Sensitivity (self-doubt) is a mental phenomenon, expressed in increased susceptibility and impressionability of people and the mechanism of their entry into conflicts. Because of sensitivity and vulnerability, anger and resentment are carried by sensitive people without expressing them. The state is aggravated by experiences, protective mechanisms do not work. When suppressed aggression stagnates, such individuals experience sudden emotional outbursts.

concept

Sensitivity is a characteristic feature of a person, expressed in hypersensitivity, which is colored by anxiety before new events. Individual manifestations are as follows:

• low self-esteem;
• hypersensitivity;
• timidity;
• shyness;
• sharp self-criticism;
• inferiority complex;
• propensity for prolonged experiences.

The level of sensitivity in interpersonal communication is most influenced by the innate characteristics of a person:

• features of the received upbringing;
• heredity;
• organic lesions of the brain.

With age, in the process of self-education, a person is able to reduce the level of his sensitivity, extortion in himself a sense of anxiety before new events.

In psychology, sensitivity is considered as a manifestation of excessive sensitivity or insensitivity, characterized by a complete lack of emotional reaction to the actions and behavior of people around. Insensitivity manifests itself:

• complete indifference;
• lack of physical sensations;
• tactlessness and inattention to other people.

Personal behavior in society

Personalities with increased level sensitivity is difficult to adapt in society. They experience problems in various life situations in which they are forced to face other people. As a result of interaction, sensitive relationships arise, burdened by:

1. 1. Difficulties in establishing a communicative connection due to the fact that the attitude of other people towards them is perceived as unfriendly and even hostile.
2. 2. The influence of different social situations associated with new events and acquaintances. Patients experience sensitive fear due to:

• feelings of inferiority;
• fear of public speaking;
• refusal of social activity;
• avoiding new acquaintances.

With manifestations of symptoms of this kind, you need to seek help from a psychologist. The right treatment strategy, chosen by an experienced specialist, will help to significantly alleviate the condition associated with increased sensitivity.

Kinds

From the point of view of psychology, sensitivity as a property of a person is interpreted through the ability to perceive the characteristics of the character and feelings of different people and predict their behavior. Interpersonal sensitivity is divided into the following types:

1. 1. Observational, based on the ability to immediately notice all the manifestations of the qualities of other people: appearance, speech, behavior.
2. 2. Theoretical - the use of different theories that explain and predict the thoughts, feelings and behavior of another person.
3. 3. Nomothetic - identifying the main features of a representative of a social group, predicting the behavior of people belonging to this group.

The concept of intercultural sensitivity includes the ability for perceptual assessment, structuring the characteristics of representatives of different national groups and effective prediction of people's behavior.

1. 4. Ideographic, characterized by the skill of understanding the originality and individual characteristics of a particular person.

Development of sensitivity

Developmental sensitivity has its origins in childhood. The reasons may be various situations in family:

1. 1. When parents are too strict with their child, the answer may be constant avoidance of contact, solitude, isolation and closeness in their world. The child does this subconsciously, trying to avoid punishment and censure.
2. 2. Lack of affection, attention, emotional rejection of the child in the family provokes the development of sensitivity, which manifests itself:

• isolation;
• unsociableness;
• anxiety.

3.The appearance of sensitivity due to the absence of a father is common:

• birth out of wedlock;
• death of a parent
• father with little interest in the child.

This is associated with the emergence of a conflict between "to be" and "to be able", dictated by a strict I-ideal. The situation is aggravated by the participation of the mother, expressed:

• increased attention;
• affection;
• protecting the child from adversity;
• idealization of his qualities.

On the one hand, a sensitive person is vulnerable, impressionable, and on the other, conceited. A strong function of the Superego is formed, which is expressed by dependence on the assessment of surrounding people, often expressed through a sensitive fear of condemnation.

Age sensitivity

Age sensitivity reflects a person's sensitivity to the influence of the external environment at a certain stage of development.

An important discovery of L. S. Vygotsky in child psychology is the definition of age periods that are most favorable for the development of certain functions. Periodization has the following form:

• newborn;
• infancy: 2 months - 1 year;
• early childhood: 1–3 years;
• preschool age: 3–7 years;
• school: 8–12 years;
• pubertal: 14–17 years.

This knowledge is used in pedagogy to determine the age that is favorable for the education of the child, the development and enrichment of his physical, intellectual, emotional, social and cultural capabilities.

In the life of every child there are periods in which nature itself provides favorable conditions for the development of mental properties in him, which ensure susceptibility to the acquisition of certain knowledge. These periods are considered sensitive.

sensitive periods

The sensitive period is a part of a child's life characterized by optimal conditions to develop his psychological qualities for a certain type of activity.

These stages have a time limit. Missing one of the periods mental development, will have to spend a lot of time and effort in the future to fill the gap. Some of the mental functions may not manifest themselves later. Examples are cases when children who spent their childhood among animals were returned to society. No rehabilitation programs could teach them either full-fledged speech or adaptation to new conditions. These children continued to copy the life and habits of animals.

The sensitive period is the time of optimal opportunities for the most harmonious formation of the properties of the psyche, reflecting the ability to change in accordance with external circumstances.

It is extremely important in the first years of life a variety of activities, environment, emotions for the formation of a person. Lack of knowledge, skills, emotions, mental and physical development- an irreparable gap in his later life.

Lack of self-esteem is an everyday mental phenomenon. Self-doubt, or, better, sensitive, personalities are spoken of when, as a result of this lack, people suffer and enter into conflicts. Sensitive people are highly receptive and impressionable. They do not show perseverance, they are sensitive and vulnerable, they “swallow” anger and worries, but they carry them long and hard without expressing them. Aggravating experiences and conflicts are not repressed, rejected, or isolated in the sense of the defense mechanisms described above; they remain in consciousness and remain emotionally saturated. Sensitive people are prone to getting stuck and retaining affect: the ability to direct oneself and, above all, the possibility of processing and manifestation of affect are insufficient. This applies most of all to aggressive impulses (suppression of aggression). Only with a significant stagnation of affect do sudden strong explosions occur. Sensitive personalities, according to Kretschmer, are defined by an asthenic structure with a strong sthenic sting.

Conditions of occurrence and biographical features

Many sensitive individuals lost their father in childhood (or were born out of wedlock); other fathers are often weak, have little interest in raising children. As a result, children (or adolescents) cease to see the ideal in their father and come into conflict with him. This can be related to the fact that sensitive people have a strict self-ideal, in which there is a conflict between "to be" and "to be able." A single mother, contrary to reality, tries to idealize the father in the eyes of the child, in education she tries to replace the father and assumes a double function; the child becomes a substitute for the spouse (Richter), at least (often out of fear of parting) the mother tries to bind the child to herself, she protects him and relieves him as much as possible. At the same time, the mother creates for herself an ideal picture of her son, expects conscientiousness, ambition and success from him. With this approach, the Personality becomes, on the one hand, impressionable, soft and vulnerable, and on the other, conceited and emphatically neat. As a result of this development, its special dependence on the assessment of others can be determined. “Hypersensitivity to recognition and rejection is associated with a strong function of the Superego and with a strict self-ideal and arises from the behavior of a loving mother, who at the same time resists the manifestations of the child’s needs” (Kuiper). Self-doubt ultimately means that self-esteem cannot fall apart from the inside (since experiences and behavior are not satisfied by the demands of the Super-I and the claims of the Self-ideal) and need to be supported from the outside.

A sensitive person is generally sociable and capable of love, but prefers a passive role in love. In contrast, sensitive people are often active and courageous when needed to protect themselves. The choice of a partner proceeds slowly and with conflicts, but marriages are then strong and durable.

In education and work, there are often conflicts between being able and striving, which leads to self-esteem crises if success and especially explicit recognition do not come. This annoyance is the stronger, the more office success should lead to compensation for feelings of inferiority in relation to one's own personality. military service and war is often experienced by sensitive people as their “best time,” because in such situations orders eliminate the need to make their own decision, they experience a sense of camaraderie and the recognition they seek; this lifestyle allows you to suppress the passive part of the personality structure and weaken the conflict between the I-ideal and I.

This experience shows that the sensitive structure can be evaluated with the same right both as a neurosis of character and as a psychopathy.

Therapy

Sensitive individuals relatively rarely seek treatment. Clinical symptoms consist predominantly of depressive crises of self-esteem and even more often of hypochondriacal states. Psychotherapy aims to process current conflict situations and thereby help the patient to better understand his structure and especially the possibilities of protective behavior, as well as to learn positive sides its structure: subtle sensitivity, attentiveness, justice and the possibility of sympathy, which can have a positive effect on interpersonal relations, when protection recedes into the background and the function of I comes into play. Along with a psychotherapeutic conversation, self-confidence training is shown, in which an adequate ratio between aggressive affect and criticism, for example in a role-playing game. The prognosis is favorable, many sensitive individuals achieve success in the struggle of life.

Passive-aggressive personality disorders. Such people do not take their aggressiveness outside, but leave it latent, and therefore prefer to express themselves through passive behavior: forgetfulness and lack of punctuality, counterclaims and delays are used by them to counteract the claims that are presented to them in personal, work and social life. The consequence of this is an inefficient lifestyle, especially if the behavior is persistent and extends to situations that could facilitate positive attitudes and activity. The concept of these personality disorders also comes from military experience. Apart from the expressed forms, such erased forms of behavior can often be found in the work environment.

The psychodynamic explanation of this type of personality development involves the behavior of parents, who punish children's attempts at independence and perseverance, demanding from the child what is subordinate, even if with ambivalent fluctuations. Throughout life, this type of personality disorder becomes permanent. Psychotherapy is carried out in the same way as in sensitive personalities, with whom these and the following personality disorders (both mentioned in American psychiatry) are closely associated.

Avoidant Personality Disorder Avoidant personality disorder (DSM III), including social phobic personality disorder (DSM IV), is defined by insecure self-esteem, hypersensitivity, especially in case of rejection; even minor, small and everyday failures cause deep vulnerability. Therefore, persons with this disorder try to avoid interpersonal relationships, except for the most necessary ones. Despite the need for contact, they keep their distance from people; with a great wealth of feelings, they are clumsily manifested.

Classification. According to ICD 10, sensitive personalities along with deviating personalities - F60.6; passive-aggressive personality disorders - F60.8.

AT English language the term sensitivity has two meanings. The first meaning, better known to the public, is the sensitivity of the neurotic personality, in the sense of vulnerability, vulnerability to criticism. The vulnerability of a neurotic personality is the other side of the coin. The second meaning of the term sensitivity - the ability to experience the fullness of feelings, is less known to the public. It was used by Abraham Maslow in his writings on the study of psychologically healthy (he used the term "self-actualizing") personalities. We use the interpretation of sensitivity as Abraham Maslow understood it. We also replaced the term “self-actualizing” with “authentic”, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the first one in linguistic terms and due to the fact that the essence of these concepts is close.

A high level of sensitivity is also a property of young children. Both of them are distinguished by an easy perception of existential reality, they are able to discern the beauty and charm in everyday life and are subject to frequent peak experiences.

Authentic personalities often experience peak experiences

Each peak experience, caused by the realization of the true beauty and diversity of the world around us, is a step towards health. Psychologically prosperous, healthy people are better able to have fun, love, laugh, rejoice, paying tribute to humor, tomfoolery, whims, they are distinguished by great imagination and the ability to perform pleasant “crazy”. (This gives us every reason to assume that supporting and nurturing these qualities in a child can help strengthen his health).
Abraham Maslow, who studied the psychology of mental health, notes that the average person feels fear and awe of mysterious phenomena and seeks knowledge to reduce their anxiety. However, for people who are prone to peak experiences (“pickers”), and especially for “transcenders” (whose level of maturity is higher than the level of authentic people), the mystery is attractive: it challenges, not frightens. Thus, the desire for knowledge in authentic personalities has a different motivation than for people with a neurosis, and in secrecy and reverence is a reward for them, not a punishment.

Sensitivity of the neurotic personality

A neurotic person does not understand well what feelings he is experiencing. It confuses fear and anger, anger and resentment, sadness and confusion, and so on. In the inner world of such a person, emotions do not have their own name: instead of “I am angry” - “my neck hurts”, instead of “I am offended by you” - I have a “lump in my throat”.

For many neurotic personalities, it is a discovery that in fact feelings can be identified by muscle tension. Fists clenched, neck muscles tensed, abdominal muscles in the solar plexus area and muscles of the front of the thighs - anger. There was a feeling of "emptiness in the head", dryness in the mouth, tensed shoulders and muscles between the shoulder blades - anxiety. But real emotions are painful to realize and live, and it’s scary to change anything drastically in life. Therefore, in a neurotic personality, as a rule, emotions, especially negative ones, are simply hidden. To be a “good girl” or “good boy”, it is important to skillfully hide irritation, always smile. And then - to break loose on someone defenseless because of some trifle. And everyone is perplexed: “Why would this be?” After all, nothing foreshadowed an emotional explosion? After all, everything seemed to be fine, there was a silent pleasing smile on his face ...

In a neurotic personality, emotions are not used properly. those. as a guide to decision making. It is difficult for a person with neurosis to listen to their feelings and ask themselves: “How do I feel thinking about this trip? About this friend? About such a future? How do I feel when I'm treated like this?" The neurotic person does not understand that each emotion has its own role in communication and its own reason for arising. Why is the mood sad? Because you break up with someone, you distance yourself from someone. Why did anger arise? Because someone very rudely violated personal boundaries, tried to offend, reject, humiliate.

The neurotic personality often does not take his own emotions into account at all. The main thing is to do what is considered “right” and “ideal”, so that “I will not be thought badly of”. Yes, overt rudeness and orders to “finish the third portion of the cake” are annoying, but if you please be kinder - these are distant relatives! And why go every weekend to such guests, where they humiliate, openly mock and grossly violate personal boundaries tactless questions? “So it is necessary. We have such a tradition."

A neurotic person has difficulty understanding his inner world

A neurotic person does not understand his needs, does not know what he wants from himself and from life. Most frequently asked question such a person: “How to understand what I really want? How to distinguish where are my desires and where are the desires of my loved ones?

It is difficult for a person with neurosis to understand his destiny, his mission in this life. He does not understand what he really is, authentic and real, and is vaguely aware of why he came into this world. Due to a lack of understanding of their value system, their meaning of life, a neurotic person can make serious life decisions without comprehending their motives. Study, work - for the company. Furniture - "like people", the car - the coolest available. The profession and position are chosen not from the internal need for self-realization and the disclosure of one's potential, but in order to “show dust in the eyes”.

The neurotic personality does not understand the struggle of his inner motives, because the "true self" is very small. But the False Self is very developed, the purpose of which is to receive praise and approval from other people.

And, finally, the neurotic personality quite rarely experiences "peak experiences". Painting, music, the beauty of the autumn forest, the endless expanse of fields, the drops of a May downpour on the glass… all these things pass by the perception of such a person. To stop as if rooted to the spot in the middle of the forest and selflessly plunge into the contemplation of each branch - this is not often done by a person with a neurosis. Yes, and it will seem dangerous to him, to stand in the middle of a dense forest.

The neurotic personality constantly experiences anxiety, but is not aware of it.

A neurotic person tries to pacify a constant, poorly realized anxiety by absorbing another kind of information - just disturbing. Watching frightening news, thrillers, detective stories, "gang wars" and disaster films - all this the human brain perceives as useful information, supposedly giving knowledge of how to protect oneself from all the worries of this world. This also includes reading voraciously about diseases and methods for diagnosing them. Such a person no longer reads the most frightening information about diseases - it is too scary.

An important clarification. A neurotic personality does not like to actively seek information, to understand the causes of problems that do not fit into the framework of the usual picture of the world. It can be said that a person with a neurosis prefers not to think with his own head, but repeats the opinion of experts. Accordingly, if another expert makes a contrary statement, then the opinion of a neurotic person will easily change. Since the neurotic personality ignores the signals of the situation, even realizing anxiety, anxiety about some problem, he will passively wait for something. A person with a neurosis is fearful and has difficulty actively solving pressing problems. The neurotic personality will do nothing, even if the situation calls for active action.

In order to improve sensitivity indicators, it is recommended to work on the topic of emotional intelligence (exercises to increase the level of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence), as well as perform exercises on self-reflection (awareness of one's psychological processes) and recognition of one's emotions.

P.S. We believe that the information on sensitivity posted in requires a slight correction. We see the reason for the discrepancy between the terms in the fact that the information in the dictionary on this term was laid out not by psychiatrists-psychotherapists, but by psychologists who do not have medical education. For this reason, there are two inaccuracies in this definition that it would be desirable to correct: 1) unequivocal, without reservations about the double meaning of the term, correlation of sensitivity and features characteristic of anxiety-phobic neurosis 2) confusion of biological causes (psychopathy) and educational (accentuations) character) with sensitivity. We hope that our colleagues will supplement their definitions and interpretations of terms, taking into account the knowledge of medical psychotherapy.

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This article is commonly read:

Excessive sensitivity, impressionability, excessive moral requirements, first of all, to oneself, low self-esteem, timidity and shyness. Under the blows of fate, people of a sensitive type easily become extremely cautious, suspicious and withdrawn. Tastefully dressed, moderately. Good-natured and attentive facial expression. Precautionary, watch the reactions of others. Overly executive and devoted. They tend to be kind and helpful. Very sociable, sociable. Social recognition is important to them. There are interests in the intellectual and aesthetic sphere.

Even Kretschmer, describing one of the forms of reactive psychosis, called sensitive delusions, noted that this psychosis develops in individuals of a special type: they combine excessive sensitivity and impressionability with high moral requirements for themselves, with "ethical scrupulousness." Under the blows of fate, they easily become extremely cautious, suspicious and withdrawn. P.B. Gannushkin noticed that behind all this lies a pronounced sense of "one's own insufficiency." Later, trying to divide humanity into schizoids and cycloids, Kretschmer attributed sensitive subjects to the former. Since then, three tendencies have been preserved in relation to the sensitive type: to consider it as a variation of the schizoid type, to include it in the asthenic group, even considering it inappropriate and artificial to isolate it in a special variant, and, finally, to consider the sensitive type of character as completely special. Kretschmer also subsequently changed his view: the sensitive type is singled out as one of the main ones. As will be seen from the following presentation, sensitive personalities are significantly different from schizoids and rather belong to a wide range of asthenics, still constituting a special subgroup among them.

In the well-known manuals on child psychiatry, there is no description of the sensitive type at all, and this is not accidental. Sensitive psychopathy is formed relatively late. Its formation most often falls at the age of 16-19 years, that is, in the post-puberty period, at the time of independent entry into social life.

Symptoms of Sensitive Schizoid Disorder

Since childhood, fearfulness and timidity are manifested. Such children are often afraid of the dark, shun animals, afraid to be alone. They shun too lively and noisy peers, do not like overly mobile and mischievous games, risky pranks, avoid large children's companies, feel timidity and shyness among strangers, in a new environment and are generally not inclined to easy communication with strangers. All this sometimes gives the impression of isolation, isolation from the environment and makes one suspect autistic tendencies inherent in schizoids. However, with those to whom these children are accustomed, they are quite sociable. They often prefer games with kids to their peers, feeling more confident and calmer among them. The early interest in abstract knowledge, "children's encyclopedia", characteristic of schizoids, also does not appear. Many willingly prefer quiet games, drawing, modeling to reading. To relatives, they sometimes show extreme affection, even with a cold attitude or harsh treatment on their part. They are distinguished by obedience, often reputed to be a "home child".

The school scares them with a crowd of peers, noise, fuss, fuss and fights at breaks, but getting used to one class and even suffering from some fellow students, they are reluctant to move to another team. They usually study hard. They are afraid of all kinds of control, checks, exams. Often they are embarrassed to answer in front of the class, afraid to stumble, cause laughter, or, conversely, they answer much less than they know, so as not to be considered an upstart or an overly diligent student among classmates. Often in adolescence become objects of ridicule.

The onset of puberty usually passes without any complications. Difficulties in adaptation often occur at the age of 16-19. It is at this age that both main qualities of the sensitive type, noted by P.B. Gannushkin - "extreme impressionability" and "a pronounced sense of one's own insufficiency."

The reaction of emancipation in sensitive adolescents is rather weakly expressed. Children's attachment to relatives remains. The guardianship of elders is not only tolerated, but even willingly obeyed. Reproaches, lectures and punishments from relatives are more likely to cause tears, remorse and even despair than the protest usually characteristic of adolescents. Moreover, there is no desire to reject the spiritual values, interests and customs of the older generation. Sometimes there is even an accentuated adherence to the ideals and mode of life of adults. Consonant with this, a sense of duty, hyper-responsibility, high moral and ethical requirements are formed early on both to others and to oneself. Peers are horrified by rudeness, cruelty, cynicism. In itself, many shortcomings are seen, especially in the field of moral, ethical and volitional qualities. The source of remorse in male adolescents is often the onanism so frequent at this age. There are self-accusations of “vileness” and “lechery”, cruel reproaches of oneself for the inability to resist the addiction. Masturbation is also attributed to its own weakness in all areas, timidity and shyness, failure in studies due to allegedly weakening memory or thinness, sometimes characteristic of a period of growth, disproportionate physique, etc.

The feeling of inferiority in sensitive people makes the reaction of hypercompensation especially pronounced. They seek self-affirmation not away from the weak points of their nature, not in areas where their abilities can be revealed, but precisely where they especially feel their inferiority. Girls tend to show their cheerfulness. Timid and shy boys pull on the guise of swagger and even deliberate arrogance, trying to show their energy and will. But as soon as the situation unexpectedly requires bold determination, they immediately give up. If it is possible to establish trusting contact with them, and they feel sympathy and support from the interlocutor, then behind the sleeping mask of “nothing at all” turns out to be a life full of reproaches and self-flagellation, subtle sensitivity and exorbitantly high demands on oneself. Unexpected participation and sympathy can change arrogance and bravado into violent tears.

Due to the same hypercompensation reaction, sensitive people find themselves in public positions (headmen, trade unionists, etc.). They are put forward by educators, teachers, bosses attracted by obedience and diligence. However, they are only enough to fulfill the formal side of the function entrusted to them with great personal responsibility, but informal leadership in such teams goes to others. The intention to get rid of timidity and weak will pushes the boys to engage in strength sports - wrestling, dumbbell gymnastics, etc. So, for example, a 16-year-old sensitive young man, quiet and indecisive, almost all free time spent on a parachute tower, jumping several times a day and doing all sorts of gymnastic exercises in the air in order to “suppress all fear forever.” Perhaps playing sports brings them some benefit, but they do not achieve noticeable success here.

The reaction of grouping with peers, like the reaction of emancipation, receives little outward manifestation. Unlike schizoids, sensitive adolescents do not isolate themselves from comrades, do not live in imaginary fantastic groups, and are not able to be a “black sheep” in a normal adolescent environment. They are picky in the choice of friends, they prefer a close friend to a large company, they are very affectionate in friendship. Some of them like to have older friends. The usual teenage group terrifies them with the noise, swagger, rudeness that prevails there.

The hobbies of sensitive people can be divided into true, in harmony with their character, and contrasting with their nature and caused by the reaction of hypercompensation. The first ones mainly belong to the type of intellectual and aesthetic hobbies. They are very diverse and are determined by the level of intelligence and general development, examples of acquaintances, individual abilities and inclinations. There is also a passion for various types of art: music (usually classical), drawing, modeling, chess. Here you can also breed domestic flowers, songbirds, aquarium fish, and domesticate small animals. The satisfaction here comes from the very process of these studies: the opportunity to read an interesting book in the original on foreign language, listen to your favorite music, draw, solve a difficult chess problem, admire the growing flowers, feed the fish, etc. These hobbies are completely devoid of the desire to attract the attention of others or achieve amazing results. Even real successes are estimated very modestly by the sensitives themselves.

Hobbies associated with hypercompensation often belong to the "leadership" or body-manual type of hobbies. Here the main thing is the goal and the result, and not the process itself. The nature of these hobbies has already been mentioned above.

The reactions associated with the emerging sexual attraction are densely colored by feelings of one's own inferiority. As indicated, adolescent masturbation sometimes becomes a source of painful remorse and torment. Shyness and shyness come out with particular force when first love flares up. Often, the object of love remains unaware of the feeling it caused. Or explanations and confessions are, perhaps due to the same hypercompensation, so decisive and unexpected that they frighten and repel. Rejected love plunges into despair and extremely exacerbates the feeling of one's own inferiority. Self-flagellation and self-reproaches lead to suicidal thoughts.

The suicidal behavior of sensitive adolescents is distinguished by two qualities, firstly, repeated outbreaks of suicidal thoughts without making any attempts. These outbreaks are always caused by the situation - the blows of life on weak points sensitive subjects, fueling the idea of ​​their own worthlessness. Secondly, true suicidal actions, devoid of any element of demonstrativeness. A suicidal act is usually committed under the influence of a chain of failures, disappointments (a long “pre-suicidal period”), and a rather insignificant reason can serve as the last straw. Because of this, suicidal actions can be completely unexpected for others.

Sensitive people are not prone to alcoholism, drug use, or delinquent behavior. Sensitive men, as a rule, do not even smoke, and alcoholic beverages can disgust them. In alcohol intoxication, one often sees not a euphoric, but a depressive reaction with an increase in feelings of inferiority. Unlike expansive schizoids, alcohol is not able to play the role of a kind of communicative doping, i.e. does not facilitate contacts and does not inspire self-confidence.

False judgments of delinquency can occur when running away from home, skipping school, or even completely refusing to attend school, which are caused by mental trauma or an intolerable situation for sensitive adolescents. The ridicule, rudeness, resentment, painful situation experienced by a teenager may remain unknown to others. Unexpected desperate violent aggression against the offender is sometimes misinterpreted as banal pugnacity or hooliganism.

Self-esteem of sensitive people differs quite a lot. high level objectivity. Resentment and sensitivity, inherent in childhood, shyness, which especially prevents you from making friends with anyone you want, the inability to be a leader, ringleader, the soul of the company, dislike for adventures and adventures, all kinds of risk and thrills, aversion to alcohol, dislike for flirting and courtship. They emphasize that they tend neither to quarrel easily nor to make up quickly. Many of them have problems to which they cannot determine their attitude or do not want to do so. Most often, these problems are the attitude towards friends, towards one's environment, towards criticism, towards money, towards alcoholic beverages. Apparently, all this is connected with hidden feelings colored by emotions. Disgusted by lies and disguises, sensitive teenagers prefer untruth to rejection.

The weak link of sensitive personalities is the attitude of others around them. Unbearable for them is the situation where they become the object of ridicule or suspicion of unseemly acts, when the slightest shadow falls on their reputation or when they are subjected to unfair accusations. The following examples can serve as an illustration of what has been said. A drunken man approached a 14-year-old sensitive teenager on the street, both were taken to the police, the teenager was immediately released, but “everyone saw how he was being led by a policeman” and this caused long painful experiences and refusal to go to school. From the device, which was used by another 17-year-old sensitive young man in the laboratory, a valuable part disappeared, one of his colleagues jokingly threw the phrase: “If you took it, then return it!” It was enough to come to the conclusion that everyone considered him a thief, and quit his job at the research institute, which this young man cherished very much. From the wardrobe, when a 15-year-old schoolgirl was on duty, a jacket disappeared; she began to be tormented by the thought that everyone should consider her a thief.

It is no coincidence that in the families of sensitive personalities there were repeatedly delusional patients or paranoid psychopaths who made absurd accusations against these teenagers. The mother of a 16-year-old sensitive boy, who suffered from involutional paranoia, reproached him for allegedly cohabiting with an elderly woman, the former mistress of his long-dead father. Another mother, suspicious and stingy, scolded her son, a homebody, lover of birds and flowers, for allegedly being associated with a gang of bandits who were going to rob her. An elderly grandmother, her parents who left for the north, entrusted the upbringing of a 15-year-old sensitive girl. Seeing her granddaughter on the street with a classmate, she called her a public girl in front of her neighbors and demanded to go to the gynecologist for an examination. All the described situations caused reactive states. Naturally, becoming a laughing stock for others, due to any real shortcomings or unsuccessful actions of parents or caregivers, is more than enough to be plunged into a depressive state.

Among 300 male adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital with psychopathy and character accentuations, 8% were classified as sensitive, and only a fourth of them were diagnosed with psychopathy, and in the rest - reactive states against the background of the corresponding sensitive accentuation.

Sensitive-labile and schizoid-sensitive variants

Sensitive subjects, unlike expansive schizoids, are very sensitive to how others treat them. Nevertheless, there are mixed types, where sensitivity and schizoidness are combined, then it is schizoidness that is the dominant feature.

More difficult is the distinction between sensitive and labile types. A sensitive teenager does not have bursts of joyful mood, there is a constant readiness for despondency, shyness, even in the most favorable environment - all this is usually not present in a representative labile type. Nevertheless, the combination of sensitivity with marked emotional lability - slight despondency and tears, even at the recollection of long-standing troubles, and a quick susceptibility to comfort and reassurance - leads some cases to be considered as mixed type(“sensitive-labile option”). However, unlike sensitive schizoids, here it is sensitivity that forms the main basis of character.

Treatment

Only cases are subject to treatment when the emotional and mental state of a person is disturbed and in general terms is similar to the treatment of schizoid psychopathy.

In the environment of every person there are people with a fine mental organization: they are very impressionable, sensitive to what is happening with people, animals, they cannot stand harsh treatment, and sensitivity is a quality characteristic of these people.

What is sensitivity?

Sensitivity is (from lat. sensus feelings) - a high individual sensitivity, which manifests itself as a personality trait in people. Sensitivity covers a wide range of mental processes of an individual and can be expressed as follows:

• severe anxiety and fear of future events;
• increased self-reflection;
• low pain threshold;
• inadequate self-criticism and self-flagellation in case of failures;
• timidity;
• understated;
• feeling unworthy;
• high demands on oneself;
• fear of criticism and failure;
• stuck on past experiences;
• low level of claims;

Causes of sensitivity:

• genetic predisposition;
• organic brain damage;
• neurosis;
• depression;
• mental illness;
• anxiety disorders.

Sensitivity in psychology

Psychology considers sensitivity not only as a certain personality trait individual person, but also as an age. The sensitive period is a favorable stage in the development of the child for the conditions for the formation in him of a certain behavior, mental properties, skills and abilities. Maria Montessori (Italian teacher), actively used the opportunities environment in the development of the child and as a result of her work, she noted several age sensitive periods:

• 0 - 6 years - development of speech;
• 0 - 5.5 years - sensory perception;
• 0 - 3 years - development of perception to order;
• 1 - 4 years - actively develop motor skills, actions;
• 1.5 - 7 years - perception of small objects;
• 4.5 - 5 years - phonemic sensitivity;
• 6 - 8 years - a sensitive period for the development of writing skills.

Sensitivity - pluses

A high level of sensitivity gives a person a lot of experiences, but sensitivity has its positive aspects, such people are characterized by:

• kindness and gentleness;
• high moral principles;
• ethics;
• conscientiousness;
• the ability to feel the pain or depression of others;
• the ability to recognize subtle nuances in activities.

Types of sensitivity

Sensitive can be especially sensitive in a certain area of ​​​​perception. D.G. Smith (Amer. clinical psychologist) classified the main types of sensitivity:

1. Theoretical sensitivity- a good orientation of a person in various theoretical concepts of personality and the ability to apply knowledge in the relevant area (prediction of feelings, thoughts, actions of other people)
2. Observational sensitivity- the ability to simultaneously observe and evaluate the appearance of the interlocutor, his speech, smell, facial expressions, movements and postures. This includes self-observation.
3. Ideographic sensitivity- a vision in each personality of peculiar, inherent only to her signs.
4. Nomothetic sensitivity- when observing the behavior of a representative of a social group, a sensitive person can apply the knowledge gained to predict the behavior of other members of this group.

There is another classification of sensitivity:

• emotional;
• social;
• temperament sensitivity.

Emotional sensitivity

The concept of sensitivity in an emotional context means the hypersensitivity of the individual, expressed in exposure to the influence of negative events of the past. The impetus for development can be inadequate cruel or indifferent upbringing in childhood. An emotionally sensitive person suffers from the fact that past events are experienced by him again and again, aggravating the psychophysiological state.

social sensitivity

Sensitivity in communication prevents a person from effectively building relationships in society, a career, and making close acquaintances. Sensitive fear manifests itself in people prone to anxiety disorders and paranoia, such people are prone to the experience that their thoughts can be "read" by other people. Social sensitivity is based on a person's negative feelings towards himself:

• own inferiority (“I’m not good enough/smart/capable);
• insecurity and dishonesty.

Sensitivity of temperament

The temperamental properties of sensitivity and reactivity are more characteristic of melancholic people, while phlegmatic, choleric and sanguine people are less sensitive. Melancholic people tend to worry for a long time, are vulnerable and prone to soul-searching - these features have allowed psychologists to compare sensitivity with the melancholic temperament of the individual.

Sensitivity Exercises

Sensitivity in a reasonable range is a necessary quality of successful interaction with people, understanding of the processes occurring with a person. Sensitivity training is the general name of group psychological trainings for personal growth, aimed at developing sensitive abilities in a person: empathy, observation, understanding and predicting the behavior of others. Techniques and exercises of sensitive training:

1. Psychological observation exercise. In the group, a person is selected who leaves the door, at this time the participants in the process are located in the room: someone sits on chairs, others stand. The coach calls the exited participant and asks to remember for 1 minute the “picture” of the location of the rest, then again asks to go out the door. There is a change of half of the members of the group in the location. The exited participant enters again, and the coach asks him to arrange everyone as it was the first time. As a result, how observant a person is is judged.
2. Exercise "Emotions" to increase the perception of a partner. Participants sit in a semicircle and receive cards on which different emotional reactions are recorded. Each participant in turn goes out and stands with his back to the others, his task is to non-verbally depict the emotion or state recorded on his card. The goal of the rest is to feel what it is: anger, joy, sadness, etc.
3. Exercise for the development of observational sensitivity. Participants sit in a circle and try to feel emotional condition neighbor located in left hand, while getting feedback whether their guess is correct. Incorrect interpretations are noted by the trainer as indicating the stereotypes that guide people when analyzing the actions and emotions of others.