Very high anxiety. "The Ship and the Wind"

The results of the answers obtained using the C.D. Spielberger technique were entered into table No. 2:

Summary table for diagnosing the level of situational and personal anxiety of students

	Students	Personal anxiety (PT) (score)	Situational anxiety (AT) (score)

	Veronica K.
	Dmitry Z.
	Alexey V.

	Sergey T.

	Ksenia B.

	Nikolay S.


	Andrey K.

	Anastasia G.
	Maxim Yu.
	Vladimir D.
	Ekaterina K.
	Vasily K.
	Ruslan S.
	Regina S.
	Oksana K.
Average value
Std. deviation

According to our study, among adolescents in this group, the average value of the personal anxiety indicator corresponds to 39.05, and the average value of the situational anxiety indicator corresponds to 36.36. These values indicate that, on average, the group has an average level of situational and personal anxiety.

Analysis of individual values allows us to say that the main group of students (17 people) has a moderate level of personal and situational anxiety. With moderate AT, a person attaches increased significance to individual elements of the situation or finds the strength and ability to control his emotional experiences. Such a person tries to objectively assess emerging situations, however, he either does not succeed immediately, or he is not entirely confident in his strengths, capabilities, and experience. Therefore, a short-term, but not very significantly disturbed emotional balance and decreased performance are possible. The restoration of emotional comfort and self-confidence occurs quite quickly. With a moderate level of LT, a person feels comfortable, maintains emotional balance, and performance mainly in situations to which he has already managed to successfully adapt, in which he knows how to behave, and knows the extent of his responsibility. When situations become more complicated, restlessness and anxiety may appear. However, in such cases, people with moderate anxiety quickly restore emotional balance.

Olga and Dmitry celebrate low level personal and situational anxiety. A low AT level reflects the insufficiently high significance for a person of the situation in which he finds himself at the time of the examination. This is a sign of insufficient actualization of the body’s needs, a lack of interest in what is happening in the world and in oneself. Low levels of anxiety can also be observed in people who have experienced similar situations in their emotional experience. Such a person perceives what is happening either in accordance with its objective emotiogenicity, or as insignificant, or as surmountable. He is confident in himself, satisfied with himself, his condition, the state of affairs, internally relaxed, determined to successfully overcome obstacles and feels enough strength to do this. A person with a low level of LT, as a rule, perceives the difficulties that arise adequately to their objective emotional intensity. The situations that pose a threat to him are those that pose a real danger to life, putting him on the brink between life and death. Behavior and relationships with others are regulated by confidence in success and the possibility of resolving conflicts. He often blames other people for conflicts; tolerates critical comments from others calmly, without irritation; perceives praise and approval as truly deserved.

Alexey, Regina, Oksana have a high level of personal and situational anxiety. What makes it possible to classify these adolescents as "at risk". The words class teacher and the school psychologist, these children are indeed distinguished by a high level of personal and situational anxiety, which manifests itself in a number of verbal and non-verbal signs. These methods are also confirmed by observations. A high level of AT indicates that the situation in which a person finds himself is extremely important for him. It touches on current issues this moment needs, a person perceives it as a threat to his physical existence, prestige, authority in the group or his own self-esteem. A person with high AT feels tension, anxiety, and muscle stiffness. He is focused on what is happening, which seems dangerous and insurmountable to him. He is dissatisfied with himself and the people around him, and often withdraws into himself. A high level of LT means that most situations in which a person finds himself are perceived as threatening to him, his prestige or self-esteem. Behavior and interaction with others are regulated primarily by emotions. High emotional sensitivity is combined with increased vulnerability and touchiness. Remarks from others are perceived as reproach and insult. Approval, support, especially compliments, do not inspire confidence or are mistaken for flattery. Conflict situations are either avoided or cause a feeling of guilt. Failures are often experienced as tragedies and attract attention for a long time, reducing the activity necessary to actually overcome and analyze them.

Anxiety as a stable personality trait is formed only in adolescence. Until then, it is a function of the situation. Anxiety can play a mobilizing role associated with increasing the effectiveness of activities, starting from adolescence. A certain level of anxiety is a natural and obligatory feature of an individual’s active activity. Everyone has their own optimal, or desired, level of anxiety - this is the so-called useful anxiety. Assessing your condition in this regard is an essential component of self-control and self-education. Schoolchildren classified as highly anxious tend to perceive a threat to their self-esteem and functioning in a wide range of situations and react very intensely, with a pronounced state of anxiety. In adolescence, anxious schoolchildren experienced constant doubts, hesitations, uncertainty about the correctness of their perception of success and failure, and significant dissatisfaction with it. Both boys and girls are susceptible to anxiety. The level of anxiety is on average higher in girls compared to boys. At the same time, girls’ anxiety differed in content from boys’ anxiety: girls are more concerned about relationships with other people, boys are more concerned about violence in all its aspects. Adolescents aged 14-15 years are characterized by interpersonal anxiety, associated primarily with relationships with peers (friends, classmates). Anxious adolescents were characterized by increased accuracy in assessing their position among peers, but at the same time a low degree of confidence in this assessment. Emotionally well-off teenagers, on the contrary, were distinguished by relatively weak accuracy in this regard, since they focused mainly only on their close friends, but showed a high degree of uncertainty. “Inadequately calm” schoolchildren showed insensitivity to their really disadvantaged position among their peers, and this insensitivity was of a protective nature.

A low level of ST reflects the insufficiently high significance for the teenager of the situation in which he finds himself at the time of the examination. This is a sign of insufficient actualization of the body’s needs, a lack of interest in what is happening in the world and in oneself. A low level of anxiety can also be observed in schoolchildren whose emotional experience has included similar situations. Such a student perceives what is happening either in accordance with its objective emotiogenicity, or as insignificant, or as surmountable. He is confident in himself, satisfied with himself, his condition, the state of affairs, internally relaxed, determined to successfully overcome obstacles and feels enough strength to do this.

With moderate TS, the teenager attaches increased significance to individual elements of the situation or finds the strength and ability to control his emotional experiences. Such a teenager tries to objectively assess emerging situations, however, he either does not succeed immediately, or he is not entirely confident in his strengths, capabilities, and experience. Therefore, a short-term, but not very significantly disturbed emotional balance and decreased performance are possible. The restoration of emotional comfort and self-confidence occurs quite quickly.

A high level of ST indicates that the situation in which the teenager finds himself is extremely important for him. It touches on current needs, the teenager perceives it as threatening his physical existence, prestige, authority in a group, or his own self-esteem. A teenager with high TS feels tension, anxiety, and muscle stiffness. He is focused on what is happening, which seems dangerous and insurmountable to him. He is dissatisfied with himself and the people around him, and often withdraws into himself.

A teenager with a low level of LT, as a rule, perceives the difficulties that arise adequately to their objective emotional intensity. Mostly situations that pose a real danger to life, putting him on the brink between life and death, become threatening for him. Behavior and relationships with others are regulated by confidence in success and the possibility of resolving conflicts. He often blames other people for conflicts; tolerates critical comments from others calmly, without irritation; perceives praise and approval as truly deserved.

With a moderate level of LT, the teenager feels comfortable, maintains emotional balance, and performance mainly in situations to which he has already managed to successfully adapt, in which he knows how to behave, and knows the extent of his responsibility. When situations become more complicated, restlessness and anxiety may appear. However, in such cases, schoolchildren with moderate anxiety quickly restore emotional balance.

A high level of LT means that most situations in which a teenager finds himself are perceived as threatening to him, his prestige or self-esteem. Behavior and interaction with others are regulated primarily by emotions. High emotional sensitivity is combined with increased vulnerability and touchiness. Remarks from others are perceived as reproach and insult. Approval, support, especially compliments, do not inspire confidence or are mistaken for flattery. Conflict situations are either avoided or cause a feeling of guilt. Failures are often experienced as tragedies and attract attention for a long time, reducing the activity necessary to actually overcome and analyze them.

W.N. Auden called the modern era "the age of anxiety." The complexities of civilization, the rapidity of change and the partial abandonment of religious and family values create ever new anxieties and conflicts for individual subjects and society as a whole. There is now a lot of attention paid to the size, type and impact of anxiety, which is reflected in modern medicine. Indeed, anxiety is an integral part psychosomatic medicine, as well as the theories and practices of psychiatry. Even in patients with damage to any structures, anxiety about possible disability, inferiority and helplessness is detected, which is an essential feature of these diseases.

Anxiety is a diffuse, very unpleasant, often vague feeling of being afraid of something, accompanied by one or more somatic sensations - for example, a feeling of emptiness in the pit of the stomach, a feeling of tightness in the chest, palpitations, sweating, headache or a sudden urge to have a bowel movement. Restlessness and an inability to stay in one place are also typical.

Anxiety is an alarm signal that warns of impending danger and forces a person to take action to cope with the danger. Fear, also a warning signal, is different from anxiety the following features: fear is a reaction to a danger that is known, external, definite and consistent in nature; anxiety is a reaction to a danger that is unknown, internal, vague or contradictory in nature.

The differences between fear and anxiety arise by chance. Freud's early translators mistranslated "angst," the German word for "fear," as "anxiety." Freud himself generally ignored the distinction between anxiety associated with a repressed, unconscious object and fear associated with a known, external object. Obviously, fear can refer to an unconscious repressed internal object being transferred to another “thing” in the external world. For example, a boy may be afraid of dogs because he is actually afraid of his father and unconsciously associates his father with dogs. Another example is when a child has a vague feeling that he will have to leave his home because he has felt sexual arousal, when he witnessed two dogs mating on the street and now unconsciously associated the dogs with the guilt of his sin in the form of sexual sensations.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF ANXIETY AND FEAR

According to psychoanalysts, the division into fear and anxiety is psychologically justified. The emotion that arises when a car approaches quickly as a person crosses the street is different from the vague discomfort when a person meets new people in an unfamiliar environment. The main psychological difference between these two emotional reactions is their acute or chronic nature. Darwin supported the view that the word "fear" comes from something sudden and dangerous. Neurophysiologically, the duration of the phenomena of anxiety and fear is also very important. In 1896, Charles Darwin gave the following description of the physiological manifestation of acute fear that turns into horror:
“Fear is often preceded by surprise, and is so closely related to it that both lead to sensations of seeing and hearing, which are instantly activated. In both cases, the eyes and mouth are wide open and the eyebrows are raised. A frightened person first stops rooted to the spot, without movement and breathlessness, or crouches to the ground, as if instinctively trying to get away from what he saw. The heart beats hard and fast, so that it flutters or “knocks on the ribs”; however, it is very doubtful that at this time it would work more efficiently than usual, that is, that it would send more blood in all parts of the body, since the face usually becomes as pale as when fainting begins. This pallor of the skin appears to be to a large extent or solely due to the fact that the vasomotor center is affected in such a way that it causes a narrowing of the small arteries of the skin. That the skin is strongly affected by the condition strong fear, we see in a brilliant and inexplicable example when sweat immediately comes out of her. This exudation is all the more remarkable because the surface of the skin remains cold; hence the name “cold sweat”; in the same time sweat glands usually activated when the surface heats up. The hair, also on the skin, rises and the superficial muscles tremble. Due to impaired heart function, breathing accelerates. Function is impaired salivary glands; the mouth becomes dry and opens and closes frequently. I have also noticed that when there is a little fear, there is a strong urge to yawn. One of the most pronounced symptoms is trembling of all the muscles of the body, and this is primarily noticeable on the lips. For this reason, as well as due to dry mouth, the voice becomes hoarse or unclear, and sometimes disappears completely...

As the fear intensifies, turning into a torment of horror, we notice how various phenomena arise under the influence of very strong emotions. The heart beats very strongly, or may fail, and fainting occurs; deathly pallor is noted, breathing is difficult, the wings of the nose are greatly expanded, the lips make convulsive swallowing movements, there is a tremor of sunken cheeks, “choking” and “catching air” movements of the larynx; The eyeballs are uncovered and protruding, fixed on the feared object, or they may roll restlessly from side to side. The pupils are abnormally dilated. All the muscles of the body become stiff or make convulsive movements. The hands alternately clench and unclench with frequently twitching movements. The arms may be extended, as if to ward off a terrible danger, or they may cover the head... In other cases, a strong and uncontrollable desire for immediate flight is discovered, so strong that even the bravest soldiers succumb to sudden panic.”

Individual manifestations of anxiety are very diverse. Some patients experience cardiovascular disorders, for example, palpitations and sweating, in some gastrointestinal disorders, for example, nausea, vomiting, a feeling of emptiness and nervous trembling (the stomach is “dizzy with fear”), bloating or even diarrhea, for some - increased urination, for others - shallow breathing and a feeling of tightness in the chest. All of the above reactions are visceral. However, in a number of patients the phenomena of muscle tension predominate, and they complain that the muscles do not bend, or that they have spasms, headache and curvature of the neck.

STRESS AND ANXIETY

Whether an event is stressful depends on the nature of the event, as well as the individual's resources and capacity for defenses and coping mechanisms. This all includes his "ego", a general abstraction that is related to how the subject perceives, thinks and acts in response to external events or internal urges. If the ego of a given subject functions normally, it means that he is in a state of adaptive balance with both external and external influences. inner world; if it does not function normally and this imbalance continues long enough, he will develop chronic anxiety. Time of onset of psychoneuroses in different people various.

Whether the imbalance is external, developing between the influences of the external world and the ego of a given patient, or internal, developing between his impulses (for example, aggressiveness, sexuality or dependence) and his consciousness, in any case it causes conflict. Conflicts caused by external events are usually called “interpersonal,” while those caused by internal events are called “intrapsychic” or “intrapersonal.” A combination of both is possible, for example, in the case of a minor official who had an overly demanding and dissatisfied boss, and who had to constantly restrain himself, resisting impulses to hit the boss on the head for fear of losing his job. Interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts usually combined because people are social creatures and their main conflicts lie in the area of relationships with other people.

Conflicts are another essential feature of anxiety, but their absence does not mean that there will be no fear, since conflict is contained in a certain type of fears called phobias. In the genesis of experimental neuroses there is necessarily a conflict. Conflict also exists in cases where there are obstacles or hindrances to sexual activation, so that strong arousal cannot be discharged, or when a fit of rage does not find external expression due to inhibition of movements.

The cause of chronic anxiety can be determined in the following way. Repeated attacks of fear - or single attacks in exceptional cases, such as those with post-traumatic stress disorder or some types of phobia - cause chronic stress, which causes an intense and long-lasting neuroendocrine reaction, accompanied by conflict at the psychological level. As a result, chronic anxiety develops.

Anxiety levels

For all emotions, including anxiety, there are three levels. In ascending order there is the neuroendocrine level, the motor-visceral level, and finally the level of conscious awareness. In general, a subject experiencing anxiety experiences only unpleasant sensations and rarely feels severe discomfort; a person usually does not realize the reasons for his anxiety.

An unpleasant feeling consists of two components: 1) awareness of physiological sensations (heartbeat, sweating, emptiness in the stomach, tightness in the chest, twitching of the knees, trembling of the voice); 2) a person’s awareness that he is nervous or afraid. Anxiety is sometimes intensified by a feeling of shame - “Others will see that I am afraid.” Many people are surprised that others do not recognize their anxiety or, if they see it, do not understand how strong it is.

In addition to the motor and visceral manifestations of anxiety, its impact on thinking, perception and learning should be taken into account. The brain is the central integrating mechanism, but it is also the end organ. Anxiety causes confusion and disturbances in perception not only of time and space, but also of people and the meaning of events. This can interfere with learning and reduce the ability to concentrate, impairing recall and impairing the ability to relate one thing to another (association).

An important aspect emotional thinking, including anxious or fearful thinking, is its selectivity (selectivity). An anxious subject tends to select certain topics from life around him and ignore others in order to prove that he is right in viewing the situation as frightening and reacting accordingly, or, conversely, that his anxiety is vain and unjustified. If he falsely justifies his fear, his anxiety is reinforced by selective response, creating a vicious circle of anxiety, impaired perception and increased anxiety. If, on the other hand, he erroneously assures himself with the help of selective thinking, then in this case justified anxiety may be reduced and the subject will not take the necessary measures.

Selective perception and thinking can influence not only the switching on and off of events, people and objects, but also the meaning of words and actions. Selective attention thus becomes a bias-generating tool that a priori determines the meaning of an event before it occurs, or stereotypes a person or event into a particular class or group based on the properties they share.

Adaptive alarm functions

Because anxiety is a warning signal, it can be considered the same emotion as fear. It warns of external or internal danger; it is important for saving lives. Low levels of anxiety warn of dangers of bodily harm, pain, helplessness, possible punishment or frustration of social or bodily needs, separation from a loved one, threats to one's success or position, or dangers that threaten to destroy harmony and unity. In this way, it tells the body that it is necessary to take the necessary measures to prevent danger or at least reduce its consequences. Here are a few examples of how anxiety helps to ward off danger that arises in Everyday life, there are times when you take on the hard work of studying for an exam, sneak into your bedroom after being late, hoping to avoid punishment, and also run quickly to catch the last passenger train. Anxiety prevents harm by alerting a person and forcing him to perform certain actions that are ahead of the danger.

Because responding with anxiety to some threatening situations is clearly beneficial, we can speak of normal anxiety as opposed to abnormal or pathological anxiety. Anxiety is normal for an infant who is frightened by separation from parents or the loss of love, for a child going to school for the first time, for a teenager on a first date and for an adult contemplating old age and death, and for all people who have been beset by illness. Anxiety normally accompanies growth, change, or experiencing something new and unknown, as well as the search for one’s personal role and significance in life. Pathological anxiety, on the contrary, is an inadequate response to a given stimulus either in its intensity or duration.

Anxiety usually leads to actions aimed at eliminating or reducing the danger. These actions are usually constructive, using coping mechanisms if the action is primarily conscious or intentional (such as studying for an exam) or defense mechanisms if the behavior is primarily driven by unconscious forces (such as suppressing or repressing awareness frightening impulse or thought).

The defense mechanism can be adaptive or maladaptive depending on the results. Suppression is often used by a person throughout his life in order to achieve harmony with. with others and with yourself. Suppression or other defense mechanisms may be considered to be impaired only when this manifests itself in disrupted behavior.

Let us list in general terms the protective mechanisms.

Negation. A mechanism that does not acknowledge the existence of unpleasant facts. The term refers to those cases where conscious understanding of any aspect of reality is excluded; if it were conscious, anxiety would arise.

Bias. A mechanism by which the emotional component of an unacceptable idea or object is translated into a more acceptable one.

Dissociation. A mechanism that includes separating each group of mental or behavioral processes from other types of mental activity of the subject. It may involve separating an idea from its accompanying emotional tone, as seen in dissociative disorders.

Identification. The mechanism by which a subject constructs his own image in the image of another subject; at the same time, violations of the self occur more or less constantly.

Identification with the aggressor. The process by which a person internally unites with the mental image of another person, who is a source of frustration from the external world. This is a primitive defense that acts in the interests of and serves the developing ego. A classic example of the defense that appears towards the end of the Oedipus complex stage is when a boy, whose main source of love and pleasure is his mother, identifies himself with his father. The father is the source of frustration, being a powerful rival to the mother, and the child cannot cope or escape from the father, so he must identify with him.

An association. A mechanism by which a physical representation of another person or some properties of another person is assimilated into itself through the figurative process of symbolic oral ingestion. It represents a special form of introjection and is the earliest mechanism of identification.

Intellectualization. A mechanism in which conditioning or logic is used as an attempt to avoid confrontation with an unwanted impulse and thus protect against anxiety. It is also known as rumination compulsion or thought compulsion.

Introjection. Unconscious, symbolic internalization of the physical image of a hated or loved external object in order to establish intimacy with it and its constant presence. Seen as an immature defense mechanism. If the object is loved, the anxiety resulting from separation or the tension arising from an ambivalent attitude towards the object is reduced; in the event that this object evokes fear and hatred, the internalization of its evil or aggressive traits serves to avoid anxiety, symbolically subjecting these traits to one's own control.

Insulation. In psychoanalysis, it is a mechanism that involves separating an idea or memory from the emotional tone that accompanies it. Unacceptable thought content is thus freed from disturbing and unpleasant emotional loads.

Projection. An unconscious mechanism by which a subject attributes to other people those usually unconscious thoughts, ideas, sensations and impulses that are undesirable or unacceptable to him in himself. Projection protects the personality from anxiety resulting from internal conflict. By externalizing everything that is unacceptable to him, the subject acts with it as if the situation is separated from himself.

Rationalization. A mechanism by which irrational or unacceptable behavior, motives, or feelings are logically justified or made consciously tolerable in plausible ways.

Regression. A mechanism in which a subject undergoes a partial or complete reversion to earlier patterns of adaptation. Regression is observed, in particular, in schizophrenia.

Repression. A mechanism in which unacceptable thought content is expelled from consciousness or is kept outside of it. The term was coined by Freud; the mechanism is important for both normal psychological development, and for the formation of neurotic and psychotic symptoms. Freud identified two types of repression: 1) repression itself—the repressed material once dominated consciousness; 2) primary repression - the repressed material was never in the sphere of consciousness.

Sublimation. A mechanism in which the energy associated with unacceptable impulses or drives is diverted into personally and socially acceptable channels. Unlike other defense mechanisms, sublimation provides some minimal satisfaction from instinctual urges or impulses.

Substitution. A mechanism in which the subject replaces unacceptable desires, impulses, and emotions with more acceptable ones.

Suppression. The conscious act of inhibiting and controlling unacceptable impulses, emotions or thoughts. Suppression differs from repression in that repression is an unconscious process.

Symbolization. A mechanism by which one idea or one thing is translated into another because they share some aspect or quality. Symbolization is based on similarity and association. The emerging symbols protect the subject from the anxiety that is associated with original ideas or objects.

Cancellation. A mechanism by which a subject symbolically acts in opposition to something unacceptable that has already been done or against something from which it is supposed to protect itself. Being primitive defense mechanism, annulment is a form of magical action. By its nature, it tends to be repetitive and is often seen in obsessive-compulsive disorders.

The state of anxiety and restlessness was first identified and emphasized by S. Freud. He characterized this state as emotional, including the experience of expectation and uncertainty, a feeling of helplessness, all of this is based on internal reasons. Subsequently, many famous psychologists and psychotherapists studied the state of anxiety, and a large number of works were written.

To begin with, we should talk about the difference between the concepts of anxiety as a state and anxiety as a personality trait. Polysemy in the understanding of anxiety as mental phenomenon stems from the fact that the term "anxiety" is used by psychologists with different meanings.

It could be:

- Temporary mental state arising under the influence of stress factors
- Frustration of social needs
- The primary indicator of ill-being, when the body does not have the opportunity naturally realize needs
- Personality property that is given through a description of external and internal characteristics using related concepts
- Reaction to the presented threat.

Most often, the term “anxiety” is used to describe an unpleasant mental state, which is characterized by subjective feelings of tension, anxiety, gloomy forebodings, and from the physiological side is accompanied by activation of the autonomic nervous system. Being a natural state, anxiety plays a positive role not only as an indicator of a disorder, but also as a mobilizer of mental reserves.

However, anxiety is most often seen as negative state associated with stress. The state of anxiety can vary in intensity and change over time as a function of the level of stress to which an individual is exposed, but the experience of anxiety is common to any person in adequate situations.

Reasons causing alarm and influencing changes in its level are diverse and can lie in all spheres of human life. Conventionally, they are divided into subjective and objective reasons. Subjective reasons include informational reasons associated with incorrect ideas about the outcome of the upcoming event, leading to an overestimation of the subjective significance of the outcome of the upcoming event. Among the objective causes of concern are: extreme conditions, placing increased demands on the human psyche and associated with the uncertainty of the outcome of the situation.

The term " personal anxiety" is used to refer to relatively stable individual differences in an individual's tendency to experience state of alarm. Level personal anxiety determined based on how often and how intensely an individual experiences state of alarm. Functional aspect of research personal anxiety involves considering it as a systemic property. Which manifests itself at all levels of human activity.

The role of this property in social sphere, Where anxiety influences efficiency in communication, socio-psychological indicators of the effectiveness of managers, relationships with comrades, giving rise to conflicts. In the psychological field anxiety manifests itself in a change in the level of a person’s aspirations, in a decrease in self-esteem, determination, and self-confidence. Personality anxiety affects motivation. Noted Feedback anxiety with such personality characteristics as: social activity, desire for leadership, emotional stability, degree of neuroticism and introversion. Anxiety also manifests itself in the psychophysiological sphere; there is a connection between anxiety and the characteristics of the nervous system, with the energy of the body, and the development of psycho-vegetative diseases.

Causes of anxiety on social level- communication disorder. At the psychological level, the subject’s inadequate perception of himself; at the psychophysiological level, the causes of anxiety are associated with the peculiarities of the structure and functioning of the central nervous system.

Personality anxiety It does not necessarily manifest itself directly in behavior, it has the expression of subjective ill-being of the individual, creating a specific background for her life activity, depressing the psyche.

The main ones are identified negative sides high level of personal anxiety.

1. A person with a high level of anxiety is prone to the world as containing threat and danger to a much greater extent than a person with a low level of anxiety.
2. A high level of anxiety creates a threat to the mental health of the individual and contributes to the development of pre-neurotic conditions.
3. Negatively affects business results. There is a correlation between anxiety and personality traits on which academic performance depends.
4. Anxiety affects professional
direction.

Comparison professional orientation individual psychological characteristics revealed a significant influence of the latter on the nature of professional orientation. A person oriented towards professions of the “person - sign system” type is characterized by the fact that these schoolchildren have high success rates in intellectual tests, the highest rates of verbal intelligence, and high learning success. They are characterized by the lowest level of anxiety, average nervousness, and low extroversion.

In addition to the negative impact on health, behavior and productivity, a high level of anxiety also adversely affects the quality of social functioning of the individual. Anxiety leads to a person’s lack of confidence in his communication abilities, is associated with negative social status, formulates conflicting relationships.

Solution anxiety problems is one of the acute and relevant tasks of psychotherapy Study, as well as timely diagnosis and correction anxiety level will help to avoid the difficulties that arise when it influences a person’s life.

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Anxiety is a condition manifested in the form of anxiety and other similar feelings (fear, apprehension, worry), while there may be no visible and objective grounds for these manifestations. It is important to distinguish anxiety as a condition from anxiety. The latter can be short-term or has serious reasons. The state of anxiety is usually long-lasting, and it is often difficult for a person to name what is causing it. Sometimes they talk about anxiety as a character trait, when a person, for example, is constantly and strongly worried about things that the vast majority of people are calm about. This condition can appear at any age and is diagnosed in both adults and children. Extreme manifestations of anxiety significantly spoil life and require psychological correction.

Anxiety is a negative feeling. She may appear in different situations, including those that are not considered a cause for concern. U different categories adult patients may have negative expectations about various upcoming events, as well as about close people or some other factors.

Anxiety in men

Although men are considered less prone to anxiety than women, individual representatives males are characterized by a state of increased anxiety. This state can begin with anxiety, which has some basis (problems at work, in personal life, general dissatisfaction with one’s situation). However, if a person chooses not to notice the problem, turns a blind eye to his own emotions (or, even worse, relaxes with the help of alcohol), anxiety can develop into a state of constant anxiety. Then the man begins to worry about everything. In this case, finding the cause and working through it can be much more difficult. In some cases, you cannot do without the help of a psychotherapist.

A certain level of anxiety is normal. However, prolonged stay in this state leads to the fact that men become too vulnerable and vulnerable - primarily in the sphere of interpersonal relationships.

A separate type of anxiety, which is typical for men, is sexual anxiety, which manifests itself in the form of anxiety associated with sex and interfering with the realization of sexual potential. At the same time, failures that appear in intimate life men based on sexual anxiety, in turn, aggravate the person’s condition and lead him to a certain vicious circle, since repetition of failures increases anxiety, which leads to further problems.

Statistics show that women are much more prone to anxiety than men. Some psychologists have suggested that such a predisposition is not a property of the female psyche initially; anxiety is part of the idea of a “typical woman” that is formed in society. At the same time, most adult women tend to accept their anxiety as emotionality and sensitivity, which is not considered a negative factor by them.

Anxiety during pregnancy

The period is characterized by certain changes in a woman’s thinking, including an increase in the level of anxiety. Anxiety during pregnancy is usually caused by a lack of trust - and first of all, a woman lacks trust in herself. If this is the first pregnancy, then even reading specialized literature and numerous forums cannot rid a woman of the fear of the unknown and the disturbing thoughts that accompany it.

The reasons for a serious change in a woman’s psychological state are hormonal changes that begin to occur from the first trimester of pregnancy. The causes of concern are the baby’s condition, one’s own health, and, towards the end of the third trimester, one’s own health. birth process. In order to avoid the formation of excessive anxiety, it is recommended that you first approach pregnancy planning consciously; It has been proven that it is much easier for women who plan a pregnancy in advance to tune into a positive mood. But you shouldn’t succumb to the influence of those for whom pregnancy has become a negative experience: the woman begins to project situations that have not yet happened and may not happen at all onto herself in advance and show concern about this as well.

The formation of feelings of anxiety is not last resort contributes to the psychological atmosphere in the family where the pregnant woman lives. Therefore, those around the pregnant woman should take care to keep her calm and not provoke conflicts that are unconstructive in nature.

Anxiety in a nursing mother

When pregnancy is left behind, the woman’s body experiences another hormonal changes, which affects the mood of the young mother not for the better. Combined with the need to adapt to a new social role and the increased burden of caring for a child, this becomes a factor in the formation of a high level of anxiety. During the feeding period, nervous tension can provoke the so-called oxytocin blockade - the mother’s condition blocks the production of oxytocin, which is responsible for the contraction of the mammary glands, which in turn facilitates the flow of milk from the breast. As a result, increased anxiety can lead to the fact that a lot of milk is produced, but feeding the baby is difficult, which is why both he and the woman experience inconvenience and additional stress.

Anxiety and stress can lead to the opposite process, when a young mother's milk supply begins to decrease, which in turn triggers a new cycle of experiences.

Increased anxiety in the postpartum period is observed almost as often as postpartum depression. About 10% of young mothers suffer from clinical anxiety, and symptoms such as restlessness and various fears can appear in the first few weeks after childbirth and last for several weeks or even more. Since anxiety is negative for both the mother and the child, it is necessary to create conditions to overcome it: a calm environment, support from loved ones, and adequate rest. If such measures do not help, it makes sense to contact a psychologist who will prescribe suitable treatment.

Anxiety in the elderly is frequent disorder, and about 20% of older people experience this condition during permanent basis. In old age, there are several types of anxiety disorder:

Phobias.

In old age, the most common phobias are death and illness (both one’s own and those of loved ones).

General anxiety disorder.

For such people, anxiety can be triggered by any factor, from family problems to a visit to the doctor.

Social anxiety.

An elderly person may, for some reason, begin to avoid contacts and worry unnecessarily about the most ordinary meetings.

Negative self-image

The self-image is formed through interaction with significant others. That is why those who criticize, compare, evaluate, overprotect, as well as parents with high expectations or inflated demands, doom their child to imagine himself as “bad”, “not good enough”, “can’t cope”, “loser”, “weak” who always needs help."

Which leads to internal tension, uncertainty, low self-esteem, and at the same time to a large number of fears and anxiety. They are afraid of the new, they are afraid of failure, they are afraid of not coping, they are afraid of any changes that may be born from this fear of the future or unforeseen(which is impossible to control).

Often experience constant poisoned feeling of joy in a prosperous life, because they “don’t live their own lives,” trying to meet someone else’s expectations, to do what they should, and not what they want. When everywhere you feel you are not good enough or not entitled.

How to deal with anxiety caused by negative self-image?

1. You have to create a positive image of yourself. It's not quick and easy, but it's possible. To begin with, to assess the scale of the disaster, for several days count how many times you mentally and out loud praise yourself and how many times you scold yourself. This can be ticked in two columns according to the “scolding-praising” process.

2. If you scold yourself more often than you praise yourself, then at the end of the day before going to bed, you need to remember the past day and find at least 5 reasons to praise yourself for. For those from whom parents expected too much (“ Olympic victories" And " Nobel Prizes") it is important to learn to see even in small actions and achievements a reason for joy and pride in yourself. Often such people habitually devalue themselves and everything that is not a “honorable diploma” (and often that too) is not noticed at all. Therefore, find something that yesterday you didn’t know how to do or didn’t try, but today you learned, decided, and did. Remember, before a man learned to walk, he fell a thousand times, but that did not stop him from getting back on his feet.

3. Stop comparing yourself to others. You'll never compare to opera singer world class, if your talent lies elsewhere. But you will get hurt forever and you will have a lifelong reason to worry. You can only compare yourself with yourself yesterday.

4. In the morning, before you get up, ask yourself: “How can I please myself today?” and try to do it.

5. Poll your friends about their strengths that can help you deal with anxiety or fear. Ask them to name at least three.

6. Draw or describe in detail your anxiety or fear. Look at her from afar. Ask yourself questions: “When does it appear? What plans does he have for your life? What qualities of yours help her attack you? And which ones make it weaker?” Try to remember a situation when you dealt with anxiety or fear. What helped you then?

It is worth mentioning separately about children with borderline parents or suffering from alcoholism or mental illness. Thus, in schizophrenia, relationships are ambivalent and often follow the “love-hate” principle.

Such people have a lot of chaos and double messages in childhood (when words contradict each other or the meaning of the spoken phrase does not agree with the non-verbal accompaniment. For example, in an angry tone they say “of course, I love you” or “I need you so much, go away!”)

To survive, such children have to cope with frequent anxiety themselves and often become a parent to their parents. They have a lot of repressed emotions and great difficulty in building close, long-term, trusting relationships. They often have unreasonable fear of the future And inability to rejoice, even if everything in their life is good at the moment.

It often seems to them that for any joy, desire or dream realized they will have to pay with suffering. The hardest thing for them is to learn to praise themselves, allow themselves to do something for themselves and dream. Inner voice parent sounds bright and strong. In these cases it is necessary big job and it is better to take the help of a specialist.

How to deal with anxiety?

Every family has its own ways of dealing with anxiety. Moreover, they can be both functional and dysfunctional. The latter includes smoking, alcohol and other types of addictions. When in fact a person avoids meeting himself and his feelings without solving the problem.

Conflict is also a dysfunctional way. It happens that the anxiety of one partner provokes the anxiety of the other and, merging, these two anxieties strengthen, prolong and reinforce each other. Some people immerse themselves in TV series, games, the Internet, and work just to avoid living real life and not having to deal with disturbing experiences.

Along with dysfunctional ones, there are ways that not only really help you get through uncomfortable moments, but also bring benefits. These are sports, reading, creativity, communication, art and even cleaning.

Do what brings you joy.

Be in touch with yourself and your feelings.

Learn to comfort your inner child.

Imagine yourself little, take yourself in your arms and ask: “What are you afraid of, what can I do for you?”

Fulfill wishes from childhood (One woman with increased anxiety was greatly helped by her small child, asking her to take daily walks before bed and the opportunity “like in childhood” to climb onto a snowdrift and lie in the snow; buy Nice dress or a mascot toy)

Learn to express your emotions.

Learn to set boundaries and protect yourself.

Know how to distinguish between your own and someone else’s anxiety (in codependent relationships they often merge and reinforce each other).

1. General anxiety at school- the general emotional state of the child associated with various forms of his inclusion in the life of the school. It can be positive against the background of general high anxiety. That is, the child is emotionally dysfunctional, but at school he feels quite confident and calm. The opposite option is also possible: a generally calm and emotionally stable child feels bad at school.

2. Experiences of social stress- the emotional state of the child, against the background of which his social contacts develop (primarily with peers). Very often, leaders demonstrate high anxiety regarding this factor. It is important to correlate the data on this scale with others. When high anxiety for this factor coincides with similar anxiety for other factors, this is less informative and significant than single case high anxiety attributable to this particular factor.

3. Frustration of the need to achieve success- an unfavorable mental background that does not allow the child to develop his needs for success, achieving high results, etc. It is interesting that in classes taught in elementary school according to the Zankov system, this indicator is much less pronounced than in "regular" classes.

4. Fear of self-expression- negative emotional experiences of situations associated with the need for self-disclosure, presenting oneself to others, demonstrating one’s capabilities. Apparently, this is one of the most typical, culturally determined fears for our children from Yakutsk to Kaliningrad. It occurs very often. If many students in a given class have high scores on it, this indicates an unfavorable pedagogical situation that provokes the development of fear of self-expression.

5. Fear of knowledge testing situations- negative attitude and anxiety in situations of testing (especially public) knowledge, achievements, and capabilities. Typical for unsuccessful students. In other cases it is important symptom emotional distress. In mass manifestation, it reflects a certain pedagogical tradition, which would not hurt to change.

6. Fear of not meeting the expectations of others- anxious orientation towards significant others in assessing one’s results, actions and thoughts, strong feelings about feedback given by others, expectation of negative evaluations. Another “cultural” fear, if we take into account its extreme prevalence in Russian schools. Occurs en masse. It is important not so much for individual psychological diagnoses, but for consulting teachers!

7. Low physiological resistance to stress- features of the psychophysiological organization that reduce the child’s adaptability to stressful situations, increasing the likelihood of an inadequate, destructive response to a disturbing environmental factor. We can say that this is an individual inability to cope with troubles. It does not occur very often (2-3 children per class), but each case requires a separate in-depth analysis, primarily from the point of view of the reasons for such low tolerance. Their identification makes it possible to protect the child from traumatic situations.

8. Problems and fears in relationships with teachers- general negative emotional background relationships with adults at school, which reduces the child’s educational success. This indicator is important in the process of consulting teachers; it reflects the features of the system of relations between adults and children at school. Less informative for academically unsuccessful students.

High level of anxiety – can be generated either by the real disadvantage of the student in the most significant areas activity and communication, or exist as if contrary to an objectively favorable situation, being a consequence of certain personal conflicts, disturbances in the development of self-esteem, etc. Such anxiety is often experienced by schoolchildren who are good and even excellent students, who take their studies responsibly, public life, school discipline, however, this apparent well-being comes at an unreasonably high price and is fraught with breakdowns, especially when the activity becomes more complicated. Such schoolchildren exhibit pronounced vegetative reactions, neurosis-like and psychosomatic disorders.

Help: increasing self-esteem (as adults) and developing the ability to cope increased anxiety with the help of certain exercises. Particular attention from an adult (teacher or parent) should be given to support, praise, celebrating successes, and support in case of failure. Avoid value judgments and comparisons with the results of more successful students; if compared, then his own results. Avoid criticism in front of others. Help analyze not only failures, but also successes, so that they, in turn, are not perceived by such children as accidental, as the result of some external influences(for example, like good mood teachers, or am I just lucky today).

Supposed actions of an adult(teacher or parent) in relation to an anxious child:

Provide support, show sincere care for the child, more often give a positive assessment of their actions and actions;
Call the child by name more often and praise him in the presence of other children and adults;
Entrust the execution of prestigious assignments within the given team;
If we compare the results of work, then only his own (achieved yesterday, a week or a month ago);
It is better to avoid solving those tasks that are limited in time;
It is better to ask not at the beginning or end of the lesson, but in the middle;
You should not rush or push them to answer, give them time to answer, and do not repeat the question several times (otherwise the child will not answer soon, because he will perceive a new repetition of the question as a new stimulus);

Establishing visual contact - “eye to eye” - instilling a sense of trust in the child’s soul;

Conversations in the class about the problems of each child (that everyone has difficulties), so that he feels that he is not alone;
Be patient, results are not quick.

Low anxiety level – “hidden anxiety” - defensive behavior They often say that they do not experience anxiety, but constantly fail due to their bad luck, failure, and the attitude of other people. Many situations of success are assessed as unsuccessful (devaluation). There is also a devaluation of failures - such sensitivity to adversity is, as a rule, compensatory, protective in nature and interferes with the full formation of personality. The student does not seem to allow the unpleasant experience into his consciousness. Emotional well-being in this case is preserved at the cost of an inadequate attitude to reality, negatively affecting the productivity of activity. It is not possible to analyze the experience gained. Selects to perform more often simple tasks in order to avoid disturbing situations in every possible way (because I am sure that I can successfully cope with the problem).

Behavior (defensive): in order to increase self-esteem - criticize others. Outwardly, there are no signs of anxiety, but this form is not stable; when the stimulus is significant, it can turn into open, unregulated anxiety. These children may have had unregulated anxiety in the past, which they learned to cope with by suppressing it. In order not to repeat a similar experience, we learned to avoid situations (including complex learning tasks).

Help: When working with such students, it is necessary to pay attention to developing the ability to analyze their experiences and find their causes (self-analysis). By breaking down simple tasks, achieve more complex ones and pay attention to this so that there is no avoidance.

During the course of the year, a psychologist will conduct an additional examination of the causes of high anxiety, a forecast of difficulties in learning in secondary school (individual characteristics intellectual abilities And personal characteristics students).

The word "anxious" has been noted in dictionaries since 1771. There are many versions explaining the origin of this term. The author of one of them believes that the word “alarm” means a thrice repeated signal about danger from the enemy.

IN psychological dictionary The following definition of anxiety is given: it is “an individual psychological feature, which consists of an increased tendency to experience anxiety in a wide variety of life situations, including those that do not predispose to this.”

It is necessary to distinguish anxiety from anxiety. If anxiety is episodic manifestations of a child’s restlessness and excitement, then anxiety is a stable condition.

For example, it happens that a child gets nervous before speaking at a party or answering questions at the blackboard. But this anxiety does not always manifest itself; sometimes in the same situations he remains calm. These are manifestations of anxiety. If the state of anxiety is repeated frequently and in a variety of situations (when answering at the board, communicating with unfamiliar adults, etc.), then we should talk about anxiety.

Anxiety is not associated with any specific situation and appears almost always. This condition accompanies a person in any type of activity. When a person is afraid of something specific, we talk about the manifestation of fear. For example, fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of enclosed spaces.

K. Izard explains the difference between the terms “fear” and “anxiety” in this way: anxiety is a combination of some emotions, and fear is only one of them.

Fear can develop in a person at any age: children from one to three years old often have night fears; in the 2nd year of life, according to A.I. Zakharov, fear of unexpected sounds, fear of loneliness, fear of pain (and associated fear medical workers). At 3-5 years old, children are characterized by fears of loneliness, darkness and confined spaces. At the age of 5-7 years, the fear of death becomes dominant. From 7 to 11 years old, children are most afraid of “not being someone who is well spoken of, respected, appreciated and understood” (A.I. Zakharov).

Every child has certain fears. However, if there are a lot of them, then we can talk about manifestations of anxiety in the child’s character.

To date, a definite point of view on the causes of anxiety has not yet been developed. But most scientists believe that in preschool and junior school age One of the main reasons lies in the disruption of parent-child relationships.

1. Conflicting demands made by parents, or parents and school (kindergarten). For example, parents do not allow their child to go to school because feeling unwell, and the teacher puts a “D” in the journal and scolds him for missing a lesson in the presence of other children.

2. Inadequate requirements (most often excessive). For example, parents repeatedly repeat to their child that he must be an excellent student; they cannot and do not want to come to terms with the fact that their son or daughter receives more than just “A” grades at school and is not the best student in the class.

3. Negative demands that humiliate the child and put him in a dependent position. For example, a teacher or educator says to a child: “If you tell me who behaved badly in my absence, I will not tell mom that you got into a fight.”

Experts believe that boys are more anxious in preschool and primary school age, and girls after 12 years of age. At the same time, girls are more worried about relationships with other people, while boys are more concerned about violence and punishment. Having committed some “unseemly” act, girls worry that their mother or teacher will think badly of them, and their friends will refuse to play with them. In the same situation, boys are likely to be afraid that adults will punish them or beat them
peers.

As the authors of the book note, 6 weeks after the start school year Schoolchildren usually have an increased level of anxiety, and they need 7-10 days of rest.
A child’s anxiety largely depends on the level of anxiety of the adults around him. High anxiety from a teacher or parent is passed on to the child. In families with friendly relationships, children are less anxious than in families where conflicts often arise.

An interesting fact is that after the parents’ divorce, when it would seem that the scandals in the family are over, the child’s anxiety level does not decrease, but, as a rule, increases sharply.

Psychologist E. Yu. Brel also identified the following pattern: children’s anxiety increases if parents are not satisfied with their work, living conditions, and financial situation. Perhaps this is why in our time the number of anxious children is steadily growing.

There is an opinion that educational anxiety begins to form already in preschool age. This can be facilitated by both the teacher’s work style and inflated demands on the child and constant comparisons with other children. In some families, throughout the entire year before entering school, conversations are held in the presence of the child about choosing a “worthy” school and a “promising” teacher. Parents' concerns are passed on to their children.

In addition, parents hire numerous teachers for their child and spend hours completing tasks with him. The child’s body, which is fragile and not yet ready for such intensive learning, sometimes cannot stand it, the baby begins to get sick, the desire to learn disappears, and anxiety about the upcoming training rapidly increases.
Anxiety can be associated with neurosis or other mental disorders. In these cases, the help of medical specialists is necessary.

Portrait of an anxious child.

A child is included in a kindergarten group (or class). He intensely peers at everything that is around him, timidly, almost silently greets and sits awkwardly on the edge of the nearest chair. He seems to be expecting some trouble.

This anxious child. Such children in kindergarten and there are quite a few at school, and working with them is no easier, but even more difficult, than with other categories of “problem” children, because both hyperactive and aggressive children are always in plain sight, while anxious ones try to keep their problems to themselves.

They are characterized by excessive anxiety, and sometimes they are afraid not of the event itself, but of its premonition. They often expect the worst. Children feel helpless and are afraid to play new games and start new activities. They have high demands on themselves and are very self-critical. Their level of self-esteem is low; such children really think that they are worse than others in everything, that they are the ugliest, stupidest, and clumsy. They seek encouragement and approval from adults in all matters.

Anxious children are also characterized by somatic problems: abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, spasms in the throat, difficulty shallow breathing, etc. When anxiety manifests itself, they often feel a dry mouth, a lump in the throat, weakness in the legs, and rapid heartbeat.

How to identify an anxious child.

An experienced educator or teacher, of course, in the very first days of meeting children will understand which of them has increased anxiety. However, before drawing final conclusions, it is necessary to observe the child causing concern in different days weeks, during training and free activities (at recess, on the street), in communication with other children.

To understand a child and find out what he is afraid of, you can ask parents, educators (or subject teachers) to fill out a questionnaire. Answers from adults will clarify the situation and help trace the family history. And observations of the child’s behavior will confirm or refute your assumption.

P. Baker and M. Alvord advise taking a closer look at whether the following signs are characteristic of the child’s behavior.

Criteria for determining anxiety in a child.

1. Constant anxiety.
2. Difficulty, sometimes inability to concentrate on anything.
3. Muscle tension(for example, in the face, neck).
4. Irritability.
5. Sleep disorders.

It can be assumed that a child is anxious if at least one of the criteria listed above is constantly manifested in his behavior.

In order to identify an anxious child, the following questionnaire is also used (Lavrentyeva G.P., Titarenko T.M.).

Signs of anxiety:

Anxious child
1. Cannot work for a long time without getting tired.
2. It is difficult for him to concentrate on something.
3. Any task causes unnecessary anxiety.
4. While performing tasks, he is very tense and constrained.
5. Feels embarrassed more often than others.
6. Often talks about tense situations.
7. As a rule, blushes in unfamiliar surroundings.
8. Complains that he has terrible dreams.
9. His hands are usually cold and wet.
10. He often has upset bowel movements.
11. Sweats a lot when excited.
12. Doesn't have a good appetite.
13. Sleeps restlessly and has difficulty falling asleep.
14. He is timid and fears many things.
15. Usually restless and easily upset.
16. Often cannot hold back tears.
17. Does not tolerate waiting well.
18. Doesn't like to take on new things.
19. I am not confident in myself, in my abilities.
20. Afraid to face difficulties.

Add up the number of positives to get a total anxiety score.

High anxiety - 15-20 points.
Average - 7-14 points.
Low - 1-6 points.

In kindergarten, children often experience fear of separation from their parents. It must be remembered that at the age of two or three years, the presence of this trait is acceptable and understandable. But if the child is preparatory group constantly cries when parting, does not take his eyes off the window, waiting every second for his parents to appear, this should be noted Special attention. The presence of separation anxiety can be determined by the following criteria (P. Baker, M. Alvord).

Criteria for determining separation anxiety:

1. Recurrent excessive upset, sadness at separation.
2. Constant excessive worry about loss, about the fact that the adult may feel bad.
3. Constant excessive worry that some event will lead to separation from his family.
4. Constant refusal to go to kindergarten.
5. Constant fear to be left alone.
6. Constant fear of falling asleep alone.
7. Constant nightmares in which the child is separated from someone.
8. Constant complaints of illness: headache, stomach pain, etc. (Children suffering from separation anxiety can actually get sick if they think a lot about what worries them.)

If at least three traits manifested themselves in the child’s behavior for four weeks, then we can assume that the child actually has this type of fear.

How to help an anxious child.

Working with an anxious child is associated with certain difficulties and, as a rule, takes quite a long time.

1. Increased self-esteem.
2. Teaching the child the ability to control himself in specific, most worrying situations.
3. Relieving muscle tension.

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

Increased self-esteem.

Of course, increase the child’s self-esteem for a short time impossible. It is necessary to carry out targeted work every day. Call your child by name, praise him even for minor successes, celebrate them in the presence of other children. However, your praise must be sincere, because children react strongly to falsehood. Moreover, the child must know why he was praised. In any situation you can find a reason to praise your child.

It is advisable that anxious children more often participate in such games in a circle as “Compliments”, “I give you...”, which will help them learn a lot of pleasant things about themselves from others, and look at themselves “through the eyes of other children.” And so that others know about the achievements of each student or pupil, in a kindergarten group or in a classroom you can set up a “Star of the Week” stand, where once a week all the information will be devoted to the successes of a particular child.

Each child will thus have the opportunity to be the center of attention of others. The number of headings for the stand, their content and location are discussed jointly by adults and children (Fig. 1).

You can note the child’s achievements in daily information for parents (for example, on the “We are today” stand): “Today, January 21, 1999, Seryozha conducted an experiment with water and snow for 20 minutes.” Such a message will provide an additional opportunity for parents to show their interest. It will be easier for the child to answer specific questions rather than recall everything that happened in the group during the day.

In the locker room, on each child’s locker, you can attach a “Seven-Flower Flower” (or “Flower of Achievement”), cut out of colored cardboard. In the center of the flower is a photograph of a child. And on the petals corresponding to the days of the week there is information about the child’s results, which he is proud of (Fig. 2).

IN junior groups Teachers enter information into the petals, and in the preparatory group, filling out the seven-flowered flowers can be entrusted to children. This will serve as an incentive for learning to write.

In addition, this form of work helps to establish contacts between children, since those who do not yet know how to read or write often turn to their friends for help. Parents, coming to kindergarten in the evening, rush to find out what their child has achieved during the day, what his progress is.

Positive information is very important for both adults and children to establish mutual understanding between them. Moreover, it is needed for parents of children of any age.

Example.

Mitya’s mother, like all parents of children nursery group, every day with pleasure she got acquainted with the teachers’ notes about what her two-year-old son did, how he ate, and what he played. During the teacher’s illness, information about the children’s time in the group became inaccessible to parents. After 10 days, the concerned mother came to the methodologist and asked not to stop working so useful for them. The mother explained that since she is only 21 years old and has very little experience communicating with children, the teachers’ notes help her understand her child and know how and what to do with him.

Thus, the use of a visual form of work (design of stands, informational “Seven-flowered Flowers”, etc.) helps to solve several pedagogical problems at once, one of which is increasing the level of self-esteem of children, especially those with high anxiety.

Teaching children the ability to manage their behavior.

As a rule, anxious children do not openly communicate about their problems, and sometimes even hide them. Therefore, if a child tells adults that he is not afraid of anything, this does not mean that his words are true. Most likely, this is a manifestation of anxiety, which the child cannot or does not want to admit.

In this case, it is advisable to involve the child in a joint discussion of the problem. In kindergarten, you can talk to children, sitting in a circle, about their feelings and experiences in situations that worry them. And at school, using examples of literary works, you can show children that a brave person is not one who is not afraid of anything (there are no such people in the world), but one who knows how to overcome his fear.

It is advisable for each child to say out loud what he is afraid of. You can invite children to draw their fears, and then show the drawing in a circle and talk about it. Such conversations will help anxious children realize that many of their peers have problems similar to those that they thought were unique to them.

Of course, all adults know that children cannot be compared with each other. However, when it comes to anxious children, this technique is categorically unacceptable. In addition, it is advisable to avoid competitions and activities that force one to compare the achievements of some children with the achievements of others. Sometimes even such a simple event as a sports relay race can become a traumatic factor.

It is better to compare the child’s achievements with his own results shown, for example, a week ago. Even if the child did not complete the task at all, in no case should you tell the parents: “Your daughter completed the appliqué worst of all” or “Your son finished the drawing last.”

2. Be consistent in your actions, do not forbid your child without any reason to do something that you allowed before.

3. Consider the capabilities of children, do not demand from them what they cannot do. If a child has difficulty in any academic subject, it is better to once again help him and provide support, and if he achieves even the slightest success, do not forget to praise him.

4. Trust your child, be honest with him and accept him for who he is.

5. If for some objective reason it is difficult for a child to study, choose a circle for him that he likes, so that classes in it bring him joy and he does not feel disadvantaged.

If parents are not satisfied with the behavior and success of their child, this is not a reason to deny him love and support. Let him live in an atmosphere of warmth and trust, and then all his many talents will manifest themselves.

How to play with anxious children.

On initial stages When working with an anxious child, you should be guided by the following rules:

1. Inclusion of the child in any new game must take place in stages. Let him first familiarize himself with the rules of the game, watch how other children play it, and only then, when he wants to, become a participant.

2. It is necessary to avoid competitive moments and games that take into account the speed of completing a task, for example, such as “Who is faster?”

3. If you are introducing a new game, then in order for an anxious child not to feel the danger of encountering something unknown, it is better to play it on material that is already familiar to him (pictures, cards). You can use part of the instructions or rules from a game that the child has already played several times.

If a child is highly anxious, then it is better to start working with him with relaxation and breathing exercises, for example: “Balloon”, “Ship and Wind”, “Pipe”, “Barbell”, “Screw”, “Waterfall”, etc.

A little later, when the children begin to get the hang of it, you can add the following to these exercises: “Gift under the Christmas tree,” “Fight,” “Icicle,” “Humpty Dumpty,” “Dancing Hands.”

IN group games An anxious child can be included if he feels comfortable enough and communication with other children does not cause him any particular difficulties. At this stage of work, the games “Dragon”, “Blind Dance”, “Pump and Ball”, “Golovoball”, “Caterpillar”, “Paper Balls” will be useful.

Games “Bunnies and Elephants”, “Magic Chair”, etc., which help increase self-esteem, can be played at any stage of work. The effect of these games will only be if they are held repeatedly and regularly (each time you can introduce an element of novelty).

When working with anxious children, you should remember that the state of anxiety is usually accompanied by strong pressure various groups muscles. Therefore, relaxation and breathing exercises for this category of children are simply necessary. Therapeutic gymnastics instructor L.V. Ageeva made a selection of such exercises for preschoolers. We slightly modified them, introduced game aspects without changing the content.

Outdoor games.

Relaxation and breathing exercises.

Goal: relax the muscles of the lower face and hands.

"You and a friend have had a fight. A fight is about to break out. Take a deep breath, clench your jaw tightly. Fix your fingers in fists, press your fingers into your palms until it hurts. Hold your breath for a few seconds. Think: maybe you shouldn’t fight? Exhale and relax. Hurray! The troubles are over! "
This exercise is useful to carry out not only with anxious, but also with aggressive children.

"Balloon"

Goal: relieve tension, calm children.

All players stand or sit in a circle. The presenter gives instructions: “Imagine that now you and I are going to inflate balloons. Inhale the air, bring an imaginary balloon to your lips and, puffing out your cheeks, slowly inflate it through parted lips. Watch with your eyes how your balloon gets bigger and bigger. "As the patterns on it become larger and larger. Have you imagined it? I also imagined your huge balls. Blow carefully so that the ball does not burst. Now show them to each other."

"The Ship and the Wind"

Goal: to get the group into a working mood, especially if the children are tired.

"Imagine that our sailboat is floating on the waves, but suddenly it stopped. Let's help it and invite the wind to help. Inhale the air, draw in your cheeks strongly... Now exhale noisily through your mouth and let the wind break free "He's pushing the boat. Let's try again. I want to hear the wind!"
The exercise can be repeated 3 times.

"Gift Under the Tree"

Goal: relaxation of facial muscles, especially around the eyes.

"Imagine that the New Year holiday is coming soon. You whole year dreamed of a wonderful gift. So you come up to the Christmas tree, close your eyes tightly and do deep breath. Hold your breath. What lies under the tree? Now exhale and open your eyes. Oh, miracle! The long-awaited toy is in front of you! You are happy? Smile."
After completing the exercise, you can discuss (if the children want) who dreams of what.

"Pipe"

Goal: relaxation of facial muscles, especially around the lips.

"Let's play the pipe. Take a shallow breath, bring the pipe to your lips. Start exhaling slowly, and as you exhale, try to stretch your lips into a tube. Then start over. Play! What a wonderful orchestra!"

All of the exercises listed can be done in the classroom, sitting or standing at a desk.