Age and age crisis. Age crises - what is it

Age crises personality development

They make up our whole life...

In each period of a person's life, there are difficulties that are characteristic of this particular age. In psychology, there is the concept of periodization - the division of the life cycle into separate periods or age stages. Each of these stages has its own specifics, its own patterns of human development. In different periods of life, there are stable and crisis stages. The development of a person as a person is determined by what society expects from him, what values and ideals he offers, what tasks he sets for him at different ages. A person, growing up and developing, goes through a series of successive stages, not only psychological, but also biological, that is, associated with physical changes and processes in the body.

At each stage, a person acquires a certain quality (new formation), which is preserved in subsequent periods of life. Crises can occur at all age stages. These are turning points when the question is being decided whether we will go forward in our development or go backwards. In every personal quality, which appears at a certain age, contains a deep relationship to the world and to oneself. This attitude can be both positive and negative. It is very interesting to know what kind of crises lie in wait for you in life, especially since in their description many of us can recognize situations from our own lives.

In other words, our whole life consists of crises. After all, we are constantly solving problems, setting ourselves tasks and solving them again. And we grow up, we develop, we change.

Age crises- special, relatively short periods in a person's life, characterized by sharp mental changes. These are normal processes necessary for the normal gradual course of personal development.
Crisis, from the Greek krineo, literally means "parting of the roads". The concept of "crisis" means an acute situation for making some kind of decision, a turning point, the most important moment in a person's life or activity.

The form, duration and severity of the crisis depends on individual features, environmental conditions and the environment in which the person is located.
There is no consensus in developmental psychology about crises; Some psychologists believe that development should be harmonious, crisis-free. And crises are an abnormal, “painful” phenomenon, the result of improper upbringing. Another part of psychologists argues that the presence of crises in development is natural. Moreover, according to some ideas in developmental psychology, a child who has not truly experienced a crisis will not develop fully in later life. All crises can shift in time and do not have a clear time frame.

How long do crises last and how do they proceed?
Crises do not last long, about a few months, but under unfavorable circumstances, they can stretch up to a year or even two years. Usually these are brief but violent stages.

For a child crisis means a sharp change in many of its features. Development can take on a catastrophic character at this time. The crisis begins and ends imperceptibly, its boundaries are blurred, indistinct. The aggravation occurs in the middle of the period. For the people around the child, it is associated with a change in behavior, the appearance of "difficulty in education". The child is out of control of adults. Vivid emotional outbursts, whims, conflicts with loved ones may appear. Schoolchildren's working capacity decreases, interest in classes weakens, academic performance decreases, sometimes painful experiences and internal conflicts arise.
For an adult Crises also play a significant role in life. In a crisis, development acquires a negative character: what was formed at the previous stage disintegrates, disappears. But something new is necessarily created, which is necessary to overcome further life's difficulties.

This is a situation in which a person is faced with the impossibility of realizing the inner necessity of his life (motives, aspirations, values) due to obstacles (most often external), which, relying on his past experience, he cannot overcome.
A person gets used to a certain form of his life and activity: the image and condition of the body, food, clothing, more or less comfortable conditions of existence. For example, in childhood, this is the growth of a little man, the size of one's own arms and legs, the ability or inability to walk, speak, eat independently, the habitual and mandatory presence of significant adults nearby. For an adult, this can be a bank account, a car, a wife and children, social status, as well as spiritual values. And the state of crisis deprives him of this support, scares him with changes and uncertainty about the future.

However, there are a lot of positive things to note as well. The crisis makes it possible to see the main and real in a person, destroys the meaningless and external attributes of his life. There is a purification of consciousness, an understanding of the true value of life.
Therefore, a psychological crisis is physical and mental suffering, on the one hand, and restructuring, development and personal growth, on the other. With the emergence of the new in development, the disintegration of the old is also obligatory. And psychologists believe that such a course of the situation is necessary.

Overcoming and the outcome of crises
The outcome of the crisis depends on how constructive (creative) or destructive (destructive) the way out of this crisis was. In other words, this period brought benefit or harm to a person. This is not a dead end, but some contradictions that accumulate in a person, and must necessarily lead to some kind of decision and action. This is an unpleasant moment, as a person gets out of his usual rhythm. All life crises are like nesting dolls: one after another, and with each of them we become more as individuals. It is hard when a person does not get out of the crisis, but accumulates "stuck" in it, I do not solve my own problems, withdrawing into myself. The correct resolution of the crisis leads to evolution in the development of the personality - a better understanding of our goals, desires, aspirations, harmony of a person in relations with himself.

Each of us has internal reserves (adaptive properties) in order to solve emerging psychological difficulties. But these defense mechanisms do not always cope with their task. Considering crises as a pattern, one can predict and mitigate the inevitable consequences and changes, as well as avoid those that are the result of the wrong choice of the person himself. The crisis, as an "indicator" of development, shows that a person has already changed physically and mentally, but still cannot cope with these changes. A person can overcome it and, thereby, enter a new reality, or may not overcome it, remaining in the same tight framework that no longer suits him. Overcoming the crisis on your own is considered the most favorable for human development.

However, various situations can arise in life, because sometimes we are face to face with psychological problems and simply do not know how to cope with them. Sometimes it is better to get the help of a professional in order to properly understand your own life circumstances.

Modern psychologists consider such periods
in human development as:

newborn (1-10 days);
infancy (10 days - 1 year);
early childhood (1-3 years);
first childhood (4-7 years old);
second childhood (8-12 years old);
adolescence (13-16 years);
youthful age (17-21 years);
mature age (first period: 22-35 years old - men, 21-35 years old - women;
second period: 36-60 years old - men, 36-55 years old - women);
old age (61-74 years - men, 56-74 years - women);
senile age (75-90 years - men and women);
centenarians (90 years and older).

However, the mental development of a person is individual, it is conditional, and can hardly fit into the rigid framework of periodization. Next, we will give the main periods of human mental development and describe the age crises corresponding to each of them.

Crises are:

Large - a change in the relationship of the child with the outside world (newborn crisis, 3 years, adolescence - 13-14 years);

Small - restructuring of external relations. Runs smoother. The crisis ends with a new formation - a change in the type of activity (crisis of 1 year, 6-7 years, 17-18 years).

The transition from one crisis to another is a change in the consciousness and attitude of the child to the surrounding reality, leading activity. A crisis usually occurs during the transition from one physical or psychological age in another. During this period, the old social relationships between the child and others break down.

During the critical phase, children are difficult to educate, they manifest stubbornness, negativism, disobedience, obstinacy.

Negativism- when a child can refuse to do what he even really wants just because an adult requires it. This reaction is conditioned not by the content of the adult's demand, but by the relation of the child to the adult.

Stubbornness- the reaction of the child when he insists not because, not because he wants it, but because he demanded it.

obstinacy- the rebellion of the child against the whole way of life, the norms of education, all adults. If an adult does not change his behavior, obstinacy remains in character for a long time.

The positive role of the crisis: Stimulates the search for new forms of self-realization in this profession. The constructive function is expressed in the desire to improve qualifications, to take a new high position.

The destructive role of the crisis is expressed in the formation of professionally undesirable personality traits. Escalation (further advancement) of this process leads to the formation of insolvent employees, whose stay in this position becomes undesirable. Exit - hobby, sport, life. unwanted exit - alcoholism, delinquency, vagrancy.

Overview of crises

1. neonatal crisis- the transition from intrauterine to extrauterine, from one type of nutrition to another, from darkness to light, to other temperature effects. These changes can strike at the senses and nervous system. The decisive circumstances of normal development are created by adults, otherwise the child will die in a few hours. Hereditarily fixed unconditioned reflexes help to adapt to new conditions: 1) food reflexes (when touching the corners of the lips or tongue, sucking movements appear, and all other movements are inhibited); 2) protective and indicative (grasping of sticks or fingers placed in his palms). An important mental neoplasm occurs at the end of 1 month - a “complex of revival” (smiles when he sees his mother).

2. One year crisis- a kind of separation of the child from the adult. Associated with a surge of independence, the appearance of affective reactions when the child does not understand the desires, words, gestures, or understands, but does not fulfill what he wants (some, at the next “no” or “no”, scream piercingly, fall to the floor - which is connected with the style upbringing - little independence, inconstancy of requirements - great independence, patience and endurance will help to get rid of). Disobedience is observed - curiosity encounters misunderstanding and resistance from adults. A neoplasm is the appearance of autonomous speech (bee-bee, av-av, other actually invented words), associated with the need to communicate with an adult.

3. Crisis 3 years(I myself) - expressed in the child's need for increased independence. This is expressed in the form of stubbornness, intractability. This crisis is associated with the formation of the child's self-awareness (recognizes himself in the mirror, responds to his name, actively begins to use the pronoun "I"). That. a neoplasm is - "I" - the first step is taking place on the path of formation as a person who is aware of himself as a person (begins to compare himself with others, gradually develops self-esteem, the level of claims, a sense of shame, the need for independence and success).

4. Crisis 7 years- the child begins to feel the need for serious activities. Games cease to satisfy him (it is this, and not the ability to read and print letters, that is an important sign of readiness for school). The younger student has to spend a lot of effort to learn how to learn, to master the activity of learning. The main mental neoplasm is an increase in voluntary regulation of activity, awareness of one's changes, both subjective and acquired new knowledge, skills, new positions.

5. Adolescence crisis- the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is expressed in the desire to declare oneself, to show one's individuality. A new self-image is being formed. It often manifests itself in abrupt and unstable forms of behavior. Associated with active sexual development and decreased intellectual activity. Manifested in negativism, egocentrism.

6. Crisis 17 years- the period of acquiring social maturity - a worthy and justified place in society has yet to be acquired. "Copying" adults.

Chapter 2

We enter different ages of our lives like newborns, with no experience behind us, no matter how old we are.

F. La Rochefoucauld

The problem of prevention and treatment of crisis conditions is one of the most relevant for modern psychiatry. Traditionally, this issue is considered from the standpoint of G. Selye's theory of stress. Much less attention attention is paid to the issues of age-related crises of the personality and the existential problems of a person are practically not touched upon. Meanwhile, speaking about crisis conditions and their prevention, one cannot but touch upon the relationship between “I”, “ME” and “DEATH”, because without considering these relationships it is impossible to understand the genesis of post-traumatic stress disorders, suicidal behavior and other neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders.

Description psychological characteristics of a person in different periods of his life is an extremely complex and multifaceted task. In this chapter, the emphasis will be placed on the problems characteristic of certain periods of a person's life, which often underlie anxiety, fears, and other disorders that potentiate the development of crisis states, as well as on the age dynamics of the formation of fear of death.

The problem of understanding the origins of the emergence of a personality crisis and its age-related dynamics have been studied by many authors. Eric Erickson, the creator of the ego - personality theory, identified 8 stages of psychosocial development of the personality. He believed that each of them is accompanied by " crisis - a turning point in the life of an individual, which occurs as a result of reaching a certain level of psychological maturity and social requirements for an individual at this stage". Every psychosocial crisis is accompanied by both positive and negative consequences. If the conflict is resolved, then the personality is enriched with new, positive qualities, if not resolved, symptoms and problems arise that may lead to the development of mental and behavioral disorders (E.N. Erikson, 1968).

Table 2. Stages of psychosocial development (according to Erickson)

At the first stage of psychosocial development(birth - 1 year) the first important psychological crisis is already possible, due to insufficient maternal care and rejection of the child. Maternal deprivation underlies "basal mistrust", which further potentiates the development of fear, suspicion, and affective disorders.

At the second stage of psychosocial development(1-3 years) psychological crisis is accompanied by the appearance of a sense of shame and doubt, which further potentiates the formation of self-doubt, anxious suspiciousness, fears, obsessive-compulsive symptom complex.

At the third stage of psychosocial development(3-6 years) psychological crisis is accompanied by the formation of feelings of guilt, abandonment and worthlessness, which subsequently can cause addictive behavior, impotence or frigidity, personality disorders.

The creator of the concept of birth trauma O. Rank (1952) said that anxiety accompanies a person from the moment of his birth and is due to the fear of death associated with the experience of separation of the fetus from the mother during birth. R. J. Kastenbaum (1981) noted that even very young children experience mental discomfort associated with death and often parents are not even aware of it. R. Furman (1964) held a different opinion, who insisted that only at the age of 2–3 years can the concept of death arise, since during this period elements of symbolic thinking and a primitive level of reality assessments appear.

M. H. Nagy (1948), having studied the writings and drawings of almost 4,000 children in Budapest, as well as conducting individual psychotherapeutic and diagnostic conversations with each of them, revealed that children under 5 years of age do not consider death as a final, but as a dream or departure. Life and death for these children were not mutually exclusive. In subsequent research, she revealed a feature that struck her: the children spoke of death as a separation, a kind of boundary. Research by M.C. McIntire (1972), carried out a quarter of a century later, confirmed the revealed feature: only 20% of 5–6 year old children think that their dead animals will come to life and only 30% of children of this age assume that dead animals have consciousness. Similar results were obtained by other researchers (J.E. Alexander, 1965; T.B. Hagglund, 1967; J. Hinton, 1967; S. Wolff, 1973).

B.M. Miller (1971) notes that for a child up to school age the concept of "death" is identified with the loss of the mother and this is often the cause of their unconscious fears and anxiety. Fear of parental death in mentally healthy preschool children was observed in 53% of boys and 61% of girls. Fear of one's death was noted in 47% of boys and 70% of girls (A.I. Zakharov, 1988). Suicides in children under 5 years of age are rare, but in the last decade there has been a trend towards their growth.

As a rule, memories of a serious illness that threatens to be fatal at this age remain with the child for life and play a significant role in his future fate. So, one of the “great apostates” of the Vienna psychoanalytic school, psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist Alfred Adler (1870–1937), the creator of individual psychology, wrote that at the age of 5 he almost died and in the future his decision to become a doctor, t i.e., a person struggling with death, was conditioned precisely by these memories. In addition, the experienced event was reflected in his scientific outlook. In the inability to control the timing of death or prevent it, he saw the deepest basis of an inferiority complex.

Children with excessive fears and anxiety associated with separation from significant loved ones, accompanied by inadequate fears of loneliness and separation, nightmares, social autism and recurrent somato-vegetative dysfunctions, need psychiatric consultation and treatment. The ICD-10 classifies this condition as Separation Anxiety Disorder. childhood» (F 93.0).

school-age children, or 4 stages according to E. Erickson(6–12 years old) acquire at school the knowledge and skills of interpersonal communication that determine their personal significance and dignity. The crisis of this age period is accompanied by the appearance of a feeling of inferiority or incompetence, most often correlated with the child's academic performance. In the future, these children may lose self-confidence, the ability to work effectively and maintain human contacts.

Psychological studies have shown that children of this age are interested in the problem of death and are already sufficiently prepared to talk about it. The word "dead" was included in the dictionary text, and this word was adequately perceived by the overwhelming majority of children. Only 2 out of 91 children deliberately bypassed it. However, if children of 5.5–7.5 years old considered death unlikely for themselves, then at the age of 7.5–8.5 years they recognize its possibility for themselves personally, although the age of its supposed onset varied from “through several years up to 300 years.

G.P. Koocher (1971) examined the representations of unbelieving children aged 6–15 regarding their supposed state after death. The spread of answers to the question “what will happen when you die?” was distributed as follows: 52% answered that they would be “buried”, 21% that they would “go to heaven”, “I will live even after death”, “I will be subjected to God's punishment", 19% "arrange a funeral", 7% thought that they would "fall asleep", 4% - "reincarnate", 3% - "cremated". Belief in the personal or universal immortality of the soul after death was found in 65% of believing children aged 8-12 (M.C.McIntire, 1972).

In children of primary school age, the prevalence of fear of the death of parents sharply increases (in 98% of boys and 97% of mentally healthy girls 9 years), which is already observed in almost all 15-year-old boys and 12 summer girls. As for the fear of one's own death, at school age it occurs quite often (up to 50%), although less often in girls (D.N. Isaev, 1992).

In younger schoolchildren (mostly after 9 years) suicidal activity is already observed, which is most often caused not by serious mental illnesses, but by situational reactions, the source of which is, as a rule, intra-family conflicts.

Teenage years(12-18 years old), or fifth stage of psychosocial development, is traditionally considered the most vulnerable to stressful situations and to the occurrence of crises. E. Erickson singles out this age period as very important in psychosocial development and considers the development of an identity crisis or role shift, which manifests itself in three main areas of behavior, to be pathognomonic for it:

the problem of choosing a career;

choice of a reference group and membership in it (the reaction of grouping with peers according to A.E. Lichko);

the use of alcohol and drugs, which can temporarily relieve emotional stress and allow you to experience a sense of temporary overcoming of a lack of identity (E.N. Erikson, 1963).

The dominant questions of this age are: “Who am I?”, “How will I fit into the adult world?”, “Where am I going?” Teenagers are trying to build their own value system, often coming into conflict with the older generation, subverting their values. The classic example is the hippie movement.

The idea of death in adolescents as a universal and inevitable end human life approaches that of adults. J. Piaget wrote that it is from the moment of comprehending the idea of death that the child becomes an agnostic, that is, he acquires a way of perceiving the world inherent in an adult. Although, while acknowledging "death for others" intellectually, they actually deny it to themselves on an emotional level. Adolescents are dominated by a romantic attitude towards death. Often they interpret it as a different way of being.

It is during adolescence that the peak of suicides, the peak of experiments with disturbing substances and other life-threatening activities occur. Moreover, adolescents, in the anamnesis of which thoughts of suicide were repeatedly noted, rejected thoughts of his death. Among 13–16 year olds, 20% believed in the preservation of consciousness after death, 60% believed in the existence of the soul, and only 20% believed in death as the cessation of physical and spiritual life.

This age is characterized by thoughts of suicide, as revenge for an insult, quarrels, lectures from teachers and parents. Thoughts like: “Here I will die in spite of you and see how you will suffer and regret that you were unfair to me” predominate.

Exploring mechanisms psychological protection with anxiety potentiated by thoughts of death, E.M. Pattison (1978) found that they are usually identical to those of adults from their immediate environment: intellectual, mature defense mechanisms are more often noted, although neurotic forms of defense were also noted in a number of cases.

A. Maurer (1966) conducted a survey of 700 high school students and the question "What comes to mind when you think about death?" revealed the following responses: awareness, rejection, curiosity, contempt and despair. As noted earlier, the vast majority of adolescents have a fear of their own death and the death of their parents.

In young age(or early maturity according to E. Erickson - 20-25 years old) young people are focused on getting a profession and creating a family. The main problem that may occur during this age period is self-absorption and avoidance of interpersonal relationships, which is the psychological basis for the emergence of feelings of loneliness, existential vacuum and social isolation. If the crisis is successfully overcome, then young people develop the ability to love, altruism, and a moral sense.

After adolescence, thoughts about death are less and less visited by young people, and they very rarely think about it. 90% of the students said that they rarely think about their own death, in personal terms, it is of little significance to them (J. Hinton, 1972).

The thoughts of modern domestic youth about death turned out to be unexpected. According to S.B. Borisov (1995), who studied female students of the Pedagogical Institute of the Moscow Region, 70% of the respondents in one form or another recognize the existence of the soul after physical death, of which 40% believe in reincarnation, i.e., the transmigration of the soul into another body. Only 9% of interviewees unequivocally reject the existence of the soul after death.

A few decades ago, it was believed that in adulthood a person does not have significant problems associated with personal development, and maturity was considered a time of achievement. However, the works of Levinson "The Seasons of Human Life", Neugarten's "Awareness of Mature Age", Osherson's "Sorrow for the Lost "I" in the Middle of Life", as well as changes in the structure of morbidity and mortality in this age period, forced researchers to take a different look at the psychology of maturity and call this period the "crisis of maturity".

In that age period dominated by the needs of self-esteem and self-actualization (according to A. Maslow). The time has come to sum up the first results of what has been done in life. E. Erickson believes that this stage of personality development is also characterized by concern for the future well-being of mankind (otherwise, indifference and apathy, unwillingness to take care of others, self-absorption with one's own problems arise).

At this time of life, the frequency of depression, suicide, neuroses, and dependent forms of behavior increases. The death of peers prompts reflection on the finiteness of one's own life. According to various psychological and sociological studies, the topic of death is relevant for 30%–70% of people of this age. Unbelieving forty-year-olds understand death as the end of life, its finale, but even they consider themselves "a little more immortal than others." This period is also characterized by a sense of disappointment in a professional career and family life. This is due to the fact that, as a rule, if the set goals are not realized by the time of maturity, then they are already hardly achievable.

What if they are implemented?

A person enters the second half of life and his previous life experience not always suitable for solving the problems of this time.

The problem of 40-year-old K.G. Jung devoted his report "Life Frontier" (1984), in which he advocated the creation of "high schools for forty-year-olds that would prepare them for future life”, because a person cannot live the second half of his life according to the same program as the first. As a comparison of the psychological changes that occur in different periods of life in the human soul, he compares it with the movement of the sun, referring to the sun “animated by human feeling and endowed with momentary human consciousness. In the morning it emerges from the night sea of the unconscious, illuminating the wide, colorful world, and the higher it rises in the firmament, the farther it spreads its rays. In this expansion of its sphere of influence, connected with the rising, the sun will see its destiny and see its highest goal in rising as high as possible.

With this conviction, the sun reaches an unforeseen noon height - unforeseen because, because of its one-time individual existence, it could not know in advance its own climax. Sunset begins at twelve o'clock. It represents the inversion of all the values and ideals of the morning. The sun becomes inconsistent. It seems to remove its rays. Light and heat decrease until complete extinction.

Aged people (late maturity stage according to E. Erickson). Studies of gerontologists have established that physical and mental aging depends on the personality characteristics of a person and how he lived his life. G. Ruffin (1967) conditionally distinguishes three types of old age: "happy", "unhappy" and "psychopathological". Yu.I. Polishchuk (1994) randomly examined 75 people aged 73 to 92 years. According to the results of the studies, this group was dominated by persons whose condition was qualified as "unhappy old age" - 71%; 21% were persons with the so-called "psychopathological old age" and 8% experienced a "happy old age".

"Happy" old age occurs in harmonious individuals with a strong balanced type of higher nervous activity, engaged in long time intellectual labor and those who did not leave this occupation even after retirement. Psychological condition these people are characterized by vital asthenia, contemplation, a tendency to remember, peace, wise enlightenment and a philosophical attitude towards death. E. Erickson (1968, 1982) believed that “only for someone who somehow took care of affairs and people, who experienced triumphs and defeats in life, who was an inspiration to others and put forward ideas - only he can gradually mature fruits of previous stages. He believed that only in old age does true maturity come and called this period "late maturity." “The wisdom of old age is aware of the relativity of all knowledge acquired by a person throughout his life in one historical period. Wisdom is the awareness of the unconditional significance of life itself in the face of death itself. Many outstanding personalities created their best works in old age.

Titian wrote The Battle of Leranto when he was 98 years old and created his best works after 80 years. Michelangelo completed his sculptural composition in the church of St. Peter in Rome in his ninth decade of life. The great naturalist Humboldt worked on his work Cosmos until the age of 90, Goethe created the immortal Faust at the age of 80, at the same age Verdi wrote Falstaff. At 71, Galileo Galilei discovered the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection was written by Darwin when he was in his 60s.

Creative personalities who lived to a ripe old age.

Gorgias (c. 483–375 BC), others - Greek. orator, sophist - 108

Chevy Michel Eugene (1786–1889), French chemist - 102

Abbot Charles Greeley (1871–1973), Amer. astrophysicist - 101

Garcia Manuel Patricio (1805–1906), Spanish singer and teacher - 101

Lyudkevich Stanislav Filippovich (1879–1979), Ukrainian composer - 100

Druzhinin Nikolai Mikhailovich (1886–1986), owl. historian - 100

Fontenelle Bernard Le Bovier de (1657–1757), French philosopher - 99

Menendez Pidal Ramon (1869–1968), Spanish philologist and historian - 99

Halle Johann Gottfried (1812–1910), German. astronomer - 98

Rockefeller John Davidson (1839-1937), American. industrialist - 98

Chagall Marc (1887-1985), French painter - 97

Yablochkina Alexandra Alexandrovna (1866–1964), Russian Soviet actress - 97

Konenkov Sergei Timofeevich (1874–1971), Russian. owls. sculptor - 97

Russell Bertrand (1872–1970), English philosopher - 97

Rubinstein Artur (1886–1982), Polish - Amer. pianist - 96

Fleming John Ambrose (1849–1945) physicist - 95

Speransky Georgy Nesterovich (1673–1969), Russian. owls. pediatrician - 95

Antonio Stradivari (1643–1737), Italian. violin maker - 94

Shaw George Bernard (1856–1950) writer - 94

Petipa Marius (1818–1910), French, choreographer and teacher - 92

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist - 92

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870–1960), Russian painter - 90

"Unhappy old age" often occurs in individuals with traits of anxious suspiciousness, sensitivity, and the presence of somatic diseases. These individuals are characterized by a loss of the meaning of life, a feeling of loneliness, helplessness and constant thoughts about death, as about "getting rid of suffering." They have frequent suicidal thoughts, suicidal acts and recourse to euthanasia methods are possible.

The old age of the world-famous psychotherapist Z. Freud, who lived for 83 years, can serve as an illustration.

In the last decades of his life, Z. Freud revised many of the postulates of the theory of psychoanalysis he created and put forward the hypothesis that became fundamental in his later works that the basis of mental processes is the dichotomy of two powerful forces: the instinct of love (Eros) and the instinct of death (Thanatos). The majority of followers and students did not support his new views on the fundamental role of Thanatos in human life and explained the turn in the Teacher's worldview with intellectual fading and sharpened personality traits. Z. Freud experienced an acute feeling of loneliness and misunderstanding.

The situation was aggravated by the changed political situation: in 1933, fascism came to power in Germany, the ideologists of which did not recognize the teachings of Freud. His books were burned in Germany, and a few years later in ovens concentration camp 4 of his sisters were also killed. Shortly before Freud's death, in 1938, the Nazis occupied Austria, confiscating his publishing house and library, property and passport. Freud became a prisoner of the ghetto. And only thanks to a ransom of 100 thousand shillings, which was paid for him by his patient and follower Princess Marie Bonaparte, his family was able to emigrate to England.

Mortally ill with cancer, having lost his relatives and students, Freud also lost his homeland. In England, despite an enthusiastic reception, his condition worsened. On September 23, 1939, at his request, the attending physician gave him 2 injections, which ended his life.

"Psychopathological old age" is manifested by age-organic disorders, depression, hypochondria, psychopathic, neurosis-like, psychoorganic disorders, senile dementia. Very often, such patients have a fear of being in a nursing home.

Studies of 1,000 Chicagoans revealed the relevance of the topic of death for almost all elderly people, although the issues of finance, politics, etc. were no less significant for them. People of this age are philosophical about death and tend to perceive it on an emotional level more as a long sleep than as a source of suffering. Sociological studies have revealed that in 70% of the elderly, thoughts about death related to preparation for it (28% - made a will; 25% - have already prepared some funeral accessories and half have already discussed their death with the closest heirs (J. Hinton, 1972).

These data obtained from a sociological survey of older people in the United States contrast with the results of similar studies of residents of the UK, where the majority of the respondents avoided this topic and answered the questions as follows: “I try to think as little as possible about death and dying”, “I try to switch to other topics”, etc.

In the experiences associated with death, not only age, but also gender differentiation is quite clearly manifested.

K.W.Back (1974), investigating the age and gender dynamics of the experience of time using R. Knapp's method, presented the researched along with "metaphors of time" and "metaphors of death". As a result of the study, he came to the conclusion that men are more opposed to death than women: this topic evokes in them associations imbued with fear and disgust. In women, the “Harlequin complex” is described, in which death seems mysterious and even attractive in some ways.

Another picture psychological attitude to death was received after 20 years.

The National Agency for the Development of Science and Space Research of France studied the problem of thanatology based on the materials of a sociological study of more than 20 thousand French people. The data obtained were published in one of the issues of "Regards sur I'actualite" (1993) - the official publication of the French state center documentation, publishing statistical materials and reports on the most important problems for the country.

The results obtained showed that thoughts about death are especially relevant for people aged 35–44, and in all age groups, women more often think about the end of life, which is clearly reflected in Table 3.

Table3. Distribution of the frequency of occurrence of thoughts about death by age and gender (in %).

In women, thoughts about death are most often accompanied by fear and anxiety, men treat this problem more balanced and rationally, and in a third of cases they are completely indifferent. Attitudes towards death in men and women are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Distribution of thoughts about attitudes towards death by gender (in%).

The subjects, who reacted to the problem of death with indifference or calmness, explained this by the fact that, in their opinion, there are more terrible conditions than death (Table 5)

Table 5

Of course, thoughts of death gave rise to conscious and unconscious fear. Therefore, the most universal desire for all the tested was a quick departure from life. 90% of the respondents answered that they would like to die in their sleep, avoiding suffering.

In conclusion, it should be noted that when developing preventive and rehabilitation programs for people with neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders, along with the clinical and psychopathological characteristics of patients, it should be taken into account that in each age period of a person’s life, crisis conditions are possible, which are based on specific for psychological problems and frustrated needs of this age group.

In addition, the development of a personality crisis is determined by cultural, socio-economic, religious factors, and is also associated with the gender of the individual, his family traditions and personal experience. It should be especially noted that for productive psycho-correctional work with these patients (especially with suicides, people with post-traumatic stress disorder), specific knowledge in the field of thanatology (its psychological and psychiatric aspect) is required. Very often, acute and/or chronic stress potentiate and exacerbate the development of an age-related personality crisis and lead to dramatic consequences, the prevention of which is one of the main tasks of psychiatry.

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Age crises are special, relatively short in time (up to a year) periods of ontogeny, characterized by sharp mental changes. They refer to the normative processes necessary for the normal progressive course of personal development (Erickson).

The form and duration of these periods, as well as the severity of the flow, depend on individual characteristics, social and microsocial conditions. In developmental psychology, there is no consensus about crises, their place and role in mental development. Some psychologists believe that development should be harmonious, crisis-free. Crises are an abnormal, “painful” phenomenon, the result of improper upbringing. Another part of psychologists argues that the presence of crises in development is natural. Moreover, according to some ideas in developmental psychology, a child who has not truly experienced a crisis will not fully develop further. Bozhovich, Polivanova, Gail Sheehy addressed this topic.

L.S. Vygotsky considers the dynamics of transitions from one age to another. At different stages, changes in the child's psyche can occur slowly and gradually, or they can happen quickly and abruptly. Stable and crisis stages of development are distinguished, their alternation is the law of child development. The stable period is characterized by a smooth course of the development process, without sharp shifts and changes in the personality of the child. Long in duration. Insignificant, minimal changes accumulate and at the end of the period give a qualitative leap in development: age-related neoplasms appear, stable, fixed in the structure of the Personality.

Crises do not last long, a few months, under unfavorable circumstances stretching up to a year or even two years. These are brief but turbulent stages. Significant shifts in development, the child changes dramatically in many of its features. Development can take on a catastrophic character at this time. The crisis begins and ends imperceptibly, its boundaries are blurred, indistinct. The aggravation occurs in the middle of the period. For the people around the child, it is associated with a change in behavior, the appearance of "difficulty in education". The child is out of control of adults. Affective outbursts, whims, conflicts with loved ones. Schoolchildren's working capacity decreases, interest in classes weakens, academic performance decreases, sometimes painful experiences and internal conflicts arise.

In a crisis, development acquires a negative character: what was formed at the previous stage disintegrates, disappears. But something new is also being created. Neoplasms turn out to be unstable and in the next stable period they transform, are absorbed by other neoplasms, dissolve in them, and thus die off.

D.B. Elkonin developed the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky on child development. “A child approaches each point in his development with a certain discrepancy between what he has learned from the system of relations man-man and what he has learned from the system of relations man-object. It is precisely the moments when this discrepancy takes on the greatest magnitude that are called crises, after which the development of the side that lagged behind in the previous period takes place. But each of the parties is preparing the development of the other.

neonatal crisis. Associated with a sharp change in living conditions. A child from comfortable habitual conditions of life gets into difficult ones (new nutrition, breathing). Adaptation of the child to new conditions of life.

Crisis 1 year. It is associated with an increase in the child's capabilities and the emergence of new needs. A surge of independence, the emergence of affective reactions. Affective outbursts as a reaction to misunderstanding on the part of adults. The main acquisition of the transitional period is a kind of children's speech, called L.S. Vygotsky autonomous. It differs significantly from adult speech and sound form. Words become ambiguous and situational.

Crisis 3 years. The boundary between early and preschool years is one of the most difficult moments in a child's life. This is destruction, a revision of the old system of social relations, a crisis in the allocation of one's "I", according to D.B. Elkonin. The child, separating from adults, tries to establish new, deeper relationships with them. The appearance of the phenomenon “I myself”, according to Vygotsky, is a new formation “the external I myself”. "The child is trying to establish new forms of relationship with others - a crisis of social relations."

L.S. Vygotsky describes 7 characteristics of a 3-year crisis. Negativism is a negative reaction not to the action itself, which he refuses to perform, but to the demand or request of an adult. The main motive for action is to do the opposite.

The motivation of the child's behavior changes. At 3 years old, for the first time, he becomes able to act contrary to his immediate desire. The child's behavior is determined not by this desire, but by relationships with another, adult person. The motive for behavior is already outside the situation given to the child. Stubbornness. This is the reaction of a child who insists on something not because he really wants it, but because he himself told adults about it and demands that his opinion be taken into account. Obstinacy. It is directed not against a specific adult, but against the entire system of relations that developed in early childhood, against the norms of upbringing accepted in the family.

The tendency towards independence is clearly manifested: the child wants to do everything and decide for himself. In principle, this is a positive phenomenon, but during a crisis, a hypertrophied tendency towards independence leads to self-will, it is often inadequate to the child's capabilities and causes additional conflicts with adults.

For some children, conflicts with their parents become regular, they seem to be constantly at war with adults. In these cases, one speaks of a protest-revolt. In a family with an only child, despotism may appear. If there are several children in the family, instead of despotism, jealousy usually arises: the same tendency to power here acts as a source of jealous, intolerant attitude towards other children, who have almost no rights in the family, from the point of view of the young despot.

Depreciation. A 3-year-old child may begin to swear (old rules of behavior are depreciated), discard or even break a favorite toy offered at the wrong time (old attachments to things are depreciated), etc. The child's attitude to other people and to himself changes. He is psychologically separated from close adults.

The crisis of 3 years is associated with the awareness of oneself as an active subject in the world of objects, the child for the first time can act contrary to his desires.

Crisis 7 years. It may start at age 7, or it may shift to 6 or 8 years. The discovery of the meaning of a new social position - the position of a schoolchild associated with the implementation of highly valued by adults educational work. The formation of an appropriate internal position radically changes his self-awareness. According to L.I. Bozovic is the period of the birth of social. "I" of the child. A change in self-consciousness leads to a reassessment of values. There are profound changes in terms of experiences - stable affective complexes. It appears that L.S. Vygotsky calls the generalization of experiences. A chain of failures or successes (in studies, in wide communication), each time experienced by the child in approximately the same way, leads to the formation of a stable affective complex - a feeling of inferiority, humiliation, hurt pride or a sense of self-worth, competence, exclusivity. Thanks to the generalization of experiences, the logic of feelings appears. Experiences acquire a new meaning, connections are established between them, it becomes possible fight experiences.

This gives rise to the inner life of the child. The beginning of the differentiation of the external and internal life of the child is associated with a change in the structure of his behavior. A semantic orienting basis of an act appears - a link between the desire to do something and the unfolding actions. This is an intellectual moment that makes it possible to more or less adequately assess the future act in terms of its results and more distant consequences. Semantic orientation in one's own actions becomes an important aspect of inner life. At the same time, it excludes the impulsiveness and immediacy of the child's behavior. Thanks to this mechanism, the childish spontaneity is lost; the child thinks before acting, begins to hide his feelings and hesitations, tries not to show others that he is ill.

A purely crisis manifestation of the differentiation of the external and internal life of children usually becomes antics, mannerisms, artificial stiffness of behavior. These external features, as well as the tendency to whims, affective reactions, conflicts, begin to disappear when the child emerges from the crisis and enters a new age.

Neoplasm - arbitrariness and awareness of mental processes and their intellectualization.

Pubertal crisis (11 to 15 years old) associated with the restructuring of the child's body - puberty. The activation and complex interaction of growth hormones and sex hormones cause intense physical and physiological development. Secondary sexual characteristics appear. Adolescence is sometimes referred to as a protracted crisis. In connection with the rapid development, difficulties arise in the functioning of the heart, lungs, blood supply to the brain. In adolescence, the emotional background becomes uneven, unstable.

Emotional instability enhances the sexual arousal that accompanies puberty.

Gender identity reaches a new, higher level. Orientation to models of masculinity and femininity in behavior and manifestation of personal properties is clearly manifested.

Due to the rapid growth and restructuring of the body in adolescence, interest in one's appearance sharply increases. A new image of the physical "I" is being formed. Because of its hypertrophied significance, the child is acutely experiencing all the flaws in appearance, real and imaginary.

The image of the physical "I" and self-consciousness in general is influenced by the pace of puberty. Children with late maturation are in the least advantageous position; acceleration creates more favorable opportunities for personal development.

A sense of adulthood appears - a feeling of being an adult, the central neoplasm of younger adolescence. There is a passionate desire, if not to be, then at least to appear and be considered an adult. Defending his new rights, a teenager protects many areas of his life from the control of his parents and often comes into conflict with them. In addition to the desire for emancipation, a teenager has a strong need for communication with peers. Intimate-personal communication becomes the leading activity during this period. Adolescent friendships and association in informal groups appear. There are also bright, but usually successive hobbies.

Crisis 17 years (from 15 to 17 years). It arises exactly at the turn of the usual school and new adult life. It can move up to 15 years. At this time, the child is on the threshold of real adulthood.

The majority of 17-year-old schoolchildren are oriented towards continuing their education, a few are looking for work. The value of education is a great blessing, but at the same time, achieving the goal is difficult, and at the end of the 11th grade, emotional stress can increase dramatically.

For those who have been going through a crisis for 17 years, various fears are characteristic. Responsibility to yourself and your family for the choice, real achievements at this time is already a big burden. To this is added the fear of a new life, of the possibility of error, of failure when entering a university, and for young men, of the army. High anxiety and, against this background, pronounced fear can lead to neurotic reactions, such as fever before graduation or entrance exams, headaches, etc. An exacerbation of gastritis, neurodermatitis or other chronic disease.

A sharp change in lifestyle, inclusion in new activities, communication with new people cause significant tension. New life situation needs to be adapted to it. Two factors mainly help to adapt: family support and self-confidence, a sense of competence.

Aspiration to the future. The period of stabilization of the Personality. At this time, a system of stable views on the world and one's place in it is formed - a worldview. Known associated with this youthful maximalism in assessments, passion in defending their point of view. Self-determination, professional and personal, becomes the central new formation of the period.

Crisis 30 years. Around the age of 30, sometimes a little later, most people experience a crisis. It is expressed in a change in ideas about one's life, sometimes in a complete loss of interest in what used to be the main thing in it, in some cases even in the destruction of the former way of life.

The crisis of 30 years arises due to the unrealized life plan. If at the same time there is a “reassessment of values” and a “revision of one's own Personality”, then we are talking about the fact that the life plan turned out to be wrong in general. If life path is chosen correctly, then attachment “to a certain Activity, a certain way of life, certain values and orientations” does not limit, but, on the contrary, develops his Personality.

The crisis of 30 years is often called the crisis of the meaning of life. It is with this period that the search for the meaning of existence is usually associated. This quest, like the whole crisis, marks the transition from youth to maturity.

The problem of meaning in all its variants, from private to global - the meaning of life - arises when the goal does not correspond to the motive, when its achievement does not lead to the achievement of the object of need, i.e. when the goal was set incorrectly. If we are talking about the meaning of life, then the general life goal, i.e. life intention.

Some people in adulthood have another, “unscheduled” crisis, which does not coincide with the border of two stable periods of life, but arises within this period. This so-called crisis 40 years. It's like a repetition of the crisis of 30 years. It occurs when the crisis of 30 years has not led to a proper solution of existential problems.

A person is acutely experiencing dissatisfaction with his life, the discrepancy between life plans and their implementation. A.V. Tolstykh notes that a change in attitude on the part of colleagues at work is added to this: the time when one could be considered “promising”, “promising” is passing, and a person feels the need to “pay bills”.

In addition to the problems associated with professional activity, the crisis of 40 years is often caused by the aggravation of family relations. The loss of some close people, the loss of a very important common side of the life of spouses - direct participation in the lives of children, everyday care for them - contributes to the final understanding of the nature of marital relations. And if, apart from the children of the spouses, nothing significant connects both of them, the family may break up.

In the event of a crisis of 40 years, a person has to once again rebuild his life plan, develop a largely new “I-concept”. Serious changes in life can be associated with this crisis, up to a change in profession and the creation of new family.

Retirement Crisis. First of all, the violation of the habitual regime and way of life has a negative effect, often combined with a sharp sense of contradiction between the remaining ability to work, the opportunity to be useful and their lack of demand. A person turns out to be, as it were, “thrown to the sidelines” of the current life without his active participation in the common life. The decline in one's social status, the loss of the life rhythm that has been preserved for decades sometimes lead to a sharp deterioration in the general physical and mental state and in some cases even a relatively quick death.

The crisis of retirement is often aggravated by the fact that around this time the second generation grows up and begins to live an independent life - grandchildren, which is especially painful for women who have devoted themselves mainly to the family.

Retirement, which often coincides with the acceleration of biological aging, is often associated with a worsening financial situation, sometimes a more secluded lifestyle. In addition, the crisis may be complicated by the death of a spouse, the loss of some close friends.

Describing the psychological characteristics of a person in different periods of his life is an extremely complex and multifaceted task. In this article, the emphasis will be placed on the problems characteristic of certain periods of a person's life, which often underlie anxiety, fears, and other disorders that potentiate the development of crisis states, as well as on the age dynamics of the formation of fear of death.

The problem of understanding the origins of the emergence of a personality crisis and its age-related dynamics have been studied by many authors. Eric Erickson, the creator of the ego-theory of personality, identified 8 stages of psychosocial development of the personality. He believed that each of them is accompanied by a "crisis - a turning point in the life of the individual, which occurs as a result of reaching a certain level of psychological maturity and social requirements for the individual at this stage." Every psychosocial crisis comes with both positive and negative consequences. If the conflict is resolved, then the personality is enriched with new, positive qualities, if not resolved, symptoms and problems arise that may lead to the development of mental and behavioral disorders (E.N. Erikson, 1968).

At the first stage of psychosocial development (birth - 1 year), the first important psychological crisis is already possible, due to insufficient maternal care and rejection of the child. Maternal deprivation underlies “basal distrust”, which further potentiates the development of fear, suspicion, and affective disorders.

At the second stage of psychosocial development (1-3 years), the psychological crisis is accompanied by the appearance of a sense of shame and doubt, which further potentiates the formation of self-doubt, anxious suspiciousness, fears, and an obsessive-compulsive symptom complex.

At the third stage of psychosocial development (3-6 years), the psychological crisis is accompanied by the formation of feelings of guilt, abandonment and worthlessness, which subsequently can cause dependent behavior, impotence or frigidity, personality disorders.

The creator of the concept of birth trauma O. Rank (1952) said that anxiety accompanies a person from the moment of his birth and is due to the fear of death associated with the experience of separation of the fetus from the mother during birth. R. J. Kastenbaum (1981) noted that even very young children experience mental discomfort associated with death and often parents are not even aware of it. A different opinion was held by R. Furman (1964), who insisted that only at the age of 2–3 years can the concept of death arise, since during this period elements of symbolic thinking and primitive
level of assessments of reality.

M. H. Nagy (1948), having studied the writings and drawings of almost 4 thousand children in Budapest, as well as having individual psychotherapeutic and diagnostic conversations with each of them, revealed that children under 5 years of age do not consider death as a final, but as a dream or departure. Life and death for these children were not mutually exclusive. In subsequent research, she revealed a feature that struck her: the children spoke of death as a separation, a kind of boundary. Research by M.C. McIntire (1972), carried out a quarter of a century later, confirmed the revealed feature: only 20% of 5–6 year old children think that their dead animals will come to life and only 30% of children of this age assume that dead animals have consciousness. Similar results were obtained by other researchers (J.E. Alexander, 1965; T.B. Hagglund,
1967; J. Hinton, 1967; S.Wolff, 1973).

B.M. Miller (1971) notes that for a child preschool age the concept of "death" is identified with the loss of the mother and this is often the cause of their unconscious fears and anxiety. Fear of death of parents in mentally healthy preschoolers was observed in 53% of boys and 61% of girls. Fear of one's death was noted in 47% of boys and 70% of girls (A.I. Zakharov, 1988). Suicides in children under 5 years of age are rare, but in the last decade there has been a trend towards their growth.

As a rule, memories of a serious illness that threatens to be fatal at this age remain with the child for life and play a significant role in his future fate. So, one of the “great apostates” of the Vienna psychoanalytic school, psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist Alfred Adler (1870 – 1937), the creator of individual psychology, wrote that at the age of 5 he almost died and in the future his decision to become a doctor , i.e. a person struggling with death was conditioned precisely by these memories. In addition, the experienced event was reflected in his scientific outlook. In the inability to control the timing of death or prevent it, he saw the deepest basis of an inferiority complex.

Children of school age, or stages 4 according to E. Erickson (6-12 years old) acquire knowledge and skills of interpersonal communication at school, which determine their personal significance and dignity. The crisis of this age period is accompanied by the appearance of a feeling of inferiority or incompetence, most often correlated with the child's academic performance. In the future, these children may lose self-confidence, the ability to work effectively and maintain human contacts.

Psychological studies have shown that children of this age are interested in the problem of death and are already sufficiently prepared to talk about it. The word “dead” was included in the dictionary text, and this word was adequately perceived by the overwhelming majority of children. Only 2 out of 91 children deliberately bypassed it. However, if children of 5.5–7.5 years old considered death unlikely for themselves, then at the age of 7.5–8.5 years they recognize its possibility for themselves personally, although the age of its supposed onset varied from “through several years up to 300 years”.

G.P. Koocher (1971) examined the representations of unbelieving children aged 6–15 regarding their supposed state after death. The spread of answers to the question “what will happen when you die?” was distributed as follows: 52% answered that they would be “buried”, 21% that they would “go to heaven”, “I will live even after death”, “I will be subjected to God's punishment”, 19% “organize a funeral”, 7% thought that they would “fall asleep”, 4% - “reincarnate”, 3% - “cremate”. Belief in the personal or universal immortality of the soul after death was found in 65% of believing children aged 8-12 (M.C.McIntire, 1972).

Adolescence (12-18 years), or the fifth stage of psychosocial development, is traditionally considered the most vulnerable to stressful situations and to the emergence of crises. E. Erickson singles out this age period as very important in psychosocial development and considers the development of an identity crisis or role shift, which manifests itself in three main areas of behavior, to be pathognomonic for it:
the problem of choosing a career;
choice of a reference group and membership in it (the reaction of grouping with peers according to A.E. Lichko);
the use of alcohol and drugs, which can temporarily relieve emotional stress and allow you to experience a sense of temporary overcoming of a lack of identity (E.N. Erikson, 1963).

It is during adolescence that the peak of suicides, the peak of experiments with mind-disturbing substances and other life-threatening activities occur. Moreover, adolescents, in the anamnesis of which thoughts of suicide were repeatedly noted, rejected thoughts of his death. Among 13–16 year olds, 20% believed in the preservation of consciousness after death, 60% believed in the existence of the soul, and only 20% believed in death as the cessation of physical and spiritual life.

In youth (or early maturity according to E. Erickson - 20–25 years old), young people are oriented towards obtaining a profession and creating a family. The main problem that may arise during this age period is self-absorption and avoidance of interpersonal relationships, which is the psychological basis for the emergence of feelings of loneliness, existential vacuum and social isolation. If the crisis is successfully overcome, then young people develop the ability to love, altruism, and a moral sense.

In this age period, the needs of self-respect and self-actualization dominate (according to A. Maslow). The time has come to sum up the first results of what has been done in life. E. Erickson believes that this stage of personality development is also characterized by concern for the future well-being of mankind (otherwise, indifference and apathy, unwillingness to take care of others, self-absorption with one's own problems arise).

At this time of life, the frequency of depression, suicide, neuroses, and dependent forms of behavior increases. The death of peers prompts reflection on the finiteness of one's own life. According to various psychological and sociological studies, the topic of death is relevant for 30%–70% of people of this age. Unbelieving forty-year-olds understand death as the end of life, its finale, but even they consider themselves
"a little more immortal than others." This period is also characterized by a sense of disappointment in professional career and family life. This is due to the fact that, as a rule, if the set goals are not realized by the time of maturity, then they are already hardly achievable.

What if they are implemented?

A person enters the second half of life and his previous life experience is not always suitable for solving the problems of this time.

The problem of 40-year-old K.G. Jung devoted his report "Life Frontier" (1984), in which he advocated the creation of "higher schools for forty-year-olds that would prepare them for the future life," because a person cannot live the second half of life according to the same program as the first. As a comparison of the psychological changes that occur in different periods of life in the human soul, he compares it with the movement of the sun, referring to the sun “animated by human feeling and endowed with momentary human consciousness. In the morning it emerges from the night sea of the unconscious, illuminating the wide, colorful world, and the higher it rises in the firmament, the farther it spreads its rays. In this expansion of its sphere of influence, connected with the rising, the sun will see its destiny and see its highest goal in rising as high as possible.

Elderly people (stage of late maturity according to E. Erickson). Studies of gerontologists have established that physical and mental aging depends on the personality characteristics of a person and how he lived his life. G. Ruffin (1967) conditionally distinguishes three types of old age: “happy”, “unhappy” and “psychopathological”. Yu.I. Polishchuk (1994) randomly examined 75 people aged 73 to 92 years. According to the research results, this group was dominated by persons whose condition was qualified as “unhappy old age” - 71%; 21% were persons with so-called “psychopathological old age” and 8% experienced “happy old age”.

“Happy” old age occurs in harmonious individuals with a strong balanced type of higher nervous activity, who have been engaged in intellectual work for a long time and who have not left this occupation even after retirement. The psychological state of these people is characterized by vital asthenia, contemplation, a tendency to remember, peace, wise enlightenment and a philosophical attitude towards death. E. Erickson (1968, 1982) believed that “only someone who somehow took care of affairs and people, who experienced triumphs and defeats in life, who was an inspiration to others and put forward ideas - only he can gradually mature fruits of previous stages. He believed that only in old age does true maturity come and called this period "late maturity." “The wisdom of old age is aware of the relativity of all knowledge acquired by a person throughout his life in one historical period. Wisdom is the awareness of the unconditional significance of life itself in the face of death itself.” Many outstanding personalities created their best works in old age.

The situation was aggravated by the changed political situation: in 1933, fascism came to power in Germany, the ideologists of which did not recognize the teachings of Freud. His books were burned in Germany, and a few years later 4 of his sisters were killed in the ovens of a concentration camp. Shortly before Freud's death, in 1938, the Nazis occupied Austria, confiscating his publishing house and library, property and passport. Freud became a prisoner of the ghetto. And only thanks to a ransom of 100 thousand shillings, which was paid for him by his patient and follower Princess Marie Bonaparte, his family was able to emigrate to England.

“Psychopathological old age” is manifested by age-related organic disorders, depression, hypochondria, psychopathic, neurosis-like, psychoorganic disorders, senile dementia. Very often, such patients have a fear of being in a nursing home.