Auto-aggressive suicidal behavior is such a set of actions whose purpose is to damage their own health (mental, physical). This is such a manifestation of aggression in actions when the object and subject are one and the same. Aggression directed at oneself or others is a phenomenon provoked by similar mechanisms. Aggressive behavior is formed and seeks a way out, is directed at another person or at himself.
Types and forms
Before drawing up an action plan for the prevention of auto-aggressive behavior, which sooner or later many psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists have to do, it is necessary to realize what types of this action are. In particular, suicidal tendencies are very common when a person consciously behaves in such a way as to lose his life. Another form is the suicidal equivalent, that is, destructive behavior directed at oneself, including such actions that a person does not realize, although occasionally they are also considered to be intentionally committed. The main goal of such behavior is not deprivation of life, but self-destruction, the gradual destruction of oneself, one's psyche and body.
In developing a preventive plan for the auto-aggressive behavior of minors, specialists should remember two options for the manifestation of this kind of activity. It is possible either suicide or self-harm, also called parasuicidal activity. Their main difference is the goal pursued by man. If one is trying to die, then the other wants to harm himself, no more. Another aspect is the likelihood of successful achievement of the desired, different for parasuicidal and suicidal behavior. The second option is when a person consciously seeks to die. This is possible under the influence of conflict within the individual or due to external factors.
Causes and consequences
Prevention of auto-aggressive behavior of adolescents includes analysis and identification of all factors that can provoke a person to such actions. In a considerable percentage of cases, it is possible to establish the presence of a psychopathic disorder, by virtue of which there is a persistent desire to take life. There are no external aggressive factors affecting the person.
Suicidal behavior usually involves a conscious urge to die. Man behaves on purpose, he is able to comprehend his actions. If the reason for trying to take your own life is related to psychopathology, then the patient is highly likely to misunderstand what is being done. In particular, if schizophrenia is accompanied by mental automatism, then actions that can cause a person’s death are possible due to an uncontrollable force that forces a person to do this.
Based on the characteristics of the case, it is necessary to determine what suicidal behavior a person is inclined to: anomic, altruistic or selfish. In the first case, the reason is an experienced life crisis, some kind of tragedy, in the second, the idea of some benefits received by others from the death of a person is the motivation. The third option is provoked by a conflict situation in which a person cannot accept the demands of society, the behavioral norms that society forces to comply with.
Anomic model
This kind of auto-aggressive behavior of minors and adults is usually characteristic of people with a healthy psyche. Suicide becomes a response to difficulties that cannot be overcome, as well as events that cause frustration. Far from always a suicidal act is a sign of a mental disorder, but one cannot infer from it the absence of such a disorder. The anomic behavioral model includes such reaction options selected by the person who evaluates the event in a certain way.
It is known from practice that when drawing up a plan for the prevention of auto-aggressive behavior, special attention should be paid to people suffering from somatic chronic pathologies, because they are more often prone to anomic suicidal patterns. The likelihood of attempts to take your own life is greater if the underlying disease is accompanied by pain, and very severe. Similar behavior is possible in those cases when a person is faced with a problem, but all options for resolving it are categorically unacceptable to him. This can be explained by worldview, religion, morality. Not seeing ways to solve complexity, a person considers the possibility of passing away as the easiest option.
Altruistic model of auto-aggressive behavior
In preventive measures, it is necessary to pay attention to motivation, pushing people to try to take their own lives for altruistic purposes. The basic foundation of such behavior is the structure of a person’s personality, who believes that the benefit of others (a specific person or all together) is much more important than his own, and his life itself means much less than the benefits of others. This model of behavior is widespread among people who focus on exalted ideas, who put above all else the interests of society and are not able to evaluate their own existence outside the environment.
There are known examples of aggressive and auto-aggressive behavior, explained by altruistic goals both from the side of mentally ill people, and completely healthy. Some were aware of what was happening, while others were not aware. There are frequent cases of attempts to deprive oneself of life by virtue of frenzy against the background of religion, as well as the explanation of their motives by the desire for some universal good.
Selfish model
Such auto-aggressive behavior of minors and persons over 18 years of age is possible if others make too high demands on them and their behavior does not correspond to them. The tendency to suicidal acts of this type is characteristic of those whose character develops pathologically, as well as personality disorders, accentuations. To a greater extent, lonely people who are faced with alienation, feeling misunderstanding on the part of others are prone to attempts to die. Higher is the danger of a suicidal attempt and for one who feels unnecessary to society, unclaimed.
Features and nuances
In order to be able to effectively prevent auto-aggressive behavior, you must first study this phenomenon, evaluate the factors provoking it, and already on the basis of this, develop preventive measures. In many ways, the modern approach to prevention is based on a large-scale study conducted in 1997. It was based on its results that a conclusion was drawn about a specific autoaggressive personality pattern. They suggested that self-directed aggression is not a personality trait, but a complex set of such.
It is customary to speak of self-esteem, character, interactivity and social interaction as additional blocks inherent in the personality pattern of a person prone to aggression directed at himself. When compiling a report on auto-aggressive behavior for a particular patient, it is necessary to start with a characterological subunit. It was revealed that self-directed aggression is always associated with personal characteristics: introversion, depression, a tendency to pedantry. A negative relationship was identified with demonstrative behavior.
Self-assessment of auto-aggressive behavior
In terms of personality pattern, a subunit is associated with self-esteem. This is necessary to identify the causes of inappropriate behavior in a particular case, as well as to prepare measures to prevent the irreparable. It has been established that self-assessment is the center of a personality structure. This became the basis for highlighting self-esteem in the sub-block of auto-aggression. The level of self-hostility is negatively associated with self-esteem in general. The higher the aggression directed at oneself, the worse the person evaluates his physical form, ability to be independent, act at his own discretion.
With the aggressive behavior of adolescents, the inability of young people to adapt to living conditions in society, as well as the inability to successfully interact with others, is noted. There is a lack of sociability, instead of which shyness is noted. Aggression directed at oneself is accompanied by hostility to one’s personality traits, low assessment of one’s qualities, which in itself determines the complexity of social interaction and becomes an obstacle to productive communication. At the level of behavior, this is expressed in painful shyness, a tendency to avoid communicating with others.
Social aspect
This subunit is due to the perceptions of others. Auto-aggressive behavior of adolescents and adults is relatively weakly associated with a negative perception of others, but there is a significant relationship with the assessment of other representatives of society as more significant. For example, if adolescents treat their parents and teachers positively, this leads to an increase in aggression directed at themselves. They are guided by the idea that other people have about them, which leads to double reflection.
The thought that others give them a low rating leads to an increase in self-directed hostility. Such a phenomenon is associated with low self-esteem, to which a person exhibiting auto-aggressive behavior is prone. At the same time, self-directed aggression is not associated with other options for hostility. Exception: direct connection with resentment.
Terms and Theories
Aggression is such human-conscious actions that are aimed at causing harm to the individual (possibly the whole group at once). Hostile aggression is observed if a person seeks to inflict suffering on another. Possible, for example, instrumental aggression, accompanied by certain goals, other than causing harm or suffering. Aggression characteristic of adolescents is considered a social phenomenon of a peculiar nature. It is established that the consolidation of such behavior is due to upbringing in the family, as well as the first years of life, but to some extent all the years lived affect it. Negative relations between representatives of different generations in the family and aggression are closely related, as numerous studies have shown. True, there is no conclusive evidence of the dependence of the severity and severity of the punishments practiced and the aggressiveness of the child.
Teenage auto-aggressive behavior must be considered in connection with both self-esteem and with an external assessment and the general perception of oneself by a person. In this case, referents play a special role - parents, teachers, and children close in age. In the absence of support for the child’s self-esteem from the outside and a tendency to aggression, the appearance of a frustrator becomes the cause of aggression. Adolescents are particularly destructive of their behavior. Neurotic faces are more prone to this.
Military structures
The topic of prevention of auto-aggressive behavior in military institutions and military units is extremely relevant. To identify the features of this issue, several studies have been conducted. It was established: in those who were studied under stationary conditions, personality disorders were often detected, in about one in four. One out of every three identified neurosis or adaptive disorders, almost half of those prone to auto-aggressive behavior found organic mental disorders.
Among completed suicidal cases, psychological autopsy revealed borderline pathologies in 35% of cases. About one in five in life was characterized by chronic alcoholism, psychopathy was observed in 8.5%. As many as one in three military men who have successfully completed suicide, as statistical studies show, before that, mental deviations were not recorded.
Features
Examining the intrinsic auto-aggressive behavior of servicemen, they revealed two main options for the loss of ability to adapt: accompanied by hostility to oneself and devoid of such a component. The second option provokes shoots, the commission of illegal actions, the simulation of diseases. People who are prone to aggression in relation to themselves are not only characterized by committing suicide, but also by parasuicide (inflicting damage to themselves of varying severity and demonstrating preparedness for suicide). All of these behaviors are different from each other and require a different approach to correction.
The fact that the level of aggression towards oneself increases, and the increased danger of committing a suicide attempt may be indicated by certain phrases, actions that are not recognized by a person. In medicine, they were called auto-aggressive drift, that is, the sequence of actions by which a person harms himself.
The danger factor for auto-aggressive behavior is the presence of an inferiority complex associated with physical data or mental status. Hazardous factors include:
- drug use;
- alcohol;
- accident accidents;
- applying tattoos that cause particular pain.
Behavioral styles
Self-directed aggression can be expressed in one of two behaviors: hetero-aggressive and not accompanied by hetero-aggressiveness. The presence of personality disorders often leads to a heteroaggressive behavioral variant. This is more typical of poorly educated people. They quickly lose adaptation in other conditions. Statistics show: often people prone to this pattern of behavior have previously made suicidal attempts, and among close relatives there have been cases of violent death. There is a higher probability of a heteroaggressive aspect in the behavior of a person whose birth was accompanied by pathology. As adults, such people tend to take risks.
If there is no heteroaggressive behavioral aspect, it is probably a more highly educated person. This longer retains the ability to adapt to external conditions, often suffers from neurosis, somatic pathologies. Among his relatives, with high probability, you can find chronic alcoholics. People themselves are prone to avoiding a line of behavior, they feel their own inferiority.
The prognosis of suicidal tendency and its outcome largely depends on aggressively stylized aggression. So, the heteroaggressive aspect indicates a relatively high risk of parasuicide, causing damage to oneself. Such people are more often willing to demonstrate suicide preparedness, while those who are not inherent in the heteroaggressive aspect hide trends. In their environment, the percentage of fatal cases is higher.
Prevention Nuances
To prevent suicidal attempts among military personnel, it is reasonable to single out individual cases associated with difficult experiences about life imperfections and relationships. Separately, destructive behavior based on domestic and family problems should be highlighted. The regulation subordinating the military personnel leads to their loss of adaptation in a relatively light form against the background of accentuation of character and organic disorders. Completed suicides, as statistics show, are more often associated not with external, but with internal conflicts: erotic, family, existential.
Warning features: working with adolescents
Traditionally, it’s boys and girls - this is perhaps the most difficult contingent for psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists. At present, some measures have been developed to prevent auto-aggressive behavior of minors, used if the patient has suicidal thoughts inherent in him. Conducting conversations is also justified if a tendency to such thoughts is supposed. Everything should begin with listening. Many patients are frightened by their aspirations and desires; they want to talk about them, but are not able to speak freely.
A psychologist is a person who is able to provide them with a comfortable environment. It is important to communicate with the teenager correctly, without interrupting or disputing his statements, asking, but not starting a monologue. – , . , . , . , , .
– . . , , . – , . , , .
, , .