I am degrading a lot. Signs of a degraded human personality: factors of influence and ways to avoid it. Ask for help

When you stop moving forward, you start moving backward; unfortunately, it is impossible to stay still. Have you noticed that the older you get, the less willing you are to take on the work that is unusual for you or is associated with a high concentration of attention and mastering unfamiliar skills?

I'll tell you a little secret. Reading your favorite newspapers (authors), working in a well-known specialty, using your native language and communicating with friends who understand you well, visiting your favorite restaurant, watching your favorite TV series ... - all this, so beloved by all of us, leads to brain degradation.

Your brain is a lazy bastard

Just like you. And therefore, it seeks to reduce energy costs for a particular activity by creating a kind of "macro" - programs that you execute according to templates.

Biologist Richard Simon at the beginning of the century before last called these programs "engrams" - a physical habit or memory trace left by repeated exposure to a stimulus. Engrams can be thought of as paths that neurons “tread” in your brain, performing the same action. The longer we do it, the less energy our brain spends on it.

On the one hand, this is an excellent superpower - indeed, why waste extra energy to carry out the same type of actions? However back side of this ability is the decrease in the plasticity of our brain. The fact is that the longer we use engrams, the less the basal ganglia in our brain work. Their main function is to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps neurons “cut through” new paths among the informational noise of our brain (this is approximately what is happening to you now, after reading this proposal).

Remember your way to work or college. If you ride the same route for more than six months, then your actions become so automatic that you can perform other actions in parallel - read, listen to music, answer mail. In your favorite restaurant, you do not have to squeeze acetylcholine out of yourself and think about what you will take for lunch, you already know the entire menu by heart. Behind a friend's fake smile, you will immediately recognize anxiety, and you will not need to strain in order to decipher these communication signals.

It would seem, why change all this? And then, that our life is a continuous source of changes beyond our control. We have to adapt to most of them, and in this "chameleon race" the one who quickly changes his color to match the color survives environment and will be able to sneak closer to the insect (of which there are fewer and fewer during the crisis). You can be laid off (as, for example, it was done recently with thousands of doctors); your department's tasks may change and you will be required to learn new skills (and if you fail, you will, again, be made redundant); you fall in love with a Chinese woman and want to learn the Dungan language spoken by her relatives, and so on. Therefore, the plasticity of the brain must be constantly maintained and trained. Imagine that your brain is concrete, which will harden after some time.

The image of "hardened" brains will become clearer to you if you look at the majority of 70-year-olds who are not able to master the timer. on the microwave accepting everything new with hostility, performing the same type of actions for years (or reproducing thought patterns). These "paths" in their heads turned into holes and tunnels in the rocks, and it is almost impossible to "dig" a passage to the neighboring cave.

Your task is to constantly mix this "mental mixture", not to let it harden. Once we relax and we start using engrams, some part of our brain hardens and we don't even notice it.

What to do in order to stop the degradation of the brain

I have identified ten of the most simple, but quite effective, techniques:

1. Look after yourself. If you suddenly feel uncomfortable because something is wrong (for example, your favorite website has changed its design or your favorite yogurt has disappeared in the store), grab this feeling by the tail and start to “untwist” it. Why don't try again all yoghurts or not start making your own at all? Don't reread already read books. Don't review already watched movies. Yes, this is a very pleasant psychological feeling - to plunge into that cozy little world, in the life of already familiar characters, no surprises, you already know the end and you can enjoy the little things that you didn’t notice for the first time, swallowing a book in an hour (or watching the season over the weekend). But at the same time, you are taking away from new books and films the chance to reveal something fundamentally new to you, depriving your brain of the formation of alternative neural connections.

2. Look for new routes. Try to look for new routes for the usual way home and back, find alternative shops, cinemas and other infrastructure points on the map of your life. This may take extra time, but it can also bring nice bonuses - for example, more low prices in shops or fewer people in the cinema. Look for new music. If you are a music lover, there are tens of thousands of songs in your iPod, and it seems to you that your taste is very rich and varied, then I hasten to disappoint you - most often we listen to 50-100 familiar tracks that are pleasant to us for the same reasons - we have adapted to them, and our brain does not need to spend additional resources to process and comprehend them.

3. There are several hundred thousand Internet radio stations in the world, and even if we switch to a new one every day, our life will still not be enough to listen to them all. Look for new friends and acquaintances. Yes, of course, it's great when there are friends with whom it's nice to get together every Friday and discuss football or Beyoncé's new dress. Psychologically more comfortable. But after all, most of us live in megacities, why limit our circle to 4-5 people, and most often they are not chosen by us, but “imposed” by circumstances - school, institute, work?

4. The social tools embedded in us greatly influence our way of thinking, and sometimes it happens that, under the influence of certain friends, we change our point of view, a set of interests, and sometimes even the type of activity. Get the kids. Children are a permanent source of chaos and uncertainty in your life. They are living "concrete mixers" in your head, destroying all patterns and reshaping your established routes in a new way. I have three sons of different ages who bring something new every day with their questions, behavior, inquisitive mind and continuous experiments with everything around. You yourself will not notice how your thinking will be liberated and you will begin to think differently.

5. If you have not yet succeeded in having children, then you can start with a dog. First of all, it requires a walk (and fresh air is good for the brain). Secondly, it involves you in involuntary communication with other dog lovers. And thirdly, it can also become a source of chaos (mine, for example, when she runs after flies, does not pay much attention to obstacles that arise in her path).

6. Stop criticizing. “What a terrible design!”, “How disgusting they did the denouement!”, “How uncomfortable it is to sit in these new chairs!” These and millions of other posts on Facebook, from your colleagues and your own, are indicators of resistance to change that has suddenly come in life. Changes that, most of the time, you can't change. Or you can, but with a lot of effort that is not worth it. Agree, there are more interesting things to do than to demand a book of complaints in a restaurant and write a slander about a rude waiter?

7. Much healthier for your own development will accept these changes and motivate the brain to continue living in the new reality. Your dialogs should look something like this: “New menu? Great, otherwise the old dishes are already boring!”, “New road repair, do you need to look for a detour? Great, so in a month there won’t be such potholes here, but while the renovation is going on, I’ll learn something new about this area!”, “New operating system? Super! I now have a new entertaining quest - find the control panel!

8. Stop labeling people. It is very convenient - instead of understanding a person, thinking about why he did this - to succumb to weakness and simply “stigmatize” him by attaching him to one or another psychotype. Cheated on her husband? Whore! Drinking with friends? Alcoholic! Watching "Rain"? White ribbon!

Each of us is under the influence, perhaps even more pressure of life circumstances than the same Rodion Raskolnikov, but many find his reflections described by Dostoevsky interesting, and divorced neighbors with two children - something vulgar and undeserving attention.

9. Experiment with scents. Even though evolution has relegated our olfactory receptors to the background, smells still have a huge impact on us. And if you have a favorite toilet water that you have not changed for years, then it's time to change it. And do it at regular intervals.

10. Teach foreign languages. And for this it is not necessary to fall in love with a Chinese woman, you can find another motivation related, for example, with professional interests or hobbies. Foreign words and their associated semantic fields are often different from your native language, and learning them is perhaps the most effective tool to train brain plasticity (especially if you go further from tourist vocabulary and delve into cultural characteristics).

We should also not forget that our brain is much more complex than it seems to many. Engrams related with listening the same music affect how we communicate with friends. Unexpected sensations from the smell of dishes in a new restaurant can awaken in you the desire to re-evaluate the words and actions of a loved one (understand and forgive). A walk after work along an unfamiliar street will give you an idea of ​​how to find a suitable solution to a problem that has arisen at work. Therefore, the above life hacks are best combined.

And maybe one fine day, some 30 years from now, when your grandson brings you his new gadget, which is a cloud of nano-robots, you will not say “Oh my God, get this buzzing crap away from me!”, But you will dip into his hand with the words "Wow!" and immediately ask “How does it work and where can I buy it?”.

Lately, do you feel like you've gone crazy? We invite you to familiarize yourself with the main signs of degradation and determine how justified your fears are.

This is how a person works - he must constantly develop and strive for new heights: personal, spiritual, intellectual and social. As soon as we stop developing, our brain turns on the program… no, not self-destruction, but degradation. Of course, it’s nice to lie on the couch all day, looking at the ceiling, but degradation is too high price for idleness!
Note that from time to time we still need some unloading. Soak up a month on the beach, sleep off for a week and not read any smart literature is useful if you have experienced a lot of stress or are tired to the point of exhaustion. But such rest should be alternated with vigorous activity.

Signs of personality degradation

The American psychologist Maslow identified several qualities inherent in people with personality degradation:
- Treat yourself like a screw. When a person believes that nothing depends on him, that he is just a pawn that cannot change anything: neither in his life, nor in the life of society.
- A minimum of desires. All actions come down to satisfying purely physiological needs - to eat, sleep, satisfy sexual hunger. Such people go to work only for money, and meet people of the opposite sex only for sex.
- Black and white world. The environment for such people is divided into "us" and "strangers". These people are trying in every way to protect themselves from "strangers", they have a very narrow circle of friends.
- Categorical. A degrading personality considers his opinion to be the only correct one and considers disputes and discussions a waste of time.

Poor vocabulary. A person uses only elementary speech turns, it is difficult for him to find words to describe something, it is especially difficult to find adjectives - it is this part of speech that expresses our emotions and feelings. In general, such people try not to speak, they do not want to spend extra effort on verbal functions.
- Dependencies. Alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling are very clear signs of degradation. It is difficult to say whether they are a cause or a consequence of degradation, but the fact remains that if a person has an addiction, there is a great risk that he will degrade.

How not to degrade?

The advice, on the one hand, is very simple, but on the other hand, it is difficult to implement. Especially if you're not used to making the effort. However, it's worth the effort!
- Read! This is universal advice to anyone who does not want to go down intellectually. Read not only fiction, but also books from a field that you have never been interested in. This allows our brain not to "stale".
- Take care of yourself! Yes, taking care of your appearance is not a whim, but one of the elements of self-respect. Make sure you look aesthetically pleasing.
- Discuss. Try not to take statements for granted. Argue, discuss, defend your point of view - and be able to change it if the opponent's arguments are convincing.
- Be moral. The norms of society are invented for a reason, they hide deep meaning. Therefore, the postulates that you cannot lie, steal, fornicate, and so on help you integrate into society. And do not become spiritually corrupt.
- Think high. What is the meaning of your life? What is your purpose? What are you striving for and what is valuable to you? From time to time think about such things, it is even more useful to look for answers to your questions in spiritual practices.
- Get creative. Creativity is the most effective method for self-development and self-realization. No matter in what area you manifest it, it will not let you degrade. Look for new ways to solve common problems, be creative at home and at work.
- Meet. Expand your social circle, try to meet and make friends with people who are engaged in an unfamiliar business for you.

Good day! I am sure you have heard the expression "degraded man" more than once. I often notice how people use it in their speech, sometimes completely out of place. Therefore, I decided to clarify what this concept means and what leads to such a state.

signs

In order not to throw words unreasonably, let's look at the signs of degradation, by which everyone can understand that changes have begun to occur with a person, leading to social death, and gradually approaching physical death.

1. A person gradually begins to narrow the circle of communication and interests. He doesn't care what's going on in the world, no one is curious to learn something new. He can "close" in himself, as interpersonal relationships cease to bring pleasure, as a result of which they do not represent any value for him. He allows himself to be rude, aggressive and overly sarcastic with absolutely no regard for how the other feels.
2. Since the circle of interests is significantly narrowed, all attention is paid only to one's own person, or rather, to the satisfaction of one's basic needs. I talked about them in an article in an article. . Therefore, changes can be noticed when a person has become self-centered and deceitful, because the ways to achieve what you want no longer matter, the lack of a value system, conscience, morality and empathy encourages you to take any action in order to achieve your goal. A certain annoyance, familiarity, swagger and shamelessness can be traced.
3. Cause disgust and in general, negative experiences. It is especially influenced by the fact that they lose the feeling of disgust, therefore, those around the pole of this feeling go off scale. We recently considered the topic of deviant behavior, and so, the manifestations and reactions are exactly the same, in addition, degraded individuals often resort to the main forms of manifestation of degradation - crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, and the like. You can read more in the article
4. They become superficial, sometimes even seem carefree, and this is not surprising, because the pressing problems ordinary person they are not worried at all.
5. Various intellectual disorders make themselves felt, development stops. Brain, for lack of new information and in general, the need to work, suspends its activities. This also affects emotional intelligence, such a person becomes unable to recognize his feelings, a disease such as alexithymia may even arise - excessive lethargy, insensitivity and inability to notice, describe the feelings of others. The level of aikyu, respectively, also decreases, sometimes to the very minimum. What does this mean, read here
6. The perception of the world becomes negative, he simply loses the ability to notice something pleasant and good, focusing only on failures, and he will definitely devalue even something positive.
7. There is a complete transformation of appearance, which also becomes indifferent to such a person. He doesn't care what clothes he goes out in, even without it. He begins to stoop, does not look around, stops washing and caring for himself.
8. Speech is incoherent, cannot support a conversation and express his thoughts clearly. And in general, it becomes very difficult to concentrate on it, as it is completely immersed in itself.
9. Alcohol, drugs act as both consequences of degradation and as causes, therefore, in 90% of cases of personality destruction, they are the main sign by which changes can be tracked and predicted.
10. Of course, the spiritual component is absent, there can be no talk of any motivation, awareness, ambitions and the ability to take responsibility. Such a person is no longer able to love, support and strive for self-knowledge. Details of what is included spiritual development, I already said in the article

Theory of Abraham Maslow

Abraham believed that degradation goes through stages such as:

• There is a feeling that he has become completely helpless, unable to influence events, and the responsibility begins to shift to other people, the government, the weather, etc., considering himself just a “pawn” in this world, unable to change anything. Psychology has a name for this behavior - it is the phenomenon of "learned helplessness".
• The process of forming needs for recognition, security, aesthetics and others stops, only physiological, so to speak, primitive ones become the only important ones.
• The splitting of the world into "good" and "evil", or "white" and "black". Therefore, they try to exclude contacts with “bad” people, eventually closing in on themselves.
• He confuses reality with his invented world, after which he may well take the blame for some misconduct and crimes, without tracking the fact that he did not actually commit them.
• Obsession with one's ideas, categorically rejecting proposals to revise them as they are wrong and destructive.

Causes

1. An event that led to trauma and loss of the meaning of life. Most often, this is the loss of a close and valuable person. Experiences can be so strong that the psyche is not able to cope on its own, and if there is no timely support, then it is likely that such an individual will begin to fade away, losing interest in life.

2. Living an acute feeling of loneliness and uselessness. This condition is influenced by factors such as retirement, sometimes the "empty nest syndrome", when children grow up and leave their father's house, and parents have to look for new interests and hobbies to fill the free time. Not everyone is simply able to find new goals and vocations, especially if they devoted themselves to children all their lives, ignoring their own desires.

After all, we get used to the fact that society needs us, we need to work, fulfill our obligations, and when we retire, we realize that now every day depends only on our own will and efforts.

3. The state of depression often ends in degradation. And all because they often try to cope with depression with the help of alcoholism or drugs, which, as I have already said, are the cause of the destruction of the personality. The problem is precisely that there is not enough strength to break out of this vicious circle of pain and despondency, to ask for help and support, then such a difficult path of taking one's own life is chosen.

By the way, you can read about depression and ways to defeat it.

4. A very acute feeling of guilt for some serious offense, which the psyche is also unable to cope with. Then, if there is no punishment or it is not enough to atone for this guilt, one has to resort to such a sophisticated and terrible self-punishment - to kill the personality in oneself.

There are frequent examples when, through negligence, parents lost children, got into an accident that ended in death, and, unable to cope with the grief of loss and guilt, punished themselves, considering them unworthy of living and experiencing joy.

What to do?

1. Whatever happens, try not to lose touch with the world. Force yourself to communicate, get out somewhere, watch your appearance. If you feel that you are not coping with something - ask for help, do not isolate yourself.
2. Read, visit museums, exhibitions, theater, take an active part in the life of your city. This will give a large flow of information, processing which the brain will not have a chance to relax. By the way, reading helps prevent such types of disorders as Alzheimer's disease, dementia, alexithymia ... You can read about the benefits of books in the article
3. I have said many times that you should never rest on your laurels. The world is developing too fast, and it is worth keeping up with its changes in order to achieve success. So self-development should be one of the first places in your value system.
4. Eliminate bad habits and, if you have not yet begun to fight with any addiction, then it is time to reconsider their degree of influence on your body.
5. Do not devalue the laws and norms of behavior adopted in society, this is what allows you to avoid the primitiveness of a human being.
6. Do not go on about apathy, giving up at every failure. Increase the level of energy, which will stimulate movement, and, accordingly, development. Force yourself to go in for sports, not allowing laziness to control you, then over time you will feel that strength is coming and there is an interest in the surrounding reality. There are other ways to keep yourself in good shape, about them.
7. And the most inspiring for accomplishments and joy, of course, is love. It doesn't matter if they are parents, children, spouses, friends or animals - this feeling will help you move on, no matter what.

Conclusion

And that's all, dear readers! Take care of yourself, and do not let your soul and brain get lazy or relax. And subscribe to the blog, there is a lot of information that will help on the path of self-development. See you soon.

13

Hello, I am a 5th year student. Recently, my development has begun to strain me very much. Not so long ago I decided to read about the degradation of the personality and to my complete disappointment, I collected a full bouquet of symptoms. I’ll start with the fact that since childhood I have always been a very active person, went in for sports, studied (although I didn’t like it, but delved into the material), constantly walked in my free time, didn’t like to sit at home and couldn’t stand being alone. So I lived the whole school, but after graduating I began to notice things alien to me in myself, namely: immunity to learning material, constant fatigue, irritability, distraction, external negativism and internal fear. Just as abruptly, health problems began, constant injuries and illnesses, which finally finished off my desire to achieve sports achievements. As a result, I began to gain weight, stoop and simply simply weaken physically. There was also a strong self-doubt, constant doubts that began to affect my relationship with girls (which had never happened before). I have become very timid and often try to be alone to think about my not very successful life. By virtue of my nature, for several years now I have not shared this with anyone, and therefore my head began to be so demolished that even thoughts of suicide (from helplessness) began to appear. I don’t know what to do with all this, I just can’t even understand how a normal person, in a short time, can turn into someone whom I despised all my life. Now I sit at the computer all day long, I don’t often appear at school (I don’t understand much anyway), when my friends invite me to play football or just take a walk, I find stupid excuses to go. But with all this, I myself understand that this should not be so, and this must be dealt with somehow. I used to think that it was a matter of motivation, but now I understand that the situation is even worse, it feels like I subconsciously do not allow myself to get out of this difficult situation. I drink quite rarely (once every 2-3 months), I quit smoking, I don’t use drugs, so this is the problem.
I will be very grateful if you help me good advice, I'm really already tired of living like a vegetable and I want to develop like all normal people.
P.S. I sit on the Internet a lot, so there is a disease of Internet addiction, but here I think it's not only about it.

Oleg, hello

As I understand it, it all started with admission to the institute. The reason is somewhere in the rejection of a new way of life, you do not see prospects for the future .. Lack of interest in life in the future. Therefore, if you "hung" and stopped perceiving what is around you and went into yourself, something frightens you in the future or very much does not coincide with your inner expectations.

It seems that playing sports did not bring the expected and caused disappointment.

All this suppresses energy. Have you read too many books on psychology and the subconscious, there are independent self-analysis and inconsistencies of your life with the desired (ideal) image, leading to just such consequences. Appatia. More precisely, it can only be said at a consultation.

By itself, the support of a psychologist is better. Support.

If you want to do it yourself, then because. you have willpower (you were able to quit smoking). You can do it yourself (but with a psychologist it's easier). Stop mourning your "unsuccessful" life. Pity is not a resource state.

1. Leave the computer alone (forbid yourself to play)

2. Walks, you can do it alone. Any physical (easy actions). Minimum voltage. (First you have to through a small "I don't want to")

Do whatever you used to enjoy.

4. Preferably an antidepressant. (Look online for products containing dopamine and serotonin.) Of the most affordable bananas.

6. Stop delving into yourself. Stop comparing yourself to your past, stop thinking about the future. Stop reading all sorts of rubbish about consciousness, subconsciousness and motivation. All the answers to these questions are within you. And they will come to you at the right time.

7. Live in today's day. There is only one task for the day. Make the most of your pleasure. Focus on what is good.

8. You need to raise the emotional background by any means. (Then desires will appear)

(If you don’t use something for a long time, the brain, the hand, emotions (joy). Then it begins to die off and you have to develop it again after physical injuries. Then everything falls into place and desires and meaning appear again. You are alive and young, which means processes will go quickly).

10. Stop constantly, use your brain and learn to feel. (If it is not clear, then I offer a 30-minute free consultation, I will explain. Write in a personal)

In our body, everything is arranged very harmoniously. If you leave the game on the computer and introspection (for a while you stop bothering yourself). Everything will start to recover on its own. A little help and encouragement.

You have an inner lust for life. But there is no interest. You don't see the point. At school it was a little different. (You were told, you did) And now is the time to find your own interests on your own. And making decisions for the future. In the future, everything will be fine, easy and interesting. Everything will be as you decide. It is not necessary to live your whole life in tension, you can also enjoy it. You will find both meaning and interest. And now is the time to pull yourself out of apathy (do not want to live like a vegetable) and the motivation will work for you, at this stage, only negative.

Degradation not satisfied? Here is your motivation.

You need to go through three steps. Restoration of the emotional background. Finding own desires. And then the goals and movement, easy and interesting.

There are times when the past goes away, but something new will surely take its place. Survive this period without much self-destruction.

Sincerely, Irina Sergeeva (Polanskaya)

Good answer 10 bad answer 1

Oleg, this is not degradation, this is a crisis associated with the fact that you have ceased to be a child and become an adult. Everyone goes through this youthful crisis, just in a different form. Its essence is that earlier (in childhood) we accept the opinions and postulates of our parents, we take it on faith. And it seems to us that we know what is right, because mom and dad said so. Then, in adolescence, we sometimes begin to protest against parental values, we prove something of our own, but parental values ​​are still important. And in youth they really die off. And there is no point in proving anything to anyone. You have to find your own and go your own way. And this is the hardest part.

Institute. Is that the case you chose? The simplest and most banal motivation is interest. And the option from childhood "didn't like, but learned the material" is no longer for you. Not a single normal person can live through reluctance, if we talk about adults. More precisely, they live like this, but they become neurotic and unhappy people. And it is quite natural that if you are not interested in the matter, the head already refuses just like that, on sheer willpower "because it is necessary" to assimilate the material. In general, to live "because it is necessary" and "as expected" is very stressful and hard. Much easier and more comfortable to live when "like" and "interesting." Maybe get a diploma (not long left) and go to study something else? Or choose a job that is not related to what you studied at the institute, if you don’t like it?

Diseases. A direct consequence of negative emotions. Emotions accumulate, for example, irritation, fatigue, dissatisfaction, anger - all this could be for unloved activities in childhood and for parents and for the need to constantly meet certain standards and justify expectations, and then all these emotions, having accumulated, "gave out" a bouquet of diseases .... Another reason to think about whether it is necessary to force yourself in anything. Illness can also serve as a safety net. Perhaps the sport that you did is not suitable for you, and you do not hear your body. And it, tired of talking to you in a good way, started talking in a bad way - it began to actively resist. Think about it, is it YOUR sport?

Are you trying to be alone? - so it's okay. What kind of image of "energetic sociable" have you created for yourself? It is common for a person to sometimes seek solitude (even for whole periods), sometimes to be sad, to rethink life .... It seems to me that you have created such an image of an "extremely positive young man" for yourself and cut yourself according to a pattern, forgetting to really think about the main thing - but what YOU REALLY are. Whose expectations do you continue to live up to? Who do you want to be like?