What is mental infantilism. Infantilism: what is it, symptoms and treatment of this disorder. Risk factors for development

Mental infantilism is the immaturity of thought processes, the main component of which is the avoidance of responsibility and independent decision-making due to mental retardation. Such people, as a rule, do not have any goals and plans in relation to their future life. Psychological infantilism differs from mental in that such a person has good abstract thinking, has a good ability to learn, but, for some reason, there was a “breakdown” of attitudes. Often such infantilism occurs at the age of 18-20, it is during this period that the first adult decisions of the child occur (entering college, hiring, etc.).

Recently, social infantilism has become increasingly common - the underdevelopment of the individual as a separate individual due to constant strife in society. An example would be excessive custody of your child, when a beloved parental child has never made independent decisions in his life, but, as an adult, is literally “lost” in the vast world due to a misconception about him. Psychological immaturity creates stereotypical thinking: "My parents took care of me, and other people will." On a subconscious level, an immature person is looking for an adult and responsible spouse as a couple, so that he can solve all the problems himself.

Infantile personality disorder is already a persistent symptom complex that has been formed in an adult for years and leads to an acute need to satisfy one's needs through other people.

There are several types of infantilism:

• Mental. Due to mental failure due to mental retardation;
• Psychological. Formed under the influence of stressful situations;
• Physiological. Violation of bodily development due to the pathology of pregnancy, intrauterine infection.

The reasons

• genetic predisposition;
• Strict upbringing. Constantly following parental instructions, being under parental control discourages the child from doing something himself;
• Infantile people, being children, are subjected to constant guardianship from childhood. Adults “cut off” the child from the real world, solve all issues for him, do not allow him to make independent decisions. A persistent personality defect is formed by the age of 16-18 and does not allow a teenager to feel like an adult;
• "Love" hunger. Paradoxically, an excess or, on the contrary, a lack of parental affection gradually form an infantile personality;
• The complete lack of control over the fate of the child in the form of lack of time. Parents cannot be replaced, but in infantile families you can often see a child playing a computer or watching TV around the clock;
• Infantilism can be either a separate pathological condition or a consequence of other diseases. So, there is an anancaste personality disorder, which manifests itself in an obsessive desire to do something, stubbornness, perfectionism and a tendency to doubt. An immature person can have several disorders at once, so it is necessary to find out which one is the leading one.

Clinical picture

The word "infantility" from Latin means "childish", which determines the manifestations of this condition:

• Inability to make independent decisions;
• Avoidance of responsibility;
• Lack of plans in relation to life;
• selfishness;
• Emotional unpredictability;
• Violation of the perception of the surrounding world;
• Inability to perceive other people's emotions;
• Sedentary lifestyle;
• Usually poor results in career growth due to unwillingness to work;
• Irrational spending of money (an infant would rather spend money on a new phone than buy food for himself, etc.).

An infantile girl is looking for a wealthy adult man, thereby trying to make up for the defect of parental love and get what she wants.

An immature man will look for a wife to take care of him like his own mother. In his view, the wife is obliged to fulfill all the duties of the house and to please his beloved at the mere wave of a finger of the brush. The infant man himself is not particularly tense, does not look for work, or does not stay on it for a long time.

Infantilism in adults

Infantilism in adults is equally common in both men and women. The causes of this condition are the same, but the manifestations may differ slightly. Again, infantile personality disorder occurs due to excessive social pressure. “A man is a breadwinner, a man must…” and “A woman is a breadwinner, a woman must…” are equivalent for both sexes and make them run away from themselves and their responsibility. Male infantilism can also be associated with an unfavorable economic environment, constant failures on the love front, unwillingness to make decisions because of parents who are always ready to do everything themselves. Female infantilism sometimes has more blurred boundaries. Thus, society to some extent encourages childish behavior. Moreover, men who meet such women often feel like real protectors and earners, which plays into the hands of both the girl and her soulmate. Infantile men are looking for strong-willed and strong women who will be able to do everything around the house and take responsibility for raising a “big child”. By analogy with infantile women, such men often create an alliance with halves older than themselves, again, giving their chosen one what she wants to see. If a girl often pays attention to the fact that her boyfriend behaves like a child, this may indicate that a woman is not ready to start a family with this particular person, since, in fact, the girl herself is, to some extent, an immature person and requires a serious attitude towards her because of the need for a strong protector.

The problem of infantilism in children

Childish infantilism can be a variant of the norm, because during this period of time the child is formed as a person, tries something new for himself and discovers the sides of his character. Childishness is acceptable and even welcomed if the child takes part in social life, is responsible for his actions and is capable of learning. It is clear that the baby, being an unformed and immature personality, on a subconscious level, will not yet be able to learn absolutely all the moral aspects of adult life, but parents must explain what needs to be done and what not, otherwise such upbringing will not bring anything but disappointment as parents as well as the child. As a rule, infantilism develops gradually, in addition to academic failure, restlessness, emotional lability, and a tendency to tantrums appear. The social circle of children - infants often includes younger children, which indicates a slow development. However, this condition is reversible and successfully stopped when the child talks with parents and a psychologist if necessary.

An infantile child often achieves great success in creativity, which is due to the good development of the right hemisphere of the brain.

Infantilism in a relationship

An immature person subconsciously reaches out to those who will replace his parent. She will look after him, accept all his shortcomings and cherish. Given the peculiar perception of reality, it is difficult for an infant to find friends and a soul mate, and modern society is pushing people to the fact that there are more and more individuals with an infantile temperament. The search for a "new mom or dad" leads to conflict, aggression from real parents. An infantile husband in no time will be able to leave his wife on the instructions of his mother or father.

If a man behaves like a child, then this is unlikely to change if his parents are nearby, striving for dominance over their child.

Treatment

Many people wonder how to get rid of infantilism. And the whole problem is that the infant man perfectly understands that he needs help, but he is not able to change himself. If an individual is in adolescence, he can still be influenced by a change in parenting, change his attitude towards the child, lower or vice versa raise the bar, help him get on his feet and send him to adulthood already prepared. If the infant has long been formed as a person, he needs to turn to a psychologist, otherwise this problem cannot be eliminated.

The treatment of infantilism is based on conversations and the laying of a model of parenting in childhood. Everything else: sedatives, mood stabilizers, nootropics, antidepressants, etc. are taken to relieve symptoms in the event that a person develops any disorders of the neurotic or mental spectrum.

Prevention

It is much more difficult to cure infantilism than to carry out preventive measures. Parents need:

• Have regular conversations with your child. Ask about problems, affairs, be interested in his opinion;
• Explain to the child what is good and what is bad;
• Encourage him to communicate with peers;
• Teach the child to think independently (for example, if he was given a difficult homework assignment, you need to help him figure it out, and not completely solve the problem);
• Give the child to the sports section or pick up a hobby with him.

• self acceptance;
• Get out of your comfort zone often
• Get a pet;
• Explain to your loved ones what your problem is;
• Start life from scratch.

Mental infantilism

Mental infantilism is the mental and physical immaturity of the child, leading, with improper upbringing, to a delay in age-related socialization (adaptation to life in society). Prerequisites for it are created genetically, endocrine-hormonal factors, hypoxia or infectious-toxic hazards during pregnancy, asphyxia during childbirth, diseases of the first months of life. Its development is also facilitated by the aggravation of unfavorable prerequisites by egocentric or anxious and suspicious education.

First option true- is based on a delay in the development of the frontal lobes of the brain, due to the above objective factors and improper education. As a result, the child has a delay in the formation of an understanding of the norms and rules of behavior and communication, the development of the concepts of “no” and “should”, a sense of distance in relations with adults, the maturation of the ability to correctly assess situations is delayed, when one should change their behavior, as well as abilities, in accordance with their changes. foresee the development of events, and, therefore, possible dangers and threats.

This is the case when the child first does and then thinks. Children with this form of mental infantilism in behavior are estimated to be one or two years younger than their true age, and when they enter kindergarten, there is a need to place such a child in the younger group, and when he reaches school age, leave him "for maturation" in kindergarten. Such a child often looks stupid, but this is not mental retardation.

With mental infantilism, children begin to speak on time and even ahead of time, ask questions and draw in full accordance with age standards, master reading, counting in a timely manner, are mentally active and even smart. They often express original thoughts, freshly perceive nature. Only their naivety, childishness beyond their age and inability to live are embarrassing. It’s not that they don’t think badly, they rather just don’t think.

The liveliness of the mentally infantile is not disinhibition, but rather cheerfulness, overflowing emotionality of a two or three year old, although in fact the child is already four or five years old. His indiscretion, carelessness is not from mental retardation, but from the naivety of a child who does not imagine that someone or something can offend him. A child with this form of psychic infantilism knows no evil. His manner of free treatment of adults is not from rudeness and impudence, but from the puppy joy of life and the same reckless liveliness, when there is no idea of ​​what is possible and what is not.

Mentally infantile offer an adult to run and play with them, to rejoice, not realizing that mother and grandmother are not up to it. They follow everything from themselves, from their perception of life. They are cheerful, playful, because they are "superchildren". Their childishness bribes adults and somehow by itself leads to the education of mentally infantile egocentric types, to admiring the spontaneity of a "baby", "baby" until the reality, the need for their adaptation in kindergarten or in the first grade of school, sobers up parents encouraging the child to consult a psychiatrist. Such children were cradled in infancy and did not notice how unforgivably long the cradle dragged on. And the infantile ones don't want to grow up and even talk lisping. They know what tomorrow is, but for them it seems to not exist, they seem to be stuck in today.

"It is impossible" and "it is necessary" infantile do not perceive because the development of the fronto-parietal functions of the brain is delayed, and the inconsolable crying and hysterical protest of so "small" adults are so disarming that the time for further development of these fundamental concepts is often lost. They come to their senses when the requirement to fulfill “it is impossible” and “it is necessary” causes bewilderment, resentment and, of course, a stormy protest in the infantile. And the child capriciously demands what is impossible, does not accept what is necessary, and wants everything to be as he wants. Infantile kind, but the result of their development is such that they do not understand when it is possible to play pranks, and when it is impossible, because there is trouble or grief in the family.

Peers approach them as equals, because they are physically developed and look their age, but communication does not work, because the infantile ones think, speak and act like they are younger in age. Naturally, such children are blatantly dependent and do not know how to do anything, because everything that requires skills, effort, has been and is being done for them. Not only do they not want to dress themselves, but they do not want to eat on their own, and the kindergarten teacher does not know whether to cry or laugh - it is just right to take a four-year-old in her arms. And here is the result: the time has come for the infantile to go to school, but he is not ready for it. However, age is age, the requirements for it are strict, and a child with mental infantilism is sent to his age environment, where he encounters reality and is first surprised, and then upset - hard, to the point of neurosis, of course, hysterical.

Infantiles are characterized by rich natural emotionality, but it is not enriched by the parallel development of the qualities of the true mind, which provide full orientation and socialization, and therefore does not reach the level required by age. They are genuinely happy, angry, sad, sympathetic, afraid, but all this is over the edge, stormy, unrestrained and superficial. Their facial expressions, like gestures, are alive and expressive. But they do not know deep love, true sadness, real longing. They do not know anxiety and a sense of danger. They lack emotional solidity. to cry like that
cried, but rejoiced so rejoiced. Their emotionality is like a summer rain: it drips, and the sun, but as a result, neither one nor the other.

Most of all in infantiles, the volitional principle suffers. The delay in the development of the frontal lobes of the brain with their function of long-term goal-setting and planning also predetermines the tendency to delay the formation of the will. Improper upbringing exacerbates the infantilism of the volitional factor in such children. What kind of will is there if a child under five or seven years old does not know how to make serious efforts to overcome difficulties. The volitional component is embedded in temperament, but this side of it, like other useful ones, has not been developed. And the volitional beginning of the infantile will not develop unless measures are taken for re-education.

Second option mental infantilism - general psychophysical immaturity by infantile type ( harmonic infantilism when a child is physically miniature and looks younger than his age socially, according to E.E. Sukhareva). Its prerequisites and reasons are the same as in the first option. However, immaturity in the second variant is total. The child not only behaves like a younger child, but also looks like a three-year-old at the age of five. He is born with low weight and height, miniature. This is a "boy with a finger" or a girl - "Thumbelina". Such children are called diminutive names: bunny, bunny, baby. A child with this variant of mental infantilism is graceful, mobile, but weak and fragile.

Not lagging behind in psychomotor and psychoverbal development, mastering all the skills and abilities, drawing, counting and reading in a timely manner, such a child is also musical, emotionally alive, but, as in the first version, he has delayed maturation of higher social functions. Time passes, and the child is not ready for equal communication with peers and is blatantly dependent. He is one of those who does not mature by the deadline. This is also found in the animal world, but there such a cub is doomed. The brood is taken away, and it remains in the den. A child with the second variant of mental infantilism is a child for a long time if it is not overcome in a timely manner. Its fragility, diminutiveness cause alarm in parents. He has a poor appetite and is often sick. He is a naughty, but in moderation, often quiet. He is not demanding and not capricious, affectionate and obedient.

Such a child does not exhaust the parents, but causes aching pity. And his upbringing tends to take on disturbing tendencies. In kindergarten, the teacher protects him, and this does not cause a protest on his part. He takes the patronage of his elders for granted. The teacher leads such a child by the hand, does not let go of herself, involuntarily reduces the requirements for him. Everyone accepts his childishness, and even his peers willingly play with him, assigning him the role of a little one, projecting onto him the nascent parental instinct, protecting and comforting him if he cries. And the child accepts the role assigned to him. She is comfortable and pleasant.

He does not want to grow up in his school years. If events develop in the same direction, he, becoming an adult, continues to play the same role. And then we are talking about a man-son, a woman-daughter already in a marriage relationship, when his wife takes care of him, her husband.

The mentally infantile according to the second variant has no feeling of failure. He accepts his given. Accordingly, he has a rare neurosis. An anxious upbringing reinforces his infantilism, and, protected by a special attitude towards himself, he is not anxious. It is obvious that such a person is not adapted to life and sooner or later he will face collapse, failure, a kind of disability.

Meanwhile, proper education can lead away from infantilism. In this case, by the age of six to eight years, the child matures in higher mental functions, acquires the qualities of masculinity and, after puberty is completed, differs from peers only in small stature and diminutiveness, compensated by physical dexterity and normal health. According to the second option, the mentally infantile is not rushed with development. He will follow his peers, lagging behind them for about a year or two, and will mature by school. And again we see: education decides a lot.

Totally unacceptable third option mental infantilism. A child is born harmonious in all respects, but by protecting him from life, his socialization is artificially delayed by egocentric or anxious-suspicious upbringing. This most often happens in those who have given birth late, who have been waiting for a child for a long time, who are yearning in anticipation. Six adults admire, amuse one baby. The most interesting children's age is from two to three years. And parents unconsciously want to keep the child in it, they want and succeed in this. The third variant of mental infantilism in its entirety due to bad upbringing when a healthy person was made immature and the development of the frontal functions of the brain was artificially delayed.

In this case, infantilism is cultivated by pampering and overprotection, they are fenced off from peers and life. They think for the child and do everything for him, they clear the road in front of him, remove obstacles from his path, and no matter what he does, everyone forgives him. And he, not knowing anything, goes towards life, and this meeting does not bode well for him. The matter is complicated by the fact that mental development follows a strict genetic program, and what is lost due to age in many respects turns out to be lost forever. As a result, after five and a half years, the child is objectively infantile, as if his brain had been damaged. In the first two variants, it began with damage, in the third, it ended with it. And the third option is worse than the first two. Worse is the prognosis. Harder to overcome.

The mother is in a panic. A large child, outwardly in no way inferior to his peers, takes a toy out of his briefcase and plays with it; gets up, ignoring the teacher's prohibition, and goes to the door; openly speaks with a neighbor and asks for his mother. At home, he only wants to play. He is self-centered and does not accept rejection of anything. He simply ignores the state of his parents. He is capricious, demanding and hysterical. His childishness no longer pleases anyone. "Doctor, help!" The doctor is sad. Before this family, the doctor had other patients with severe congenital or parental ailments. Everything was clear. It is necessary to treat, to help in trouble. And then they turned the healthy into the sick. A child with the third variant of mental infantilism is threatened with hysterical neurosis.

All of the above is a serious warning to those parents and grandparents who encourage the infantile development of their children and grandchildren. The notorious lisping, admiration for the childishness of the "sweet baby", overprotection, deprivation of independence, raising three-year-olds as one and a half year old, and five-year-olds as three-year-olds are fraught with grave consequences. For the sake of egocentric tendencies, the enjoyment of childhood "dear baby" the future of a person is sacrificed.

A person born with mental infantilism or who acquired it due to adverse effects in the first months of life is treated by a psychoneurologist, contributing to the maturation of higher neuropsychic functions; he is consulted according to the testimony of an endocrinologist. In cases where it is necessary to stimulate ripening, traditional medicine recommends apilac, eleutherococcus and pharmacy nettle. More effective remedies will be indicated, individually and according to indications, by the attending physician. Baths with sea salt, bathing in the Black, Azov or Caspian Seas, exposure to the sun, but in a panama, T-shirt and shorts are useful for such a child. Let your face, arms and legs sunbathe. However, he should not sunbathe on the beach, but on a walk, in a game in the air.

The main thing is the right upbringing. Efforts are directed primarily to the socialization of the child. The concepts of "possible" and "impossible", "good" and "bad" are emphatically and persistently inculcated. Compliance from the first months of life with sleep, wakefulness, feeding in this case is also important as a disciplined, socializing child's upbringing. The child is persistently explained the consequences of his mistakes, pranks. He is allowed to hurt himself to give him the opportunity to feel when and why it hurts. Such a child is constantly encouraged to overcome feasible difficulties, inconspicuously helping and rejoicing with him in his victories. These children love joy, it remains only to prove to them in practice that it is in overcoming difficulties and in achieving results, goals. The infantile is taught skills and abilities in a timely manner, sparing no effort. And this in this case is not only necessary for everyday life, but also a way to overcome mental infantilism. The infantile seeks children younger than himself, and he should be encouraged to communicate with peers, helping to cooperate with them on an equal footing and eliminating conflicts. Excessive display of emotions is gently moderated; adults educate in the infantile in-depth emotionality, especially responsiveness.

The influence of parents on the mentally infantile is realized through the game. He is played with everything that occurs in the life of a child of his age. They play, for example, in a kindergarten, where he is in the role of a teacher, and the father is in the role of a naughty child. The game develops the skills necessary for successful adaptation in kindergarten. They play school with him, and he acts as a teacher, demanding discipline from the student. With him they beat the very children's game, preparing for games with peers. In a joint game, carelessness, disorganization, thoughtlessness of the consequences of actions and the unreasonable actions themselves, selfishness are ridiculed. In the game, a goal is set, plans are developed to achieve it, and in the game it is realized.

If, despite educational efforts, the infantile turns out to be not ready for school at the age of seven, it is better to detain such a child for a year in the preparatory group of the kindergarten and at the age of eight send him to a school with a formed position of a schoolboy than to crumple up the beginning of schooling, and perhaps and all of it in its entirety.

People who show a naive approach to everyday situations, in politics, do not know how to make well-considered decisions in a timely manner, do not seek to take responsibility in any situation, are prone to infantilism. Infantilism is mental, legal and psychological.

Mental infantilism is a delay in the development of the psyche of either an adult or a child, his lag in mental development, which manifests itself in the development of the emotional-volitional sphere and the childish qualities of a mature personality.

The syndrome of mental infantilism is most often manifested as a result of organic damage to the brain. The causes of infantilism may be intrauterine damage to the fetus. The nature of the occurrence of this disease is created by endocrine-hormonal or genetic factors, infectious diseases during pregnancy of the mother or serious illnesses in the first months of a child's life.

Criteria for mental infantilism

Infantilism of this type can occur both in adults and in children of both sexes. It has a number of characteristics:

1. Lack of stability of perception and attention.
2. Hasty, unreasonable judgments.
3. Failure to analyze.
4. Carefree behavior and frivolity, self-centeredness.
5. A penchant for fantasy.
6. Uncertainty in one's own abilities, a tendency to nervous breakdowns.

Mental infantilism in children

Such children are characterized by a rich manifestation of emotionality, not enriched by the development of the true qualities of the mind, which help to ensure socialization. Infantile children sincerely rejoice, sympathize, get angry, experience fear. Their pantomime is very expressive. They lack emotional solidity.

Mental infantilism in adults

In adults, such infantilism is characterized by naivety, egocentrism and selfishness, emotional instability, pronounced fantasizing, instability of interests, frequent distractibility, shyness, carelessness, and increased resentment.

Mental infantilism - treatment

To get rid of mental infantilism, it is necessary to cure the underlying disease, which was the cause of infantilism. The sooner the signs of infantilism are detected, the more successful the treatment will be. Birth defects require surgery. With a disease of the endocrine glands - the appointment of appropriate treatment.

So, mental infantilism negatively affects the mental development at the beginning of the child, and then the adult. As a result of infantilism, a person cannot mature for a full life in the adult world.

What is infantilism in adults? This term describes people who look at life through the eyes of a child. Such personalities have long grown out of children's pants, but their way of thinking and worldview have remained at the level of 15-year-olds. The world around them is perceived by them without a proper share of criticism, which is characteristic of adults and self-sufficient people.

Everything would be fine, since everyone has their own cockroaches in their head, but the point is that infantilism is a serious obstacle to life. If a person does not have mature moral attitudes, then he is simply unable to fully realize his own capabilities. Hence the conclusion suggests itself: the infantile runs the risk of being on the sidelines of life.

There is an opinion that such people appear only as a result of improper upbringing. However, we cannot fully agree with this. The infantile state has a broader concept, which includes a whole complex of a wide variety of physical and mental disorders. They can be both congenital and acquired.

At the same time, the child lags behind in development from peers in a number of physiological factors. Here you can name hormonal disorders, infectious diseases, prolonged intoxication, poor nutrition. Children have a fragile physique, small weight, small stature. Weakly expressed secondary sexual characteristics. Of the psychological factors, one can name absent-mindedness, weak character, frequently changing mood, increased suggestibility, a predisposition to fantasies, and an inability to make independent decisions.

In such situations, a special course of treatment is needed. It includes good nutrition, exercise, therapeutic correction, hormone therapy.

However, an infantile condition is much more common, the cause of which is improper upbringing. In such cases, the entire responsibility lies with the parents. They overprotect their beloved child, create greenhouse conditions for him, suppress any desire for independence and independence. All this results in infantilism in adults, as it grows not a self-confident person, but a pampered creature, poorly adapted to the harsh realities of life.

Such people are highly selfish. For them, the main thing is their own desires, and the feelings, experiences, aspirations of other people are not taken into account. Infantil sees the meaning of life in obtaining pleasure and achieves them at any cost.

He feels the need for a variety of "toys": an expensive sports car, trendy clothes, jewelry. And it happens that another person acts as a “toy”. The latter is regarded as a doll, and is only an object for a love game. Having played enough, the infantile “throws out the doll” and looks for another.

A person subject to infantilism constantly strives to prove to others his exclusivity and individuality. In this case, a variety of methods are practiced. It can be rudeness, ridicule, humiliation, fists.

But at the same time, people of this type have a well-developed sense of self-preservation. If strong personalities are next to them, capable of giving a worthy rebuff, then all selfishness and faith in one's own exclusivity immediately disappear somewhere. This indicates a weakness of character and a lack of inner stamina.

All of the above leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in the soul. In addition, it should be noted that the highest percentage of crimes falls on infantiles. From this it is not difficult to understand that it is necessary to properly educate your child from early childhood.

It is necessary to regularly explain to your child what is “good” and what is “bad”, why it is “possible” to do, and this is “impossible”. Let the baby fall and hurt himself, independently overcome the difficulties that are feasible for him. In this case, the character will be tempered, faith in oneself and the ability to objectively assess personal capabilities will appear.

Speaking of infantilism in adults, one more variety should be mentioned. This is the conscious desire of some people to look mentally younger than their years. Such an audience is called scammers. The origin of the name is due to two English words: adult - adult and kid - child (colloquial). They were combined together and it turned out - kidalt.

This model of behavior is inherent in those who want to hide in this way from life's problems and harsh realities. And the commodity industry reacted very quickly to the new trend. In stores, products designed for scammers appeared. These are scooters and scooters of unusual shape, T-shirts with cartoon characters depicted on them, collections of soldiers and other original things that are more suitable for children than for adult men. But it is adults who buy up all these products.

In conclusion, it should be noted that infantilism in adults directly stems from the social problems of society. It is they who form certain patterns of behavior. And people only seek to protect themselves and their children from the unpredictable modern world. But it is impossible to hide from reality. It is much wiser to turn to face her and accept her for who she is.

Yuri Syromyatnikov