of behavior over defensive ones.

Necessary socio-psychological properties of a person:

Development of the social-perceptual sphere of personality;

Active attitude to life;

Self-confidence and trust in others;

Lack of defensive reactions;

Developed social identity social support and social recognition, satisfying the status in the group and in society.

The necessary characteristics of the image of I should include a stable, positive, adequate self-esteem, consistency of the I-perceived and I-desired, self-esteem, self-esteem, self-efficacy.

Valuable qualities:

High spirituality;

Ability for personal growth

Postconventional level of development of moral consciousness,

Faith, a sense of meaningfulness of life;

Successful self-realization, internal type of control;

Having ideal and highly valued goals;

Acceptance of debt, responsibility;

Ability to respond to the challenges of fate;

Patriotism, existential tone;

Ability for existential effort;

Trust in yourself and in the world.

Communicative qualities: sociability, openness, democracy, justice, honesty, altruism, open tolerant communication.

The opposite qualities mentioned above do not contribute to the formation of tolerance to extreme situations, such as tension, hypervigilance, the existence of false stereotypes, “irrational” behavior based on spontaneous manifestation, situational conservatism; numbness and inactivity, high level partiality of the image of the Self and the availability of its subjective distortions; overdependence on the impact of emotional attitudes and assessments of others; experiencing the insignificance, meaninglessness of the world; poorly developed self-consciousness, a weak structure of ideas about oneself. They do not respond to the "challenges" of fate, are pessimistic, have low achievement motivation, which they themselves often interpret as a lack of ability. This includes people with "learned" helplessness.

3. experimental part

The first part of the study is devoted to the study of coping mechanisms, or coping mechanisms (from the English coping - coping), which determine successful or unsuccessful adaptation to a stressful situation. The study used the Heim E. coping mechanisms diagnostic technique (Appendix 1) - a screening technique that allows you to explore 26 situation-specific coping options distributed over three main areas of mental activity into cognitive, emotional, behavioral coping mechanisms.

The second part analyzes emergency preparedness (ES) using the Nick Rowe and Evan Pill questionnaire (Appendix 2).

The study involved 30 employees of the rescue service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Research hypothesis: employees of the rescue service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, due to the specifics of their work, special selection and psychological training, are able to adapt well to stressful situations and have an increased readiness for extreme situations (ES).

Research stages:

Selection of methodological literature on the topic under study;

Questioning on coping behavior in a stressful situation;

Questioning to identify readiness for survival in the ES;

Data processing, analysis of the results.

Research Procedure:

The study participants were given forms with tests and instructions for filling them out. The procedure time was not limited. The results of the study were included in tables 1 - 5 and final diagrams 1 - 2.

Table 1 - Diagnosis of coping mechanisms, answers in questionnaires

Questionnaire No.

Table 2 - Diagnosis of coping mechanisms, summary table of results

Variants of coping behavior	Number of answers	Option group summary
Adaptive coping behaviors
Cognitive coping strategies
Non-adaptive coping behaviors
Cognitive coping strategies
Emotional coping strategies
Behavioral coping strategies
Relatively adaptive coping behaviors
Cognitive coping strategies
Emotional coping strategies
Behavioral coping strategies

Diagram 1 - Final results by variants of coping behavior

Table 3 - Results of a survey on readiness for survival in the ES

Questionnaire No.	Amount Survival	Amount Defeat	Final result

Survey results:

from 15 to 20 - You can survive almost anywhere - 12 profiles

10 to 14 - You have good chances. - 14 profiles

5 to 9 - Your chances are low - 4 profiles

from 0 to 4 - Do not take unnecessary risks - 0 profiles

from -10 to -1 - Look for a guardian - 0 profiles

from -20 to -11 - Most likely you already have a guardian - 0 profiles

Diagram 2 - Final results of the survey on readiness for survival in the EU

According to the results of the study using two methods, it can be concluded that the research hypothesis turned out to be correct: the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are characterized by the predominance of adaptive variants of coping behavior and increased readiness for survival in extreme situations.

Conclusion

Faced with difficult extreme situations, a person daily adapts to his physical and social environment. Psychological stress is a concept used to refer to a wide range of emotional states and human actions that occur as a response to a variety of extreme exposures.

The development of psychological stress is influenced by numerous factors, among which are the characteristics of a stressful event, the interpretation of an event by a person, the influence of a person’s past experience, awareness of the situation, individual and personal characteristics of a person. In turn, stress has an impact on the mental processes of a person, in particular on higher mental functions.

A person reacts to stress on a physiological, emotional and behavioral level. The type of response, in particular the choice of coping strategy, largely determines what the consequences of each specific stress will be.

The degree of awareness of the situation and the adequacy of behavior in the event of an unexpected threat to life are largely determined by the innate characteristics of the personality, its attitudes, the type of nervous system and a number of other psychobiological indicators. It is not always possible to teach a person to behave correctly in unforeseen life-threatening situations, therefore people often turn out to be unprepared for action in them.

Tolerance to extreme situations is a socio-psychological characteristic of a person, which consists in the ability to endure the extraordinary situation without any damage to oneself, to be tolerant of various manifestations of the world, other people, oneself, to overcome these situations using methods that “develop ”, improving the personality, increasing the level of adaptation and social maturity of the subject. In fact, this property means the presence of an adaptive potential of the individual, which determines its ability to overcome difficult situations. To prevent the adverse effects of extreme situations in any person, it is necessary to develop tolerance in the form of a complex of the above properties and qualities.

References

1. Bandurka A.M., Bocharova S.P., Zemlyanskaya E.V. Fundamentals of management psychology: Textbook. - X.: Univ. cases, 1999. - 528 p.

2. B.A. Smirnov, E.V. Dolgopolov. Psychology of activity in extreme situations. X .: Publishing House of the Humanitarian Center, 2007. - 276 p.

3. Big psychological dictionary / Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK, 2003. - 632 p.

4. Korolenko Ts.P. Psychophysiology of a person in extreme conditions. - L., 1978. - 272 p.

5. Lebedev V. I. Personality in extreme conditions. - M.: Politizdat, 1989. - 304 p.

6. Nabiullina R.R., Tukhtarova I.V. Mechanisms of psychological defense and coping with stress. Tutorial. - Kazan, 2003

7. Psychology of activity in extreme situations. X .: Publishing House of the Humanitarian Center, 2007, 276 p.

8. Psychology of extreme situations for rescuers and firefighters /Under the general editorship. Yu.S. Shoigu. M.: Meaning, 2007. - 319 p.

9. Psychology of personality. Textbook / ed. prof. P. N. Ermakova, prof. V. A. Labunskaya. - M.: Eksmo, 2007 - 653 p.

10. Psychological magazine. No. 1. 1990. V. 11. S. 95-101

11. Reshetnikov M.M., Baranov Yu.A., Mukhin A.P., Chermyanin S.V. Ufa catastrophe: features of the state, behavior and activities of people Psychological magazine, M., 1990.

12. Stolyarenko A.M. General and professional psychology- M.: UNITI-DANA, 2003. - 382 p.

13. Social Psychology. Mokshantsev R.I., Mokshantseva A.V. M., Novosibirsk: Infra-M, 2001. - 408 p.

14. Taras A.E., Selchenok K.V. Psychology of extreme situations. miscellaneous. Mn. : Harvest, M.: AST, 2000. - 480 p.

15. Information portal [Electronic resource]. Access mode: http://extreme-survival.io.ua/s191364/test_na_sposobnost_k_vyjivaniyu - Access date: 03/15/2012.

Appendix 1. Methodology for diagnosing coping mechanisms by E. Heim

Adaptive coping behaviors

Adaptive cognitive coping strategies:

A5 - problem analysis (analysis of the difficulties encountered and possible ways out of them);

A10 - setting one's own value (deep awareness of one's own value as a person);

A4 - maintaining self-control (the presence of faith in one's own resources in overcoming difficult situations).

Adaptive emotional coping strategies:

B1 - protest (active indignation in relation to difficulties);

B4 - optimism (confidence that there is a way out in any difficult situation).

Adaptive behavioral coping strategies:

B7 - cooperation (cooperation with significant and more experienced people;

В8 - appeal (search for support in the immediate social environment);

В2 - altruism (a person himself supports his relatives in overcoming difficulties).

Non-adaptive coping behaviors

Non-adaptive cognitive coping strategies, including passive forms of behavior with a refusal to overcome difficulties due to disbelief in one's own strengths and intellectual resources, with deliberate underestimation of troubles:

A2 - humility;

A8 - confusion;

A3 - dissimulation;

A1 - ignoring.

Maladaptive emotional coping strategies:

Behaviors characterized by a depressed emotional state, a state of hopelessness, submissiveness and avoidance of other feelings, experiencing anger and blaming oneself and others.

B3 - suppression of emotions;

B6 - humility;

B7 - self-accusation;

B8 - aggressiveness.

Non-adaptive behavioral coping strategies:

Behavior that involves avoiding thoughts of trouble, passivity, solitude, peace, isolation, the desire to get away from active interpersonal contacts, refusal to solve problems.

В3 - active avoidance;

В6 - retreat.

Relatively adaptive coping behaviors, the constructiveness of which depends on the significance and severity of the situation of overcoming:

Relatively adaptive cognitive coping strategies:

A6 - relativity (assessment of difficulties in comparison with others);

A9 - giving meaning (giving special meaning to overcoming difficulties);

A7 - religiosity (faith in God and steadfastness in faith when faced with complex problems).

Relatively adaptive emotional coping strategies:

B2 - emotional discharge (relieving tension associated with problems, emotional response);

· B5 - passive cooperation (transfer of responsibility for resolving difficulties to other persons).

Relatively adaptive behavioral coping strategies, characterized by the desire for a temporary retreat from solving problems with the help of alcohol, drugs, immersion in your favorite business, travel, fulfillment of your cherished desires:

В4 - compensation;

В1 - distraction;

В5 - constructive activity.

Methodology"Coping behavior in stressful situations"

Surname, First Name, Patronymic ____________ Date___________

Date of birth: Day _____ Month ______ Year_________

Occupation___________

Education______________

Marital status: married _______ not married _________

(including civil)

Widowed/Widower__________ Divorced (a)___________

(including unofficially)

You will be presented with a series of statements regarding your behavior. Try to remember how you most often resolve difficult and stressful situations and situations of high emotional stress. Please circle the number that suits you. In each section of statements, you need to choose only one option, with the help of which you resolve your difficulties.

Please answer according to how you deal with difficult situations over the course of recent times. Do not hesitate for a long time - your first reaction is important. Be careful!

	I tell myself: at the moment there is something more important than difficulties
	I tell myself: this is fate, you need to come to terms with it
	These are minor difficulties, not everything is so bad, basically everything is fine
	I do not lose self-control and self-control in difficult times and try not to show my condition to anyone
	I try to analyze, weigh everything and explain to myself what is happening
	I tell myself: compared to other people's problems, mine are nothing.
	If something happened, then it is so pleasing to God
	I don't know what to do and at times it seems to me that I can't get out of these difficulties.
	I give my difficulties a special meaning, overcoming them, I improve myself
	At the moment I am completely unable to cope with these difficulties, but in time I will be able to cope with them, and with more complex ones.
	I am always deeply indignant at the injustice of fate to me and protest
	I fall into despair, I sob and cry
	I suppress my emotions
	I am always sure that there is a way out of a difficult situation.
	I trust overcoming my difficulties to other people who are ready to help me
	I fall into a state of hopelessness
	I feel guilty and I get what I deserve
	I get mad, I get aggressive
	I immerse myself in my favorite business, trying to forget about the difficulties
	I try to help people and in caring for them I forget about my sorrows.
	I try not to think, in every possible way I avoid focusing on my troubles
	I try to distract myself and relax (with the help of alcohol, sedatives, delicious food, etc.)
	In order to survive the difficulties, I undertake the realization of an old dream (I go to travel, enroll in courses foreign language and so on.)
	I isolate myself, try to be alone with myself
	I use collaboration with significant people to overcome difficulties
	I usually look for people who can help me with advice.

Annex 2. Questionnaire for readiness to survive in an extreme situation

How to fill out the form

In column A, tick off the statement that matches what you have. If it does not match, leave this field blank.

After you have checked the boxes in column "A" - check the answers below. There are two groups of them - "S" (Survival) and "D" (Defeat) In column "B" opposite the cells that you marked, put "S" or "D" - in accordance with which group your answer belongs to . There is no need to bet against empty cells - "S" or "D" is placed in column "B" ONLY opposite the marked cell.

Count how many "S" you have and write the answer (number) in front of the position Amount Survival (see below). Do the same with the result "D" (position Sum Defeat).

To find out your survival potential, subtract the second number ("D") from the first ("S"). Look for the resulting figure in the section "Your rating"

Survival Group ("S"):

1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 38, 39.

Group Defeat ("D"):

2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35, 36, 37, 40.

Survival Amount:_____

Defeat Amount:_____

15 to 20 - You can survive almost anywhere

10 to 14 - You have good chances.

5 to 9 - Your chances are slim

0 to 4 - Don't take unnecessary risks

-10 to -1 - Look for a guardian

-20 to -11 - Most likely you already have a guardian

Check the boxes that match your personality.
		1. I have a goal in mind that I should strive for.
		2. I take action without any clear purpose.
		3. I know what is important to me, I have certain priorities.
		4. I live only in the present moment, not thinking about the long term.
		5. I strive for what I want, despite the obstacles.
		6. I try to exist without much effort.
		7. I try to avoid difficult situations.
		8. My best qualities come out in stressful situations.
		9. I can usually find moments to laugh at.
		10. Mostly I notice the negative side.
		12. I try to make the most of a difficult situation.
		13. I believe that the outcome mostly depends on luck or fate.
		14. I think that my condition depends on surrounding events or people.
		15. I control my life, no matter what happens around.
		16. I know that my efforts can make a difference.
		17. I make decisions instantly, not analyze.
		18. I act without thinking about the consequences.
		19. I try to see things as they are, even if I don't like them.
		20. To achieve something, I plan my actions.
		21. I find new or unusual methods to solve problems.
		22. I am capable of improvisation.
		23. I won't do what I don't like.

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Under the general editorship. k. psychol. n. Yu.S. Shoigu

UDC 159.9:614.8.084(078) LBC 88.4ya7 P 863

Gurenkova T.N., Ph.D. (Ch. 2,3,5), Eliseeva I.N. (Ch. 11, 12), Kuznetsova T.Yu. (Ch. 4), Makarova O.L. (Ch. 1), Matafonova T.Yu. (ch. 9), Pavlova M.V. (Ch. 8, 9, 10), Shoigu Yu.S., Ph.D. (Introduction, ch. 6, 7, 8, 9, Conclusion).

Reviewers:

Zinchenko Yu.P., Doctor of Psychology. Sciences, Professor Karayani A.G., Doctor of Psychology. sciences, professor

P 863 Psychology of extreme situations for rescuers and firefighters /

Under the general editorship. Yu.S. Shoigu. M.: Meaning, 2007. - 319 p.

The textbook, which reveals the psychological foundations of the state and behavior of people in emergency situations, was written by a team of specialists from the Center for Emergency Psychological Assistance of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation and is based on both foreign and domestic experience. The material presented in the book is devoted to the problems of the psychology of extreme situations, stress, the provision of emergency psychological assistance, as well as issues of professional health of specialists working in extreme conditions.

First of all, the manual is aimed at future rescuers and firefighters, it may be of interest to students and graduate students of psychological faculties, psychologists and psychotherapists working in the field of psychology of extreme situations.

UDC 159.9:614.8.084(078) LBC 88.4ya7

ISBN 978-5-89357-253-7 © CEPP EMERCOM of the Russian Federation, 2007

© Smysl Publishing House, 2007, design

INTRODUCTION

In this book, we consider it necessary to highlight the range of psychological issues that arise in the conditions of work in emergency situations, problems associated with the psychology of emergencies or the psychology of disasters.

What happens to people in a disaster area? Why do people behave differently in seemingly identical conditions? What happens to people during and after the emergency response? These are the questions that are of interest to experts.

Highly qualified specialists, working in an emergency, are exposed to a huge number of stress factors. The cost of error in such cases is extremely high. The need to quickly make decisions that may affect people's lives, work in non-standard conditions with an irregular work schedule and a lack of information are the specifics of the work of a specialist in an extreme profile.

In an emergency zone, the condition of specialists is subject to the general laws of adaptation to a stressful situation. The susceptibility of a specialist to stress factors is determined by individual psychophysiological characteristics, the level of stress resistance, and work experience. It is good if the specialist knows what can be expected of him (although there are no identical situations - each is special in its own way). An emergency situation always disrupts plans, pulls out of the daily rhythm. For specialists with experience in emergency situations, this circumstance is not traumatic, while for a young specialist it is one of the stress factors. Knowledge of the patterns of mental response to a stressful situation increases the body's tolerance to the effects of stress. “Forewarned is forearmed,” said the ancients.

It is known that an emergency situation can be the starting point for future changes in beliefs, lifestyle, the cause of a change in states and feelings, or the launch of a mechanism for the dynamics of the already existing experience of traumatic experiences of people who find themselves in the epicenter of events. This applies not only to victims, but also to professionals who provide assistance to them. Usually, people working in emergency situations do not think about what a mark the work has left on them, although it does not go unnoticed for them that they see the grief and suffering of other people. It is obvious that without sufficient knowledge about the nature of the psychological consequences of emergency situations, the skills of mental self-regulation, specialists in an extreme profile are more prone to deterioration in their health in the future. Specialists develop defensive behaviors that create the appearance that nothing special is happening in their lives. Among them, there are those that help constructively protect the psyche from the effects of traumatic factors in emergency situations, and there are those that lead to illness, deterioration. After finishing work, reactions of a traumatic nature may occur: sleep disturbances (insomnia, restless sleep); the predominance of a background of low mood (the predominance of emotions of sadness, depression). Normally, reactions may continue for a short time after return. During this time, the body gradually recovers.

In the professional baggage of a psychologist working in emergency situations, there are constructive styles of protective behavior, they have certain skills, there is an opportunity to “work through”, comprehend, “live through” the emotional impressions of working in an emergency. The same knowledge can help rescuers and firefighters.

Specialists of an extreme profile, like others, go through the stages of adaptation to the profession, professional development, professional "burnout", transition to the next stage of professional development. All this we considered important to describe in this book.

The book is built according to the system principle, consists of four sections. In the first section "Introduction to the psychology of extreme situations" definitions of the main concepts are given: catastrophe, extreme situation, emergency situation, crisis, and the main types of situations are classified, the ratio of these concepts is given.

The second section "Normal stress" reveals the concept of "stress" and its impact on the human body, describes the physiological dynamics of the stress response, the dynamics of the body's adaptation to a stressful situation, behavioral response patterns, and defense mechanisms of the psyche.

In the third section "Emergency psychological assistance. Traumatic stress” describes the psychological aspects of emergencies and their consequences. The picture of work in emergency situations by specialists of rescue and fire teams involved in rescuing victims would be incomplete without the work of psychologists. This section describes the work of psychologists in an emergency, methods of emergency psychological assistance to people, the conditions for their use, the organization of the work of psychologists, the stages of carrying out measures for the psychological support of rescue and other urgent work. Further, the delayed psychological consequences of emergency situations are revealed. The concepts of "traumatic stress", "psychic trauma", the conditions for their occurrence, the dynamics of experiencing a traumatic situation, recovery after it, constructive behavioral patterns of coping, pathological forms of response, the dynamics of the reactions of a grieving person are described.

The fourth section "Chronic stress and professional health of a specialist" deals with the conditions of accumulation of chronic stress associated with the working conditions of specialists of an extreme profile, professional deformation that may occur at a certain stage. Along with this, the ways and conditions for maintaining one's professional health, the stages of professional development, formation, and the meaning-forming components of professional activity are indicated.

Section I

Introduction to the psychology of extreme situations

Chapter 1. DISASTER, EXTREME SITUATION, EMERGENCY, CRISIS: DEFINITION, CLASSIFICATION, RATIO

Questions covered in the chapter:

Definitions of extreme, emergency, crisis.

relationship between these concepts.

The subject of studying the psychology of extreme situations. The impact of an emergency situation on a person.

Catastrophe - how often we hear this word from acquaintances, friends, from TV screens, it has firmly entered our lives, language, worldview. What is a disaster?

In the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" D.N. Ushakov gives the following definitions of a catastrophe:

1. An unexpected misfortune, disaster, an event that entails tragic consequences.

2. A major shock of a tragic nature, causing a sharp change in personal or social life.

There have always been catastrophes and emergencies: earthquakes, floods, epidemics and other disasters have accompanied mankind throughout the history of its development. For example, three colossal plague pandemics (epidemics) are known in history. The first, leaving Egypt, devastated almost all the countries of the Mediterranean and held out for about 60 years. At the height of the epidemic in 542, thousands of people died every day in Constantinople alone. The second and most sinister in the history of Western Europe is the "Black Death" of the mid-14th century. The "Black Death" that came from Asia claimed a third of the population of Europe. In 1346-48. bubonic plague raged in Western Europe, killing 25 million people. In the preface to the Decameron, Boccaccio left a description of its horrors. The third is a plague pandemic that began in 1892 in India (where more than 6 million people died) and spread in the 20th century. to the Azores, to South America.

Another major disaster in the history of mankind is the eruption of Vesuvius in Italy, which occurred in 79 AD. Then the most powerful lava flows, mixed with rock, wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Thousands of people died.

Man has always tried to protect himself from various cataclysms, using all the methods available to him for this: healers and shamans who turn to the forces of nature; sacrifices to appease the gods; military detachments defending their own and capturing new - less dangerous and richer territories. All this is the first attempt to ensure their own security.

The development of medicine, military affairs, science and technology has allowed mankind to live more comfortably, to be more protected - on the one hand. On the other hand, technical means themselves become a source of increased danger. Technological progress leads to an increase in the number and scale of disasters. The development of the mass media determines the involvement of a huge number of people in the experience of an extreme situation. The beginning of the era of man-made disasters was marked by the death of the Titanic, a symbol of its era, a luxury transatlantic liner. Mankind has never seen such a huge ship. The largest, most powerful, most reliable, absolutely, as the designers claimed, unsinkable, he received the appropriate name - "Titanic". Launched from the Royal Dockyards of Great Britain, the Titanic went on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic - and never returned. A catastrophe unheard of at the dawn of the industrial age that claimed hundreds of lives shocked the world.

On April 26, 1986, the destruction of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located on the territory of Ukraine (at that time - the Ukrainian SSR). The destruction was explosive, the reactor was completely destroyed, and a large amount of radioactive substances was released into the environment. The accident is regarded as the largest of its kind in the history of nuclear power, both in terms of the estimated number of people killed and affected by its consequences, and in terms of economic damage.

The radioactive cloud from the accident passed over the European part of the USSR, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain and the eastern part of the USA. Approximately 60% of radioactive fallout fell on the territory of Belarus. About 200,000 people were evacuated from contaminated areas. The untimeliness, incompleteness and mutual contradictions of the official information about the catastrophe gave rise to many independent interpretations. The victims of the tragedy can be considered not only the citizens who died immediately after the accident, but also the residents of the adjacent regions, who went to the May Day demonstration, not knowing about the danger. With this calculation, the Chernobyl disaster in terms of the number of victims significantly exceeds the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

There is also an opposite point of view, according to which 29 people died from radiation sickness in Chernobyl - station employees and firefighters who took the first blow. Outside the industrial site of the nuclear power plant, no one had radiation sickness. Thus, estimates of the number of victims of the disaster range from tens of people to millions.

There is less variation in official estimates, although the number of victims of Chernobyl accident can only be determined approximately. In addition to the dead nuclear power plant workers and firefighters, they include sick servicemen and civilians who were involved in the elimination of the consequences of the accident, and residents of areas exposed to radioactive contamination. Determining which part of the disease was the result of the accident is a very difficult task for medicine and statistics; different organizations give estimates that differ by dozens of times. It is believed that the majority of radiation-related deaths have been or will be caused by cancer. Many local residents had to leave their homes, they lost part of their property. The problems associated with this, fear for their health caused people severe stress, which also led to various diseases.

If earlier the main concern was caused by such consequences of extreme situations as the number of deaths, physical illnesses, injuries, now experts are also concerned about the consequences for the psychosocial and mental health of the population. Specialists working with people who survived the disaster drew attention to the fact that the mental consequences of disasters can be no less severe than the somatic ones, and lead to serious illnesses and social problems, both for an individual, and for groups of people and society as a whole. .

Even during the First World War, psychiatrists noticed the following phenomenon: soldiers who did not receive physical injuries, wounds or received minor injuries during the fighting, showed symptoms of a certain disease, the cause of which could not be established. The soldiers noted depression, weakness, exhaustion, sleep disturbance, appetite, outbreaks of unmotivated aggression. Later it was found that the cause of this disease is a mental experience (trauma) received during the fighting.

It is important to note that natural and man-made disasters, local armed conflicts, terrorist acts, etc., affect the psyche and contribute to the emergence of delayed and protracted reactions not only among the direct participants in the events, but also among outside observers, who, as already mentioned, thanks to the mass media information (media) become indirect participants in these events. Since the media realistically reflect current events, people are forced to immerse themselves in them, being, as it were, their direct eyewitnesses.

One of the brightest world examples of this phenomenon is the death of Princess Diana, when hundreds of thousands of people, not being her relatives, acquaintances or in any way involved in her death, deeply (up to psychotic manifestations) mourned the death of Diana for a long time. It was enough to simply observe the reaction of people to understand that it goes beyond the usual empathy and sympathy for the inhabitants in these cases. This and similar situations, in fact, are a manifestation of modern reality, in which not only a way of life is imposed on a person, but also a form of mental experiences.

However, not only catastrophes and military conflicts have a negative impact on the human psyche. The development of technological progress and the emergence of new types of professional activities that pose a high danger, requiring increased responsibility and concentration of attention, also affect the mental health of people.

Until some time, it was believed that only miners and astronauts work in extreme working conditions. Changes in the life of society in the last 10-15 years have led to the fact that the number of professions whose representatives work in extreme conditions has increased. Thus, the professions of a firefighter, a rescuer, an air traffic controller, a collector, a worker of a road patrol service have elements of extremeness.

In the activities of workers in "dangerous professions" there are two types of conditions under which work becomes extreme:

1) daily strenuous activity, in which the danger is presented as a potential event (air traffic controllers, collectors);

2) the so-called critical incidents, in which employees face human casualties and material losses, with a real danger to their life, health or value system, as well as a threat to the life, health, well-being of others (rescuers, firefighters).

The need to study the influence of extreme factors on the human psyche has led to the emergence and active development of a new area of ​​psychological science and practice - extreme psychology.

Extreme psychology (EP) is a branch of psychological science that studies the general psychological patterns of human life and activity in altered (unaccustomed) conditions of existence. Research in the field of extreme psychology has as its task the improvement of psychological selection and psychological preparation for work in unusual conditions of existence, as well as the development of measures to protect against the traumatic effects of psychogenic factors (Psychology. Dictionary, 1990).

The subject of the study of EP is the psyche, exposed to extreme factors, the mechanisms of the impact of extreme factors on a person, patterns of response and experience, possible consequences and ways to correct them.

CONCEPTS OF EMERGENCY, EXTREME AND CRISIS SITUATION

The concepts of emergency, extreme and crisis situations have not yet received exhaustive definitions. In the context of further study of the subject, we propose to use the following definitions.

An emergency situation (ES) is a situation in a certain territory that has developed as a result of an accident, a natural hazard, a catastrophe, a natural or other disaster that may result in loss of life, damage to human health or the environment, significant material losses and violation of living conditions. people (“Law on the protection of the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies of December 21, 1994 No. 68-FZ (SZRF 94-35)”).

An extreme situation (from Latin extremus - extreme, critical) is a situation that suddenly arises, threatening or subjectively perceived by a person as threatening life, health, personal integrity, well-being.

A crisis situation (from the Greek krisis - decision, turning point, outcome) is a situation that requires a person to significantly change their ideas about the world and about themselves in a short period of time. These changes can be both positive and negative.

Let's take a closer look at each of these situations.

Emergency

These are objective conditions. The disaster has already happened.

There are a number of classifications of emergency situations according to various criteria.

	Regional	Emergencies, as a result of which more than 50, but not more than 500 people were injured, or the living conditions of more than 500, but not more than 1,000 people were violated, or material damage is more than 0.5 million, but not more than 5 million minimum wages on the day of the emergency and the emergency zone covers the territory of two subjects Russian Federation
	Federal	Emergencies, as a result of which more than 500 people were injured, or the living conditions of more than 1,000 people were violated, or material damage amounted to more than 5 million minimum wages on the day of the emergency and the emergency zone extends beyond more than two constituent entities of the Russian Federation
	Cross-border	Emergencies, the damaging factors of which go beyond the borders of the Russian Federation, or emergencies occurred abroad and their damaging factors capture the territory of the Russian Federation
By source of origin	Technogenic emergencies	Transport accidents and disasters, fires, unprovoked explosions or their threat, accidents with emissions (threat of emissions) of hazardous chemical, radioactive, biological substances, sudden destruction of structures and buildings, accidents on engineering networks, etc.
	Emergencies of a natural (natural) nature, natural disasters	Hazardous geological, meteorological, hydrological marine and freshwater phenomena, soil or subsurface degradation, natural fires, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, rock falls, landslides, avalanches, mudflows, hurricanes, tornadoes, tornadoes, forest fires, heavy rains, snowfalls, drought and other phenomena caused by natural causes.
	Ecological and biological emergencies	Mass disease of people with infectious diseases (epidemics), farm animals, mass damage to agricultural plants by diseases or pests, changes in the state of water resources and the biosphere, subsidence, landslides, landslides, soil degradation, depletion of non-renewable natural resources, destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, depletion of water resources, extinction of animal species, plants, etc. as a result of human activity
	Sociogenic emergencies	Terrorism, hostage-taking, riots, hostilities

Extreme situation

Well-known wisdom says: "Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% - from what we think about it."

Extreme refers to situations that go beyond the usual, "normal" human experience. In other words, the extremeness of the situation is determined by factors to which a person is not yet adapted and is not ready to act in their conditions. The degree of extremeness of the situation is determined by the strength, duration, novelty, unusual manifestation of these factors.

However, it is not only the real, objectively existing threat to life for oneself or significant relatives that makes the situation extreme, but also our attitude to what is happening. The perception of the same situation by each specific person is individual, in connection with which the criterion of "extremeness" is, rather, in the internal, psychological plan of the individual.

The following factors can be considered as determinants of extremeness:

1. Various emotional influences in connection with the danger, difficulty, novelty, responsibility of the situation.

2. Lack of necessary information or a clear excess of conflicting information.

3. Excessive mental, physical, emotional stress.

4. Exposure to adverse climatic conditions: heat, cold, lack of oxygen, etc.

5. The presence of hunger, thirst.

Extreme situations (threat of loss of health or life) significantly violate a person's basic sense of security, belief that life is organized in accordance with a certain order and can be controlled, and can lead to the development of painful conditions - traumatic and post-traumatic stress, other neurotic and mental disorders .

Crisis situation. A crisis

The crisis is one of the inevitable and necessary moments of life, one of the driving forces for the development of both the individual and the group, society, humanity as a whole.

A crisis occurs in situations where previously learned patterns of behavior are not enough to cope with circumstances. The crisis situation requires the development of new ways of behavior and finding new meanings of life.

A crisis is always a moment of choice from several possible alternatives, a moment of decision making.

A crisis can arise as a result of external circumstances, some traumatic event (extreme situation). The consequences of an external crisis can be such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder, shock trauma.

An intrapersonal crisis is the moment of a person's transition to a new stage of development (psycho-spiritual, existential, age-related). Internal crises are inevitable and, unlike external ones, are necessary and desirable. Humanity has always known this fact, which is brilliantly encoded in the fairy tales of absolutely all peoples - this is the well-known situation of a knight at a crossroads. The choice of a further path is easily given to the hero only in fairy tales, but it is important that avoiding the choice is impossible, unnecessary and even dangerous. Thus, a crisis is always a choice between regressive and progressive further development of the personality. From what choice will be made, the whole subsequent life of a person depends. The understanding of crisis and crisis situation in psychology was developed within the framework of personality psychology and developmental psychology.

There is no completely imperceptible experience of an internal crisis. However, the depth and strength of experiences in different people differ significantly and depend on the following factors:

The level of development of personality (consciousness) - the higher, the more painful the crisis;

Sociocultural features;

Personal and characterological features;

The type of crisis experienced by a person;

Socio-psychological features, social status.

Internal crises of existential significance are usually associated with certain age stages in a person's life. Therefore, when communicating with a person showing "crisis" symptoms, it is important to take into account his age. The main crisis periods of life are the following:

Puberty (13-15 years). Associated with the adolescent's awareness of his identity and uniqueness. Reflects the entry of a person into the world of adults. Can be expressed by the phrase: "I'm looking for meaning."

Crisis of self-determination (29-33 years). It can be expressed by the phrase: "I change the meaning."

Crisis of the second half of life (45-55 years). A person is in doubt about the fact that he could not fulfill himself, achieve what he wanted, become what he wanted in life. The problem of the finiteness of life is most acutely experienced, which can be aggravated during this period by the loss of parents (there is a setting: “There is no one between me and death”). This crisis can be expressed by the phrase: "I'm losing my meaning."

Some researchers also describe the crisis of the elderly. As the experience of Helplines shows, elderly people are often subscribers of psychological assistance services. Their experiences are associated with the loss of the meaning of life, the loss of relatives, friends, health, profession, a sense of uselessness and helplessness. The greatest acuteness for them is the problem of loneliness.

Thus, the crisis may not be associated with global and large-scale disasters and be considered as a process, a condition characteristic of critical periods in the natural course of human life (for example, adolescence crisis - "transitional age"). The crisis has a causal relationship with a person's previous life experience, but cannot be overcome in ways known to him from past experience.

For example, unrequited love, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, guilt can lead to the intention to commit suicide of a person. A striking example of a crisis as a reaction to the death of a loved one is the behavior of Jeanne Hebuterne, a friend of the famous Italian artist Amadeo Modigliani. She devotedly looked after the sick Amadeo. Almost every night this courageous woman, who was preparing to become a mother, ran all over Paris in search of her husband - a passionate player.

The day after Modigliani's death, Jeanne, without shedding a single tear, threw herself out of a window on the 6th floor.

For Jeanne, her love was the core of life, and even the child she was expecting could not make up for the loss of the meaning of her existence.

A crisis is a kind of turning point in human destiny, in which the foundations of the previous life collapse, and the new one does not yet exist. Fortunately, most people can handle a crisis on their own, and this is true for victims of traumatic events as well.

The impact of extreme situations on a person

In the human mind, extreme and emergency situations sharply divide life into “before” and “after”. It is difficult to draw an unambiguous conclusion about which type of emergency has the most severe consequences on the mental state of people, and which are easier to experience - natural or man-made.

There is an opinion that people usually experience natural disasters much easier than anthropogenic ones. Such natural disasters as earthquakes, floods, etc., are regarded by the victims as "God's will" or the action of impersonal nature - nothing can be changed here.

But extreme situations of an anthropogenic nature, like the tragedy in Beslan, have such a destructive effect on cash that they not only disorganize a person’s behavior, but also “blow up” the basic structures of his entire personal organization - the image of the world. A person's habitual picture of the world is destroyed, and with it - the entire system of life coordinates.

Among natural disasters in terms of destructive effect, damage caused and the number of victims, according to UNESCO, earthquakes occupy the first place. Earthquakes destroy artificial structures, houses, buildings erected by man. In addition, during earthquakes, mountain collapses, landslides, and fires can occur, bringing great destruction and posing a threat to people's lives.

The specific consequences of the earthquake associated with the mental state of people include the development of maladjustment reactions, the emergence of phobic disorders associated with the fear of being in buildings (for example, a 9-year-old girl who survived the earthquake in Koryakin in the spring of 2006 refused to enter the school building, where her family was temporarily housed, crying, breaking out, running into the street); fear of repeated tremors (people who survived an earthquake often have disturbed sleep, as their condition is characterized by anxiety and expectation of repeated shocks); fear for the lives of their loved ones. The severity of the consequences of natural disasters in each case must be assessed individually. For one person - an earthquake, the destruction of a house, evacuation, a change of residence can be the collapse of everything, cause acute experiences and severe delayed consequences, for another - only become an opportunity to start a new life.

Of the man-made emergencies, according to a number of researchers, the situation of hostage-taking is the most psycho-traumatic. This is due to the existence of a real prospect of death for the hostages, feelings of paralyzing fear, the inability to counter terrorists in the circumstances, the denial of the inherent value of life and the identity of the hostage. Such situations give rise, both in the victims themselves and in society in general, a large number of aggressive reactions, anxiety, phobic disorders.

Thus, it is impossible to unambiguously divide emergencies according to severity. Each situation has its own specifics and characteristics, its own mental consequences for participants and witnesses, and is experienced by each person individually. In many ways, the depth of this experience depends on the personality of the person himself, his internal resources, coping mechanisms.