Aggressive behavior is a sign of what disease. Aggression

Increased aggressiveness

It leads to impulsive attacks (raptus),

paroxysms of swearing,

destructive rage

fits of violent insanity.

Occurs:

Constitutionally, as a personality trait: in so-called excitable psychopaths. This is important due to the fact that these individuals may pose a threat of criminal violence. Alcohol can act as a trigger due to decreased control, especially in certain social situations.

Psychoreactive: in rage, anger, fear, despair. How psychogenic reaction In conclusion, the “prison explosion” (blind destructive rage, violent acts) is known.

Neurotic: with neurotic imbalance, in difficult life situations, in tense relationships, aggressiveness, irritability, and sensitivity increase.

Organic psychoses: in alcoholic intoxication, in epileptic intoxication. In postencephalitic parkinsonism, aggressive impulses may be observed along with oculogyric crises, for example. the desire to strangle someone.

At general illness brain (organic psychosyndrome): due to loss of control, increased reactive aggressiveness (irritability with impulsive actions) may be observed.

With local cerebral psychosyndrome, raptus-like violent actions are observed, similar to those with endocrine psychosyndrome.

Mania: With angry mania, violent actions similar to violent insanity occur.

Schizophrenia: with catatonic agitation, one must be wary of violent actions. When paranoid (especially with), verbal and motor attacks take place as a means of defense or revenge. The meaning of passion as a form of auto cannot be discussed here. On the contrary, it is necessary to point out the interpretation of suicide as auto-aggression, as well as impulsive self-harm. Both of them can be raptus-like. About violent actions of mentally ill people. Of the rapists examined, 3% turned out to be people with mental disorders. This corresponds to the frequency of mental disorders broadly defined in the adult population. Mentally ill and mentally ill people commit violent acts no more often than mentally healthy people. Among mentally ill rapists, schizophrenics occupy the first place.

Suicide: in the raptus of melancholic people aimed at self-destruction, brutal, untargeted suicidal actions can take place. Often, close relatives—a spouse or children—are involved in suicidal acts (extended suicide).

Impulsive self-harm (automutilation): for example, self-castration of a schizophrenic for delusional-religious reasons. A schizophrenic burns his lips and mouth with lye to avoid following orders to eat his mother. An old, depressed woman cuts off the hand she used to masturbate in her youth. An oligophrenic person pulls out his hair (trichotillomania). In one of the various forms of manifestation of Munchausen syndrome, patients injure themselves in order to be hospitalized.

Reducing or inhibiting aggression

• constitutionally as a character trait: in psychopathic and neurotic individuals (so-called neurotic inhibition of aggression) - asthenics, “paralyzed”, passive people;
• with all bodily suffering, weakened;
• reactive: with sadness, grief, care.
• in organic psychoses with dementia, a decrease in aggressiveness often, although not always, develops as part of a general decrease in activity with apathy;
• depression: in almost all forms of depression, aggression is reduced.
• Chronic schizophrenia is characterized by passive, “paralyzed”, with loss of motivation, weak-willed, and in many cases devoid of aggression behavior.

The word “aggression” has Latin roots (“attack”). Statistics show that children and adults are becoming more and more aggressive every year. This is mainly due to the increasing pace of life, psychological stress and poor sleep and rest schedules. Aggressive behavior can arise both due to the characteristics of a person’s character and upbringing, and because mental illness.

- destructive actions and statements that lead to psychological and physical damage to the person or group of people to whom it is directed. Unreasonable aggression may indicate that the body's hormonal balance is disturbed, in some cases this is a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease. There can be a lot of reasons, so you need to be examined by qualified specialists. The earlier the diagnosis is carried out, the higher the chance of eliminating the causes without consequences for the person himself and for others, including those closest to him.

Causes

Mental and psychological reasons aggressive behavior in adults and adolescents:

• abuse of drugs from the group of antidepressants
• problems at work
• problems in personal life
• lack of rest during intense workload

Motives for aggression may be like this:

• hostile (anger, hatred, rage, emotional breakdown)
• pathological (these are consequences of mental disorders: hallucinations, delusions, psychoses)
• authoritarian (associated with the desire for power, a person strives to be superior to others, control them and subjugate them)
• hedonistic (aggression brings a person satisfaction: moral or physical)
• mental self-regulation (aggression helps a person find psychological comfort and inner harmony)
• denial (aggressive behavior in such cases is a way of violating existing rules, norms, laws)

Separately, some researchers consider the motives of following, acquisition and achievement, and defensive motives of aggression.

Theories of aggressive behavior

There are many such theories. The theories of Erich Fromm, Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz were most widespread. Aggression is divided into 4 categories:

• a need that is caused by external factors (this mechanism is explained by frustration theory)
• congenital feature (explained by the theory of attraction)
• form of behavior in society
• cognitive and emotional processes

Aggression in children

Statistics show that in recent years, schoolchildren, especially junior schoolchildren, are becoming more and more aggressive. They develop aggressive behavior, directed both at classmates and friends, and at teachers and parents. Among the most current reasons are called:

• being in an unstable psychological climate in the family (parents don’t get along with each other, show aggression towards their son or daughter)
• bad upbringing (when one day a child is allowed to do something, and on the second day they flatly refuse the same for no reason; this causes misunderstanding of the child and anger)
• poor performance at school
• quarrels and absence common language with classmates
• biased attitude of the teacher, educator
• excessive demands of teachers, curators, parents

Aggressive behavior in a 2 year old child may be triggered by a ban on something. When they don't get what they want, hysterics or aggression may begin. Children of this age do not yet understand that their behavior has a certain result, which can significantly affect others. For example, they may push another child without realizing that the child could hit their head or even break something. It is better not to scold aggressive children aged 2 years. Explain to him what he was wrong about, what consequences his actions have. When hysterical, try to switch his attention to something.

Also, aggression in 2-year-old children may indicate that they are experiencing basic physical needs that they cannot yet talk about (or cannot even recognize). For example, a child may want to drink, eat, sleep, or rest.

At three years old The child experiences his first age-related crisis. You cannot show retaliatory aggression; you need to act with calm conversations and explanations of the situation. If this does not help, you should definitely consult a qualified child psychologist.

Aggressive behavior in preschoolers may have the following possible causes:

• biological
• hereditary, character traits
• somatic diseases
• brain pathologies

At 7 years old The child experiences another crisis of personality development. Entering first grade, they face new restrictions. This can lead to rudeness towards parents, quarrels with friends and comrades, ignoring the requests and orders of the teacher. If parents, in response to such behavior, yell at the child and punish him, this will lead to a worsening crisis.

Aggression in a 7 year old child can provoke an unhealthy psychological climate in the family, physical punishment for misconduct and poor performance, violent computer games, constant viewing of films where characters show aggression (mostly thrillers and action films), upbringing attitudes (when a child is taught in response to aggression from another child act aggressively yourself, resorting to physical methods).

Aggressive behavior of schoolchildren may be due to the imposition of a sense of elitism by parents. Children from wealthy families require increased attention from teachers, honor and even worship from classmates. They feel chosen and consider themselves “above others.” When others violate their illusion and do not confirm existing attitudes, the child begins to behave aggressively.

Forms of aggressive behavior

There are two forms of aggressive behavior based on the method of manifestation:

• verbal (statements)
• physical

Verbal aggression is behavior when a person, being in normal mental health or with a pathology, insults, humiliates and threatens others with words. This type of aggression, in turn, can be direct or indirect.

Physical aggression is divided into three subtypes:

• symbolic (threats and intimidation)
• indirect (material damage)
• direct (actions that cause physical harm to a person or group of people)

The actual form of aggressive behavior is considered separately. This is the infliction of physical injury to people or animals. Any aggression always contradicts the norms and rules of morality in society. Aggression is in most cases a form of reaction to a problem. It causes frustration and other negative consequences.

Aggressive-passive behavior

Aggressive-passive behavior is a reaction to an existing or imagined problem, which is characterized by a person’s attempt not to show negativity or dissatisfaction, but to hide it from others. This behavior includes postponing an important decision for one’s life. Aggressive-passive people see themselves as victims. They often have addictions and a fear of making any decisions, especially important ones.

Passive-aggressive (or aggressive-passive) behavior can be indicated by such phrases from a person:

• as you say; Ok
• I am not angry
• I didn't know you meant do it right now
• Yes, I'm on my way already!; well now!
• I thought/thought you know
• you just want everything to be perfect (when he doesn't do the assigned task well enough and gets reprimanded)
• You did it well for a person with your education/level of intelligence/work experience, etc.
• well of course I would be happy
• why are you so upset?
• I was just joking!

Aggression of men and women

Researchers say that boys and men are more prone to aggressive behavior than girls and women. Men often abuse animals and children. This is due to the fact that the male body has higher levels of a hormone called testosterone. The more of it in the body, the more prone a person is to anger and aggression. Men are mostly aggressive physical appearance, and women are limited to the verbal form of aggressive behavior.

Gender differences in aggressive behavior have been studied by the following researchers:

• Bjorkvist
• Lagerspets
• Harris
• Gentry, etc.

The difference between the aggression of the two sexes lies in the attitudes regarding such behavior. Men generally experience little guilt and have low levels of anxiety. Women, on the contrary, think about how the victim will react to their behavior, whether she will show retaliatory aggression, whether she will be too depressed and upset, etc.

Aggression, in the understanding of men, is a means to achieve goals. For women, aggressive behavior is a way to relieve stress and calm down. These are in most cases short-term outbursts of anger. Differences in aggressive behavior between men and women are due to several reasons. The first is a genetic factor. Aggressive men in ancient times had a greater chance of dominance and reproduction. Using aggression, they defeated other contenders for the chosen woman. Scientists Verschoor, Kenrick and Sadallah, after conducting research, concluded that a man’s desire for dominance is positively assessed by women and is considered an attractive feature.

Differences in aggression of both sexes are also dictated by cultural and social factors. Women are considered more social creatures; they tend to empathize and make friends. And men show their self-confidence and tend to demonstrate strength. Women evaluate most actions as harmful and leading to anxiety or guilt.

Objects of aggression

The first type of aggressive behavior to consider is “chivalry.” Experiments by scientists Mukherjee, Kolsawalla, Nanji and Kanekara demonstrated that aggression directed at a woman, especially from a man, is considered unacceptable. Men who acted aggressively in this experiment were perceived by women as more immoral than those who showed aggression directed at men.

Women cause less aggression in men because males perceive them as non-threatening objects. Studies have shown that when revenge is needed, a man will take revenge on another man more cruelly than on a woman.

“Anti-knighthood” is the second form of male aggression. Researchers Thompson, Richardson, Romanowski and Golin show that men are most likely to show aggression towards women when they have specific fears. These fears include, first of all, the feeling self-esteem men. When a woman demonstrates that she considers them weak or unmanly, this causes the greatest level of aggression.

Characteristics of aggressive behavior

Aggressive behavior can occur even in very young children when the child does not get something he wants. Aggression can be provoked by 3 factors:

• biological
• psychological
• social

Biological factor:

• infectious disease
• receiving
• use of psychotropic substances
• alcohol
• narcotic substances
• hereditary characteristics

Psychological factor:

• addiction
• suspiciousness
• anxiety
• impulsiveness
• emotional instability
• egocentrism

Social factor:

• antisocial social circle
• peer influence
• influence of friends
• family influence

There are such features of aggressive behavior:

• insults
• humiliation of the honor and dignity of another person
• blackmail
• damage to property
• tendency to physical abuse
• assault/fighting

Aggressive behavior of the teacher

The reasons for the aggressive behavior of teachers, educators, curators, and coaches may be:

• low level of professionalism
• professional burnout
• decline in the prestige of the teaching profession
• aggressive behavior of several/many students in the class, etc.

The aggression of the teacher negatively affects children, who, in principle, do not encounter anger, shouting and insults anywhere else except at school. Such children are likely to receive psychological trauma or, at a minimum, negative life experiences. This will affect their perception of all teachers and coaches in the future, their perception of people of the same gender as their teachers, their moral attitudes, etc.

If you find that your child's teacher is prone to aggressive behavior (including verbal aggression), you need to talk with him one on one, or by involving one or two other parents in this matter. Do not make a scandal under any circumstances, and do not try to sort things out with the teacher in public. If after the conversation the teacher does not draw conclusions and shows aggression, you need to inform the school principal about this. Aggressive people has no place in the pedagogical system.

Aggression after stroke

Aggressive behavior is a characteristic consequence of a stroke. The reason lies in changes in the psychophysical state. Patients are characterized by causeless mood changes, short temper, and irritability. Relatives must have patience to communicate with him. An important condition for recovery is peace and positive emotions.

Correction of aggressive behavior

In some cases, aggressive behavior can be corrected on your own, but sometimes you need to resort to face-to-face help from specialists. There are different methods for correcting aggression in children, adolescents and adults. To reduce aggression in children, the following actions are relevant:

• proper organization of the child’s daily routine and leisure time
• active physical education, sports, dancing
• prevention
• normalization of sleep and wakefulness

As for psychological methods for correcting aggressive behavior in children, a number of them are relevant. The first technique is called “fist toy”. The baby is asked to close his eyes, a toy is placed in his hand and he is asked to squeeze it tightly. After which the baby is asked to open his eyes and check what is held in his palm. The second current technique is called the “bag of anger.” Grains or sand with small pebbles are poured into a small fabric bag. A child can be kicked, hit, thrown when he feels a surge of anger, anger, irritation within himself.

Factors to reduce aggressiveness

The following strategies can be used to correct aggressive behavior in children:

• orientation to the experiences and emotions of others
• to stimulate and demonstrate humane feelings in aggressive child and victims
• experiencing a feeling of joy and pride when the child has mastered himself and does not show aggressiveness
• switching the child from experiencing feelings of failure and aggressive behavior
• response to feelings of resentment in an aggressive child and the one towards whom his aggressive behavior is directed
• modeling a situation of failure in order to overcome the feeling of failure, etc.

To correct aggression in adults, you can use special psychological techniques, if the aggressor himself has a desire to change. If the desire is small, inconsistent or non-existent, it is worth motivating the person to seek a face-to-face consultation with a psychologist or psychotherapist. Only regular practice will help you adjust your behavior for the benefit of yourself and others.

Most patients with schizophrenia live ordinary lives in society and usually do not fall into the category of dangerous, in terms of violent actions. However, periods of aggression may occur during the acute psychotic phases of the disease. Aggressive behavior in such patients usually manifests itself in severe violent behavior. This may be associated with acute decompensation of mental illness, or be secondary to covert or overt non-compliance drug therapy. Decompensation may also be due to insufficient current treatment regimen. Research reports that most aggressive acts committed by persons with schizophrenia occur during the acute phase of the illness.

The manifestation of aggressive behavior often manifests itself among patients with addiction, in whom concomitant psychoneurological diseases are associated with substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, spice, other toxic substances). Aggression and aggressive behavior in such patients can be directly provoked both by the intake of alcohol, cocaine, amphetamine and other psychoactive substances, and by withdrawal syndrome in the absence or removal of psychoactive and toxic substances from the body. It is not uncommon for people to develop behavior such as paranoia, extreme anxiety and aggression in connection with targeted treatment for drug addiction or alcoholism.

Such as brain injury, brain tumors, or metabolic disorders can provoke aggressive behavior in patients, more often in the form of violence. Recent evidence suggests that violence is more associated with psychopathology and mental retardation than with epileptiform activity (interictal - related to mental and behavioral disorders that occur in a patient between epileptic attacks) or other variable causes.

Patients with dementia may be emotionally labile or prone to lack of control or poor control of behavior, prone to impulsive aggressive behavior, and lack of deliberation. More often they can appear in the form of serious injuries to themselves and others, which occurs out of anger or in the form of an acute reaction to a perceived (from their point of view) threat. As a rule, with the correct and full diagnostics, which clarifies the diagnosis, such reactions can be prevented by a doctor, but this option may not always be available in the emergency room or by people around.

Antisocial personality disorder can cause various nervous system disorders. Antisocial personality traits may be present even if a full diagnosis cannot be made for any reason. Antisocial personality disorder or traits can be assessed by examining them in the context of aggressive incidents. Bullying can be a fact of aggressive behavior. For example, fighting for money, cigarettes, access to sexual partners, attacks on others who deny the patient's requests or demands or try to set boundaries for the patient's behavior (for example, enforcing a smoking ban).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often associated with aggressive behavior, hostility, and violence. Particularly pronounced in the presence of comorbidities, such as mood and personality disorders, abuse psychoactive substances, there may also be confounding factors. These confounding factors were studied in outpatients, war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. stress disorder. Cases of aggressive behavior have also been identified in patients with panic disorders. Patients complained of significant mood disturbances and impulsive, unregulated behavior.

Treatment of aggression in the clinic

Medications are often used in our clinic to treat acute conditions involving aggressive behavior. These include the latest generation of neurometabolic therapy drugs.

The International Psychiatric Association has approved a new regimen for the use of the latest generation of drugs that can be used in the treatment of aggressive behavior. Intramuscular injections and intravenous infusions used at Brain Clinics and intended for use in the promotion of brain diseases are approved for use by the international medical ethical commission. Intravenous infusions are faster, safer and effective action than when taken orally.

However, the patient can easily calm down after oral administration of drugs if he or she understands that measures have been taken and help is being provided. Sublingual administration may have a faster onset of action than oral administration, as it has the added benefit for patients who are critical of their condition, having a distracting effect on the anxious patient while the tablet dissolves. This indicates the presence of a positive effect of psychotherapeutic influence on patients who are not in an acute psychotic state.

Acute aggressive behavior

It is important that patients with aggressive behavior should first be assessed for the possibility of comorbidities. At the same time, acute psychotic conditions, including the presence of acute withdrawal syndromes during withdrawal of alcohol, drugs or sedatives, should be excluded. Beyond the acute management of an aggressive behavioral episode, long-term management depends on the nature of the violence, whether it is temporary or permanent.

After treatment for aggressive behavior

After removal of acute psychomotor agitation long-term management strategies required mental state. During this period, the use of drugs used to relieve an acute condition is not recommended. Preventive measures are needed to prevent aggressive behavior in the form of outpatient and outpatient treatment, which can be used as an alternative to inpatient treatment - inpatient replacement techniques used in Brain clinics. When innovative alternative outpatient programs are used, combined with psychotherapeutic behavior modification, patients respond well to therapy without the need for hospitalization.

Pharmacotherapy for the long-term management of aggressive behavior depends on the underlying clinical problem of the individual patient.
Treatment of the underlying disorder is key. Often, when the underlying psychiatric problem is successfully treated, the severity of aggressive behavior decreases. Unfortunately, perhaps one third of patients with schizophrenia do not respond or only partially respond positively to antipsychotic treatment. In some patients with schizophrenia, high doses of antipsychotic medications may actually increase the risk of aggressive behavior later in life.

Aggressive behavior

You have encountered aggressive behavior from someone.

Basic non-pharmacological controls include the following:

Assess potential danger (for example, objects that could be used as an attack). Assess physical behavior patient (for example, many patients show their fist or tap their feet). Always keep the patient in sight while monitoring their behavior (for example, do not turn your back). Take verbal threats seriously. Maintain a safe distance. Don't hesitate to ask additional help, this is not the time to show heroism. Stay calm, act confident and competent, try to remove manifestations of aggressive behavior by engaging in a calm conversation. Avoid arguing with the patient.

In everyday life, people quite often encounter aggressive behavior from others. This can happen in the family, at work, on the street, in public places. The word aggression itself is translated from Latin as “to attack.”

Aggressive behavior may be due to various factors and be part of the structure of various types of deviant behavior.

Aggressive behavioral actions can be either criminal behavior or a manifestation (symptoms) of a mental disorder.

The main difference between these two forms of aggressive behavior is the reasons for the motivation of actions and the possibility or impossibility of their control.

Base of aggressive behavior

As a rule, the main basis for aggressive behavior is negative emotions (anger, hatred, anger, etc.) caused by some external stimuli. This irritant can be either one factor or a whole set.

Scientists view the motivation for aggressive behavior in different ways. For example, famous ethologist K. Lorenz considered aggressive behavior as one of the main pillars for human survival.

S. Freud spoke of aggressive behavior as an instinctive drive and assigned this an important role in the psychosexual development of the child.

Many modern psychologists consider aggressive behavior as a result of social influence and the consequences of some psychological trauma received in early childhood or adolescence.

It is important to know that aggressive behavior can be controlled by a person and directed in a peaceful direction, for example, in sports, creativity, science.

More details about hostility and aggressive behavior in the articles.

Aggression is an attack motivated by destructive behavior that contradicts all norms of human coexistence and harms the targets of the attack, causing moral and physical harm to people, causing psychological discomfort. From the perspective of psychiatry, aggression in humans is considered a method of psychological defense against a traumatic and unfavorable situation. It can also be a way of psychological release, as well as self-affirmation.

Aggression causes damage not only to an individual, an animal, but also to an inanimate object. Aggressive behavior in humans is considered in the following sections: physical - verbal, direct - indirect, active - passive, benign - malignant.

Causes of aggression

Aggressive behavior in humans can be caused by a variety of reasons.

The main causes of aggression in humans:

- abuse of alcohol, as well as drugs that weaken the nervous system, which provokes the development of an aggressive, inadequate reaction to minor situations;

- problems of a personal nature, unsettled personal life (lack of a life partner, a feeling of loneliness, intimate problems that cause, and later turn into an aggressive state and manifest themselves at every mention of the problem);

- mental trauma received in childhood (neurosis received in childhood due to bad relationship parents);

- strict upbringing provokes future manifestations of aggressiveness towards children;

- passion for watching quest games and thrillers;

- overwork, refusal to rest.

Aggressive behavior is observed in a number of mental and nervous disorders. This condition is observed in patients with epilepsy, schizophrenia, due to injuries and organic lesions of the brain, meningitis, encephalitis, psychosomatic disorders, neurasthenia, epileptoid psychopathy.

The causes of aggression are subjective factors (customs, revenge, historical memory, extremism, fanaticism of some religious movements, image strong man introduced through the media, and even the psychological individual traits of politicians).

There is a misconception that aggressive behavior is more characteristic of people with mental illness. There is evidence that only 12% of people who committed aggressive acts and were referred for a forensic psychiatric examination were diagnosed with mental illness. In half of the cases, aggressive behavior was a manifestation, and in the rest, inappropriate aggressive reactions were noted. In fact, in all cases there is an exaggerated reaction to circumstances.

Observation of teenagers has shown that television perpetuates an aggressive state through crime programs, which further enhances the effect. Sociologists, such as Carolyn Wood Sheriff, challenge the popular belief that sports act as ersatz war without bloodshed. Long-term observations of adolescents at a summer camp showed that sport competitions They not only do not reduce mutual aggressiveness, but only increase it. An interesting fact was discovered about the removal of aggressiveness in adolescents. Working together in the camp not only united the teenagers, but also helped relieve mutual aggressive tension.

Types of aggression

A. Bass, as well as A. Darkey, identified the following types of aggression in humans:

- physical, when direct force is used to inflict physical and moral damage on the enemy;

- irritation manifests itself in readiness for negative feelings; indirect aggression is characterized in a roundabout way and is directed at another person;

- negativism is an oppositional manner of behavior, marked by passive resistance to active struggle, directed against established laws and customs;

- verbal aggression is expressed in negative feelings through such forms as screeching, screaming, through verbal responses (threats, curses);

Growing up - difficult stage in the life of every teenager. The child wants independence, but is often afraid of it and is not ready for it. Because of this, the teenager has contradictions that he is not able to sort out on his own. At such moments, the main thing is not to distance yourself from the children, to show tolerance, not to criticize, to talk only as equals, to try to calm them down, to understand them, to understand the problem.

Aggression in adolescents manifests itself in the following types:

- hyperactive - a motor-disinhibited teenager who is brought up in a family in an atmosphere of permissiveness of the “idol” type. To correct behavior, it is necessary to build a system of restrictions using game situations with mandatory rules;

- an exhausted and touchy teenager who tends to increased sensitivity, irritability, touchiness, vulnerability. Behavior correction includes relieving mental stress (hitting something, noisy play);

- an oppositional-defiant teenager who shows rudeness towards people he knows, parents who are not role models. The teenager transfers his mood and problems onto these people. Behavior modification involves problem solving in collaboration;

- an aggressive-fearful teenager who is hostile and suspicious. Correction includes working with fears, modeling dangerous situation together with the child, overcoming it;

- an aggressively insensitive child who is not characterized by emotional responsiveness, sympathy, and empathy. Correction includes stimulating humane feelings and developing children's responsibility for their actions.

Aggression in adolescents has the following causes: learning difficulties, shortcomings in upbringing, characteristics of the maturation of the nervous system, lack of cohesion in the family, lack of closeness between the child and parents, the negative nature of relationships between sisters and brothers, family leadership style. Children from families where there is discord, alienation, and coldness are most prone to aggression. Communication with peers and imitation of older schoolchildren also contributes to the development of this condition.

Some psychologists believe that teenage aggressiveness can be suppressed as childish, but there are nuances here. IN childhood the social circle is limited only by parents who independently correct aggressive behavior, and in adolescence the social circle becomes wider. This circle expands to include other teenagers with whom the child communicates as equals, which is not the case at home. Hence the problems in families. A group of peers considers him an independent, separate and unique person, where his opinion is taken into account, but at home the teenager is classified as an unreasonable child and his opinion is not taken into account.

How to respond to aggression? To extinguish aggression, parents need to try to understand their child, accept his position if possible, listen, and help without criticism.

It is important to eliminate aggression from the family, where it is the norm between adults. Even as a child grows up, parents act as role models. For parents of brawlers, the child will grow up to be the same in the future, even if the adults do not clearly express aggression in front of the teenager. The feeling of aggressiveness occurs on a sensory level. It is possible that a teenager grows up quiet and downtrodden, but the consequences of family aggression will be as follows: a cruel, aggressive tyrant will grow up. To prevent such an outcome, it is necessary to consult a psychologist to correct aggressive behavior.

Prevention of aggression in adolescents includes: the formation of a certain range of interests, involvement in positive activities (music, reading, sports), involvement in socially recognized activities (sports, work, art, organization), avoiding manifestations of force in relation to the teenager, discussing problems together, listening to feelings of children, lack of criticism, reproaches.

Parents must always remain tolerant, loving, gentle, communicate on equal terms with teenagers and remember that if you move away from your child now, it will be very difficult to get closer later.

Aggression in men

Male aggression is strikingly different from female aggression in its attitudes. Men resort mainly to open form aggression. They often experience much less anxiety, as well as feelings of guilt during periods of aggression. For them, aggression is a means of achieving their goals or a unique model of behavior.

Most scientists who have studied social behavior people have suggested that aggression in men is determined by genetic reasons. This behavior made it possible to pass on one’s genes from generation to generation, defeat rivals and find a partner for procreation. Scientists Kenrick, Sadalla, Vershour, as a result of research, found that women consider leadership and dominance of men to be attractive qualities for themselves.

Increased aggression in men occurs due to social as well as cultural factors, or more precisely, in the absence of a culture of behavior and the need to demonstrate confidence, strength and independence.

Women's aggression

Women often use psychological implicit aggression; they are worried about what kind of resistance the victim may give them. Women resort to aggression during outbursts of anger, to relieve mental and nervous tension. Women, being social creatures, have emotional sensitivity, friendliness and empathy, and their aggressive behavior is not as pronounced as men's.

Aggression in older women baffles loving relatives. Often this type disorders are classified as signs if there are no obvious reasons for such behavior. Attacks of aggression in women are characterized by a change in character and an increase in negative traits.

Aggression in women is often provoked by the following factors:

- congenital hormonal deficiency caused by early developmental pathology, which leads to disorders mental activity;

- emotional negative experiences of childhood (sexual violence, abuse), victimization of intrafamily aggression, as well as the pronounced role of the victim (husband);

- hostile relationship with mother, childhood mental trauma.

Aggression in the elderly

The most common disorder in older people is aggression. The reason is a narrowing of the circle of perception, as well as a false interpretation of the events of an elderly person who is gradually losing touch with society. This is caused by a decrease in memory for current events. For example, stolen items or missing money. Such situations cause problems in family relationships. It is very difficult to convey to an elderly person with memory impairment that the missing item will be found because it was placed in another place.

Aggression in the elderly manifests itself in emotional disturbances - grumpiness, irritability, protest reactions to everything new, a tendency to conflict, groundless insults and accusations.

The state of aggression is often caused by atrophic processes and vascular diseases of the brain (). These changes often go unnoticed by relatives and others, attributing them to “ bad character" A competent assessment of the condition and the correct selection of therapy allows one to achieve good results in establishing peace in the family.

Husband's aggression

Family disagreements and strong husband aggression are the most discussed topics in consultations with psychologists. Conflicts and disagreements that provoke mutual aggression among spouses are as follows:

- uncoordinated, unfair division of labor in the family;

- different understanding of rights and responsibilities;

- insufficient contribution of one of the family members to household work;

— chronic dissatisfaction of needs;

- shortcomings, defects in upbringing, discrepancies in mental worlds.

All family conflicts arise from the following reasons:

- dissatisfaction with the intimate needs of one of the spouses;

- dissatisfaction with the need for the significance and value of one’s “I” (violation of self-esteem, dismissive and disrespectful attitude, insults, resentments, incessant criticism);

— dissatisfaction with positive emotions (lack of tenderness, affection, care, understanding, attention, psychological alienation of spouses);

- addiction to gambling, alcoholic beverages of one of the spouses, as well as hobbies that lead to unreasonable waste of money;

— financial disagreements between spouses (issues of family support, mutual budget, each person’s contribution to material support);

— dissatisfaction with the need for mutual support, mutual assistance, the need for cooperation and cooperation associated with the division of labor, housekeeping, and child care;

— dissatisfaction with needs and interests in leisure and recreation.

As you can see, there are many reasons for conflict, and their own pain points Every family can select from this list.

Sociological studies have found that men are most sensitive to material and everyday problems and difficulties of adaptation at the beginning family life. If a husband has male problems, then often the whole family suffers from this, but the wife suffers the most. Feeling his powerlessness, a man looks for the culprit and in this case it turns out to be a woman. The accusations are based on the fact that the wife is no longer arousing as before, she has gained weight, and has stopped taking care of herself.

The husband's aggression is expressed in petty nagging, dictatorship, provocations, and family quarrels. Often this is a consequence of dissatisfaction, as well as lack of self-confidence.

The reason for the husband’s aggression lies in his complexes and in no case are the wife’s shortcomings and behavior to blame. Having analyzed the form of manifestation of the husband’s aggression, one can find that it can be verbal, in which there is a demonstration of negative emotions (insults, rudeness). This behavior is typical of domestic tyrants.

A husband's aggression can be indirect and expressed in malicious remarks, offensive jokes, jokes, and pettiness. Lies, threats and refusal to help are also expressions of indirect aggression. Deceitful and evading husbands get their way with the help of hysterics and threats. This behavior is typical of despots, psychopaths, brawlers, and torturers. Men with personality disorders are very difficult, both for communication and for family life. Some husbands show cruelty (physical and moral).

Most women try to improve relations with their aggressor husband, but all attempts to improve the relationship and the desire to learn to understand the aggressor, as well as to become happier with him, come to a dead end.

The main mistakes made by a woman with an aggressor husband:

- often shares her fears and hopes, counting on understanding, giving her husband the opportunity to once again be convinced that she is weak and defenseless;

- constantly share your plans and interests with the aggressor, giving your husband another opportunity to criticize and condemn her;

- often the victim wife tries to find common topics for conversations, but in response receives silence, coldness;

— the woman mistakenly believes that the aggressor will rejoice at her successes in life.

These paradoxes indicate that all a woman’s aspirations for internal growth and improving the relationship with the aggressor husband only worsens the situation. An interesting fact is that the aggressor, when scolding a woman, describes exactly himself in the accusations that he attributes to her.

Fighting aggression

What to do when you feel aggression? You should not put up with the tyranny of your spouse, because you cause great damage to yourself and your self-esteem. You do not have to endure attacks, bad temper, supposedly from a stranger. You are an independent person with the same rights as your husband. You have the right to emotional peace, rest, careful attitude to yourself.

How to treat aggression?

It is important for the aggressor himself to understand the reason that prompted him to such behavior. If you persuade your husband to consult a psychologist, you will receive recommendations from a specialist on eliminating aggression from your life. However, if the husband’s personality anomaly is pronounced, such that further cohabitation is unbearable, then the best option there will be a divorce. Husbands of the tyrant category do not understand well, so you should not indulge them. The more you give in to them, the more brazenly they behave.

Why is it necessary to fight aggression? Because nothing passes without a trace, and every painful injection causes certain damage to the female psyche, even if the woman finds excuses for her tyrant, forgives and forgets the insult. After some time, the husband will again find a reason to offend his wife. And a woman will try to maintain peace at any cost.

Constant insults, as well as humiliation, negatively affect women’s self-esteem, and, in the end, a woman begins to admit that she doesn’t know how to do much. Thus, he develops an inferiority complex.

An adequate normal man should help a woman, support her in everything, and not constantly humiliate her and poke her nose at her shortcomings. Constant nagging and reproaches will affect the general tone and mood and disrupt a woman’s peace of mind, which will have to be restored with the help of specialists.

Good afternoon A child (son) 1 year 10 months shows aggression, endless tantrums with or without cause. If we are in a company with children, then he bites, pushes, hits, hugs everyone with such force that he almost strangles them, and takes away all the toys. He reacts to the word “can’t” with hysterics, lies on the floor and yells, freaks out. I try to calm him down and explain that this is not possible, and he starts hitting and biting me. Yes, sometimes he just lies down next to me and starts kicking me. He doesn't offend anyone else in the family except me. I don’t know how to behave with him anymore...

• Good afternoon, Anastasia. The development of children from 1 to 2 years of life is complicated by a number of crises associated with growing up. At this stage of development, the child begins to feel himself as an individual separate from the mother and to get to know himself, to look for his own “I”. Each new children's achievement is a kind of leap. Often, in some children, such mini-crises provoke so-called behavioral failures. For example, some children become capricious or have trouble sleeping.
  Most psychologists are convinced that the only period in which hysterics are acceptable is when a toddler is one year old. After all, he does not have enough vocabulary to explain his desires and behavior, and hysterics are his usual way of behaving. He simply doesn’t know any other way. Just a couple of months ago, all he had to do was whine, and his parents would immediately run to him, calm him down, console him, and fulfill his wishes. And today, although he has matured a little, he still does not know any other way to attract attention. You need to understand that the toddler himself will not be able to cope with hysteria, he simply will not be able to calm down on his own, so you should pick up the child and hold him close. But shouting, slapping the butt, and swearing is wrong and harmful to the child’s further development.

Good afternoon.
I have self-aggression. I know for sure because I have been suffering from this for a long time. I have a five-year-old son and I try to restrain myself...I try very hard.... however, sometimes I can’t resist and my son hears... and comes from the other room and asks “Mom, why are you beating yourself?”... we need to do something about it...
Is there any over-the-counter medication I can take to take the course?
I don’t want to go to specialists - I’m afraid that they’ll lock me up in a mental hospital and take my son away. The long period of restraint is 7-10 days, then I still have a breakdown... and PMS has nothing to do with it.
Thank you

• Hello Tatiana. We recommend that you contact a private specialist regarding your problem. The paid clinic ensures anonymity, the psychiatrist will help you understand yourself and your personality problems.
  Understanding why you harm yourself is the first step towards recovery. If you identify the reason why you physically harm yourself, you can find new ways to cope with your feelings, which in turn will reduce the desire to harm yourself.

  • thanks for the answer!
    Do I need a psychiatrist or psychologist or neurologist?

    • Tatyana, in your case, a psychotherapist is the best option.

Good afternoon. I probably won’t be original in my problem, but I would like to hear an assessment and advice regarding my specific situation.
Married for over 20 years. The relationship with my husband is good, except for the outbursts of anger that occur regularly, once every few months. The same scenario always happens. It begins with his irritability, which manifests itself from several days to a week. He’s the one who’s accumulating anger, that’s what I think. Moreover, he gets irritated at any word, but it is clear that he is trying to restrain himself. Then there comes a moment when this any word becomes the starting point for his scandal. This is the last case in particular. We live outside the city. I came from the city and brought my child from school. Saturday. He is sitting preparing lunch. He loves to cook. He does it with pleasure. Released the dogs from the enclosures. We have 5 Central Asian Shepherd Dogs. A neighbor arrived. They ran to the fence and barked at the neighbor. I'm nervous. I say that you can’t let everyone out into the yard at once. God forbid anything happens. The husband says he will drive them out soon. And if I need it, I can do it myself. I say that I can’t do it myself, because I’m sick (chondrosis has broken, it hurts to turn), and it started. Potatoes flew into the wall, and accusations that I sent the food, ruined everything, a bastard and the last person in the whole wide world. I turned around, told my son to start the car, and went to round up the dogs myself. I took two of them away, put the third on a leash, my husband came out and started shouting that I was taking this dog to the wrong place. I got behind the wheel and asked for the gate remote control. He said there was no remote control. Although he has it in his pocket. I turned around and left through the task gate.
I never raised my voice. The only thing she said was that I didn’t see my fault. In the evening I wrote to him that he was causing me pain and resentment. But there is no anger towards him. He didn't answer.
Then our next scenario begins. Now we won't talk to each other for a long time. He seriously believes that he is absolutely right. Ends up having to talk at work. (we work together in our organization).
Then again dear, beloved, sun until next time. Please tell me if there is a model of behavior to avoid these aggressive outbursts. Sometimes I fear for the lives of my children and myself. Because when he is furious, he flies with such force that it becomes scary.

• Hello Olga. Your problem is clear. We recommend changing your attitude towards your husband’s periodic aggressive outbursts - stop being offended, experiencing psychological discomfort and proving something. No matter how hard you try, they will still repeat themselves. This does not depend on your behavior or the behavior of your children.
  “In the evening I wrote to him that he was causing me pain and resentment. But there is no anger towards him. He didn't answer." “There’s no point in explaining anything to my husband either.” His aggression is a psychological release. Try to anticipate your husband’s condition and not support the conflict in any form.

My husband has attacks of aggression, mainly if I am not happy with the fact that he drinks at work or on vacation with the same group of employees. In my opinion, they drink often, only 10-15 people have birthdays, not to mention holidays. My husband is 53 years old, has hypertension, and constantly takes pills to lower his blood pressure. I don’t think alcohol contributes to his health and longevity, and of course I say that it’s unpleasant for me. 5 years ago he quit smoking, before that he smoked all the time. Now he constantly reproaches me for this during quarrels. This seems strange to me, I say that if he only did this for me, and now this is his “trump card” argument in our dialogues, then why such sacrifices, I don’t need them. He says that I control him, that almost everyone laughs at him... And what is masculine strength - I want to smoke and drink - it’s my business - you sit quietly, or what? I’m not talking about the fact that there are people who never drink of their own free will, who don’t drink in groups, but are present at corporate events, and in general are the soul of the company (I had such an employee). I don’t see any heroism here; a person does this of his own free will. Today we were at another corporate party, company day, I haven’t been having conversations lately on the topic, I drank or didn’t drink, it’s good for you after that, it’s bad…. I arrived, I said that I would call at least once a day, just like that, say hello, how are you... I didn’t even say anything else, and in general I didn’t intend to... God, what started here: throwing things, motherfucker, that I’m already for him... that he doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, and I’m making it work for him here, I almost pulled down the interior doors. I was scared that he was going to beat me up, but he flew out, slamming front door no one knows where... I have no one to turn to, my parents are no longer alive, my brothers and sisters are gone, my cousins ​​are far away, they have families, children, grandchildren, and how can you tell a friend such a thing. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with that? kind word from the person you live with, hearing one thing a day, isn't that normal? I'm trying to adequately assess the situation and figure it out. If a person considers himself henpecked just because he takes into account his wife’s opinion, or calls her once a day, in my opinion this is not normal. Now I kind of have to be on alert all the time, choose my words, what if I do something to shake his self-esteem again... This is not life - in constant tension, and the expectation that he will be “offended” again. At the same time, oddly enough, my husband is the breadwinner in the family, the head of the enterprise, I also earn money, but less, which seems normal. What's wrong and what should I do?

• Hello, Tasha.
  “I arrived, I said that I would call at least once a day, just like that, say hello, how are you... I didn’t even say anything else”
  With these words you unconsciously tried to make him feel guilty and they served as a trigger for his aggression. The husband may have already arrived bad mood or subconsciously always ready for the next claims, and these words were enough to splash out aggression on you.
  “I don’t understand what I’m guilty of, what’s wrong with hearing a kind word from the person you live with just one in a day, isn’t that normal?” - Of course you're right. But forcing a man to express his attention to you in this way is also wrong. You yourself can show attention, care towards your husband, speak kind words and tell him, if possible, when he is in a good mood, that you miss him and can barely restrain yourself from calling him when he is at work. During the conversation, monitor your spouse’s reaction so as not to aggravate the situation and switch the conversation to another topic in time.
  “Now I kind of have to be on alert all the time, choose my words, what if I do something to shake his self-esteem again... This is not life - in constant tension, and the expectation that he will be “offended” again.” Unfortunately, this happens very often. After all, men are very proud, vulnerable and touchy. And the key to a happy life in marriage is the ability to shut up in time.

Hello! In our family, unfortunately, the following situation has developed... I have an older brother (I am 25, my brother is 35 years old). My first memories of his manifestation of aggression are that he fought with his middle brother (he is now 33), but at that time I was still very young and it seemed to me that it brought him pleasure - to hurt his own brother. When I was about six years old, I remember how my brother hit my mother for the first time, he was chasing her to hit her, and was talking some kind of nonsense. At that time he played and sang at weddings, and naturally tried alcohol for the first time. When I was at school, I heard quarrels between my parents and my drunken brother, I was sent to another room and locked in just in case, you never know... And this “you never know” happened from time to time, my brother got into a fight with his sick father and mother... By the way - parents never! they didn’t fight, they quarreled occasionally, like all normal people, but dad or mom never allowed themselves too much.
Over the years, everything became even worse... My brother allowed me to give up on my mother, father, brother, wife... My father became weaker over the years, his illness affected him very much, but this did not stop his brother. Thanks to one of these blows, the middle brother developed a hemotoma in the abdominal cavity, which grew into a tumor, and he almost died. I know of an incident where he almost drowned his wife in the bathtub. Their child is sick with a brain tumor.
I can, of course, tell many more cases, but... He often drinks with friends, for them he is the life of the party, always cheerful, can make anyone laugh. At the same time, one cannot call him an alcoholic, since he conscientiously engages in own business and works hard. In a drunken state, it can start halfway, just look at it the wrong way. He only shows aggression towards his own people!!! When you try to talk to him about what happened, he doesn’t want to talk about it at all, because he doesn’t feel guilty at all. And often he doesn’t remember what he did at all, or simply pretends... He never asks for forgiveness for what he did. When you try to talk about the fact that he seriously offended his mother or did something else, he immediately breaks into a scream and screams to the last. He believes that he does everything, almost feeds and clothes everyone. Everything around is d... mo, and he is the “navel of the earth.” And all this comes out in a very loud monologue; if you try to object to him, you will hear the scream even louder.
I’ve been living in the capital for 7 years now and I don’t depend on anyone... My father recently died, my brother’s wife is pregnant with their second child, my mother lives in our parental home with the middle brother... But! I can’t live in peace, because I know that my older brother is tyrannizing everyone there! And he absolutely does not admit that he has problems with alcohol, and even more so with nerves or the psyche... And he does not admit it. I am very afraid for my health and emotional condition his loved ones, because he does not allow them to live in peace. But I can’t imagine how to deal with this problem, since my brother refuses the help of specialists... Please advise me, because I’m in despair!

• Hello, Anastasia. According to the description, your older brother is very close to a representative of the excitable type of character accentuation. Which is characterized by instinctiveness and what the mind suggests is not taken into account by such a person, and the desire to satisfy momentary desires, needs, instinctive impulses becomes decisive.
  Knowing this, we can recommend to you and all your loved ones not to criticize him, not to touch his personality in conversations, not to discuss his actions, not to remind him of past mistakes. Since all efforts will be useless, and it will be quite easy to run into his high impulsiveness and irritability. If necessary, such people simply need to be tolerated, but generally in society communication with such people is avoided if they show their temper and do not restrain themselves.

Problem with mother. He constantly rushes at me, swears for no reason, threatens me with physical harm, and has even gone as far as assault. Starts to yell wildly at empty space, doesn’t want to listen to anyone, everyone is to blame for her, etc. Always judging those around me, literally looking for something to cling to and pouring it all out on me. He doesn’t make any contact when talking, he sees only one thing in everything: “you’re trying to contradict me, #@*#@???” and starts even more. There are moments of calm when he even tries to improve relations, but it all ends in reproaches and using everything he learns against me. These reproaches and scandals hit where it hurts. If suddenly a scandal begins because of some lost thing, then it doesn’t matter whether I’m to blame for it or not, I never apologize for empty attacks. What to do?? How to find an approach?? How to calm a hysterical person?

• Hello, Alina. It is recommended to eliminate attacks of anger by switching attention to something pleasant or distracting for the aggressor and, of course, not provoking him, since a breakdown negative emotions on the immediate environment - it is akin to a drug and it gives great pleasure to the aggressor.

Hello. Here's the problem I have. I’m 23. My father left early, although he fully participated in my brother’s and my upbringing, our childhood was difficult, it wasn’t easy for my mother to pull us along, and subsequently there was no love for the rest of the world, something like a child’s complex. I am extremely hot-tempered, an absolutely happy mood easily changes to an extremely hostile state, but I have never shown aggression towards strangers, only in case of protecting yourself or your family. I work a lot, and this is associated with constant physical and moral stress, which is why I always lashed out at those around me (family, girlfriend, close friends). But recently everything has changed a lot. Now there is no aggression towards close people, I don’t lose my temper, I try to be softer, don’t get excited somewhere, I quickly calm down. BUT! As soon as I hear something addressed to me from a stranger, not necessarily an insult, any provocation, I suddenly have a feeling of HUGE hatred, it’s like adrenaline or a state before fainting, I can’t calm down until... but here it ends in different ways, but in most cases until my “enemy” is on the floor. And I understand later that I didn’t seem to hear anything particularly offensive addressed to me, but at that moment it felt like he was threatening me with death, and I couldn’t help but defend myself. Later I will realize and understand everything, but the feeling that I did everything right will not leave me, I cannot convince myself of this and no one can. By the way, now something else has appeared, in terms of intimacy, now the preference is more towards, well, let’s say not exactly, but a little towards rough intimacy, well, of course, not in relation to me, I have become a little rougher. No, my girlfriend likes it, of course, but I just noticed this in myself. And I’m writing all this only because for the first time I felt scared, not of consequences, not of responsibility, no, I became scared of myself, that I couldn’t control myself at the moment of aggression, I couldn’t calm down. Thank you for your help.

• Hello, Alexander. Most likely, you are characterized by an excitable type of character accentuation (an extreme version of the norm), which is expressed in weak control and insufficient controllability of your own drives and impulses. Therefore, it is very difficult for you to restrain yourself in a state of emotional excitement and not get irritated. There is no need to be afraid of your condition. Now you know that such a type exists, and you are one of it.
  Moral principles do not matter for this type, and in outbursts of anger there is an increase in aggressiveness, which is accompanied by an intensification of corresponding actions. The reactions of excitable individuals are impulsive. What is decisive for the behavior and lifestyle of such a person is not prudence, not the logical weighing of one’s actions, but desires, uncontrollable impulses.
  Therefore, we recommend avoiding extreme situations in which conflict is possible or situations where your behavior, business, personal qualities are subject to criticism.
  Your types prefer athletic sports, where they can release pent-up energy or aggression.
  “But recently things have changed a lot. Now there is no aggression towards close people, I don’t lose my temper, I try to be softer, not to get into trouble” - Gradually, with age, you will become softer. Of course, this will depend directly on your immediate environment, your social circle. A personality of your type often carefully chooses his social circle, surrounding himself with weaker ones in order to lead them.
  Try to get plenty of rest, don't overwork yourself, and avoid starting difficult tasks when you're in a bad mood or tired, as behavior problems may occur in such situations. Do not place high hopes and expectations on society. The world is not ideal and it cannot be changed. People tend not to “filter” their words, which mean a lot in life.
  Meditation, auto-training, yoga can help you gain peace of mind and be more stress-resistant.

Hello. I have an atypical situation, I am dating a girl, she is 19 years old. We’ve been dating for about 2 years, she has a very difficult relationship with her mother and grandmother, she doesn’t have a father, she always had quarrels with her mother, she just had crazy hysterics, it even got to the point of assault, about a year ago she moved in with me. At the beginning of the relationship, when there were disagreements or even minor quarrels, she became uncontrollable, a stream of aggression, swearing, insults and humiliation addressed to me, although I myself never even called her a fool, let alone swearing. Always in a conflict I tried to calm down and find out the reason for this behavior, she always says that she cannot control herself, that after she does not express everything to me, only then she calms down, and it does not necessarily have to be our quarrel. She quarrels with her mother and takes her anger out on me, responds rudely and swears. After my threats to break off the relationship, she calmed down more or less, but still during quarrels a stream of obscenities, insults, etc. emanates from her. The last time in the shopping center, where she and I and my friend were, she started screaming across the entire floor at me because I didn’t wait for her and followed me and screamed all the way to the exit. Everyone turned to look at us, and she didn’t react in any way to my friend’s and my requests not to shout and to calm down. Another type of behavior is to run away from me through the streets, even in unfamiliar cities, where she can get lost. Even during quarrels, he sometimes threatens to kill himself, especially when I talk about breaking up. I was very tired of this and began to show defensive aggression towards her myself, began to respond to her scream with a scream, damaged furniture from aggression, and after I showed aggression, she quickly calmed down and was the first to make peace and ask for forgiveness.. Tell me if changes for the better are possible or should you think about breaking up?

• Hello, Ruslan. You need to stop the girl’s manipulation, because as soon as she realized that you were capable of counter-aggression, she got scared and changed her behavior pattern.
  Tell her directly that you understand the complexity of the situation regarding her loved ones and communication with them, but you will not allow you to be treated this way. Either she changes internally, learns self-control, signs up for yoga, goes to see a psychologist, independently studies her problem, or you will be forced to end such a relationship.
  “Even during quarrels, he sometimes threatens to kill himself, especially when I talk about breaking up.” “This is a skillful game of a neurotic manipulative, allowing him to achieve his goals. And you need to keep the priority of your interests in mind.
  Calmly ask her the question: what will you gain from it if you kill yourself? Who will benefit from this? Let her understand that you are not familiar with remorse and that your relationship with her has strengthened you internally, so you will not grieve for a long time, but will quickly find a replacement for her. Therefore, it may make sense for her to change, stop blackmailing you and start respecting you as a person.

  • Thank you very much for your answer, now the problem and the seriousness of the situation have become clearer to me, because I repeatedly told her about restraining myself, about a psychologist, about internal changes, she seemed to be trying to control herself at first, but after a while everything started again again , and if quarrels with hysterics are already happening less often, but they are becoming more and more difficult, and to any of my arguments about her unreasonable aggression, that the conflict can be calmly resolved, she replies that I am so bad and brought her to such a state.. she tells me it seems she just doesn’t want to change and really sees that I’m succumbing to her manipulations, I’ll try to send her or go with her to a psychologist or psychotherapist, if there are no results, then apparently I’ll have to break off the relationship

    Again I turn to you, I tried to behave as you advised, when asked to go to a psychologist or psychotherapist, she laughs and says that she is not a psychopath, and an attempt to stop her manipulations, in particular ignoring her, led to her going out onto the 12th floor balcony and I blackmailed her that she would dump her, she is unbalanced, when I break up with her I am afraid that I might actually commit suicide, what can be done either in terms of referring her to a psychologist or in terms of a safe separation?

    • Either you can help her decide to seek help (exactly how to do this - you should know better, since you have been living with her for two years), or you will suffer from her inappropriate behavior all the time you spend together... Without face-to-face help She definitely won’t need a specialist. There is simply nothing to add to what was written earlier without seeing the patient.

      You need to break up with her while there are no children. My daughter is almost the same and doesn’t want to change. If earlier she asked for forgiveness for, so to speak, bad behavior, then over the years she began to believe that everyone in the family was to blame. Ruslan, you can’t change her in any way, don’t waste time on her, life will be poisoned with such a girl. There should be peace and order in the house, love and minor quarrels (you can’t live without them) and most importantly, find a girl so that you are drawn to her and so that you are not ashamed of her behavior.

      You need to break up with her while there are no children. My daughter is almost the same and doesn’t want to change. If earlier she asked for forgiveness for, so to speak, bad behavior, then over the years she began to believe that everyone in the family was to blame. Ruslan, you can’t change her in any way, don’t waste time on her, life will be poisoned with such a girl. There should be peace and order in the house, love and minor quarrels (you can’t live without them), and most importantly, find a girl so that you are drawn to her and so that you are not ashamed of her behavior.

My husband and I have been together for 2 years. For the first six months, I was happy that a loving, attentive, affectionate man was with me, carried me in his arms, and blew away specks of dust. There were, of course, quarrels, but minor ones. The only thing that always amazed me was that during the conflict he could say such words to me that it’s difficult to even describe. But she didn’t pay much attention to it. The first time he laid his hand on me was after drinking enough alcohol. It was unbearable. I was in a closed room for 3 hours, he beat me, then he took a knife and cut my dress on me, broke a bottle on my head, after which I was already unconscious. I woke up on the balcony in a pool of blood. Seeing that I had regained consciousness, he literally ordered me to wash myself and lie down to sleep next to him. I started to get hysterical, he started beating me again. At some point, the neighbors started breaking down the door and I managed to escape, wrapped in a blanket, and left. I don’t know how, but I forgave him after a couple of months. And everything repeated itself, only the next time he tortured me for several days until the police intervened. But with our laws, there will be real punishment only when he kills. I can only say one thing, all this continues over and over again. I turned into a dog and I know that I will forgive him again. I know it's my fault, but maybe there is a way to cure it. I'm afraid that he will kill me soon. Tell me what can be done!!?

• Taisiya, you and only you can make yourself happy. Only you can change your life. You are now a victim, you need to urgently contact a specialist if you yourself are not capable. And my advice is to RUN AWAY from this asshole!!! As soon as possible! I hope you don't have children. Go to your mother, to your friend, there are centers for women who find themselves in difficult situations, or even to the train station! He will always beat you because you endured it! You cannot fight back, leave, run away. But I’m sure you can do it if you want it yourself. Change your life once and for all. And finally stop being a victim. Good luck to you!

How to cope with the aggression of a 9-year-old child with epilepsy. The girl doesn’t want to do her homework, she starts throwing everything, screaming, and may hit her mother. There is no way to deal with it, just trouble. What should we do, please help.

• Hello, Nadezhda. In your case with your daughter, we recommend that you consult with child psychologist. After talking with both you and the girl, the specialist will be able to establish the reasons for aggressive behavior and tell you how to more effectively achieve the desire to learn.

  • Thanks, we think we can try it too. Only I'm a grandmother. My daughter is already exhausted with her. The granddaughter takes Depakine, there are no attacks, and her character has become aggressive during the treatment. And when will this all get better?

My husband and I lived together for 5 years. We are 25 years apart. I am now 39, he is 64. Signs of aggression began to appear after the first 3 months. It seemed to me that it was my fault, I tried to talk, understand the reason and not do it again. Sometimes this was expressed in a furious scream (very, very strong, impossible to convey), sometimes in silence from 2 days to 10-15. As a result, I was always the first to make peace. Over the course of 5 years, similar situations occurred once a month. (on average) The husband never once considered himself guilty the whole time. Moreover, he punished. You don’t know how to behave, I’m going on vacation for the New Year alone. So out of 5 New Year's holidays, 2 times I celebrated the New Year at home alone. At the same time, I tried to react differently to his hyper/or or long silence. And I screamed back at first (this turned out to be the most ineffective) and calmly tried to explain how I felt and left for a day or two. Once at the airport we were flying on vacation, I went to the toilet and lingered a little, screaming like mad for about 10 minutes, people began to gather around. I managed to stop only when I said that either you stop or I’m not going. Then on vacation I was silent for 2 weeks. I went separately. The last breakup was because he screamed when I told him what I bought at the grocery store. He yelled that he didn’t want to listen to this, the topic was closed. I tried to justify myself, causing him to go into rage. In the end, I said that I couldn’t listen to this anymore. And she left. He said, well, I went to... A month later he called and brought me my things from his dacha. And he said that if you apologize, I will forgive you. I came back 1 day later and apologized. And he said, you have a scandal on your tongue all the time, you can’t stop in time as always, I signaled to you to stop, but you don’t hear what they are saying to you. IN general summer I’m going on vacation alone, but the second autumn vacation is still in question. And we also had tickets to the theater, he said that he wasn’t going to go there alone, he didn’t go alone, and so on. since I may not have time at all. I couldn't stand it and left forever. 3 days have passed. It’s hard, I’m in a lot of pain. I’m trying to calm myself down, maybe he’s not normal?

• Hello Irina. It is clear that your husband has an unstable psyche and is dependent on periodic manifestations of aggression. It doesn’t matter whether it’s you or another wife, he will behave the same way.
  You did everything right by leaving, I don’t understand why you are suffering? In a relationship, he is the tyrant, and you are the victim, and this will always be the case.

  • I suffer because I know that I myself am responsible for everything that happens to me. So I’m trying to understand whether EVERYTHING was done on my part. And also, I love him very much, every finger, every hair... But I understand that I will soon become disabled if I stay. It’s better to “die” once than to do it endlessly. When he quarreled with me, it was like being thrown into hell: “you stop breathing and feeling.”

    I printed out your answer, I’m re-reading it, it becomes a little easier.
    THANK YOU.

My sister and I have a mother born in 1927. She almost lost her memory. She doesn’t recognize some of her loved ones, doesn’t understand where she lives, can’t understand that her husband (our father) died and plus illnesses. My sister takes care of my mother. After the death of her father, her sister does not leave her mother. She quit her job and sleeps with her mother in the same room. She is a doctor, a nurse and a nanny for parents. Look for such daughters. And even before her illness, her mother doted on her. But now everything has turned into a continuous nightmare. It was as if a demon had possessed the mother. She does everything in defiance, picks on food, doesn’t want to take medications, calls her sister names we’ve never heard from her, has already tried to hit her several times and has bitten her twice. My sister also has health problems. WHAT TO DO? How to reduce mom's aggressiveness. You have to hide your knives, but you can’t foresee everything.

• Hello, Yuri. In your case with your mother, you need to seek help from a psychotherapist.

It is currently impossible to imagine a single media outlet where news reports do not report any act of aggression or violence. All over the world, in all levels of society, we see violence. There are bloody clashes between gangs in poor areas of Los Angeles, and shootouts in Miami and Detroit, and bomb explosions in Northern Ireland and Moscow, and the assassination of the Prime Minister in Stockholm and a terrorist attack in New York with the destruction of the International Trade Center. The press is filled with reports of battles between Christians and Muslims in devastated Beirut, of Jews fighting Palestinians in the occupied territories, of civil wars, which flare up every now and then in Africa. Acts of violence, seemingly without cause, occur almost everywhere, again and again, day after day and week after week.

These facts cause concern in society not only because of the suffering caused by aggression, but also because aggressive behavior often manifests itself in people with various mental disorders, in whom the spread of violence is difficult to prevent, which cannot but affect the quality of life these patients and their relatives.

Most studies define aggression as any form of behavior that is intended to cause physical or psychological harm to someone. Together with that, this definition is not generally accepted and today the term “aggression” has many meanings, both in scientific works and in everyday speech. As a result, we cannot always be sure what is meant when an individual is characterized as “aggressive” or an action is defined as “violent.” Sometimes dictionaries are not very useful. For example, some of them say that the word “aggression” refers to the violent violation of another person's rights and offensive actions or treatment of other people, as well as brash, assertive behavior. This definition presents a wide variety of actions, but all of them are designated by the word “aggression”.

Most researchers insist that a truly adequate definition of aggression must be related to the intention of the attacker. It is characteristic that most aggressive actions are motivated not only by the desire to harm the victim of aggression. While generally agreeing that aggressors act in a calculated, rational manner, proponents of this approach argue that attackers have other goals that may be more important to them than the desire to cause harm to their victims: the desire to influence the situation (aggression is often a crude attempt coercion; attackers may cause harm to their victims, but their actions are primarily an attempt to influence the behavior of another person. They may seek, for example, to force others to stop doing something that irritates them), to exercise power over another person (aggressive behavior is often aimed at maintaining and strengthening the power and dominance of the attacker). The aggressor may attack the victim, trying to achieve the fulfillment of his desires, but, according to supporters of this approach, his main goal is to establish his own dominant position in the relationship with the victim or to form a favorable (preferred) identity (aggressive behavior is interpreted in this case as a means of impression management ) .

Of course, sometimes behavior is determined by the simultaneous action of various factors. Bullies may seek to get their way or assert their power in order to increase their sense of self-worth.

According to T. B. Dmitrieva, aggression and (or) aggressive behavior of a person are actions based on aggressiveness and aimed at causing physical, moral or other damage to people or other objects of the surrounding world, associated with violence against them. This kind of aggression is defined in different ways, but in general the definitions correspond to the given definition. It is defined as motivated destructive behavior that contradicts the norms and rules of the existence of people in society, causing harm to the targets of attack. This definition emphasizes the negative and often illegal side of aggression. At the same time, T. B. Dmitrieva understands aggressiveness as a personality trait, a character trait, the truth of some people, which is expressed in a readiness for aggressive perception and corresponding interpretation of the behavior of another person or persons within the framework of interpersonal relationships.

Aggressive behavior can manifest itself in all people, both mentally healthy and mentally ill. It is likely that in the latter, psychopathological manifestations, mainly the actual psychopathological syndrome, can have a significant influence on the formation of aggressive behavior and the implementation of aggression. Many researchers emphasize varying degrees of danger psychopathological conditions. For example, states of upset consciousness with complete disorganization of behavior while maintaining motor functions - twilight disorders of consciousness are the most dangerous syndromes; the least dangerous are asthenic manifestations. Hallucinatory-delusional, delusional, affective and psychopath-like syndromes are of moderate danger. Along with this, in the implementation of aggression in all the mentioned psychopathological syndromes, except for disorders of consciousness, the patient’s premorbid personal attitudes play a significant role. In some cases, they lead to the easy emergence of aggressive-violent behavior, often even to repeated, similar aggressive actions; in others, they prevent such actions.

The purpose of our work was to describe the most common forms of aggressive behavior under various mental disorders.

Material and research methods

An analysis of 273 case histories of patients with various mental disorders accompanied various forms hetero- and auto-aggressive behavior admitted for treatment and forensic psychiatric examination in different departments of the Kharkov City Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 15 in the period from 2000 to 2004.

Research results and discussion

The analysis of medical histories showed that among those studied there were 214 (78.4%) men, 59 (21.6%) women, city residents - 172 (63.0%), rural residents - 101 (37.0%), employed - 85 (31.1%), unemployed - 188 (68.9%). The patients were distributed by age as follows: under 20 years old - 12 (4.4%), 21–30 years old - 33 (12.1%), 31–40 years old - 60 (22.0%), 41–50 years old - 101 (37.0%), 51–60 years - 35 (12.8%), 61 years and older - 32 (11.7%) patients.

Analysis of complaints, life history and illness, results of a comprehensive somatic, neurological, clinical-psychopathological and pathopsychological study revealed the following forms of aggressive behavior in various types of mental disorders.

Aggressive behavior among the examined group of patients was found in 57 (20.9%) patients with psychotic mental disorders and in 216 (79.1%) patients with non-psychotic mental disorders.

Patients with schizophrenia were particularly at risk due to the frequent occurrence of aggressive behavior. However, men with schizophrenia were twice as likely to commit aggressive acts than women with schizophrenia. The maximum degree of aggressiveness was observed in hallucinatory-paranoid syndromes. The risk of aggressive actions increased with the complication of the mentioned syndromes, namely: the appearance of anxiety, confusion, depersonalization and derealization. The ideas of persecution, influence, jealousy and poisoning in these cases were combined with affective disorders and imperative hallucinations. Particularly dangerous are persistent crazy ideas specific content aimed at specific individuals, in particular, delusions of jealousy. Hallucinations, delusions, and paranoid ideas led patients to harm others, although self-harm was a more common outcome (in 16.3% of cases among schizophrenia patients with aggressive behavior). Patients often acted under the influence of hallucinatory imperative “voices” (41% of patients obeyed imperative “voices”) or false beliefs about the evil intentions of others. It should be emphasized that hallucinations of erotic content were also pronouncedly aggressive.

In affective disorders, symptoms of depression sometimes led to “extended suicide,” that is, suicide aggravated by the murder of relatives, since such patients foresaw for their loved ones only a gloomy future in a threatening world, the only way to avoid which was first their death, and then their own. It is characteristic that one of the psychopathological mechanisms of this type of aggressive actions was a feeling of altruism (the motive of compassion). Undoubtedly, hetero- and auto-aggression in patients with affective disorders was committed based on self-accusation - the exclusion of imaginary (delusional) guilt.

In the bipolar form of the disease, the symptoms of hypomania or mania led to careless, irresponsible actions or even delusional reactions, which served as a reason for committing minor terrorist acts (a telephone message about the bombing of an office, school) in order to attract attention not so much to one’s own person, but to “ social problems."

The level of aggressive behavior in persons with alcohol dependence syndrome was very high and, according to our data, it ranged from 50 to 60% (higher observed in males and lower in females), although persons who are not alcoholics, drug addicts or substance abusers, under the influence of intoxication also revealed aggressive acts against the individual and provoked road accidents. However, although alcohol intoxication during the commission of pronounced aggressive actions (murder, infliction of severe injuries, etc.) was observed in 72% of cases, other factors played a more significant role than alcohol, which only simplified the path to committing aggressive actions. Particularly dangerous was the combination of schizophrenia and substance abuse.

Patients with personality disorders had a greater potential for harm. They often committed aggressive acts without a clear purpose, showed no remorse for their actions, did not feel a sense of affection for anyone, often demonstrated sexual and dangerous behavior to others, and these traits were traced in all aspects of their lives. By the way, psychopathy, according to many researchers, is diagnosed in many sexual maniacs and serial killers. Different types of aggressive behavior, as B.V. Shostakovich and V.V. Gorinov rightly note, are characteristic of different types psychopathic personalities, since they are the most vulnerable in certain life situations.

Thus, individuals turned inward, living inner world, usually committed aggression against persons they included in this world. Some patients with psychopathy had chronic anxiety and complex aggressive affects such as rage and hatred. The latest emotional manifestations, as it seems to us, were in one way or another associated with permanent anxiety, fear and anticipation of troubles and misfortunes, the source of which were other people.

Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders were distinguished by extreme polymorphism of structural and dynamic characteristics, which led to various aggressive actions. In this case, aggression was associated with dementia, severe dysphoria, explosiveness, viscosity of affect, clouded consciousness and chronic delusional disorders.

Our analysis of case histories shows that aggressive behavior recorded in various mental disorders is observed more often among men, urban residents, unemployed people and between the ages of 41 and 50 years, which has a significant impact on both the quality of life of the patients themselves and their relatives .

Thus, aggressive behavior in various mental disorders and its impact on the quality of life of patients remain insufficiently studied, which has great importance in the prevention of socially dangerous and criminal actions on the part of mentally ill people. Without a doubt, in addition to psychopathological and phenomenological (biological) factors of aggression in persons with mental disorders, it is necessary to study the analysis of the subtle relationships between personality and activity that make up the functional, socio-psychological and biological-social unity.

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