The state of passion in criminal law is mitigating. Affect from a psychological point of view

Science perceives affect as a complex phenomenon - a combination of mental, physiological, cognitive and emotional processes. This is a short-term peak state, or, in other words, the body’s reaction during which psychophysiological resources are thrown into the fight against stress that has arisen under the influence of the external environment.

Affect is usually a response to an event that has occurred, but it is already based on a state of internal conflict. Affect is provoked by a critical, most often unexpected, situation from which a person is unable to find an adequate way out.

Experts distinguish between ordinary and cumulative affect. In the first case, affect is caused by the direct impact of a stressor on a person; in the second, it is the result of the accumulation of relatively weak factors, each of which individually is not capable of causing a state of affect.

In addition to excitation of the body, affect can provoke inhibition and even blocking of its functions. In this case, a person is overcome by one emotion, for example, panic horror: in a state of asthenic affect, instead of active actions, a person watches in a daze the events unfolding around him.

Affect is sometimes not easy to distinguish from others. mental states. For example, affect differs from ordinary feelings, emotions and moods in its intensity and short duration, as well as the obligatory presence of a provoking situation.

There are differences between affect and frustration. The latter is always a long-term motivational emotional state arising as a result of the inability to satisfy a particular need.

It is more difficult to identify the differences between affect and trance, since they have much in common. For example, in both states there are violations of the conscious volitional control of behavior. One of the main differences is that trance, unlike affect, is caused not by situational factors, but by painful changes in the psyche.

Experts also distinguish between the concepts of affect and insanity. Although the characteristics of an individual’s behavior in both conditions are very similar, in affect they are not random. Even in situations where a person is not able to control his impulses, he becomes their captive of his own free will.

Physiological changes during affect

Affect is always accompanied physiological changes in the human body. The first thing that is observed is a powerful surge of adrenaline. Then comes the time of vegetative reactions - the pulse and breathing quicken, the blood pressure, spasms occur peripheral vessels, coordination of movements is impaired.

People who have experienced a state of passion experience physical exhaustion and exacerbation of chronic diseases.

Affect is usually divided into physiological and pathological. Physiological affect is an intense emotion that completely takes over a person’s consciousness, as a result of which control over one’s own actions decreases. In this case, deep clouding of consciousness does not occur, and the person usually maintains self-control.

Pathological affect is a rapidly occurring psychophysiological reaction characterized by the suddenness of its occurrence, in which the intensity of the experience is much higher than with physiological affect, and the nature of the emotions is concentrated around such states as rage, anger, fear, despair. With pathological affect, the normal course of the most important mental processes - perception and thinking - is usually disrupted, and the critical assessment reality and volitional control over actions is sharply reduced.

German psychiatrist Richard Krafft-Ebing drew attention to the deep disorder of consciousness during pathological affect with the resulting fragmentation and confusion of memories of what happened. And the domestic psychiatrist Vladimir Serbsky attributed pathological affect to states of insanity and unconsciousness.

According to doctors, the condition pathological affect usually lasts a few seconds, during which a sharp mobilization of the body’s resources occurs - at this moment the person is able to demonstrate abnormal strength and reaction.

Despite its severity and short duration, psychiatrists distinguish three phases of pathological affect.

The preparatory phase is marked by an increase in emotional stress, a change in the perception of reality and a violation of the ability to adequately assess the situation. At this moment, consciousness is limited to the traumatic experience - everything else does not exist for it.

The explosion phase is directly aggressive actions, which, as described by Russian psychiatrist Sergei Korsakov, have “the nature of complex arbitrary acts committed with the cruelty of an automatic machine or machine.” In this phase, facial reactions are observed that demonstrate sudden change emotions - from anger and rage to despair and bewilderment.

The final phase is usually accompanied by sudden exhaustion of physical and psychic powers. After it, an irresistible desire to sleep or a state of prostration may arise, characterized by lethargy and complete indifference to what is happening.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation distinguishes between crimes committed with mitigating and aggravating circumstances. Taking this into account, murder committed in a state of passion (Article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and causing grievous or moderate harm to health in a state of passion (Article 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) are classified as mitigating circumstances.

According to the Criminal Code, affect acquires criminal legal significance only in the case when “the state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect) is caused by violence, mockery, grave insult on the part of the victim or other illegal or immoral actions (inaction) of the victim, as well as prolonged psychotraumatic a situation that arose in connection with the systematic illegal or immoral behavior of the victim.”

Lawyers emphasize that the situation provoking the emergence of affect must exist in reality, and not in the imagination of the subject. However, the same situation can be perceived differently by a person who has committed a crime in a state of passion - this depends on the characteristics of his personality, psycho-emotional state and other factors.

The severity and depth of an affective outburst is not always proportional to the strength of the provoking circumstance, which explains the paradoxical nature of some affective reactions. In such cases, only a comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination can assess the mental functioning of a person in a state of passion.

We often hear about affect when we're talking about about any illegal action: “murder in a state of passion.” However, this concept is not limited to criminal matters. Affect can both destroy and save a person.

Affect - causes, manifestations, help

In clinical psychiatry the term affect is a synonym for the concept (term) emotions.

In psychology affect called a short-term and very pronounced emotional state. This happens if a person subjectively does not see an opportunity to get out of a critical or life threatening situations. A state of passion can be caused by a feeling of lack of options for solving any problem that is stressful or traumatic for this particular person. Moreover, it is necessary to understand that a pronounced emotional reaction is associated with a person’s subjective acceptance of a situation, which is not always perceived by others as critical. An affective state can also be observed when a person experiences very strong positive emotions - sudden joy, delight.

In particular, the state of creative inspiration can also be called a state of affect. If a composer writes a funeral march, we can assume that he has an affect of grief, and if he writes a prelude about tenderness, he has an affect of love.

Affect always manifests itself as a strong emotional reaction to an already existing situation and often occurs not only when there is a threat to physical existence, but also during certain not only negative, but also positive events.

Affect, as defined by some authors, can provide a release in action that is not subordinate to conscious volitional control, as well as strong and relatively short-term emotional experiences, accompanied by pronounced motor and visceral manifestations.

The main reasons that most often cause a state of passion can be:

critical or extreme situation associated with a threat to life,
deep and lasting conflict, especially if the person experiences criticism, doubt about his abilities or humiliation,
overly emotional conflict situation,
the need to make a decision or perform a certain action under conditions of severe time pressure,
the need to act in combination with personal strong conviction that it is impossible to act,
an expressed desire to satisfy certain needs and the awareness that it is impossible to get what you want in a given situation,
sharp, unexpected external influence at the moment when a person does not have his own plan of action,
repeated repetition of similar psychotraumatic effects,
successful marriage or desired divorce,
appointment to the desired position or dismissal from work,
winning a large amount of money,
skydiving or other extreme pleasures.

Probability of occurrence states of passion largely depends on personal characteristics a person, his character and temperament, education and upbringing, attitudes and needs. The impulsive unbalanced people the state of affect is observed much more often. Negative affect is most often characterized by the emergence of feelings of anger and even rage, since a person is not ready to reconcile or cannot realize that it is impossible to get what he wants.

The main signs of affect can be called the explosive nature of the reaction, the short duration of the course and high intensity. A violent and brightly colored emotional reaction entails a change in the basic characteristics of attention, and a person perceives exclusively those things that are related to the situation that frightens him. He is poorly aware of the presence of other stimuli and, accordingly, does not react to them.

The state of affect is characterized by difficulty in concentrating and analyzing the consequences of one’s own actions. As a rule, in a situation of passion, an individual does not act rationally, since at this moment he is not sufficiently able to consciously control his behavior.

It is necessary to take into account that the state of passion is characterized by other reactions than those that are characteristic of it in the normal state, when it complies with the accepted social norms. In a state of passion, a person may be inclined to commit stereotypical, patterned actions. Extreme arousal caused by a traumatic situation leads to a weakening of control over one’s own actions, reduces the ability to think rationally, and therefore often leads to behavior that is dangerous both for oneself and for others.

A person in a state of passion experiences significant changes in functioning autonomic system(increased or slowed pulse and breathing, vasoconstriction, sweating, tremors) and changes in the voluntary motor sphere (obvious lack of coordination, inhibition or severe agitation).

In this state, a disorder of consciousness is observed in the form of a twilight state of consciousness (narrowed consciousness) followed by complete loss of memory for the entire period of pathological affect.

Despite the fact that affect is always short-term, there are several phases in its development.

Some authors also identify other types of affect, for example,

cumulative(reaction to regularly occurring traumatic situations or prolonged traumatic exposure);

affect of inadequacy(manifests itself in aggression, most often associated with high expectations and as a reaction to failures), etc.

In people with personality disorders (excitable, explosive psychopaths), states of affect are observed quite often. In order to prevent a violent emotional reaction, you need long work With professional psychologist, psychotherapist. The specialist, together with the client, will identify and eliminate those attitudes that provoke an excessive reaction to negative statements or certain actions of other people.

In the pre-affective phase, when a person is still able to adequately assess what is happening, such actions can be taken.

Human life is full of emotions. How sharper man experiences feelings, the brighter life becomes. They are conventionally divided into negative and positive. Uncontrollable negative emotions are called affect, because at this time a person commits uncontrollable actions. The article discusses examples of affect, which manifests itself in special conditions, signs and for certain reasons.

Particular attention to this issue is given in criminal law, where affect represents important, since the offender may receive a shorter sentence if he was in this state. Affect has several types, which will also be discussed in the article.

What is affect?

If we take the emotional side of affect, then it is expressed in two components: negative emotions and motor activity. What is affect? These are strong experiences that manifest themselves in a hopeless, dangerous stressful situation and cause physical activity and organic manifestations.

At times of stress, a person’s consciousness narrows and the will is suppressed. A person stops thinking, because even after the affect passes, he is not able to realize the reasons for his behavior. They capture a person so strongly that he no longer thinks, but reacts.

Uncontrollable actions of people are one of the areas of study for manipulators. From there comes the science of reading people by their gestures, facial expressions, body posture, voice intonation, etc. This sphere of a person allows other people to manipulate and get from him everything they need. People who are well acquainted with how to provoke uncontrollable actions in a person are great manipulators.

The effect of suggestion is directly proportional to the amount of money paid. Notice how people easily succumb to the idea that the most expensive things are of high quality and functional. What happens to a person if he acquires such a thing? He lends himself to any idea that is advertised with this thing. In other words, a person will never believe that he bought “junk” if he spent a lot of money on it. And until the effect of suggestion wears off, the person will uncontrollably believe that he bought a quality item.

Under the influence of sudden fear, a person grabs the place where something important to him is located. You can find out where your money is (in which pocket or bag?) if you accidentally scare you. This also happens because at such moments you do not control your actions. But your short, sharp movements tell manipulators what they want to know from you. And to do this, it is important for them to touch only the emotion that will provoke you to the reaction that interests them.

It is obvious that uncontrollable actions of people are defensive reaction, but also “traitors” who give away all the secrets. However, knowing this will allow you to sometimes stop yourself from doing things that happen without your will.

Affect is an area of study in criminal law because criminals often write off their illegal actions for this condition. The state of affect is characterized by a surge of emotions and violent movements that a person exhibits within a few minutes. However, this is enough to commit a criminal act.

It is in a state of passion that a person’s ability to control himself decreases. Therefore, in criminal law it is called “reduced legal capacity.”

Affect in psychology

Affect can be attributed to emotional sphere, since it manifests itself in the same mechanisms as emotions. A person reacts to external stimuli. Depending on his internal attitude towards them, he experiences positive or negative emotions. However, in psychology, affect is perceived not as part of a person’s inner “I”, but as an external manifestation.

Affect in psychology is strong, vivid and short-term experiences that significantly narrow consciousness and awaken energy for action.

Emotions help a person adapt to the world around him. External stimuli provoke a certain attitude towards oneself. However, the strength of emotions causes one or another state of mind. Usually, when affected, a person does not remember some details. This is characterized by memory depression. A person may not remember events that preceded the affect, his actions during the event, or what he did after.

When affected, a person loses control over himself. This is called supreme oppression mental function. A person simply performs actions, sometimes without even realizing them. It’s as if he is controlled by other forces, someone else’s will. He himself doesn’t understand what he’s doing, which is what makes criminal law interesting.

The cause of affect in psychology is called a situation when a person is in under stress, but sees no way out. Failure to solve a problem that is important to a person causes strong fear combined with inner excitement. The affect can be compared to the loss of a sense of security and protection. When a person loses a basic sense of security, he falls into affect - the desire to eliminate a dangerous situation.

Psychologists and philosophers of all times have studied this phenomenon. Today, affect in psychology acts as a special state that develops at specific critical moments that arise unexpectedly. This state is classified as biological, instinctive, since a person seems to obey his bestial nature, and not conscious thinking.

Pay attention to how a person behaves when suddenly something unpleasant happens to him. You urgently need to go to work that the person is not interested in, or suddenly an old enemy has appeared, or you have lost money. What happens at the very moment when a person learns bad news?

A person is not able to control personal emotions and reactions in the first seconds when something is unpleasant, disliked, or irritating to him. You can monitor yourself or other people, what really worries them, interests them and how they treat you, which is noticeable only in stressful situations. A person does not control himself, or more precisely, he does not want to control himself when he does not like something. At this very moment, fear and anxiety disappear, and the person begins to do what he considers necessary, fearlessly, confidently and boldly. It is in a stressful situation that a person does not try to be someone, but becomes himself, allowing himself to do what protects him from the stress factor. And along with this, he finally demonstrates his attitude towards those people who are next to him at this time.

In a stressful situation, a person does not control himself, that is, he shows his true nature. Observe yourself and you will understand what you really want, how you really feel about certain people. Observe other people and you will see their desires and attitudes towards you that they hide at other times. This is a reason to think about why you are deceiving yourself; other people are not telling you the whole truth. What you see should be noticed and taken seriously, since this is also part of nature, which always manifests itself in stressful situations that happen almost every day.

Types of affect

Affect varies in its manifestations. Here are the types of affect, which are characterized by their own characteristics:

Physiological is a sane state in which a person can understand what is happening and what he is doing. Often isolated. It is formed against the background of mental limitations.
Pathological is a condition in which a person does not control his actions. He is called insane because he completely loses consciousness and becomes weak-willed. Psychologists mark it as a condition requiring treatment, since the function between the balance of inhibition and excitation of the nervous system is disrupted.
Cumulative is a condition that develops against the background of constant or periodic exposure to a stimulus on a person. In other words, it can be called an affective explosion, when “a person cannot stand” the tension.
Interrupted – a state that is interrupted by an external stimulus.
Negative – a condition that depresses the psyche and motor activity.
Positive – a state in which a person loses the tendency to analytical narrowing. He begins to think in stereotyped ways, his decisions become lightning fast, and his actions become reactive, that is, thoughtless.
The affect of inadequacy is a condition that develops against the backdrop of failure. This happens in situations where a person overestimated his own abilities and was confident that he was ready to achieve results, but the reality turned out to be different. Psychologists note it in people with high self-esteem. When failure occurs, a person is not able to adequately respond to it, which is expressed in aggression, irritability, anger, anger, and hysteria.

Affect manifests itself in three phases:

Preparatory (pre-affective) - some understanding of what is happening is retained, but it is gradually erased. The perception of the situation is gradually depressed, emotions become stronger.
Reaction (affective explosion) is the very state of affect when the will is suppressed, psychological processes become disordered, and actions are performed chaotically, quickly and uncontrollably. Here only two reactions arise: run away and hide, or repel and attack.
Initial (post-affective, final) – depletion of a person’s physical and mental resources, which stops him from committing actions. Here you may feel the urge to fall asleep.

Signs of affect

The main signs of affect are manifested in external manifestations that others can describe, as well as in internal experiences that the person himself speaks about.

External manifestations:

Uncontrolled motor activity.
Changes in speech and facial expressions.
Change in appearance.

Inner feelings:

“Everything was like a dream.”
“I vaguely remember.”
“Something broke inside.”

If we turn to criminal law, then affect is described in the following terms:

Explosive character.
Profound mental changes.
Suddenness of occurrence.

Affect refers to emotional experiences strong character. A person expresses his inner experiences in different ways. Affect is characterized by the following mental factors:

Acute dissatisfaction.
Specific hormonal, autonomic and other physiological changes.
High mental energy and desire for release.

In addition to the fact that a person changes in facial expression and begins to perform chaotic actions, a change in thinking and attention is observed when he is unable to concentrate, distribute, and concentrate it. A person loses control over his actions and also becomes unable to make decisions.

Affect becomes:

Short-term in duration.
Unconscious.
With dominant emotions.
With high intensity of experiences.
Expressive.
Spontaneous.
With the manifestation of amnesia.

A person in a state of passion experiences the following sensations:

Disorientation in time, space, culture, situation, etc.
Feeling of hopelessness.
Sleep disturbance: first a complete lack of sleepiness, and then a desire to sleep.
Chronic fatigue, high fatigue, the occurrence of diseases.
Feeling of alienness of actions: “It was as if it was not me, but someone controlling me.”
Distortion of perception, appearance of illusions, narrowing of consciousness.
Loss of reality.
Loss of control over actions.

Affect is a violent reaction that manifests itself in chaotic actions and changes in consciousness, when a person may not even understand what is happening. Outwardly, he becomes “not himself.”

Affect in criminal law

Particular attention is paid to affect in criminal law, since many criminals refer to the uncontrollability of their own actions that they committed. The extent to which a person was under the influence of passion is decided by specialists who diagnose the defendant in criminal law.

A sign of affect is a violation of mental activity, which has led to unawareness of the consequences of one’s own actions. The defendant's attention is directed to the object of irritation, which causes emotional stress, which leads to the loss of the ability to choose his own model of behavior. A person does not choose or think, but is focused on eliminating the object of irritation.

In forensic psychiatry, affect is considered a state when a person is unable to control his own actions. They happen as if on their own. If it has been proven that the person was under the influence of passion, then this becomes a serious basis for mitigating the sentence. However, for this there must be special conditions.

Psychology does not name clear stimuli that can lead to affect. Since criminal law must be clear and specific, for this reason special conditions have been identified that are considered to provoke an affective state:

Insults from the victim.
Violence.
Psychotraumatic situation of a long-term nature.
Mockery.
Illegal or immoral actions of the victim.

A distinctive feature of passion in criminal law is the suddenness of its occurrence. Witnesses and the victim himself may say that “they did not expect what would happen.” Indeed, a person does not think through his own actions in advance. A stimulus suddenly arises that leads to affect, manifested in criminal actions. The situation becomes one-time and significant for the accused.

The first person to diagnose affect is the lawyer. It is he who is given the role of initially determining whether the criminal was in a state of passion. This is done based on the following points:

What preceded the criminal actions? If situations are identified that are considered objective for the occurrence of affect, then the lawyer can declare an affective state when committing a crime.
Behavior of the criminal when committing illegal actions. If they can be defined as affective, then the lawyer insists on them.
What did the criminal do after the actions were committed? If he doesn’t remember anything and was “not himself,” which is confirmed by witness testimony, then it becomes a serious basis for mitigating the sentence.

State of affect and its examples

Affect has stages of development that manifest themselves in external behavior. How a person behaves will be discussed using examples. The state of affect begins with sudden excitement, which less quickly turns into inhibition, which is accompanied by fatigue, loss of strength, and stupor. All this is accompanied by emotional excitement, which completely disappears and is pacified at the braking stage.

If at the stage of development of affect it is still possible to pacify emotional unrest, then at the moment of its manifestation this becomes impossible. This is why many people note the futility of trying to stop a person in a state of passion. If you look into his eyes, you can see something different there than was usually seen there.

A person in a state of passion really becomes different. This is due to the fact that its highest mental system completely depressed. All that remains is the body and instincts, which are subordinated to emotions that arise under the influence of the psyche. There are two types of behavior of people in a state of passion:

Expression of rage, screaming, violent and strong movements.
Manifestation of confusion, despair, delight.

There are examples of how spiritually weak people in a state of passion, they committed actions that they would never have taken in a calm state.

Examples of affect include the following situations:

Beating a rival whom the husband found in bed with his wife.
Overcoming a high obstacle when an angry dog is chasing a person.
Knocking down a door or hitting a wall where a deep dent is created.
Beating his wife while intoxicated.
A sudden cry that occurs after a heated conversation about an unpleasant topic.

Many criminal acts are committed out of passion, but only a few of them are considered justified. This marks a person’s inability to restrain his own emotions, control their development, and also calm himself down.

Causes of affect

Duration of influence negative factor leads to the appearance of one or another emotional state. The causes of affect are traumatic situations that arise at the moment. A person does not enter into a state of passion just from memories of something unpleasant. At the moment there must be some traumatic and spiritual unpleasant situation, to provoke the condition in question.

Here are the following common situations - causes of affect:

A threatening, dangerous, physically traumatic situation that can cause harm.
Time pressure - need to act or react quickly short period time.
Sudden severe irritation person, in the case when he does not have a plan of action in such a situation.
A protracted conflict or a highly emotional situation of an unpleasant nature.
The emergence of a conflict between the need to act and the inability or unwillingness to act.
Periodic repetition of a traumatic situation.
Individual characteristics and structure of the nervous system (instability, mobility).
The influence of others, which affects a person’s self-esteem and traumatizes his feelings.
Impulsivity and increased emotionality.
Heavy memories that destroy existence.

Much depends on the person’s attitude to what is happening. It also depends on the structure of the nervous system of each individual. One will be able to remain calm, the other will react very violently. Some emotions can be controlled if a person engages in self-education and develops an adequate attitude towards what is happening.

It is worth highlighting the excessive demands that keep people in constant tension. If a person expects too much from himself or takes on the responsibility of meeting the expectations of others, then he causes constant tension in himself. It is impossible to always achieve success and please everyone. Facing failures instantly provokes a gamut unpleasant feelings, guilt and fear of what other people will say. If people notice failure and point it out, it can lead to an affective reaction.

When a person is humiliated, exposed emotional pressure or suppression of his self-esteem, this also leads to the development of affect. The man can't stand it external pressure and explodes.

No emotions - no problems. Conflict situations arise only when a person succumbs to his negative emotions, which tell him: “I don’t want this to happen. I imagined something different." And you, succumbing to emotions, begin to change the situation, other people and circumstances. You want it to be your way, but you get a rebuff in the form of problems, quarrels with other people, illnesses, etc. You just succumbed to emotions that didn’t like something, after which you decided to change the world to suit your desires. However, if you did not give in to your emotions, you would simply experience a certain situation that would become a thing of the past, remaining unnoticed. You would not give any importance to the situation, which means it would pass into the past without creating any problem.

Treatment of affect

Depending on the exact state the person is in and what he has already done, an individual course of treatment for affect is prescribed. It is usually recommended to consult a psychologist if the affect is isolated. If depression and accompanying suicidal thoughts occur, hospitalization is necessary, which implies constant supervision by doctors. Here 5 ml of Aminazine 2.5% solution is used.

If affect is a factor in psychosis, then treatment is prescribed by a psychiatrist who will monitor manic and depressive states. Antidepressants are prescribed here. Electroconvulsive therapy is used when it is impossible to achieve an effect from drug treatment. Mania is eliminated with neuroleptics: Clopixol, Azaleptin, Tizercin. Manic patients are hospitalized because they are capable of harming others.

If euphoria is observed during the affect, then the person is hospitalized, as this may indicate intoxication or disorders in the brain.

If we are talking about mentally and physically healthy people, it will be sufficient to undergo a course of treatment from a psychologist who will help in solving internal unrest.

How to control your emotions? Most likely, you have noticed that it is impossible to control what you cannot touch, measure or lock. Emotions are something invisible, quickly arising, filling. Sometimes feelings are so strong that it is impossible to control them. What can you do with what you can't hold in your hands?

There is no need for control here. Understanding and tracking are the actions that will help you cope with your emotions.

Firstly, you should understand that you will not be able to calm down your emotions or prevent yourself from feeling them. They don't ask your permission. Moreover, they arise before you even begin to feel them. It is impossible to stop an invisible train that has already accelerated and is rushing along a well-trodden track.

Secondly, you still need to understand that emotions are not controlled, but tracked and understood. You must understand what you feel and track exactly how your emotions manifest themselves in you. How exactly do you get angry? What does resentment make you do? How do you react with joy or disappointment? People usually wonder about the control of negative emotions because reactions, actions and consequences positive emotions everyone is happy.

Thirdly, just don't do what your emotions make you do. When you feel a negative emotion, you have certain desires. The offended person has a desire to take revenge, the disappointed person has a desire to retire, the angry person has a desire to inflict pain. But you may not do what your emotions force you to do. This will be exactly the control you dream of, because you are not satisfied with what you feel, but with what you begin to do under the guidance of your emotions. The most ideal way out of the situation is not to do what your emotions provoke you to do.

You can feel, experience, experience your emotions. All people experience emotions - this is quite normal. And the best control over with your own feelings- do not do what they force you to do, but decide for yourself what actions to take.

Be distracted by something else that is not related to the object causing the affect.
Change the environment or activity.
Calm your motor reactions, for example, by doing breathing exercises.

If the above tips do not give the desired result, then you should seek psychological help.

Bottom line

A person must understand that emotions are not bad, but they must be understood and controlled. The result of the developing affect can be sad: a person will commit an illegal act, which will put him in prison for a long time or send him to a psychiatric hospital. Healthy people are advised not to indulge their emotional state and control their own experiences.

When a person is influenced by his emotions, then problems arise. Notice that when a person is calm, he thinks about his every step. He traces the consequences of his actions, after which he decides whether to do something or not. But when a person is under the influence of his emotions, he does not think about whether he needs to do something or not. He simply takes and does what the feelings that overwhelm him at the moment tell him.

Emotions, as you know, are not always only positive. Often, literally any little thing can ruin your mood: someone stepped on your foot, your boss doesn’t give you a salary or scolded you for the work you’ve done, your loved one yelled because you didn’t do something, etc. Every day There are many factors that can cause negative emotions. And what happens when you give in to them?

No emotions - no problems. Why is this so?

Firstly, because you don’t guess, don’t think out, don’t attach importance to the situation emotional color. You simply look at what is happening with a sober and cold look, seeing everything as it really happens. You can’t imagine on your own what could have happened if something else had happened, you can’t guess what other participants were thinking about specific situation, do not evaluate what is happening, whether you like it or not. You simply look at the situation as it unfolds in front of you, taking into account only what you see, without any emotional coloring.

Secondly, you perceive any situation as it is. If they tell you something unpleasant, then you listen to it calmly, because you do not involve emotions. You simply hear what they say or do to you, without thinking whether you like it or not. And this in turn does not give you a chance to create a problem out of what is happening. Yes, people may say unpleasant things to you. But if you listen calmly, silently draw your conclusions and say nothing to your interlocutor, then no quarrel will happen. Your opponent expressed his opinion, you drew your conclusions - everyone was happy.

Live without problems. Feel your emotions, but don't let them control you. Look at the events taking place calmly, indifferently, without emotions. Based on your composure, draw conclusions, make decisions and act. Let your emotions rage on their own, and you kind of move away from them so that they don’t interfere with your thinking soberly and clearly. This will save you not only from affect, but also from other negative emotional states.

Affect- a condition around which many rumors and “urban legends” still exist. What exactly is this condition, what is a person capable of in it and what will be the consequences for him from the point of view of criminal law? Read about everything in our article.

What is a state of affect

In relation to criminal law, people who are poorly versed in law and forensic psychiatry tell different things about the state of passion. It is often stated, for example, that such a state can be simulated - then, they say, you won’t have to answer for murder.

In fact, everything is completely different. Affect is a state when a person is under the influence of extreme strong emotions commits actions that are weakly amenable to conscious control (for example, commits violence towards someone who aroused such emotions in him). Although such a reaction is absolutely normal (anyone, even the most calm and balanced person, can be driven to the point of passion), it cannot be simulated.

This condition can be caused by any negative emotion(fear, despair, anger, etc.), but the affective state affects not only the human psyche, but also his physical state. As a result, a qualified forensic expert can easily detect physiological consequences (or lack thereof) in an examination conducted shortly after the affect.

Types of affect

Medical specialists distinguish several types of affect:

Physiological. Here, affect arises in a mentally healthy person under the influence of a situation that severely traumatizes his psyche, causing moral or physical suffering. Speaking in simple language, a person endures to a certain limit, and then “explodes”, while he is no longer able to control his actions. Exactly practically complete absence self-control is an affect and is different from a simple attack of anger or rage. Although someone in a state of passion practically does not perceive words, it is still possible to bring him to his senses. At the same time, it is important to pay attention to the word “practically”: a person still has some remnants of control when he is affected, so he will be responsible for his actions according to the law.
Pathological. This affect occurs as one of the symptoms mental illness, like a kind of attack.
Under the influence of surfactants ( psychoactive substances) . Such substances include drugs, alcohol, and some other substances with similar effects. The reaction to intoxication, for example, is individual for everyone, but in practice, alcoholic affect, in which the drunk does not understand what he is doing, unfortunately occurs quite often. Moreover, alcohol is one of the types of surfactants that provoke aggression. In historical terms, the behavior of Scandinavian berserkers can be partly called similar to affect. True, historians believe that their famous “battle frenzy” was more of a simulation.

It should be noted that from the point of view modern psychiatry A person can experience physiological affect only once in his life. This is an extreme (and even extreme) stress reaction, the likelihood of recurrence of which is almost zero. Pathological affect can also be repeated if the current illness contributes to this.

In addition, experts note intermediate options between physiological and pathological affects. Thus, in persons who have suffered severe traumatic brain injury or infectious diseases, affecting the brain, with general sanity, sometimes states were noted that were not ordinary physiological affect, but did not reach the depth of pathological affect.

In what cases does an affective state occur?

If we do not take into account cases when sick or intoxicated people fall into passion, then such a condition can arise in a healthy person:

Suddenly, as a result of a very sharp but short experience.
As a result of a long-term situation that traumatizes the psyche, when some next circumstance, although insignificant in itself, becomes the last straw that triggers a state of passion. The situation that led to affect can unfold over days, months and even years. The latter especially often happens when murder in a state of passion is committed on the basis of family violence.

Here, individual differences in human psyche: circumstances that one person hardly notices can drive another to the point of passion and committing criminal acts. That is why the investigation of crimes committed in this state, in mandatory requires the involvement of experts of the relevant profile (psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.).

The meaning of affect in criminal law

Criminal legislation identifies affect as a special feature of a crime in 2 cases:

If in this state the perpetrator committed murder.
If bodily harm classified as severe or moderate has been caused. In relation to minor harm, affect is not particularly emphasized and, from the point of view of the law, does not matter.

In both cases, the legislator emphasizes that the emotional disturbance leading to passion must arise under the influence of the victim. The actions of the person affected in these cases must manifest a desire to intentionally insult, humiliate or commit violence. Accordingly, the victim of a crime in a state of passion can only be the one who brought the perpetrator to such a state. If third parties were injured, the offender’s reference to an affective state is not taken into account and does not play a role in qualifying the crime.

It should be noted that for qualification under criminal law, the physiological affect that arose in a mentally healthy person is taken into account. The pathological affect of a mentally ill person is no longer the subject of attention so much of investigators and judges as of psychiatrists. In this case, the person who committed the crime will not be punished, but will be sent to compulsory treatment.

Internal signs of affective state

From the outside, affect can manifest itself in different ways, but there are a number of common points. They allow you to certain confidence judge whether a person is already in this state or is on the verge of a breakdown.

From the point of view of the person himself, the signs of affect are:

Disturbances in the functioning of the sense organs. The state of affect can affect hearing (the sound of blood in the ears), vision (darkness in the eyes or, on the contrary, “white fire”, a hazy gaze), tactile and even pain sensitivity(a person receives wounds, cuts, burns, but does not react to them).
Change in skin color: sudden pallor or, on the contrary, redness of the face.
Sharply accelerated heartbeat. Those who have been in a state of passion often use expressions such as “the heart was jumping out of the chest”, “the pulse was beating right in the throat.”
Speech impairment. At the peak, a person may completely lose the ability to speak due to spasm of the jaw and throat muscles. If he still tries to say something, his voice becomes characteristically “clanging” and stops short.
Trembling limbs, sudden sweating, or excessive dryness of the palms.
Stomach and intestinal upset (diarrhea, constipation, nausea).
Upon completion - sharp decline strength, decreased tone, feeling of extreme fatigue (even if no physically difficult actions were performed). There have been cases when, after a murder, in a state of passion, the criminal simply fell and fell asleep next to the victim.
Memory impairment: a person may not remember at all or vaguely remember what he did while in a state of passion.

External signs

People around you can pay attention to the following behavioral features:

In the first phase, when the affect has not yet begun, but the tension is growing, the person becomes fussy and makes erratic and unconnected movements.
He does not perceive speech addressed to him well, has difficulty remembering information, and loses flexibility in responding to the situation.
The main sign is the suddenness and explosive nature of the reaction. The affect lasts from tens of seconds to 2-3 minutes, no longer.

Clinicians can also detect the effects of affect in the form of changes hormonal composition blood, changes in pulse, pressure, etc.

Is it possible to interrupt an affective state?

A characteristic feature of affect is that it is not subject to volitional control on the part of the person himself. Thus, it can neither be deliberately caused nor canceled once it has begun to unfold.

However, experts note that outside intervention can interrupt the unfolding affect. More precisely, psychological and physiological mechanisms will continue to act, but in a more relaxed form, as a result the person will be able to calm down without performing poorly controlled actions.

How to prove the state of passion in a murder? Our criminal lawyer has resolved this issue more than once. Causing death to a person necessitates the initiation of a case under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for murder. However, the commission of the act in question does not always have direct intent. Cases of death caused by inappropriate actions of the victim are not uncommon.

Committing an act in a state of sudden powerful “outburst” of anger should be classified as a crime of passion. Why is retraining from Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation? It's simple, the punishment is so different that if, according to Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is pointless to hope for a suspended sentence, but the practice of imposing punishment for murder in a state of passion, on the contrary, indicates hundreds of examples of a “lenient” sentence. our law office will give you the opportunity to achieve justice.

Watch the video with advice from our lawyer on the offense of murder, Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, subscribe to the channel:

The natural question is: how to prove the state of passion in a murder?

To obtain the expert opinion on the presence of passion that the defense needs (during the investigation or in court), our lawyers pay attention to the following:

Actions and behavior of the victim. According to criminal law, the cause of murder in a state of passion is necessarily long-term (over several years) bullying, insults, immorality, illegality and cynical behavior of the victim. When a person finds himself in the situation under consideration, his behavior, his attitude towards everyday life changes sharply and radically - a change of interests, lack of proper self-care, negligence towards himself, etc. Such a long-term psychotraumatic situation gives rise to a depressive state of a person, in whose opinion there is only one possible way out from such a situation - suicide. In this case, our lawyers identify an irritant that has appeared against the background of the listed facts.
Threat to life. In this case, there is always a conflict with the victim.
Awareness of reality. As a rule, a state of emotional affect is accompanied by a person’s explanations of the facts with the presence of the phrases “I vaguely remember”, “something broke inside me”, “like in a dream”, etc. At the same time, all attention, all thoughts are concentrated exclusively on the object of irritation - the victim. In such a state, a person is not aware of the consequences of his actions. The result of this is “confusion” in colors, sizes of objects located at the time of the act, etc.
Signs of the act itself. As a rule, in the stressful state under consideration, a person is able to perform actions that he is not capable of in a normal environment. In addition, the affect is accompanied by speech disorders - screams and random phrases appear.
Memory loss. Emotional stress is often associated with a partial loss of memory about the circumstances preceding the conflict. When committing a murder in an affective state, a person may not be aware of the occurrence of death at all or believe that it was all a “dream.” Also characteristic feature appears as “loss of time”, a violation of time orientation.
Consequences of affect. Strong emotional excitement necessarily ends in its sharp decline - loss of strength, fatigue, stupor, etc. The listed circumstances have an external expression in the form of pallor skin, trembling of limbs. A “heartless”, “cold” attitude towards what is happening also directly indicates the need to establish an affective state.

The task of our law firm in this case is to determine the specific facts that the person really remembers.

Important to note that indecisive and timid people are predisposed to affect. IN ordinary life their aggression is always expressed in the most correct and acceptable forms.

ATTENTION: The above facts allow us to answer the question - how to prove the state of affect during an examination, because this is psychology - an area of special knowledge. But without consulting our lawyer, who has resolved this issue in practice, you should not try to build a line of defense on your own. Errors in behavior and steps may result in an inability to correct the situation in the future.

To prove the presence of a state of passion, criminal lawyers of our bureau:

on the issue of reclassification of the incriminated crime to a more soft article criminal law;
preparing motions to call and question additional witnesses, claim necessary documentation;
develop and agree with you on the defense position at the upcoming interrogation;
control the interrogation process the defendant for completeness and compliance with criminal procedural legislation;
prepare petition for retraining crimes, as well as changing the preventive measure to a more lenient one (since when changing Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, murder in a state of passion becomes a crime of minor gravity);
in case of refusal to requalify, accompany the process appeals this decision of the investigation in higher authorities, as well as in court;
participate in the defense in court on the issue of reclassification of the crime from Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
conducts an independent legal investigation of the case;
provides other legal assistance to its client.

ATTENTION: watch a video about defending the rights of the accused by a lawyer and subscribe to our YouTube channel, you will have access to free legal assistance from a lawyer through comments on the video.

Affect- these are emotional, strong experiences that arise when it is impossible to find a way out of critical, dangerous situations, associated with pronounced organic and motor manifestations. Translated from Latin language affect means passion, emotional excitement. This condition can lead to inhibition of other mental processes, as well as the implementation of appropriate behavioral reactions.

In a state of passion, strong emotional excitement narrows consciousness and limits the will. After experiencing unrest, special affective complexes arise that are triggered without awareness of the reasons that caused the reaction.

Causes of affect

The most important cause of affect is circumstances that threaten a person’s existence (indirect or direct threat to life). The reason may also be a conflict, a contradiction between strong desire, attraction, desire for something and the inability to objectively satisfy the impulse. It is impossible for the person himself to comprehend this situation. Conflict can also be expressed in increased demands that are placed on a person at that particular moment.

An affective reaction can be provoked by the actions of others that affect a person’s self-esteem and thereby traumatize his personality. The presence of a conflict situation is mandatory, but not sufficient for the emergence of an affective situation. Of great importance are the stable individual psychological characteristics of the individual, as well as the temporary state of the subject who has fallen into conflict situation. For one person, circumstances will cause a violation of a harmonious system of behavior, but for another not.

Signs of affect

Signs include external manifestations in the behavior of the person accused of a crime (motor activity, appearance, speech patterns, facial expressions), as well as the sensations experienced by the accused. These sensations are often expressed in the words: “I vaguely remember what happened to me,” “it was as if something had broken inside me,” “I felt like I was in a dream.”

Later, in the works of criminal law, the sudden emotional disturbance began to be identified with the psychological concept of affect, which is characterized by following signs: explosive nature, suddenness of occurrence, deep and specific psychological changes, remaining within the limits of sanity.

Affect refers to a sensual, emotionally excited state experienced by an individual throughout his life. There are different signs, by which emotions, feelings, and affective reactions are distinguished. Modern usage The concept of affect, denoting emotional excitement, has three conceptual levels:

1) clinical manifestations feelings associated with a spectrum of experiences of pleasure or displeasure;

2) associated neurobiological phenomena, which include secretory, hormonal, autonomic or somatic manifestations;

3) the third level is associated with psychic energy, instinctive drives and their discharge, signal affects without discharge of drives.

Affect in psychology

The emotional sphere of a person represents special mental processes, as well as states that reflect the individual’s experiences in different situations. Emotions are the subject’s reaction to the current stimulus, as well as to the result of actions. Emotions throughout life influence the human psyche, penetrating all mental processes.

Affect in psychology is strong as well as short-term emotions (experiences) that occur after certain stimuli. State of affect and emotion are different from each other. Emotions are perceived by a person as an integral part of himself - “I”, and affect is a state that appears against the will of a person. Affect occurs in unexpected stressful situations and is characterized by a narrowing of consciousness, extreme which is a pathological affective reaction.

Mental excitement performs an important adaptive function, preparing a person for an appropriate reaction to internal and external events, and is marked by a high severity of emotional experiences, leading to the mobilization of a person’s psychological as well as physical resources. One of the signs is partial memory loss, which is not observed in every reaction. In some cases, the individual does not remember the events that preceded the affective reaction, as well as the events that occurred during emotional disturbance.

Psychological affect is marked by agitation of mental activity, which reduces control over behavior. This circumstance leads to a crime and entails legal consequences. Persons in a state of mental agitation are limited in their ability to understand their actions. Psychological affect has a significant impact on a person, while disorganizing the psyche, affecting its higher mental functions.

Types of affect

There are two types of emotional disturbance: physiological and pathological.

Physiological affect is a discharge uncontrolled by consciousness that appears in an affectogenic situation during emotional stress, but does not go beyond the boundaries of the norm. Physiological affect is a non-painful emotional state that represents a rapid and short-term explosive reaction without a psychotic change in mental activity.

Pathological affect is a psychogenic painful condition which occurs in mentally healthy people. Psychiatrists perceive such anxiety as acute reaction to psychotraumatic factors. Developmental height has disturbances similar to the twilight state. The affective reaction is characterized by severity, brightness, and a three-phase course (preparatory, explosion, final phase). Tendency to pathological conditions speaks of an imbalance in the processes of inhibition and excitation in the central nervous system. Pathological affect is characterized by emotional manifestations, often in the form of aggression.

In psychology, there is also the affect of inadequacy, which is understood as a persistent negative experience provoked by the inability to achieve success in any activity. Often, the affects of inadequacy appear in young children when voluntary regulation of behavior has not been formed. Any difficulty that causes the child’s needs to be unmet, as well as any conflict provokes the emergence of emotional disturbance. With improper upbringing, the tendency to affective behavior is reinforced. Children under unfavorable upbringing conditions display suspicion, constant resentment, tendency to aggressive reactions and negativism, irritability. The duration of this state of inadequacy provokes the formation and consolidation of negative traits character.

Affect in criminal law

Signs of affect in criminal law are a loss of flexibility in thinking, a decrease in the quality of thought processes, leading to awareness of the immediate goals of one’s actions. A person's attention is focused on the source of irritation. For this reason, due to emotional stress, an individual loses the opportunity to choose a model of behavior, which provokes a sharp decrease in control over his actions. Such affective behavior violates the expediency, purposefulness, and sequence of actions.

Forensic psychiatry, as well as forensic psychology relates the state of affect to the individual’s limiting ability to realize the actual nature, as well as the social danger of his act and the inability to manage it.

Psychological affect has minimal freedom. A crime committed in a state of passion is considered by the court to be a mitigating circumstance if certain conditions are met.

The concepts of affect in criminal law and in psychology do not coincide. In psychology, there is no specificity of negative stimuli that provoke a state of affective reaction. There is a clear position in the Criminal Code that speaks about the circumstances that can cause this condition: bullying, violence, insult from the victim or a long-term psychologically traumatic situation, immoral and illegal actions of the victim.

In psychology, affect and strong emotional disturbance are not considered identical, and criminal law equates these concepts.

Affect, as a strong short-term emotional disturbance, forms in a person very quickly. This condition occurs suddenly for others and the person himself. Evidence of the presence of emotional excitement is the suddenness of its occurrence, which is organic property. Strong emotional disturbance can be caused by the actions of the victim and requires establishing a connection between the affective reaction and the act of the victim. This condition must occur suddenly. The suddenness of its appearance is closely related to the emergence of the motive. To the sudden mental strong excitement preceded by the following situations: bullying, violence, grave insult, immoral and illegal actions. In this case, the affective reaction occurs under the influence of a one-time event, as well as one that is significant for the culprit himself.

State of affect and its examples

Affective reactions have a negative impact on human activity and reduce the level of organization. In such a state, a person commits unreasonable actions. Extremely strong excitement is replaced by inhibition and, as a result, ends in fatigue, loss of strength, and stupor. Impaired consciousness leads to partial or complete amnesia. Despite the suddenness, emotional excitement has its own stages of development. At the beginning of an affective state, it is possible to stop mental emotional disturbance, but at the final stages, losing control, a person cannot stop on his own.

To delay the affective state, enormous volitional efforts are required to restrain oneself. In some cases, the affect of rage manifests itself in strong movements, violently and with shouts, with a furious expression on his face. In other cases, examples of affective reactions include despair, confusion, and delight. In practice, there are cases when physically weak people, experiencing strong emotional disturbance, commit actions that they are incapable of in a calm environment.

Examples of a state of affect: a spouse unexpectedly returned from a business trip and personally discovered the fact of adultery; a frail man beats several people in a state of emotional reaction professional boxers either knocks out an oak door with one blow, or inflicts many mortal wounds; The drunken husband commits constant scandals, fights, and brawls due to alcohol consumption.

Affect treatment

Treatment for affective states includes emergency measures, which include establishing supervision over a person and mandatory referral to a psychiatrist. Depressed patients prone to suicide are indicated for hospitalization with enhanced supervision, and the transportation of such people is carried out under the supervision of medical staff. IN outpatient setting Patients with agitated depression, as well as depression with suicidal attempts, are given injections of 5 ml of a 2.5% solution of Aminazine.

Treatment for affect includes drug therapy, affecting manic and depressive phases diseases. Antidepressants are prescribed for depression different groups(Lerivol, Anafranil, Amitripriline, Ludiomil). Depending on the type of affective reaction, atypical antidepressants are prescribed. Electroconvulsive therapy is used when it is impossible to carry out drug treatment. The state of mania is treated with antipsychotics such as Azaleptin, Clopixol, Tizercin. Sodium salts have proven well in treatment if the affective reaction takes a monopolar variant.

Manic patients are often hospitalized because their wrong and unethical actions can harm others and the patients themselves. In treatment manic states use antipsychotic drugs - Propazine, Aminazine. Patients with euphoria also require hospitalization, since this condition means either the presence of intoxication or organic disease brain

Aggression in epileptic patients is relieved by hospitalization. If the depressive state is a phase of circular psychosis, then treatment is effective psychotropic drugs- antidepressants. The presence of agitation in the structure requires complex therapy antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs. For psychogenic minor depression, hospitalization is not necessary, since its course is regressive. Treatment includes antidepressants and sedatives.