Personal immaturity or infantilism: mistakes in education. What does an infantile person mean - concept, signs, types of infantilism, how to get rid of infantilism The ability of infantile individuals to avoid duties 13 letters

The majority of adults, accomplished people, recall the past days of their childhood with special warmth and joy. To return, albeit mentally, to this difficult and colorful period, to experience the key moments of growing up and to feel like a pioneer again is an invaluable gift of our memory. But what to do if a person has not overcome the necessary boundaries, remains in captivity of children's ideas about the world and continues to live like an adult child? Is infantilism a problem of modernity or the absence of stereotypes and a powerful potential for development?

- this is childishness, immaturity or underdevelopment of the psyche.
Infantile man - this is a person whose behavior is dominated by immature behavior, unwillingness to take responsibility for oneself and make decisions independently, lack of life goals and the desire to change something in oneself and in one's life as a whole.
Infantile personality disorder refers to the presence in an adult of the traits and behaviors characteristic of a child. Psychologists say that such a disorder occurs most often in their practice and is the basis for other problems in the life of the subject.
This problem became especially acute after 1990, when the system of values in our country underwent a change. Schools ceased to take on the function of education, and parents did not have time for this, because they had to adapt to the new conditions of existence of the emerging state.
Types of infantilism
Mental infantilism(psychological infantilism). Slow child development. His mental qualities are formed late and do not correspond to age. This disorder has nothing to do with mental retardation.
Physiological infantilism. Slowed or disturbed bodily development due to oxygen deprivation or infection of the fetus during pregnancy.

Signs of infantilism
The subject's infantile life manifests itself at different levels of existence: from attitudes towards one's own health to ideas about marriage and the process of creating a family. The character and thinking of an infantile person is not much different from the character and thinking of a child. The immaturity of the subject is manifested both from a psychological and social perspective. We list the following main signs of infantilism, which can manifest themselves both together and separately:
Lack of independence.
Inability to make independent decisions.
Lack of desire to solve problems in an adult way.
Lack of desire to develop.
Lack of goals in life.
Selfishness and self-centeredness.
Unpredictability.
Inadequacy.
Irresponsibility.
Addiction propensity.
dependent tendencies.
Staying in your own world (disturbances of perception).
Difficulty in communication.
Inability to adapt.
Physical inactivity.
Small income.
Lack of social promotion.

Companion and dependent
The Infantes are in no hurry to take responsibility. They hide behind their parents, wives, friends.
playfully
A child from infancy discovers the world through play. The Infant lives for the game: endless parties, online games, excessive shopaholism, frequent change of favorite gadgets (even if he cannot afford them), etc.
An infantile person is closed to his personality, but at the same time he is not used to complex reflections and does not go deep into introspection and introspection. Because of this, it is difficult for him to understand what another person feels, it is difficult to believe that people perceive the world differently. Hence the inability to take into account the interests of others. Therefore, often such people experience certain difficulties in communicating with others. They have a hard time getting in touch. They use the phrase " no body understands me". However, they themselves do not make an effort to understand others.
Lack of life goals
“When will I have grandchildren? What am I striving for? What are you shipping me!? I'm fine as it is! I haven’t walked up yet” - such is the position of an infantile person.

An infantile personality is not able to analyze certain situations and predict their development, does not think about the future, does not make plans. Infantilism is especially well illustrated when a person is not able to build certain strategies in his behavior to solve problems, achieve goals. At the same time, such a person, achieving the goal, tries to avoid complex patterns of behavior (requiring effort and time) accepted in society, and is content only with those results that can satisfy his momentary need. In this way, infantilism is also the inability to build multi-way combinations in behavior.
"Where the legs grow from"
To understand that we have an infantile personality, it is necessary first of all to pay attention to her relationship with her parents. If communication with them is built in an equal manner and the subject takes care of them, then this is a good sign. If there is an active intrusion of parents into the space of the subject, surrounding him with excessive guardianship, manifestation of obsessive behavior, and at the same time the person is not able to interrupt this flow of parental care, transfer their communication to another day and is loyal to such unhealthy attention, then this is a wake-up call, which signals that we have a sort of Peter Pan - a Disney hero who did not want to grow up.
"The main concern in life is to achieve a carefree life"
Signs of infantilism can also be seen in situations where a person constantly strives to shift responsibility onto others. Responsibility is a quality opposite to infantilism. The infantile personality type often demonstrates a carefree behavior, trying on a jester mask, striving to have more fun and entertain others. However, other moods can live inside him, but despite this, he will continue to play the clown, due to the fact that such a role of the “soul of the company” is subject to minimal responsibility.
From a social point of view, an infantile subject will almost always be low-income, he will have difficulty in finding work, in moving up the career ladder.
Even on physiological level infantilism leaves its mark. Such people have a specific facial expression with a touch of contempt or irony. The corners of the lips are lowered, the folds of the nasolabial triangle are frozen as if in disgust for something.
When Infantilism Begins
Psychologists believe that infantilism arises under adverse conditions of upbringing in the period from 8 to 15 years. At the initial stages, the problem of infantility manifests itself in the form of tantrums, manipulation, disobedience to parents, an irresponsible approach to the learning process.
Psychologists believe that the causes of infantility should be sought in childhood, family and upbringing. Sometimes parents, being infantile themselves, set a bad example for their children. They cause the immaturity of the child. Infantility in adults leaves an imprint on their offspring. But also the excessive influence of parents, and other mistakes in education, when a parent seeks to impose strong emotional ties on a child, arbitrarily deprives him of independence, and sometimes even prevents him from expressing his opinion, lead to sad consequences. This behavior is associated primarily with an exaggerated desire to control their children, their fate and development.
Fear for one's offspring in our society sometimes takes grotesque forms, leading to this kind of violation - the complete subordination and fixation of the child's thinking on the parent. On the other hand, there is an ethically unjustified position of the parent in relation to the child, which leads to the appearance of the so-called. Cinderella syndrome. In this case, a person acquires children solely for selfish reasons, deliberately placing the development of the child in the “Procrustean bed” of serving himself or his ideas.
The constant pressure of this kind, elevated to the Absolute, smoothly flows into the adult life of a person. It is very difficult for parents to readjust and stop seeing their child in an already adult person and change the above behaviors associated with him. Mother or father continues to follow him relentlessly, bombarding him with calls, loading him with hundreds of tips, getting into his personal life. A full-fledged personality meets such aggressive guardianship with stiff resistance. However, an infantile person accepts and easily reconciles with her, justifying such an invasion of personal space with parental love. In fact, there is a substitution of concepts, and "love for parents" hides the fear of responsibility and independence.

Sooner or later, an erroneous approach to education will lead to the association of a parent and a child. The psychological space of the first will gradually merge with the psychological space of the second, uniting two separate social and psychological units “I” and “she” (“he”) into one single “we”. An infantile person will not be able to act separately, outside of this bundle.
However, the modern problem of infantility is also a problem of lack of time. Raising a child requires constant focus on its development. Not all parents can afford it due to constant employment. In this case, parental influence is replaced by other things:
watching movies,
computer,
listening to music.
etc.

Such a substitute for upbringing does not bring much benefit, but, on the contrary, develops in the child the illusion of permissiveness, a manipulative approach to others.
Psychologists are also throwing stones at the garden of the modern school education system. According to experts, today's schools are "crippling children." Each person has a so-called. sensitive periods in development, when he is most open to perceiving the information he needs and learning the necessary skills (upright walking, speech, etc.). The school period, which coincides with the sensitive period of assimilation of social norms (from 7 to 14 years old), is unfortunately considered unfavorable for growing up.
Today's schools concentrate exclusively on knowledge of general subjects, discarding the process of education. The teenager does not get the necessary idea of " what is good and what is bad". Such a gap in the moral formation of a person reinforces infantile patterns, ultimately leading to immaturity. From the age of 14, a sensitive period begins, in which a person strives for independence. The school bench again does not allow him to realize this desire, limiting it to the framework of education. Thus, missed periods of personality formation lead to desocialization and lack of independence - the main signs of infantilism.
How infantilism manifests itself in men, women, children
Infantilism has gender differentiation. Both men and women can suffer from it. Experts say that male infantilism is no different from female. The bulk of the differences in the manifestation of infantilism among the sexes and different age groups lies in the social views on these groups.
Sexual sign of infantilism takes place: both a man and a woman can be infantile. In this case, the symptomatology of the problem has few differences, however, it acquires its own characteristics, if you look at it through the prism of social attitudes. Society makes more demands on a man. Infantile man more often condemned in society than infantile woman (compare the phraseological units "sissy" and "daddy's daughter" and pay attention to the presence of a greater negative connotation in the first in relation to the second).
Infantilism in men indicates an unreliable economic condition, an inability to find a soul mate, create a family and provide for it.
People around women often turn a blind eye to infantilism in women, and sometimes they encourage the girl to be a little child. This is due to the fact that it is often pleasant for a man to be in the company of a dependent woman, who needs to be taken care of, thereby strengthening and emphasizing his status as an earner and the reputation of a leader. And a woman, in turn, is often impressed by the role of a dependent and driven woman, who has her own “owner”, which greatly facilitates her existence in terms of decision-making and corresponds to the gender role that has been established in society.
Infantilism in children
However, the beginnings of immaturity can be seen in the child. Infantilism is something that should be inherent in children and this is quite in line with the norm. Nevertheless, one can predict a trend towards the transfer of this condition into adulthood if one pays attention to the attitude of parents towards their child. If he constantly evades obligations and responsibilities, and his parents indulge him in this, then there is every chance that he will grow up immature. Also, the predominance of the game sphere over the educational one in the life of a child can adversely affect his development.
Infantilism in children, which manifests itself during study, can alert teachers. In this case, they talk about the presence of prerequisites that signal a problem with growing up. These factors include the predominance of game motives in the classroom, restlessness, difficulty in concentrating, emotional instability, emotional immaturity, hysteria. Often such children cannot get involved in the general work in the lesson: they ask abstract questions, do not complete assignments. Their social circle consists of children younger than themselves. This may indicate a slow development of the child (psychological infantilism) and lead to problems in the formation of the personality. Such children often become withdrawn, suffer from neuroses.
Infantilism - is it a problem or not?!
Psychologists do not allow themselves to be led into temptation in order to somehow justify infantilism. For them, this is not a separate way of life, not a different view of the world, and even less belonging to any subculture. According to experts, this is precisely the problem, characterized primarily by the inability to achieve success in the self-realization of the individual in certain social frameworks.
It is worth noting that despite the unsuitability for adult life, such people often demonstrate high creative potential. The infantile way of life, which often takes place against the background of the absence of any framework and self-restraints, stimulates the work of the right hemisphere of the brain in humans. Increased activity of the creative center leads to daydreaming, immersion in fantasies. Such people can be good artists or musicians.
"Children can't have children." Sergey Shnurov about infantilism and who a mature man is.
How childishness manifests itself in a relationship
Any contacts of an infantile person with psychologically mature people will cause irritation on their part and lead to conflicts. An established personality expects from its environment the same adequate actions that guide itself. An immature subject, who is not distinguished by the ability to clearly perceive the world around him and adapt to circumstances, will cause some difficulties in communicating with himself and even irritation in relation to himself in a full-fledged personality.
The wrong upbringing strategy leaves an indelible mark on the human psyche. Therefore, when communicating with people, such a person will unconsciously reach out to those who will take the position of a parent in relation to him. Indeed, in other cases, his infantilism in a relationship will only run into conflicts.
So, for example, when looking for a mate, infantile boys or girls will first of all seek to find a second mother or second father, respectively (often their parents do this for them, acting as a matchmaker). If they succeed, and a partner who will fully play the role they need is found, then we can talk about a successful combination of circumstances.

Usually the chosen ones of such people are older, socially active individuals. However, in this case, the conflict will not disappear. It automatically flows into the plane of relations between the new "mother" or the new "dad" with the biological parents of the infantile subject. Between them, a competitive struggle for custody of the "child" may unfold. The winners of this struggle are usually real mothers or fathers who manage to push back wives or husbands and take their usual dominant position over their child. Naturally, in this case, the conflict will also affect the young family, often leading to its collapse.
An infantile person is well aware of his situation and the problems that follow from it. In part, he even admits that he lives an inferior life and does not deny the suffering he experiences associated with this. However, psychologists believe that no immature subject would ever change on its own. It is difficult for him to take independent steps towards positive changes, to leave his comfort zone.
How to deal with infantilism? Psychologists say that it is useless to try to change such people for non-specialists. If mothers and fathers did not accustom the child to independence at the stages when these foundations are laid, and their child grew up as an insecure and helpless person, then only a psychologist can help here.

Therefore, if the problem was detected in the early stages (during adolescence), then you should not delay a visit to a specialist. Positive changes can only be achieved through group consultations with a psychologist. Moreover, the older the person, the harder it will be for him to change.
In order not to bring this problem to the psychologist's office, parents must properly organize the process of education. There are techniques that psychologists share, telling how to get rid of infantilism:
Consult with the child, ask his opinion, discuss certain problems. Discuss the family budget together. This will increase his confidence, make it clear that he is on an equal footing with his parents, both in terms of rights and in terms of responsibility.
Don't let your child close into a comfort zone. Find out what difficulties he is experiencing. From time to time, create a situation in which he will experience difficulties so that he can overcome them on his own.
Send your child to the sports section. Children involved in sports, according to statistics, become more responsible and purposeful.
Encourage your child to socialize with peers and older people.
Work on the bugs. Explain in which situations the child was right and in which he was not.
Avoid thinking in terms of "we" in relation to children. Divide this concept into "I" and "you". This will allow them to be more independent.
Children's infantilism can be corrected by medication. A psychoneurologist can prescribe drugs (nootropics) that improve brain activity, memory, and concentration.

Here are some tips from a psychologist that will show how to grow up as a man or how to grow up a girl:
Realize, accept the fact that you are an infantile person.
Deliberately putting yourself in a situation that requires you to make your own decision: to get a job where there will be some responsibility.
Get a pet that you will have to take care of and take care of. This will lead to a gradual habituation to responsibility.
Ask loved ones not to indulge their infantilism.
Get out of your comfort zone - move to another city, start a new life.

Today, in our country there is a clear bias towards women's education. A woman teaches us at school, at home - mother and grandmother, at the university women teachers predominate ... The image of a man, father, protector, breadwinner and the war is coming to naught, which is bearing fruit - boys are not able to make decisions, marry late, get divorced, cannot build a career.
Solution: you need to restore the harmony of masculine and feminine. Scold the father on the sidelines, but not in front of the child. Give the child the opportunity to solve life's problems on his own: offer the kid himself to decide which shoes to wear for a walk, let the teenager help you nail or decide where to hang a shelf for him.

It has long been discovered that three hypostases live in us:
child,
adult,
parent.

Each of these aspects of the personality requires manifestation from time to time in order for a person to feel comfortable. However, if you focus on one of them, it will not bring happiness. Living life while staying young at heart is part of an achievement. Nevertheless, for a fulfilling life, one cannot play the role of only a child, turning into an infant, or forever occupy the position of a parent, becoming a strict controller. This world lives by its own rules, to which it is our duty to adapt. However, such adaptation is possible only if a balance is maintained between our hypostases.
Why are there more and more infantile men and women.

22 22 456 0

When you watch the American film Stepbrothers, the absurdity of the situation that underlies the plot becomes ridiculous. The main characters are two forty-year-old men who live with their parents, do not work, are completely financially dependent on their father and mother and behave like small children.

However, in life, such a situation, albeit not in such a hypertrophied form, is often encountered. An adult can live separately, have a job, even a family - and still remain infantile. What is infantilism, how to get rid of it and is it worth it - you will find some tips in our article.

Usually, the term "infantilism" means the immaturity of a person's behavior, the preservation of traits that correspond not to his age, but to earlier age periods.

We can talk not only about psychological infantilism, but also about physiological, legal, social.

Infantile teenagers, and then adults, are usually the result of upbringing.

In particular, the emergence of infantilism is associated with the fact that in adolescence, parents did not allow a person to make their own decisions, completely took full responsibility for all areas of his life, and stopped any attempts to show independence.

It is important to understand that there are several types of infantilism, and some of its forms can lead to psychopathy. Therefore, if any features in the behavior of the child alarm parents, it is important to contact specialists for advice.

Both men and women can be infantile. However, this feature is more obvious when it comes to representatives of the strong half of humanity. Since it is from them that society and most women expect perseverance, confidence, and the ability to solve difficult life situations. A soft woman who does not want to grow up is usually taken lightly, and men are often called and bypassed by the tenth road.

Infantile people are usually naive and careless.
Often they do not want to start a family, because this is an excessive responsibility.
Can't get a good job.
They have superficial interests and are not serious about relationships, not only love, but also friendship.
Often they cannot control their interests - for example, they play computer games for hours. Of course, quite independent people also have such hobbies, but they can control their addictions, understand that it’s time for business, and it’s an hour for fun.

Infantile people have only their own “want” and no boring “shoulds”.

Leave your comfort zone

Interested in how to get rid of infantilism, it is important to understand that this is the path of growing up. The key difference between an adult and a child is the degree of freedom and degree of responsibility. Therefore, in order to mature, it is important to achieve two main results:

Take responsibility for your life.
Reclaim your freedom, if necessary.

And for this you have to leave your comfort zone - not daily, but every minute.

Own Solutions

An infantile person does not know how or does not want to make decisions himself, preferring to give this responsibility to others. Usually - to parents, and then the role of mom and dad can be played, for example, by a wife or husband. It can reach the point of absurdity: such people call their parents to ask for advice, several times a day; ask their mother what to wear; cannot decide which job to choose if the parent does not approve it; will not meet with a person if the family does not like him, etc.

A person can consult, listen, compromise, but still decisions and responsibility for them are the lot of adult men and women.

Solve your own problems

Infantilism is brought up from an early age. And that might be convenient. For example, in early childhood, a mother solved her son’s conflicts in the sandbox, and she herself went to school to deal with hooligans and teachers who offended him, at the institute she ran to the dean’s office to ask why her genius was given a B in the exam. When an overgrown child goes to work, a logical continuation suggests itself - if the boss deprives the bonus, the mother will also have to deal with this issue.

It sounds strange, but the situation when a mother calls employers, asking if she and her son can come for an interview, is quite possible and occurs in real life.

Adult men and women decide their own issues. Even if it’s scary, lazy and it’s not clear where to start working on the problem. To grow up, you need to calmly but persistently refuse parental offers to help.

Own territory

Being interested in the question of how to get rid of infantilism for a woman or a man, it is important to understand: it is difficult to be an adult and independent when mom collects socks scattered around the room in the morning to wash them, and dad tells what programs to watch on TV.

To grow up, it is optimal to start your territory.

Of course, given the situation with real estate prices, this advice for most is an empty phrase.

If there is absolutely no opportunity to move, it is advisable to win back your territory in a common house. For example, in your own room: take out an old chest of drawers and a gramophone, furnish the room to your liking, maybe even install a lock.

personal money

It is impossible to be an adult, begging mom and dad for money for travel, manicures or beer. An adult is a financially independent person, period.

Alas, today there are often very different variations of adult boys and girls who do not want to work, relying on their parent's salary or even a pension.

There can be a thousand explanations:

Man is looking for himself and his vocation;
he is not hired anywhere;
he is very talented, but no one recognizes his genius yet, etc.

Of course, there are practically no real reasons why healthy people cannot work. You can search for your calling by standing behind the counter in the store, and not sitting at home and looking sadly out the window. Writing a brilliant novel - in the evenings after work at a gas station. But the problem of “they don’t hire anywhere” is quite real - the labor market can be overflowing with specialists of this profile ... But in order to have the moral right to say so, you need to respond to vacancies day and night and run through interviews, and not plunge into philosophical reflections about the impossibility of finding a job without even bothering to write a resume.

Conclusion

Being an adult and realizing that you still have not got rid of infantilism, do not despair: the situation can be changed. If a person has realized his peculiarity, he is already on the path to success. One should not hope that today a person cannot decide what color to choose a tie, and tomorrow it will become the embodiment of independence. You need to set yourself up for long-term painstaking work, and start with the little things. Deciding what to eat for breakfast, how to drive to work, what to say... These small decisions and successes will lead to big ones - the ability to manage your lifestyle, relationships, feelings. If necessary and possible, it is always useful to turn to someone who will help you go this way.

Eternal children, dependent and naive, avoiding responsibility - all these are the characteristics of an infant. Infantilism is the result of the destructive. What kind of actions educate the infantile, who are the infants, how do they and those around them live? Let's figure it out.

Infantilism - personal immaturity, developmental delay, stuck in previous stages of development. An infant is called an adult or teenager with childlike features in behavior or appearance.

The infants lag behind in the development of the emotional-volitional sphere, they are not able to make serious life decisions, avoid responsibility, and react childishly to difficulties (whims, tears, screams, insults).

What about the relationship between adults and children exist? First of all, the social difference in positions is recognized, which means that children are pitied, they are forgiven a lot, they are not beaten, they do not wait for a constructive resolution, they do not demand anything important and they do not expect much - “a child, what to take from him”. So the infant puts on this mask so that they don’t touch him, don’t offend him, don’t sort things out, defend him, give way.

Both men and women are susceptible to infantilism, but it is more common in the former. Is there among your acquaintances a "child" of 30-40 (or 20) years old, living with mom and dad, sitting on their neck? This is a real infant. Older children rarely start families, often tired parents begin to offer their child one or another option, but he is already fine: they will feed him, wash the dishes, wash and buy clothes. If the marriage can be concluded, then the role of mother falls on the shoulders of the wife. The husband plays the computer, eats, sleeps, sometimes works, but in family relationships he plays the role of a child.

Female infantilism is more often manifested in burning life, going to clubs, karaoke, casinos. Adult girls avoid having children, marriage, housekeeping. They are supported either by parents or "sponsors".

Infant or creative person?

Infantilism is often confused with. Non-standard, spontaneous people who love everything bright, unusual, new are called infantile. However, this is far from the case. Creative personalities have infantile traits (otherwise a person would not be able to use and create so actively), but they are not infants if this does not interfere with their life and relationships.

How to distinguish a creative person from an infantile one? The first, no matter how she looks, and no matter what she is fond of, is responsible for herself and other people, independently earns a living, pays her bills on time, does not forget to eat and take care of her appearance, knows how to resolve conflicts and discuss problems. Behind pink hair, a unicorn sweater and a cartoon lover may be the most responsible and diligent person you know. And for those around him, he is the best support.

The Infanta, on the other hand, always needs someone to take care of. He does not know how to keep track of time, his appearance, life. The Infante is not able to speak openly about his needs (let them guess), to provide for himself. He tries to remake people and refuses to work on himself and relationships. By the way, his wardrobe and hairstyle can be the most conservative.

Signs of an infant

Recognizing an infantile person is easy, because everyone knows how children behave. Here the infant seems to be an adult, but himself:

(there is only his opinion and wrong, only his feelings, needs and interests; the world revolves around his personality);
playful (the game is the leading activity in childhood, it also remains predominant in the infant, this means not only games directly or virtual space, but also clubs, bars, entertainment, shopping);
dependent (poorly developed in the infant, he follows the path of less resistance and life in pleasure, avoids solving problems);
irresponsible (categorically denies responsibility for their actions and life, shifts it to others (as a rule, these people are easily found);
insolvent (lives one day, does not think about the future, health and material well-being);
unable to evaluate and know himself (the infant does not know how to learn from the events that have happened and accumulate experience);
prone to dependency (inability or unwillingness to serve themselves).

Causes of infantilism

Infantilism is laid in childhood, when parents:

forbid the child to show independence, especially during the period;
do not trust the child, overly control and patronize;
severely punished for disobedience (manifestation of independence), which discourages the desire to try to do something yourself;
suppress the will, feelings and personality of the child (convince him of insolvency, criticize, compare with others in a negative way);
do not want to recognize the growing up of the child, let go of themselves;
force the child to realize the unfulfilled dreams and ambitions of the parents;
they cultivate the personality of the child, indulge him, bring him up as an idol of the family (a conviction is formed in superiority over others, permissiveness).

In addition, being stuck in childhood can be a defensive reaction, a way to survive. For example, the divorce of parents or a childhood lost for another reason can provoke infantilism.

In each person, according to, live a child, an adult and a parent. In the infanta, the conflict between the parent and the child reigns, which results in children's reactions of opposition.

How to get rid

To get rid of infantilism, it is not necessary to contact a psychologist. Sometimes his help is required, but we are talking about special cases caused by severe psychological trauma. Otherwise, you can adjust the behavior yourself:

Learn rationality. The infantile man lives. Make it a rule not to make decisions right away. Set a time limit (for example, 5 minutes) during which you must analyze the situation.
Learn to understand other people's feelings. Every day, force yourself to be interested in the opinions of other people, especially in controversial situations. You do not have to take someone else's point of view, but you must be able to hear and understand it.
Get rid of egocentrism. You are not the only person on the planet. You do not need to sacrifice yourself, but you need to develop a sound and. All social relationships are built on mutual respect and concessions.
Move away from the position of “want or don’t want”, get acquainted with the terms “should” and “should”. Each person has not only desires and rights, but also duties. Ask your family what responsibilities you have.
Before talking about yourself, take an interest in the affairs of another person, ask if he is tired after a working day, how his day went. Infantes talk more than they listen.
Learn to make decisions. Not only your own life will help in this, but also the events of films or articles, world current topics. Every day, analyze some case in relation to yourself.
Learn to plan your day, week, month, coming years. Make a to-do list right now.
Learn to set immediate and distant goals, determine your capabilities and ways to achieve these goals.
Prioritize with far-reaching perspectives. What do you want to become? What do you need for this? What do you need to donate? Every time you're torn between want and need, make a list of gains and losses for both. What ultimately outweighs the value, then choose.
Provide yourself with a stable source of income, rent a house, think about buying your own house (apartment). If you live with someone, make a daily contribution: clean, cook meals, help financially, etc.
Ask family and friends to help you grow up: to trust, not to rush to the rescue without asking, not to make decisions for you. You need to be in order to learn to take responsibility for your life. Close people are needed for support so that the infant does not drink himself or die in another way, but you need to stop living life for him. I have a toothache? The infant must himself make an appointment with the doctor and go to the appointment. Doesn't go? So, the tooth does not hurt so much. Delayed treatment, and the tooth needs to be removed? This is an experience. The main thing at such moments is not to attack others (“You see what you brought yourself to again”), but to support (“Yes, it turned out badly, but now you know what you need to do, and you won’t let it happen next time”) .
Get rid of romanticism, nihilism and cynicism. Realism is necessary for a productive life, but one can become a realist only through practice, through personal experience.

Forget old grievances, get rid of the fear of failure and criticism. Parents offended you because they themselves were deeply unhappy and. All people make mistakes. Ask people you know about their mistakes and the lessons they learned. Mistakes are very useful things. They help to develop, become smarter and more interesting.

The infantilism of a child is the fruit of the efforts of the parents. To recover, you need to separate from your mother and (or) father, and not so much physically (to move) and financially (to find a job), but psychologically. Infantile people always hear the voice of a critical or protective parent in their head, even if the parent himself is not alive. As long as the inner parent persists, tension persists, which means the desire to go into one's own world or reproduce old childish behavior patterns.

- a psychopathological condition based on a delay in the pace of emotional and personal development. It is manifested by childishness, immaturity of behavior, inability to make decisions, to make a choice independently. Among schoolchildren, gaming interests predominate, learning motivation is weak, it is difficult to adopt rules of conduct and disciplinary requirements. Diagnostics includes clinical and psychological methods, is aimed at studying the features of the emotional-volitional and personal spheres, social relationships, and the level of adaptation. Treatment is symptomatic, involves medication, psychotherapy and counseling.

General information

The term "infantilism" comes from the Latin language, meaning "infantile, childish." Mental infantilism is understood as a discrepancy between behavior, emotional reactions, volitional functions and age requirements. In everyday life, infantile people are called people who are distinguished by naivety, dependence, insufficient possession of general household skills. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) singles out a separate nosological unit - infantile personality disorder. In addition, mental infantilism is a symptom of neuroses, psychopathy, reactions to stress. The prevalence among children reaches 1.6%, the ratio of boys and girls is approximately equal.

Causes of mental infantilism

The prerequisites for mental infantility are pathologies of the nervous and endocrine systems, hereditary predisposition, and improper upbringing. Risk factors include:

Mild brain damage. Mental infantilism often develops after exposure to adverse prenatal, natal and postnatal factors. These include infections, intoxication, trauma, hypoxia, asphyxia.
Mental disorders . In children with mental retardation, autism, schizophrenia, mental retardation, the risk of mental infantilism is higher. The syndrome is formed on the basis of social maladaptation.
Hereditary burden. There are genetic and constitutional features that are passed on to the child from the parents. The rate of maturation of cortical structures, metabolic processes, inertia of the nervous system are the factors influencing the formation of infantilism.
Parenting style. The development of infantilism is facilitated by the restriction of the freedom of the child, increased parental control. Mental immaturity is the result of overprotection or despotic upbringing.

Pathogenesis

There are three variants of the pathogenesis of mental infantilism. The first is based on the delayed development of the frontal lobes of the brain responsible for the formation of motives, purposeful behavior, programming, regulation and control of mental activity. The reasons are objective factors - trauma, intoxication, infection. The second variant of pathogenesis is general psychophysical immaturity. Developmental delay is determined in the frontal and other parts of the brain. Immaturity is total: the child is miniature, looks younger than his age, the behavior corresponds to the appearance. The third option is an artificial delay in socialization by a disharmonious style of upbringing. The development of frontal functions is hampered by hyperprotection, excessive care, and total control.

Classification

Etiologically, the disorder is divided into congenital and acquired. A more detailed classification distinguishes 4 types of mental infantilism:

Organic. Occurs when the CNS is damaged. It is the result of traumatic brain injury, asphyxia, infectious disease, intoxication. Mental immaturity is accompanied by mild psychoorganic syndrome.
Somatogenically conditioned. It is observed in endocrine diseases, chronic debilitating diseases, lesions of internal organs. Mental immaturity is formed against the background of symptoms of the underlying pathology, asthenic manifestations.
Psychogenic conditioned. It develops as a result of pampering upbringing, hyperprotection or despotic attitude. Another name is psychological infantilism.

Another classification is based on the features of the clinical picture. There are two types of mental infantilism:

Total. The child lags behind in height, weight, physical and mental development. Appearance, behavior, emotions correspond to an earlier age.
Partial. The immaturity of the psyche is combined with normal, advanced physical development. The child is unbalanced, irritable, dependent on adults.

Symptoms of mental infantilism

Mental immaturity is manifested by the lack of stability of attention, hasty unreasonable judgments, inability to analyze, build a plan, control activities. Behavior carefree, frivolous, self-centered. There is a tendency to fantasize. Understanding, accepting norms and rules is difficult, children often do not know the concepts of “should”, “should not”, do not keep a social distance when communicating with strangers, adults. The inability to assess the situation, change behavior according to external conditions reduces adaptive capacity.

Children are hard to adapt to the educational institution, duplicate classes. Often a child of preschool age remains in the nursery group, the younger student - in the preparatory group of the kindergarten. There is no mental retardation: patients start talking in time, ask questions, draw, sculpt from plasticine, assemble construction sets in accordance with age norms. Intellectual delay is formed a second time, on the basis of maladjustment in society, manifests itself during the period of schooling. The emotional sphere is characterized by instability: the prevailing cheerfulness is abruptly replaced by crying, anger in case of failures. Negative states pass quickly. Purposeful desire to cause harm, revenge does not arise. Emotions are unrestrained, superficial, pantomime is lively, expressive. True deep feelings are not formed.

The egocentric orientation of the personality is manifested by the desire to be in the center of attention, to receive praise, admiration from others. With disharmonious mental infantilism, children are perceived by their peers as equals, but communication does not add up. Gradually, isolation arises, exacerbating the hysterical features of the infantile. Children with total infantilism make friends a year or two younger. Peers show a desire to care, protect. Socialization is more successful than with partial infantilism.

Complications

The main complication of mental infantilism is social maladaptation. It occurs due to the inability to accept social norms, control behavior, assess the situation. Neurotic and personality disorders are formed: depression, anxiety, hysteroid psychopathy. The lag in emotional development leads to a secondary intellectual delay. Concrete-effective and visual-figurative thinking prevails, a tendency to an imitative type of activity when performing intellectual tasks, insufficient purposefulness of mental activity, weakness of logical memory. By the middle classes, educational failure is manifested.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of mental infantilism is performed at preschool and senior school age. The reason for going to doctors is the difficulty of adapting the child to the conditions, regimen, workload of educational institutions. The examination includes:

An interview with a psychiatrist. The specialist conducts a survey: clarifies the symptoms, their duration, severity, features of adaptation to school, kindergarten. Notes the behavioral and emotional reactions of the child: adequacy, the ability to keep a distance, maintain a productive conversation.
Drawing tests. The techniques "Drawing of a man", "House, tree, man", "Non-existent animal" are used. Infantilism is manifested by the inability to keep the instruction, the humanization of the animal, the simplification of elements (straight trunk, hands) and other signs. The results are informative when examining preschoolers, younger schoolchildren.
Situation interpretation tests. The methods "PAT", "CAT", the Rosenzweig frustration test are used. The perception of situations as playful, comic, funny is characteristic. It is difficult to explain the thoughts and feelings of people in the pictures. Methods are used to examine schoolchildren of various ages.
Questionnaires. The use of the Leonhard-Shmishek Character Accentuation Questionnaire, a pathocharacterological diagnostic questionnaire, is widespread. According to the results, emotional instability, features of hysteroid, hyperthymic types are determined. The tests are suitable for diagnosing mental infantilism in patients older than 10-12 years.

The differential diagnosis of mental infantilism is carried out with oligophrenia, autism, behavioral disorders. The difference from mental retardation is the ability for abstract-logical thinking, the ability to use help, to transfer acquired knowledge to new situations. The distinction with autism is based on an assessment of social relationships: the child needs them, but establishes them with difficulty. Behavioral disorders are characterized by a wide variety of manifestations, progressive dynamics. Mental infantilism can be a prerequisite for psychopathy, a symptom of oligophrenia, autism.

Treatment of mental infantilism

Therapeutic measures are determined by the causes, the form of the disorder. With somatogenic and organic mental infantilism, efforts are aimed at eliminating the underlying disease, with psychogenic - at psychotherapeutic correction. An integrated approach includes:

Forecast and prevention

Total mental infantilism has the most favorable prognosis: with psychological and pedagogical support, the child gradually becomes independent, active, and shows interest in research and creativity. Symptoms of the disorder disappear by 10-11 years of age. The disharmonious form of the syndrome requires a deeper and longer medical and psychological intervention, is associated with the risk of cognitive deficits, psychopathic personality development. The basis of prevention is proper education, orientation of parents to the actual needs of the child, the zone of his proximal development. It is necessary to encourage the child to be independent, to set an example of an adequate experience of failures, to focus on achieving goals.

total:0
In contact with 0
Google Plus 0
OK 0
Facebook 0