What is emotional lability in psychology. Emotional lability - a disorder of the nervous system with sudden mood swings

What is emotional lability? This concept in psychology refers to the instability of a person’s mood, its sudden change without significant and visible reasons.

The appearance of emotion is associated with the functioning of the brain. In fact, the “birth” of an emotion is preceded by a certain “desired” motivation. Until this motivation is achieved, until the desired is achieved, the emotion will be considered negative. Once the result is achieved, the emotion is positive.

In a state of emotional lability, these states change from one to another chaotically, a negative emotion can arise when the desired is achieved, the reaction is lightning fast and, in most cases, inadequate.

One of the main features of this pathological condition is a quick inadequate reaction to what is happening. So, in case of success, a person can burst into tears, and in case of an accident, he can laugh until he bursts into tears. Therefore, psychologists classify this condition as a pathology.

Experts associate mental lability with weakened work nervous system, especially with a weakening of the controlling work of the brain. Lability can occur both in adulthood and in children.

Affective lability is a kind of subtype of emotional lability. It implies an outburst of passion (anger, crying, despair, roaring, resentment). The outbreak is sharp and significantly different from the normal “average” human reaction to what is happening.

The most insignificant situation can be the reason for passion. It is possible for a whole range of emotions to appear in one current situation over the course of short time. A person seems to be “thrown” from one state to another, from laughter to, and back.

Causes of emotional lability

There are many precursors to the appearance of emotional lability, but there are several main reasons:

Emotional weakness and instability may be one of the symptoms of the disease:

• severe brain diseases: , ;
• - the scourge of modernity, a person suffers from complete absence appetite, as well as a background manifestation of emotional lability;
• – dementia, lability is the main symptom here;
• diabetes insipidus, the disease is “gaining momentum”, characterized by a lack of the hormone vasopressin, a violation of water metabolism in the body occurs, the person constantly feels thirsty, becomes irritable;
• postpartum depression– emotional lability in this particular case is associated with the restructuring of hormones in the body after childbirth.

Most often, such behavioral deviations pass over time, but if they are chronic, then there is a need to consult a psychotherapist.

Schizophrenia also causes disturbances in thinking processes, emotional reactions, and perception of the world around you and yourself. Emotional lability becomes a harbinger, a signal to action and contact a specialist. According to statistical data, schizophrenia is included in the ranking of the leading diseases in the world that lead to disability.

More recently, this kind of human behavior was considered his “blissful state.” The man was declared crazy. But nervous system lability is a disease that has its own symptoms, causes and specific treatment methods.

Besides, nervous breakdown This kind of can be a symptom of severe diseases and disorders in the brain. The diagnosis can only be made during an examination by a number of doctors: therapist, psychotherapist, neurologist.

How does this translate in life?

There are a number of clear signs by which one can recognize the emergence and “emergence” of emotional lability:

Based on the above symptoms, you can already visually imagine what a labile person looks like. A type with clear, fast and clearly expressed facial expressions, constant sudden movements in space, quickly reacting to any external signals ( sharp sound, cotton, beam of light).

Causes and symptoms of childhood emotional instability

Features of children's lability - complex diagnostics. Mental disorder easily confused with bad upbringing: banal capriciousness and spoiled behavior.

There are a number of reasons that accompany the appearance and clear formation of emotional lability in children:

• parenting: too strict or, conversely, lack of attention from loved ones, or spoiled;
• development of the disease, in this case emotional instability in behavior serves only as a sign.

Excessively strict upbringing leads to a child’s state in which he is in constant tension, is emotionally dependent on the world around him and reacts very sharply to any changes.

Lack of attention creates... A labile child, demanding attention, resorts only to methods that are understandable to him - tears and hysterics. Without getting his way or achieving it, tears for the baby become the only way to communicate with adults and peers.

Being spoiled creates a person who is “simply hard to please.” A man bringing to his adult life this trait, he will never be satisfied with his life, everything will always be enough for him. It will seem to him that he is being deprived, that he is not being given something. And this is constant, leading to emotional lability.

It is extremely difficult to diagnose children suffering from this pathology: exhausted parents who most often resort to strict educational measures, and children most often simply do not understand what is happening.

At home, sitting on the couch and discussing the child with grandparents or neighbors, a diagnosis cannot be made. Therefore, it is necessary to contact a specialist. IN in this case requires qualified treatment from a neurologist, psychotherapist, as well as parental support.

Diagnosis and therapy

Only a specialist can diagnose lability. Initially, even at the first signs that appear, family and friends should consult a therapist. Based on the examination, the person is then sent to see a psychotherapist and neurologist.

It cannot be said that any single doctor is involved in diagnosing emotional lability. This is the totality of the work of doctors.

But in addition to external examinations, the patient mandatory undergoes a series of tests. To exclude or confirm the presence of others serious illnesses, in which such a mental state is only a symptom. If the pathology is only a symptom of a more serious disease, the main treatment is directed at this very disease. With recovery, lability also disappears.

Treatment or correction of nervous system lability should only take place under the supervision of a specialist. If necessary, be sure to send the patient to the clinic. Treatment methods and correction are effective and can bring a person to a normal state, but the course for each patient is selected individually, and the symptoms and the root cause of the pathology must be taken into account.

Treatment methods for emotional lability in adult patients and children are somewhat different from each other:

Emotional lability is a disease, not a “whim” of a person or his character traits. Connivance will lead to sad consequences, to illness and inability to exist.

Emotional lability is an instability of mood that changes under the influence of even minor and minor events. This symptom often accompanies cerebral vascular lesions and various asthenic diseases.

Emotional lability: etiology

Emotional instability syndrome most often develops with cerebral thromboangiitis obliterans, a decrease or increase in blood pressure, atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels, as well as tumors of the nervous system. In addition, it can be a consequence of traumatic brain injury. At the same time, emotional lability is considered as a separate symptom of certain diseases. It is also worth noting that this violation is often observed when severe forms vegetative-vascular dystonia and is manifested by sentimentality and tearfulness. If we talk about whether this syndrome pathology, it should be noted that determining the boundaries of the norm is quite difficult. This can only be done by a qualified psychiatrist after a personal meeting with the patient. It should also be said that unusual emotions can be observed during hormonal changes, problems of socialization, as well as during the general development of personality, but they cannot be considered pathological. Sometimes nervous lability is a sign of severe somatic diseases, infectious and toxic lesions, as well as organic pathologies of the brain. In some cases, it is observed in manic-depressive and schizoaffective psychosis, as well as in subdepressive states of various etiologies.

Emotional lability: symptoms

This disorder characterizes the speed of various processes, as well as the functional mobility of the body. With significantly accelerated lability, affective outbursts, hysterics, sensitive and other unstable changes in the functioning of the nervous system occur. The lability of emotions can be recognized by certain criteria: the occurrence of sudden affective outbursts for no reason; a sharp change from anger to tears, with aggression there is no rudeness; the affective state is accompanied by sobs and throwing things, the patient is uncollected and restless, and cannot adequately assess his condition. In addition, he is not confident in himself, avoids communicating with other people, and is unable to control his emotions. When performing somnography, a shortened latent period is detected fast phase sleep, which is typical for unipolar depression.

Lability of the nervous system: can it be cured?

Depending on the genesis of this disease, the doctor determines the treatment method. If emotional lability occurs due to an asthenic state, then restorative treatment is carried out. Patients are advised to get more rest, get enough sleep, eat right and take sedatives, and also regularly drink tea made from valerian and lemon balm, to which you can add honey. It is worth noting that self-medication does not make any sense, since even a qualified doctor cannot always determine the true etiology similar violations nervous system. They are often based on serious pathologies, to which therapy should be directed.

Humans have a remarkable ability to control their emotions. They laugh when they are happy, cry when they are in pain (physical or emotional), and get angry when they are upset.
We humans are gifted with a variety of emotions and as we get older, we develop the ability to express them at the appropriate moment. Almost everyone can experience a fit of laughter, sudden irritability, or a fit of crying and sadness. These things release our repressed emotions - this is normal. At times, however, for some, emotions are out of control and understanding.
An emotionally labile person may laugh at a funeral, or may begin to cry at a joke, or become irritated and angry without apparent reason. These emotions, as a rule, are extremely violent.
Emotional lability is a disorder that is characterized by involuntary emotional manifestations of mood in an excessively severe form. Individuals suffering from this condition are prone to fits of uncontrollable laughter, outbursts of anger and bouts of crying. These emotions have nothing to do with a person’s emotional state.
Emotional lability occurs in people who suffer from certain diseases, head trauma, or after a stroke. It can occur due to two main reasons: physical damage to the brain or emotional disorder. In cases of physical damage, the brain and nervous system are damaged due to aging or injury. If a person is faced with severe emotional shock, has experienced tragic events, such as the loss of family, relationships, work, etc. - this may also cause lability. Below are some possible medical reasons development of emotional lability: brain injury, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer's disease, lateral amyotrophic sclerosis, brain tumor, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Cushing's disease, dementia, depression, head injury, HIV syndrome, Huntington's disease, lead poisoning, past encephalitis, postpartum depression, pseudobulbar palsy, postpartum psychosis, mental illness, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, neurosyphilis, hydrocephalus, stroke, Usher syndrome.
Emotional lability is not a permanent condition.
The important point here is the triggering moment, those situations that can cause outbursts of uncontrollable emotions. Some of these triggers include: fatigue, certain stimuli (crowds, high expectations, noise), anxiety, insulin imbalance, hormonal imbalance thyroid gland, menstruation/ premenstrual syndrome/ menopause, high blood pressure.
Now that you know the cause of these emotional reactions, and what things can trigger them, it's time for the next step, and that's part of the treatment. Treatment procedures usually focus on teaching the person how to manage this sudden surge through cognitive behavioral therapy, counseling, support groups, yoga, breathing exercises, relaxation methods, stretching, etc.
Before starting any treatment, it is advisable to visit a doctor. He will be able to better determine the cause of the problem and prescribe effective treatment and medicines.
Should be adhered to certain rules:
— People around the patient can be the main irritants for the development of an attack. Therefore, not only the patient, but also the people around him should be educated. This will help the patient to be free from additional tension and stress.
- Take a break, take short breaks, go for a walk, or sit with a cup of tea, this will help you relax, reduce internal tension and will help in the fight against anxiety.
- Try to ignore, not pay attention to the behavior of such a person, which will help him relax in the future. Treat the behavior—whether laughing, angry, crying—as insignificant and continue the conversation until the attack passes.
- Avoid stressful factors, exclude certain topics that can cause stress in the patient, try to change the topic and distract the person. Avoid noisy crowded places and eliminate loud sounds.
Receiving a psychotherapeutic consultation by a patient will help a person cope with his deep-seated problems and eliminate the cause of the problems. The doctor can give the patient enough instructions on how to deal with difficult situations. In some cases, medications may be prescribed.
Early detection of symptoms of emotional lability along with proper treatment will help prevent further progression of this condition and preserve the patient’s relationships with people close to him.

From the point of view of the physiology of higher nervous activity, emotion means an urge to action. The word is derived from the Latin verb “emovere” - I excite. In relation to emotion, the object of excitation is the cerebral cortex, which generates a mental reaction. According to the teachings of Academician Anokhin, any motivation is generated by emotion. And before launch functional system every emotion is considered negative until a positive result is achieved. If the goal turns out to be unattainable, the emotion will remain negative. When a person’s nervous system is weakened, emotional lability occurs, which is characterized by an instant reaction to any stimuli. It doesn’t matter at all what sign it is – “plus” or “minus”.

Emotionally labile personality reacts equally acutely to positive and negative stressors. Changes in the situation cause an instant, violent reaction. A person cries with happiness or, conversely, resentment gives rise to hysterical laughter. This is where emotional lability manifests itself, as opposed to stability. The opposite state is called rigidity in psychology, and emotional flatness in psychiatry. Lack of emotions is much more dangerous for human health. Loss of motivation leads to exhaustion faster than an explosion of emotions.

Emotional lability: symptoms

Disorders of an emotionally unstable personality are characterized by impulsiveness, spontaneity of actions in the absence of self-control and without taking into account possible consequences. At the same time, affective outbursts arise for insignificant reasons. In psychiatry, borderline states include emotional lability, the symptoms of which manifest themselves depending on the personality type. There are two types of emotional weakness:

• Impulsive;
• Borderline.

When upset emotional sphere According to the impulsive type, a persistent state of dysphoria develops, that is, an angry-sad mood, interspersed with outbursts of anger. People who have emotional lability are difficult to work with in teams because they always claim leadership without taking into account their own abilities. IN family life excitable individuals express dissatisfaction with daily worries, considering them routine and not worthy of attention. Therefore, conflicts often arise, accompanied by breaking dishes and the use of physical violence against family members. The person is unyielding, vengeful, and vindictive. In the absence of progression, emotional lability smoothes out with age, and by the age of 30-40, easily excitable men calm down and “gain life experience.” For women, as a rule, violent emotional outbursts become a thing of the past after the birth of children. This is due to change hormonal levels while carrying a child.

At unfavorable conditions patients lead chaotic lives, often resort to drinking alcohol, which leads to the commission of aggressive antisocial acts.

The borderline type of personality disorder is characterized by increased impressionability, vivid imagination, and increased enthusiasm. Such emotional lability gives rise to workaholics. People with borderline disorder emotional sphere are easily influenced by others. They easily and happily adopt “ bad habits", norms of behavior not encouraged by society. Borderline personalities go from one extreme to another, so they often break marital relations, quit their job and change their place of residence.

Emotional lability in children

Society has an accepted point of view that capricious children are the result of poor upbringing. This is true, but only partly. There is a relationship between lack of attention and the development of neurasthenia syndrome in a child. Persistent emotional lability in children leads to nervous exhaustion, which, in turn, enhances the mental reaction. The baby requires increased attention, so he makes “scenes.” This is characteristic of hysterical personality development. People with such a psychotype are, as they say, difficult to please. Strict upbringing gives rise to protest, increasing emotional lability; indulging in any whims leads to similar results.

If, from the point of view of others, the child is not deprived of attention, the reason for the heightened perception of changes in the environment should be regarded as the development of neurosis. Neurotic disorder, in turn, is subject to treatment.

Emotional lability, treatment of neuroses

Reasons neurotic conditions are psychotraumatic situations. When the cause is eliminated, emotional lability disappears - treatment by a psychiatrist guarantees positive results at timely application. It is necessary to pay attention to the child from a young age. Manifestations of negativism - denial of adult demands - should alert parents.

When in old age emotional lability develops, treatment drugs are aimed at improving blood circulation in the brain. If nervous excitability is due to organic lesions nervous system, emotional lability also appears, the treatment of which is to combat the underlying disease. This is the work of neurosurgeons and neuropathologists.

Nootropic drugs sold without prescriptions are indicated for all types of emotional instability. Herbal sedatives have a good effect.

Exists big difference between generally accepted ideas and medical diagnoses. Especially when emotional lability develops, drugs for the treatment of which should be taken only on the recommendation of a psychiatrist. The help of a psychologist, of course, has positive influence, but does not eliminate the causes of mental disorders.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Lability is a concept used to describe mobility. The area of ​​application may slightly change the semantic characteristics, indicating both the number of nerve impulses transmitted per unit of time by the cell, and the speed of starting and stopping mental processes.

Lability characterizes the rate of occurrence (from the onset of reaction to inhibition) of elementary processes, and is measured by the highest frequency of impulse reproduction without changes in tissue function and the time of functional recovery. This indicator is not considered a constant value, since it can vary from external factors(heat, time of day, force), influences chemicals(produced by the body or consumed) and emotional states, therefore it is possible to observe only the dynamics and predisposition of the body, the prevailing level. It is the change in lability indicators that is key in diagnosis various diseases and normal.

What is lability

In scientific applications, lability is used synonymously with mobility (normally), instability (in pathology) and variability (as a characteristic of the dynamics of a state and processes). To understand the breadth of use of this term, we can consider examples of the fact that there is lability of mood in body temperature, psyche and physiology, and accordingly applies to all processes that have speed, constancy, rhythm, amplitude and other dynamic characteristics in their indicators.

The course of any processes in the body is regulated by the nervous system, therefore, even when talking about indicators of pulse or mood lability, we are still talking about the degree of lability of the nervous system (central or autonomic, depending on the location of the instability). The autonomic nervous system regulates internal organs and the system, respectively, depends on its operation, the ability to maintain the rhythm and stability of processes general condition body.

Autonomic lability brings disturbances in the functioning of the heart (manifestations are in the form of arrhythmia, problems with blood pressure and quality), the functioning of the glands (problems with sweating or the production of substances necessary for the quality functioning of the body may begin). Many, it would seem, psychological problems or those associated with the central nervous system are actually resolved at the level of reducing autonomic lability, which ensures productive sleep and absorption useful microelements. At the same time, it is worth remembering that signaling about the level of stress or a critical emotional situation is not primarily central, namely vegetative system, increasing its lability. Mechanisms that activate the work of all organ systems to overcome severe or extreme situations, use the internal reserves of the body, forcing the heart to speed up the rhythm, the lungs to absorb more air, the iron to remove excess adrenaline through sweat, and only then the central nervous system reactions are activated.

Lability of the nervous system or mental lability is characterized by a pathological state of mood disturbance, expressed in its swings and inconstancy. The condition may be normal for adolescence, but is classified as a spectrum of pathological conditions for adults and requires medical care, also the work of a psychologist, even without prescribing medications.

Lability in psychology

Mental lability, considered in psychology, implies its mobility, and in some cases instability, while science itself studies only this aspect of lability, without going into physiology. In most sources, mental lability is viewed as a negative quality that requires correction, but it does not give due credit to the fact that this is the main adaptive mechanism of the psyche. It was the speed of reaction and switching between quickly and often unexpectedly changing events in external life that helped humanity survive. The opposite is the psyche, when a person remains constant for a long time, and any changes knock him out of normal condition. Any of these characteristics in its extreme manifestation is negative, but at moderate levels it has its advantages.

Problems with lability when a person comes to a psychologist are associated with frequent changes moods, while all spectrums are experienced not superficially, but really deeply (i.e. if you feel sad, then you think about opening your veins, and if you are happy, then you want to dance in the workplace and give candy to passers-by - and all this within one hour ). It is precisely the difficulties in coping with one’s own and the lack of understanding of how this can be corrected that brings many not only mental suffering, but the subsequent changes in health, since the autonomic system, being subordinate to emotional states, also increases the level of its lability.

Such phenomena can be justified by the type of organization of the nervous system, so in people with the speed of reactions is already determined by nature, and accordingly, an increase in lability to a pathological state is more likely. Also, frequent mood swings received in early age, being in traumatic situations at the moment. But we should not exclude physiological reasons that influence psychological state human: brain tumors, head injury, vascular diseases.

Correction of such unpleasant conditions begins with diagnosis and exclusion physiological reasons, further, if necessary, correction with mood-stabilizing drugs (antidepressants and tranquilizers) is possible, accompanied by a course of psychotherapy. In severe cases there may be topical treatment in a hospital, the mildest cases can be dealt with by visiting a psychologist, without interrupting your usual life.

Lability in physiology

In physiology, lability is considered as a property of tissue that characterizes its change during prolonged excitation. Reactions to prolonged excitation can be expressed in three types of response: a response to each impulse, transformation of the original rhythm into a rarer one (for example, a response to every third impulse) or cessation of the response. For each cell of the body, this rhythm is different, and it may differ from the rhythm of the organ consisting of these cells, as well as from the rhythm of the entire organ system. The faster the tissue reacts to irritation, the higher its lability is considered, but there are few indicators of only this time; it is also necessary to take into account the time required for recovery. Thus, the reaction can be quite fast, but due to the long recovery time, the overall lability will be quite low.

Lability increases or decreases depending on the needs of the body (the normal option, without diseases, is considered), and it can increase from the metabolic rate, which forces all systems to speed up the rhythm of work. An increase in lability has been noticed, that when the body is in working active state, i.e. the lability of your tissues is much higher if you run than if you read lying down, and the indicators remain unchanged increased value some time after the cessation of active activity. Such reactions are associated with the assimilation of a rhythm that corresponds current conditions environment and activity needs.

The regulation of physiological lability can also be addressed in case of disorders of the psychological spectrum, since many conditions have their root cause not mental disorders or emotional experiences, and physiological disorders. For example, physiological effects can eliminate sleep problems, which will automatically increase the level of attention and reduce, the therapy of which does not take into account physiological indicators would be ineffective.

Intellectual lability

Intellectual lability is one of the components of the lability of the nervous system and is responsible for the processes of switching between the processes of activation and inhibition. In life it looks like enough high level mental development and the ability to logically analyze incoming information. Since a critically huge number of information blocks requiring information are received every second, there is a need to sort them as quickly as possible (at a subconscious automatic level) into significant and insignificant.

The presence of a large knowledge base becomes irrelevant and testifies not to knowledge, but to erudition; much more significant is the ability to switch between different sources of information, between different information in meaning, as well as as soon as possible move on to solving the next (albeit opposite) problem. At this switching speed, the main thing is to maintain the ability to highlight the main thing for the task at hand. at the moment time. It is precisely this process of intellectual work that ensures high intellectual lability.

Previously, they did not know about this property, then they talked about it, but rarely, and now, when the pace of life is accelerating, the amount of information consumed is growing at such a pace that a person who lived two hundred years ago would have needed a month to realize that we process within an hour , this becomes a determining factor for success. This gives the ability to respond adequately and as usefully as possible in changing conditions, promotes instant analysis of many factors, which allows minimizing the possibility of error.

In addition, quickly switching between different topics and issues provides innovative thinking, new ways to solve old problems, and rapid assimilation of knowledge and skills, and this happens at a deeper level. For example, historical data on the same event, drawn from different sources (here it is impossible to do without using the capabilities modern world) provides a more objective and comprehensive understanding than quoting the textbook author’s point of view. Ability to fast learning due to the fact that there is no need to tune in to the arrival of material - ten minutes of reading an article in a minibus, accompanied by listening to new music or writing a thesis with breaks to watch educational videos becomes a familiar way of functioning, providing new opportunities.

Emotional lability

Mood lability, which is the main reflection of emotional lability, is the variability of the mood pole, often without expressed reasons for this. For our emotional state The nervous system responds and when it is weakened, it becomes hypersensitive, which explains the instant and strong reaction to even minor stimuli. The color can be anything - either happiness or sadness; aggressive affects and apathetic sadness arise with equal ease.

Symptoms may include spontaneity of actions, impulsiveness, lack of ability to predict the consequences of one’s own actions. The occurrence of affective outbursts and uncontrollable states for minor or absent reasons was the reason for including emotional lability in the lists of psychiatric disorders requiring stabilization under medical supervision. It may also not be separate disease, and the symptom is more dangerous and complex (severe tumors, blood pressure problems, hidden consequences traumatic brain injuries, etc.). Difficult to diagnose in childhood, since it has been little studied and is often confused with, therefore, a team of specialists from a psychiatrist, psychologist and neurologist is required for diagnosis.

Emotional instability manifests itself in restlessness, lack of patience and acute reaction to criticism or obstacles, difficulties in establishing logical chains, as well as mood swings. These swings are different from manic-depressive disorder and are characterized by a rapid change of states with the same deep experience of the emotional spectrum.

Any overload of the nervous system contributes to such development of the emotional sphere: emotional stress, psychotrauma or their actualization, hyper- or hypoattention from society, hormonal changes(adolescence and menopause, pregnancy). From physiological reasons: somatic diseases, deficiency of vitamins (especially group B, necessary to maintain the functioning of the nervous system), as well as severe physical conditions.

If emotional lability is diagnosed, then a psychiatrist should correct it; if the condition is not so dire, then a course of prevention is prescribed by a psychologist. In any case, you should not treat such manifestations with disdain, explaining them as bad character.