You know that too much stress is bad for your health, but it turns out... too little stress, also not very good. Learn how to maintain pressure levels without boiling.

There are three things that are inevitable in life: death, taxes and stress. And the only good thing can be stress.

Because chronic stress that never seems to let up can lead to heart disease, obesity, breast cancer, but it turns out... in small doses stress is even beneficial.

Short-term stress triggers the body's defense response and increases the activity of immune cells, which, in turn, help the body fight various ailments. Think of stress as your body’s “repair team.”

The appearance of stress quickly mobilizes this “team” and directs forces to the damaged areas where they are most needed.

A little shake-up is always good

As a result, your brain and body get a jolt. A quick wave of stress can prevent illness: Research shows that stress strengthens the immune system, and acts as an inoculation that forces the body to function more efficiently and be resilient to subsequent potential shocks.

Small amounts of stress hormones can also sharpen your memory. A 2009 study at the University at Buffalo showed that rats that were forced to swim (thus putting them in a state of stress) remembered their way through a maze better than rats that were not exposed to such stress.

There needs to be a balance in this matter.

Too little stress turns things into boredom and demotivates you. Too much high level Stress not only weakens the nervous system, but can also serve as a source of various diseases. It is important to pay attention to your “stress thermometer” and stay below the boiling point.

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A few words about stress. This word has become very common today, even fashionable in its own way. Every now and then you hear: “Don’t make me feel stressed!”, “Now I’ll make you so stressed that you won’t recognize your own people!” etc. It is easy to see that in such expressions stress is understood as something unwanted that can cause trouble. And those who say so do not know that the author of the theory of stress is the Canadian scientist Hans Selye (1907–1982), who published the first works on this topic back in the late 30s of the last century, at last stage life in many respects revised his previous views. In 1974, he published the book Stress Without Distress. Already in the title, the old concept of “stress” is contrasted with the new one – “distress”. What is their difference? "Stress" - English word, which is widely used in everyday speech when talking about processes such as “tension, pressure, pressure.” And “distress” translated from English means “grief, unhappiness, exhaustion, malaise.” The difference, as is easy to see, is significant.

So, according to the final views of G. Selye, people should not and are not able to avoid stress, because many factors that cause stress (stressors) are the most important activators in the life of every person. Since stress accompanies almost any activity, only those who do nothing can avoid it. According to G. Selye, idleness itself is also stress, or rather distress. Here are a few excerpts from the named book by G. Selye: “Stress is the flavor and taste of life.” “Complete freedom from stress leads to death”. “Even to death?” – many may be surprised. Yes, precisely to death. After all, the body, without receiving stimulating stress influences, ceases to function properly and gradually begins to die.

Thus, we draw a fundamentally new conclusion: stress is good. But in cases where stress factors bring grief, unhappiness, and suffering, they become distressed. And distress as a harmful phenomenon must be combated. Better yet, prevent it from occurring as much as possible.

In contrast to distress, the Swedish scientist Lennard Levy proposed another term - “eustress” (the Greek prefix “ev” means “good, favorable”).

So, at present everything is put in its place: any effect on the body is stress: if it causes harm, it is called distress, and if it brings clear benefits - eustress.

The question naturally arises: how to protect yourself from various distressing influences, from everything that is harmful to health? Of course, a lot depends on the spiritual and material improvement of the life of society, on its attitude towards nature; in many cases, various medications and other means from the medical arsenal can help. But still, the greatest opportunities for self-defense lie within the person himself - only many do not know about it. They don’t know that nature has endowed our body with powerful mechanisms self-regulation. The ability to use the capabilities of these mechanisms is a great force in the fight against distressing factors, and this skill should be adopted by everyone. In other words, everyone who does not want to become a victim of various negative circumstances generated by our difficult and stressful life and, in spite of everything, strives to maintain and strengthen their health, simply must learn to manage themselves, their mental and physical state.

Chapter 2. Three golden rules of mental hygiene

Several thousand years before our era, people realized that there should be two main directions in medicine. The servants of the first are called treat sick people, and representatives of the second – keep healthy healthy. This second branch of medicine, which in ancient times was practiced by the goddess Hygieia, began to be called hygiene in her honor. And its section, the task of which is to ensure the well-being of the neuropsychic sphere, is called mental hygiene. This will be discussed later.

It must be said that hygienists are still little valued in our country. Many people think like this: “What kind of doctor is this?! He only gives advice on how to live correctly. We know this ourselves. A real doctor is the one who will cure us when we are sick.” And for some reason they forget that in all respects it is much better live without getting sick, due to compliance with hygiene rules, than, get sick, get treatment.

Living while always staying healthy is an ideal. Without strictly following the instructions of hygienists, it is simply impossible to achieve it. This leads to the following conclusion: hygiene should be considered the leading direction in medicine today, and, even more so, in the medicine of the future. That future when people begin to follow the advice of hygienists every day and, thanks to this, learn to live without getting sick. In the meantime, let’s get acquainted with three basic rules, the observance of which will help maintain the neuropsychic sphere in optimally good condition.

Rule one. I formulate it perhaps somewhat unexpectedly and categorically, but I believe that this formulation is better remembered: "Don't suffer!"

“How can you not suffer,” many will object, “when there are so many possible reasons for suffering?”

“And all the same,” I answer, “don’t suffer!” Despite everything!

The fact is that many people, having found themselves in trouble, in a distressed situation, begin to “swim” in their suffering: they think about them all the time, share them with others, look for sympathy and are offended if they do not meet it; When they go to bed, they go over all the details of what happened in their heads, and when they wake up, they again begin to think about how unhappy they are. And they do not know that, reveling in suffering, they are terribly harming themselves and their health. How?

When a person suffers, when he is captured by negative emotions (for example, such as grief, anxiety, fear, mental or physical pain), all systems of his body begin to function much worse than usual. And the worse the suffering, the worse it is. Those who suffer find it more difficult to think; the decisions they make in such a state very often cause regret or bewilderment, even protest, among those around them; their sleep is disturbed and their appetite disappears. The cardiovascular system becomes prone to the occurrence of spasmodic conditions - hence hypertensive crises, strokes, angina attacks, myocardial infarctions. Breathing becomes tight and difficult; activity is disrupted gastrointestinal tract, physical strength decreases, etc. Therefore, we conclude: suffering is harmful!

Those who do not want to fight their suffering are like a person who, having caught his finger in a door, screams about how much it hurts, sheds tears, asks for help, but does not try to free his finger. But first you need to get out of the traumatic situation, and only then think about what to do next: stick your finger under the stream cold water, run to the emergency room or redo the door so that what happened does not happen again.

This example of physical suffering is, of course, deliberately simplified - freeing a pinched finger is not that difficult. It is much more difficult to free yourself from mental suffering. After all, they, figuratively speaking, dig into the brain and heart! And so, seeing a friend with a hunched back, lowered head, dull eyes and learning that trouble has happened to him, we, showing sympathy, tell him something like this: “Don’t think about it! Give it up, forget it! Get it out of your head!

Good advice, but, alas, impossible. For the reason that suffering cannot be thrown out of your head, like an unnecessary piece of paper from your pocket. But there is another way, another mechanism of self-help - suffering is possible displace. How? A mental image that can improve your mood personally. In this mental image there may be a person dear to you, a beautiful landscape, a wonderful melody, favorite hobby etc.

In practice, this is done like this: if you find yourself in a distressing situation that traumatizes the brain, you must immediately, without wasting a second, using the 1st PMT formula (the PMT method is described in the 2nd part of the book) to relieve the excessive tension that has arisen in the brain. It is possible that this formula will have to be repeated several times in a row until a calm, “screen” state occurs. For a person who has self-regulation, such a procedure takes no more than a minute. And then, having checked the degree of calmness of the brain with a soothing color screen, you need to place in the focus of calmly concentrated attention that mental image that is always capable of causing peace, and even better - good mood. By focusing on the desired mental image, you will thereby repress all thoughts and feelings that were caused by suffering. Displace by force mental mechanism: when attention is extremely focused on one thing, then nothing extraneous can “enter” into consciousness.

However, it should be emphasized that repressed images generated by suffering, as a rule, do not easily give up their positions - they will again and again try to occupy dominant position in the mind and feelings of the sufferer. But this is precisely the art of mental self-regulation - a means of self-defense and self-help - to persistently keep positive mental images in the focus of your calmly concentrated attention, which are always able to calm and improve your mood.

From all that has been said it logically follows rule two– If not in an elevated state, then at least in a calm, comfortable state.

What is a mood? The end result of all the experiences that we experience in a given period of time. It is, as it were, an average value derived from the sum of all kinds of emotions - negative and positive, passing through our brain. Therefore, you need to accustom yourself to react to various vicissitudes of life in such a way that in the end you always maintain a good, even mood. Despite everything!

Why is it important? Because in a person who is in a good mood, all organs and systems function, as they often say now, in the “most favored nation mode.” That is, a person thinks better, communicates smoothly with others, does not get irritated even when there is a reason for this, sleeps well, and works productively. His heart actively pumps blood, and his vessels easily distribute it to all tissues of the body. The lungs are excellent at taking oxygen from the air and releasing it carbon dioxide. The liver successfully disinfects metabolic products coming from a well-functioning gastrointestinal tract; muscles become strong and resilient, etc.

Even when a person is sick, it is extremely useful to maintain a good mood and an optimistic attitude towards your future. For the predominance of positive emotions, which form the basis of a good mood, contributes to the normalization of various functions of the body. This has been known since time immemorial. For example, in the Middle Ages they said that the arrival of comedians in a city was much more beneficial for the health of residents than a whole cart of medicines. This pattern was very accurately and succinctly formulated by the chief surgeon of the Napoleonic armies, Dominique Jean Larrey: “The winners’ wounds heal faster.” And these days, in one of the American hospitals, where patients were lying after severe operations on the lungs and heart, a very simple but very impressive experiment was carried out: in several wards, funny cartoons were regularly shown to those undergoing surgery. And in these patients the recovery process went much faster. Even a reaction such as ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), which characterizes the degree of inflammatory processes, began to decrease much faster in them.

I will give an excerpt from the book by V.F. Smirnova “I am a doctor”: “ Scientific research It has been proven many times: the more often a person is in a joyful and upbeat mood, the less often he gets sick. And in case of illness, optimists, as a rule, cope with illnesses faster than pessimists. German scientists have recently found convincing confirmation of this even in relation to cancer. After analyzing a huge amount of statistical material, they identified a clear pattern: gloomy, sad, constantly doubting, “negatively charged” people in life are much more likely (all other things being equal) to get cancer and have a harder time being cured than balanced, joyful, positively thinking individuals.

It has been established that a good mood mobilizes the immune system, activates blood supply to tissues and, which is very important, helps to concentrate a person’s will to fight the disease. Although this phenomenon has not yet been studied in detail, one thing is indisputable: the level of resistance and the state of the body’s defenses are much higher in people with a positive perception of the world around them than in those who are depressed about their sorrowful affairs... So smile and laugh more often! .

So, let’s draw a vitally important conclusion: when a person is in a good mood, his organs and systems function according to the laws of nature and adapt well to all changes occurring both in the external world and in the internal environment of the body. That is, everything, as they say, is normal. Isn’t such a norm ideal? Not one of the most important conditions happy life?

Both rules of mental hygiene - "Don't suffer!" And “Always be in a good mood!” very successfully combined in the lines of his poem “Deep Rear” the poet S.V. Smirnov:

Long live the ability to be cheerful,
When nothing makes you happy!

Very valuable advice! And mental self-regulation - The best way its implementation in practice.

Rule three – “Do not overwork!” Or (which is the same thing) – “Recover strength in a timely manner”. The advice is, of course, very general and requires specification in each individual case. The duration and nature of rest can be very different - from deep night sleep, lasting continuously for 7-8 hours, to 2-3 minutes of special, self-induced sleep-rest, more like a short-term disconnection of consciousness from everything that is happening around. How, how much and when to rest - this should be determined by the specific activity that a person is engaged in, the characteristics of his neuropsychic and physical sphere, age, living conditions, nutrition, etc.

Often, during activity, a feeling of fatigue appears. So, you need to know: fatigue is beneficial. Overcoming it, the body uses its reserve forces, which contributes to the development of many useful qualities - in particular, the will is strengthened and endurance increases.

However, fatigue can accumulate. And in one far from wonderful moment, an extra drop of fatigue overflows the cup of accumulated fatigue, and it turns into a new one, negative quality- in overwork. So, overwork is harmful, because this is already a painful condition in which all sorts of deviations from the norm occur in the body.

Unfortunately, there are no exact criteria that clearly define the boundary between fatigue and overwork. Or rather, such a boundary cannot exist - it is as mobile and changeable from day to day as our life itself. True, there are psychological, physiological and biochemical tests that can be used to predict the approach of overwork. But their implementation requires the use of special techniques, which are so far used only in cases where there is a great need for such a prediction - for example, when practicing cyclic sports.

In ordinary life, there is only one criterion: if after even the hardest work a person falls asleep like the dead, sleeps without interruption until the morning and wakes up with a fresh head, then the day before he was simply thoroughly tired - and nothing more. But if, after heavy workload, sleep does not come, the night passes in tossing around the bed, and in the morning there is no desired feeling of rest, these are already clear signs of overwork. And then it is necessary to take the most urgent measures to quickly restore the body. In each specific case, such measures must have a specific focus, but there is also something common that unites all restoration measures. This is the organization of proper rest, balanced nutrition and the use of appropriate medical methods - physiotherapeutic and pharmacological.

Chapter 3. Methods of influencing the psyche

To regulate mental states, psychotherapists have three main methods. All of them are from the arsenal of medicine. They will be discussed in this chapter.

The first method is pharmacological

The fact that with the help of various medications and chemical compounds it is possible to change mental well-being has been known since time immemorial. In particular, certain substances that stupefy the brain and create the illusion of a good, upbeat mood have long been used. In ancient times, means were used to induce uncontrollable rage in warriors before battles.

However, it can be said without exaggeration that in the entire history of mankind, such a quantity of drugs affecting the psyche has not been created as has been produced in recent decades.

Today, doctors involved in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders have a wide range of drugs that can be used to “target” change the mental state: relieve fear, anxiety, eliminate depression, melancholy, create a good mood, etc. It would seem that nothing could be simpler: give a person the appropriate medicine, teach him how to use it - and the problem of regulating his mental state is solved. But it was not there.

Once I had to watch how a weightlifter, before a decisive approach, drank a cup of strong coffee to “push himself up” a little. And, paradoxically, he went limp. What happened? A cup of coffee is known to contain 0.2 grams of caffeine, a drug that increases the tone of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. But this is how caffeine acts on people who are in a weakened or normal state. When the body is already very excited, the same dose can give the opposite, relaxing effect, which is what happened with this athlete.

When such cases began to be repeated frequently in sports, we remembered Wilder’s law of the initial level, according to which the effect of any substance depends not only on its chemical composition and dose, but also on the state in which the person taking this substance is.

Anyone who has at least some experience using alcoholic drinks, knows well that the degree of intoxication very often depends not only on the amount drunk or on the quality of the drink or snack, but also on the psychophysical well-being before drinking alcohol. That is why in one case, after 150–200 grams of vodka, you can remain practically sober, but in another, the same dose knocks you off your feet.

Undoubtedly, the time will come when chemists will create particularly precise pharmacological drugs with which it will be possible to easily change the mental state. Moreover, not only the drugs themselves must be created, but also substances that can instantly neutralize their effect - if it turns out not to be as expected. Otherwise, if you swallow the pill, it won’t work as it should - and you can’t take it back! Wait at least a few hours, or even a day, for its effect to wear off.

So, when such a time comes, then, perhaps, it will be possible to talk about the pharmacological regulation of mental states.

Everything that has been said about pharmacology gives reason to draw the following conclusion: use various medications independently, without consultation and without the supervision of a doctor, is unacceptable. To avoid the most unexpected and sad consequences.

The second method is suggestion

Suggestion is understood as an effect on the psyche in which words begin to be taken “on faith,” almost unquestioningly. As if bypassing logic. So, a person sitting on a chair in a room can inspire that he is in the forest. But convince it is impossible to do this with the help of logic. This is how suggestion differs from persuasion, in which one person, in order to convince another, always relies on logical evidence of the correctness of his point of view.

Suggestion and persuasion - two processes affecting the psyche - are very often intertwined. And sometimes it is difficult to discern what is in in this case whether the first or the second had a stronger effect.

If something is suggested to a person while he is awake, then such influence is called by suggestion while awake or by suggestion in reality. When, before a suggestion session, a doctor puts a person into a kind of sleep, the suggestion is called hypnotic or hypnosis. Here we will talk only about hypnotic suggestion.

Let's understand what hypnosis is. This is a verbal influence on a person, as a result of which he plunges into a kind of sleep, and his brain gains increased susceptibility to words of suggestion and mental images associated with them.

A trivial example. If a person has acute toothache, and there is no analgin at hand and the pharmacy or dentist is far away, a doctor who knows the method of hypnotic suggestion can put the sick person into a special sleep and say: “The pain in the tooth is decreasing... The pain is completely gone...” And the person, thanks to the mental thought that arose in his dormant consciousness the idea that the pain goes away, indeed, for some time, is freed from it.

But maybe such an effect is harmful? Perhaps it (as some people think) leads to excessive expenditure of nervous energy? If it does, then, firstly, not to excessive, and secondly, only for the one who carries out hypnotic suggestion. The one to whom it is directed only gains the opportunity to use all his powers - mental and physical - with utmost efficiency.

This effectiveness is based on the following. After targeted hypnotic influence, all human organs and systems begin to function in a mode that is optimal for achieving the goal. It is in this - in achieving optimal mental state- and this is the meaning and benefit of hypnotic suggestion.

For all hypnologists there has long been a truth: with the help of hypnotic suggestion impossible force a person to do something he really doesn’t want to do.

However, despite everything said above, it is not possible to recommend hypnotic suggestion as the main method of regulating the mental state. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, a purely organizational point: there are only a few hypnologists capable of providing the necessary assistance.

Secondly (and this is the main thing), hypnotic suggestion puts a person in a certain dependence on the doctor. And, having achieved success after hypnosis sessions, he often begins to rely only on such help and becomes dependent on the hypnologist. And this is extremely undesirable! For there is nothing more reliable than confident independence.

So, let's conclude. Hypnotic suggestion is a useful and powerful method. But it is not worth recommending hypnosis as the main method of regulating the mental state. It is better to use it not as a hypnotic influence exerted from the outside, but as self-hypnosis, So how self-hypnosis.

The third method is self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis is one of the methods included in the framework of more general concept– “mental self-regulation.” Mental self-regulation (PSR) is understood as various ways independent influence on one’s own mental state (and through it on other functions of the body) by first using words and mental images corresponding to the words.

Let's figure out what “words and mental images corresponding to words” are. Suppose someone said the word "table". And we immediately have a mental image of a table. We begin to mentally see in front of us an object called a table. Depending on our life experience and the range of interests, this “mentally visible” table can be large or small, wooden or plastic, square or round, dark or light; writing, dining, billiards, operations - that is, whatever. But after the word “table,” we always involuntarily begin to “mentally see” the table, and not anything else. So, in connection with words, mental images corresponding to these words arise in the brain. In turn, mental images that appear in the brain, as a rule, receive corresponding verbal design. For example, we saw what was coming outside the window heavy rain. Immediately from direct perception, a mental image of heavy rain arises, and we (sometimes unwittingly) say to ourselves or in a whisper the corresponding words - “heavy rain.” Or we say them loudly. If we want to inform someone who has not yet looked out the window about a change in the weather.

No matter what a person is thinking, it is impossible to know his thoughts until he begins to speak. Of course, you can guess something from the expression of his face, from individual movements of his head, hands, etc., but all this will only be guesses. Only after words are spoken (or written) out loud that correspond to the thoughts and therefore express them, can we find out what the person was thinking about. “Language is the immediate reality of thought” - in this formulation, which belongs to K. Marx and F. Engels, the essence of the relationship between mental images, which are elements of thinking, and the words that formulate these mental images, - elements of speech, is extremely briefly and precisely defined.

True, sometimes a gesture can be so expressive that words are not required. For example, if a strict father shakes his finger at his disobedient son, then the words “watch me, you’ll jump!” you don't have to talk. Everything will be clear to my son. Undoubtedly, “sign language” is very rich. In particular, the art of pantomime theater is built on its basis, the content of the performances in which is understandable to everyone, although people of very different ages and nationalities can sit in the hall. But still, it is speech, given by nature only to man, that is the most informative channel in communication between people.

Often we ourselves say or hear from others such words as “I think.” Let's analyze them. Suppose I think about my teacher. What does it mean? This means that, firstly, I mentally “see” this person, presenting more or less clearly the various details of it appearance: figure, height, facial features, hair color, cut of suit, etc. All these details, as is easy to see, are of a visual nature. But there may be details of a different nature - say, auditory, tactile, olfactory. So, for example, when thinking about a teacher, you can mentally “hear” his voice, “feel” the squeeze of his hand, “smell” the smell of the cologne he wears, etc.

For each of us, depending on which sense organ is the leading one, mental images corresponding to this sense organ predominate. In particular, people whose leading organ is hearing, after the word “rooster”, first of all “hear” “cuckoo!”, and only then “see” the rooster. But for the vast majority of people, the leading sense organ, carrying about 80–85 percent of all information entering the brain, is vision.

Naturally, the more details of a different level, determined by the functions of various sense organs, arise in our thinking in connection with the object about which we are thinking, the more accurate and specific these details are, the richer and more diverse the mental images of this object. Consequently, mental images play the role of peculiar bricks that make up what our thinking is currently occupied with.

There is such a thing as “disciplined thinking.” Its essence is the ability at a specific moment to operate only with such mental images that are needed in a given situation. If a wrestler entering the mat has a chaos of various thoughts in his head like “Will I win or lose? What happens if I lose? What will the coach say? Comrades? She?...”, etc., then there can be no talk of any disciplined thinking. This athlete is doomed to failure in advance, because in his mind there are no clear, extremely specific mental images aimed at competently conducting the fight.

With disciplined thinking, the consciousness contains only those images that are determined by the nature of the upcoming competition. Moreover, these mental images should not be associated with the goal – “Win!”, but focused on means to achieve the goal– then it will be achieved as if on its own. Why?

Remember, when we talked about attention, I said that we are not given the ability to maintain focused attention simultaneously at different sites. Therefore, if we (even involuntarily) focus on the goal - “Win!”, then the means of achieving this goal will go beyond the control of our attention, we will stop purposefully managing them. And the goal is victory! – may not be achieved. Thus, it is very important to be able to keep in mind only those elements of thinking, that is, those mental images that are needed in a given specific situation- nothing extraneous! Only under this condition can we say that thinking was disciplined.

So, between thinking, a process whose essence lies in operating with specific mental images, and speech, the elements of which are various words, there is a certain relationship: a word generates a mental image corresponding to it, and a mental image, as a rule, can be named and formalized by the corresponding word. It is useful to think deeply about this conclusion - this will help in the future to more easily master the technique of self-hypnosis.

Possibilities of the word. The expression “a word can kill and can be resurrected” is well known. The meaning is correct, but the essence of the process needs to be clarified, because it is not the words themselves as such that have an impact on a person, but those mental images that arise behind the words. After all, the same word evokes completely different mental images in different people. Say the word “liar” to a known liar, and he may just smile wryly. And this same word, spoken to an honest person, can cause him a severe heart attack.

Therefore, in order to be correctly and better understood, one should use words that are capable of evoking the necessary mental images in a given audience. For example, if, when talking with athletes, you say: “explication of the intension,” then these words will cause them nothing but bewilderment. But psychologists (though not all) understand them.

The nature and quality of the connection between a word and its corresponding mental image depend on a number of conditions. Here are some of them.

First– congenital features nervous system. Some of us, to a greater extent, and others to a lesser extent, have the gift of imaginative thinking. When pronouncing, say, the word “lily of the valley,” some people can immediately imagine appearance of this flower and even the smell, while for others this image is recreated much worse and turns out paler. It should, however, be noted that the ability for vivid, imaginative ideas can be developed if you engage in special training - in particular, using the possibilities of self-hypnosis.

Second – different words with varying strength they evoke corresponding images. So, if we imagine that we are eating bread, we will not have almost any tactile or taste sensations. And if you “replace” it with a slice of lemon, then most will involuntarily begin to salivate.

Third– the more precise the words used, the stronger their effect, the brighter the images associated with these words. That is why simply the word “lemon” evokes in our minds a rather general and therefore not so vivid image. But if you say: "Juicy, sour lemon slice"– this will cause much more associations. It is very important to emphasize that vivid images cause the same changes in our body as real stimuli. Therefore, we can shudder not only because snow suddenly fell behind our collar, but also by imagining how a cold wet lump began to spread along the neck and between the shoulder blades. How brighter mental image, the more its action is similar to the action real object or phenomenon.

Fourth- the intonation with which words are pronounced. Dispassionate, monotonous speech has a mainly soporific effect. And speech that is intonationally varied and emotional can change the mental state and behavior of a waking person.

Fifth- all words and corresponding images that are associated with numerous functions of the human body can be divided into two large groups. The first consists of mental images about processes, controlled and controlled by consciousness. These are mainly the functions of the musculoskeletal system. The second includes those who are not subject to our control, our volitional efforts and orders. This is the activity of internal organs: the heart, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine glands, liver, etc. Everyone knows from their own experience that ideas belonging to the first group are easier to implement. For example, saying "I clench my fist", it is not difficult to imagine the corresponding movement and then physically perform it. But words like “heartbeats become slower” you can correctly pronounce and even clearly imagine the desired result, but it is unlikely that in a normal, awake state of the brain it will be possible to slow down the rhythm of the heart.

Sixth– it has long been established that words and the corresponding mental images affect the body’s functions much more strongly when the brain is in a drowsy state. This circumstance is used both in hypnotic suggestion and in the process of self-hypnosis, which will be discussed in detail below.

Chapter 4. Mental self-regulation

Mental self-regulation (PSR). So, the main method of mental self-regulation is words and mental images corresponding to words. Their power can be used in two directions - pedagogical and medical. Here we will talk mainly about the medical field - but not from the well-known medical point of view, but in the light of the new, non-therapeutic application of PSR, which, at the suggestion of the head of the Department of Psychotherapy of TsOLIUV, Professor V.E. Rozhnova was named social and preventive aspect mental self-regulation. The essence of this aspect is warning neuropsychiatric disorders in healthy people in those specific areas of activity where distressing situations often arise that can traumatize the psyche, and through it, many other systems of the body.

As for teachers, they have long proposed such methods of mental self-regulation as self-encouragement, self-order, and self-persuasion.

It must be said that these techniques of mental self-regulation quite often provide significant assistance. But, unfortunately, not always. The fact is that often, due to the increase in the number of distressing situations, cases have begun to be observed when the body “does not listen” to self-encouragement or self-order. That is, following very correct thoughts and words spoken by a person to himself, those necessary physiological changes do not occur in his body, without which the mental principle (thoughts and words) is not realized properly and remains, so to speak, an empty phrase. Suppose a person ordered himself: “Calm down!” – and the heart continues to beat feverishly, breathing remains rapid and shallow, muscles remain tense and constrained, and thoughts in the head remain disordered.

The difference between the medical method (self-hypnosis) and the pedagogical method (for example, self-persuasion) is as follows. Convincing himself of something, a person relies on certain logical arguments. By inspiring something into oneself, a person can act bypassing logic, using mainly those possibilities that are inherent in such a powerful mental process as unquestioning faith.

Thus, while in a room, we are not able (even resorting to the most sophisticated logical conclusions) to convince ourselves that we are currently lying on a beach by the sea. But with the help of self-hypnosis, such an effect can be achieved. You also cannot convince yourself, for example, that the injured organ does not experience pain. Convincing yourself that there is no pain is not a difficult task.

Nature has endowed people with the ability for mental self-regulation and self-hypnosis in different ways. Outstanding athletes have self-regulation to a very high degree, sometimes not even fully realizing its mechanisms. They are given, as they say, a high ability for mental self-regulation, like wings to birds.

In his book, five-time world champion in classical wrestling Viktor Igumenov said that 28 days before the 1965 national championship, his appendix was removed, and yet four days after the operation he ran away from the hospital and, overcoming the pain, began training. He was defeated in the first meeting, but this angered him so much that he managed to win all the others and won the gold medal of the USSR champion for the first time.

Further, V. Igumenov writes (think carefully about his words - they are written, as they say, in the blood of the heart): “For myself, I made an important discovery: human inner capabilities are inexhaustible! It's all about willpower, about the complete mobilization of the body. Injury and pain can interfere with a bright, effective performance, but they cannot stop you from winning! The athlete, if necessary, is obliged to act through “I can’t”, on the teeth. Emotions and will overcome pain. If so, then through my will I can win in the most hopeless situations...” (emphasis mine. - A.A.)

And what is will, if, without going into scientific definitions, evaluate it from the point of view of practical mental hygiene? This is the ability to control oneself, the ability to overcome difficulties. But the basis of the ability to control oneself is formed by the processes of mental self-regulation, used either in an ordinary logical way, or relying on unquestioning faith in one’s own strength, that is, on the mechanisms of self-suggestion.

Many will ask: what should those whom nature has not endowed with such a high ability to control themselves do? The answer is: don’t be disappointed! Each of us is endowed with this ability to a greater or lesser extent. And if so, then this ability can and should be developed through daily and systematic exercise of one’s psyche. It's all about a clear understanding that it is with the help of mental self-regulation that you can quickly achieve your goal; that to master self-hypnosis means to always have reliable and useful power in your hands. Anyone who is truly aware of this will always find 10–20 minutes a day for targeted training of their brain, their psyche.

When it comes to self-hypnosis, people usually start asking about yogis. Yes, indeed, yogis were among the first to use this method. Their system appeared long before our era. Its goal is to make a person perfect. But not for everyday everyday affairs, but in order to achieve the highest, according to yogis, happiness - communication, “merging” with the gods. This blissful state – renunciation from worldly routine and “dissolution” in the divine principle – is called “samadhi” or “nirvana” by yogis. To achieve this state, a system of self-hypnosis was developed - self-regulation of various body functions.

When European and American scientists began to become acquainted with the yoga system, it soon became obvious to them that in order to solve many purely practical problems, this system was very complex and required a lot of time to master. Therefore, denying yoga in its primordial form, pure form, the doctors did not give up on the the principle of self-hypnosis, from the ability to regulate various functions of the human body using autosuggestion. This problem was dealt with especially extensively and successfully at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries by P. Levy, E. Coue, and C. Baudouin in France; E. Kretschmer in Germany; I.R. Tarkhanov, V.M. Bekhterev in Russia; a number of other specialists in different countries.

But if we talk about modern stage in the development of the method of self-hypnosis, its beginning can be dated quite accurately. It is 1932, when the book “Autogenic Training” by German psychiatrist Johann Heinrich Schultz was published.

Autogenic training (AT)

I.G. Schultz, a medical practitioner, traveled to India, where he became acquainted with the teachings and system of yoga. At home in Germany, while treating patients, he often used hypnotic suggestion. After each session, he required a written report from his patients about the sensations and experiences that they experienced during hypnosis. Analyzing a variety of self-reports, Schultz discovered interesting patterns. In particular, many patients experienced sensations of heaviness and warmth in the extremities. It also turned out that those patients who involuntarily, without knowing why, repeated to themselves the words of suggestion pronounced by the doctor, recovered faster and better than those who behaved completely passively during hypnotization.

Then Schultz decided that it made sense to reduce the procedure of hypnotic suggestion to a few precisely formulated phrases, teach patients to independently use these phrases (which were called “self-hypnosis formulas”) and use them both to eliminate painful phenomena and to maintain good health after recovery.

The experience paid off. Continuing to teach his patients how to use the formulas, Schultz gradually created original method self-hypnosis, which he called autogenic training. The word “autogenic” comes from two Greek words: “autos” - “self” and “genos” - “genus”. Consequently, “autogenic” is translated as “self-generating” training, in the process and as a result of which a person provides the necessary help to himself.

Thus, Schultz showed that he was following the advice of the famous ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 BC), who said to each patient: “There are three of us - you, your illness and me. If you are afraid of your illness and do not fight it, I will have to treat you for a long time. But if you and I (Hippocrates specifically put the patient first, not himself – A.A.) combine our efforts, then together we will quickly cure your illness.” Thus, the great ancient healer very accurately noted how important the activity of the patient himself in the fight against the disease, his faith in recovery. Autogenic training (AT) consists of two stages - lower and higher. The lower one is intended mainly for relieving nervous tension, for calming, and for normalizing body functions. The highest is to introduce a person into a special state of “autogenic meditation”, during which he should have peculiar experiences leading to “self-cleansing” of the body from the disease. To master the first stage, an average of 3 months of daily classes of 10–30 minutes is required. It takes about 8 months of training to master the second stage of AT.

If the first stage quickly gained recognition almost all over the world, then only a few specialists practice the second: to master it, it takes a lot of time and perseverance, which most of them for some reason lack.

Here are the basic formulas of self-hypnosis of the lowest AT level, which can be called “classical”:

1. I am completely calm.

2. The right (left) hand is very heavy.

3. The right (left) hand is very warm.

4. The heart beats calmly and strongly.

5. My breathing is completely calm, I can breathe easily.

6. The solar plexus emits heat.

7. The forehead is pleasantly cool.

Schultz's merit lies in the fact that he connected ordinary words with simple, easily achievable physical sensations. Everyone can be convinced that this is indeed the case. Try to sit or lie down, relax all your muscles as much as possible, close your eyes and, focusing on your right hand (for left-handed people - on your left), mentally, slowly, say the formula several times: “My right hand is getting heavy... my right hand is very heavy...”- and imagine that this part of the hand seems to be filled with lead. After just a few mental repetitions of these words, a distinct physical sensation of heaviness arises in the hand.

However, over time, it became clear that autogenic training, if applied strictly according to Schultz, does not always give the desired effect, and that it needs to be changed depending on the nature of the disease and the personality characteristics of the patient. Therefore, in different countries and in different medical institutions, their own modifications of autogenic training have appeared, noticeably different from its original, “classical” version.

Psychomuscular training (PMT)

Methods of mental self-regulation are constantly being improved. In this book we will practically get acquainted with the method that I called “psychomuscular training” or PMT for short. The creation of psychomuscular training was facilitated by familiarity with the method of progressive relaxation according to E. Jacobson, with active self-hypnosis by A.S. Romain, with the technique of L. Percival, with the method of regulation of emotional states proposed by V.L. Marischuk and a number of other studies. But it was based on many of my own observations during mental self-regulation classes with people of all ages and physical condition– from children to highly qualified athletes.

PMT consists of two parts: calming and mobilizing.

Chapter 5. Mechanisms of autosuggestion

The main mechanisms of action of autosuggestion. Until relatively recently, it was believed that the basis for calming the nervous system, and especially sleep, is the process of inhibition that affects brain cells. This idea was born in the physiological school of I.P. Pavlova. But over the last decades of the 20th century, thanks to the development electronic technology, which made it possible to study deep processes in the cells of the nervous system, ideas about the nature of many mental processes have changed. In particular, it is now believed that sleep is not inhibition, not shutdown from activity nerve cells, and very special - and active- a state of the brain in which billions of “night” cells, while a person sleeps, perform very important work(for example, by processing information perceived by the brain during the day).

IN modern science About the activity of the brain, there is a concept about the levels of its wakefulness. When a person is actively engaged in any activity, they talk about the level active wakefulness brain. If you close your eyes, relax your muscles and try not to think about anything exciting, you will experience a state called level passive wakefulness. This level is the first step towards normal sleep. Mild drowsiness, gradually deepening, turns into drowsy state, which is the next (separately distinguished) level of wakefulness of the brain. Then follows dream medium depth, which is replaced more profound. And finally, the lowest level of brain wakefulness occurs - deep dream, which, like all other levels, has its own picture of changes in the encephalogram and other body functions. Descending, as if on steps, from one level of wakefulness to another, a person plunges into a deep night's sleep.

Life experience has long suggested (and science subsequently confirmed) the presence of such a phenomenon: when the brain is at the level of passive wakefulness, and even more so in a drowsy state, it becomes hypersensitive to words and mental images associated with them. Therefore, in order for words and their corresponding mental images to acquire ultimate strength, they must act on the brain, which is in a passive, drowsy state. It is precisely this feature - the influence of words and mental images on a passive, dormant brain - that self-hypnosis differs from self-persuasion. When the brain is in a passive, dormant state, logical arguments, figuratively speaking, begin to recede, and their place is taken by unaccountable, unquestioning faith.

It is no coincidence that most rituals of church services - twilight, mesmerizing, soothing music and singing, flickering candles - are aimed at preliminary reducing brain activity in those praying. Only after this can one talk with them about God and other sacraments, because it is impossible to logically prove the existence of such phenomena.

Similar mechanisms of influence on people (not similar in external signs, but in fact) are used, for example, in accelerated learning. It has been proven that information received by a brain that is in a passive state is remembered faster and better. The so-called “sleep learning” – hypnopaedia – is quite widely used, in particular, in the practice of accelerated learning of foreign languages.

Particularly important is the fact that, while in a drowsy state, a person can influence, with the help of words and corresponding mental images, such functions of his body that do not obey volitional orders in a normal active state. So, if you tell your heart: “Beat slowly!” – his rhythm will not change. But if, while falling asleep, you mentally say: "My heart is beating slower and slower..." and imagine this process - your heart rate will really become lower. Consequently, it becomes possible, through a drowsy state, to influence the autonomic nervous system, the functions of which, as we know, are not subject to conscious control when we are awake.

In the practice of mastering PMT, both states of the brain - passive wakefulness and drowsiness - are usually combined under one term: drowsiness or drowsiness. In the practice of PMT, drowsiness is understood as a state in which the brain is no longer active, as during the day, but is not yet sleeping, as at night. In other words, it is a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep during falling asleep and between sleep and wakefulness during the moments of awakening. The duration of drowsiness, which occurs at least twice a day (before falling asleep in the evening and when waking up in the morning), varies among healthy people - from several seconds to several minutes.

But in the process of mastering self-hypnosis, it is necessary to ensure that the drowsy state lasts as long as it takes to solve a particular problem. Therefore, you need to be able to manage the duration and depth of drowsiness without “falling” out of it into deep sleep and without immediately moving into a state of active wakefulness.

So, the first main mechanism underlying autosuggestion is as follows. In order for words and the mental images corresponding to them to gain the greatest power, they must influence the brain, which is at a reduced level of wakefulness, in a state of drowsiness. Thus, the first step in mastering the skills of self-hypnosis is to acquire the ability to put yourself into a drowsy state while remaining (which is extremely important!) under the control of one's own consciousness.

The second main mechanism of action of autosuggestion – the ability to extremely focus your relaxed attention on the task you are doing at a given period of time.

About attention. What you need to know about focus? Firstly, the larger it is, the higher the result - this is a general law for many types of activities.

Secondly, complete concentration on something contributes to automatic detachment from the environment, from everything extraneous. A focused person seems to say: “Don’t stop me from seriously pursuing my chosen task.”

And thirdly, you need to know that people are not able to concentrate simultaneously on two different objects - very few people have this rare ability.

This is why you should never do two things at the same time - for example, reading a newspaper and listening to the radio. When you read carefully, the “noise” of the radio only irritates your brain. And if you listen to what is broadcast on the radio, then although your eyes will run over the text, nothing will remain in your memory. So it’s better to do one thing, but well, than several things at once, but poorly.

“What about Julius Caesar? - many people ask. “After all, he could read, write, listen, and give orders at the same time.” I think he did this not at the same time, but quickly switching his attention from one thing to another. This is also a wonderful ability, and those who possess it can accomplish a lot. But if this one is outstanding statesman The Roman Empire could really deal simultaneously several things (like, for example, the variety artist Yuri Gorny, demonstrating various psychological experiments), then the overwhelming majority of us are still not Julia Caesars. We should specifically learn to concentrate on one thing at a time. And this even more important ability must be developed and trained. daily.

An excellent example of focused attention is given by K.S. Stanislavsky in his book “The Actor’s Work on Oneself,” in which, by the way, people of different professions can and do find a lot of useful information:

“The Maharaja chose his minister. He will take the one who walks along the wall around the city with a large vessel filled to the brim with milk, and does not spill a drop. Many walked, and along the way they were called out, they were frightened, they were distracted, and they spilled. “These are not ministers,” said the Maharajah. But then he went alone. Neither screams, nor intimidation, nor tricks distracted his eyes from the overflowing vessel.

"Shoot!" - the overlord shouted.

They shot, but it didn't help.

“This is the minister,” said the Maharajah.

“Did you hear the screams?” - he asked him.

“Did you see how they scared you?”

"No. I was looking at the milk."

“Did you hear the shots?”

“No, lord. I looked at the milk."

And although this example is taken from a Hindu fairy tale, it very convincingly shows how much a person’s capabilities increase with extremely focused attention.

The ability to focus extremely on the activity you are currently engaged in must be systematically developed. To achieve success, only one thing is required: regularly train your attention using special exercises that develop concentration.

Everyone knows that when reading a boring book, you hear literally everything that is happening around - attention “scatters” in all sorts of directions. But if you come across an interesting book, your attention is drawn into it so much that you can forget about everything in the world - for example, that there is a pot of milk on the stove. This leads to a simple conclusion: attention focuses on what is interesting.

But there are so many uninteresting things in life that nevertheless need to be dealt with seriously! In such cases, it is recommended to do the following: before getting involved in an uninteresting activity, it is necessary to consciously associate it with such thoughts and feelings that are always interesting and pleasant. For example, a student at a physical education institute needs to learn biochemistry, but has no desire to study it. But if you think, say, that qualities such as strength and endurance largely depend on the characteristics of carbohydrate metabolism, then a person involved in sports will be interested in this subject.

It should be well understood: before every task, especially uninteresting ones, it is very important to create positive attitude to deal with this matter with great attention. The more focused the attention, the higher the efficiency. given case, the less time it will take to complete it. When attention is distracted, productivity decreases and the percentage of defects increases.

In addition to this advice - to treat every task only as interesting - it is useful to take on board some purely “technical” exercises that help develop concentration. Their essence is volitional retention of attention on any object or phenomenon.

1. Take a stopwatch or a watch with a second hand and watch its movement, without taking your attention away, for as many seconds as possible.

Experience shows that for the first time, most people are able to maintain attention on a moving arrow for no more than 20–40 seconds. With the help of training, you can gradually increase the time you hold your attention on the second hand to 1–3 minutes. If attention is distracted even for a moment, the exercise is considered not completed; it must be started over.

Having determined the maximum time during which you were able to maintain your attention on the second hand without being distracted, try to repeat the same time of concentration 3-4 times in a row, taking breaks of 10-20 seconds between each “attempt”. It is useful to repeat such exercises several times a day - especially before bed, when the brain is tired and it is difficult for it to concentrate. Overcoming fatigue will indicate that you have achieved a high degree of training in focused attention.

After about a month of daily training, you should be able to maintain continuous attention on the moving second hand for 4-5 minutes. After this, you can move on to training in observing the very slow movement of the minute hand - for the same period of time. Maintaining focused attention for 5 minutes is a very good achievement.

2. Leonardo da Vinci also advised his students, after carefully examining an object, to close their eyes and, slowly, imagine it in all details. Then look at the item again and check how well the representation matches the original. The great artist and scientist considered this exercise very useful for developing attention and recommended doing it as often as time allows, ensuring that The performance was exactly the same as the original.

3. The previous exercise can be performed in combination with movement: when looking at something, take a slow breath, as if “pulling” into your brain, into your memory what you are focusing on; while exhaling, even more slowly, close your eyes and mentally reproduce the image of the object or phenomenon that was just in the focus of your attention.

Usually, when it comes to concentration, many people associate this thought process with a kind of mental stress. Yes, indeed, very often concentration is accompanied by subjectively felt mental stress.

It is known: the more attentively we do something, the more successfully it goes, the higher, as they say, its efficiency. With high concentration on something, our brain automatically disconnects from everything around him, and nothing extraneous simply cannot “enter” consciousness.

Being extremely concentrated, attention in the practice of self-hypnosis should nevertheless remain completely relaxed. For only calm and unstrained attention allows one to maintain a dormant state of the brain. Any mental stress (including the process of attention) destroys drowsiness and brings a person out of it into a state of one or another activity, that is, it turns off the first main mechanism of self-hypnosis from useful activity.

These two main mechanisms (drowsy state and focused, unintended attention) underlie the vast majority of self-hypnosis methods. The only difference is in the ways of achieving both drowsiness and concentration, in the methods of mastering these mechanisms. To understand how a drowsy state is achieved during PMT exercises, it is necessary to become familiar with the connections that exist between the brain and skeletal muscles, which carry out all the variety of human movements.

Brain and muscles. Why can we, without looking at, say, the fingers of our hands, tell what position they are in: straightened, half-bent or clenched into a fist? Because so-called proprioceptive impulses constantly arrive from the muscles and joints to the brain, “telling” what is happening in the “periphery of the body.” In this way, the brain receives information about the state of the musculoskeletal system and, in turn, determines its activity, sending impulses to the muscles and joints, which, having received them, begin to follow the “instructions” of the brain.

Nature designed us so that when our brain is excited, our skeletal muscles involuntarily tense and become more rigid, the stronger the mental arousal. All athletes prone to pre-race fever are well aware of this from their own sad experience when, due to excessive anxiety, the muscles become “tight,” losing speed and accuracy of movements. This happens because in a state of excitement the brain sends much more impulses to the “periphery of the body” (in particular, to the muscles) than at rest. And, conversely, than calmer man, the more relaxed his skeletal muscles become. And they relax too involuntarily- after all, now very few exciting impulses come to them from a calm brain. Remember how different an irritated person and a peacefully sleeping person look. In the first, all the muscles are tense, in the second, they are extremely relaxed.

The connection between the brain and skeletal muscles, as already mentioned, is two-way: not only the nervous system determines muscle tone, but also the muscles influence the state of the nervous system. Biological impulses entering the brain from the musculoskeletal system not only carry information about the state of the “periphery of the body,” but are also a kind of stimuli that stimulate the activity of the brain and excite it. The more tense and active the muscles are, the more proprioceptive impulses, naturally, come from them to the brain, the more it is activated. So, in particular, during morning exercises As a result of physical exercise, the brain also becomes active, having calmed down and rested overnight. An active warm-up gives the same effect: by loading, straining, relaxing, warming muscles and joints, that is, preparing them for work, athletes simultaneously increase their mental tone before training and competitions.

The opposite picture is observed with conscious relaxation of skeletal muscles: the more relaxed they are, the fewer proprioceptive impulses come from them to the brain. And when the brain receives fewer and fewer excitatory signals from the “periphery of the body,” it begins calm down, plunging first into a state of passive wakefulness, then into drowsiness and, finally, into deep sleep.

This simple physiological pattern is used in PMT to consciously achieve a drowsy state and control it. Hence, To enter a consciously controlled state of drowsiness, one must learn to relax the skeletal muscles to the degree that induces this state. This is the path to mastering the first main mechanism of self-hypnosis. But in order to relax your muscles well, you need to be able to “see” this process and mentally imagine it.

Representation and imagination. These two types of mental processes play a very important role in mastering self-hypnosis. Important because words used in self-hypnosis must always be accompanied by corresponding mental images. And mental images are realized mainly in the form of ideas or imaginations.

The difference between them is as follows. If we look, for example, at a pencil, and then, turning away, call up a mental image of it in our minds, then this will be performance. So, A representation is a mental image that arises on the basis of information received by the brain from real-life objects or phenomena.

If you mentally “see” the same pencil, but bent into a ring (and our brain is not capable of that!), then this image will already be a fruit imagination. Hence, Imagination is a mental process in which mental images are recreated in a form in which they cannot be perceived in reality. real life with the help of our senses: vision, hearing, smell, etc.

Suppose you decide, using the power of self-hypnosis, to warm up. First, plunge into a drowsy state and say to yourself: "I'm getting warm", you, calmly concentrating, should introduce yourself where you were once warm (for example, in a steam bath), or imagine yourself where you have never been, but where, as you know, it is always very warm (for example, in Equatorial Africa). The heat caused by self-hypnosis will be felt by you more clearly, the more accurate and vivid your mental image of heat - imagined or imaginary - turns out to be.

Mental images can be realized in the sphere of any sense organ. They can be visual and tactile (as in the example given with self-suggested heat), they can also be auditory, gustatory, olfactory and, of course, proprioceptive, that is, associated with the muscular-articular sense, which plays such an important role in any activity where precision is required movements (in particular in sports).

So, the mechanisms of action of PMT are based on the use of four main components that are part of the system of psychophysical processes that constantly occur in the human body.

First component– the ability to mentally imagine or imagine the content of self-hypnosis formulas as clearly as possible, but without straining mentally. If, suppose, the formula is used " My hands relax and get warmer...", t and simultaneously with each thought word of the formula, a mental image corresponding to the word should arise. Saying to yourself: "My hands…" Those engaged in self-hypnosis must immediately mentally imagine their own (and not someone else’s) naked hands with all their features. Simultaneously with the word "relax" an extremely clear (and not dimly vague) image of relaxed muscles should appear. Simultaneously with the word "getting warmer" an extremely vivid mental image of the factor that causes heat (steam room, sun on the beach, warm water, pouring onto your hands, etc.), and the same vivid mental image of the warm muscles of your hands.

Second component– the ability to maintain one’s concentrated but relaxed attention on a chosen object (first on one’s body and its individual parts). So, if you mentally pronounce the formula "My face relaxes", then at this moment the focus of the student’s calm, concentrated attention should be nothing but the image of his own face. In the first stages, attention often “runs away” from the image on which it should be held. This should be treated calmly, as a temporary difficulty in the process of learning self-hypnosis, and, without getting irritated, you should again focus your relaxed attention on the desired object.

Third component– the ability to extremely relax the muscles of the arms, legs, torso, neck, face, that is, to “switch off” your skeletal muscles from tension, reduce their tone and thus reduce the flow of proprioceptive impulses coming from the muscles to the brain. As already mentioned, such voluntary switching off of skeletal muscles (and they, as is known, obey our orders, our volitional efforts) helps to calm the nervous system and plunge into a drowsy state. Athletes master PMT more easily than people who are far from sports, because they know how to relax their muscles well. As you know, physical exercises are based not only on tension, but also on the obligatory ability to relax after each effort. The higher the athlete's qualifications, the better he knows how to relax. So if a person who is far from sports wants to master mental self-regulation and, in order to achieve this goal, begins to systematically engage in physical exercise, this will bring him double benefit - not only physical, but also mental health.

Fourth component– the ability to influence oneself with the necessary verbal formulas and corresponding mental images at the moment of a decrease in the level of wakefulness and the onset of a state of drowsiness. At the same time, as already mentioned, the word and the accompanying mental image (imagined or imaginary) acquire utmost power and can even regulate autonomic functions (for example, the activity of the cardiovascular system or gastrointestinal tract), which, as is known, are able to active wakefulness do not obey our volitional orders. Moreover, it does not matter in principle where passive attention stops first: first there may be a word, and then a mental image is connected to it, or first a mental image appears in consciousness, and then it is fixed by the corresponding word. In the process of mental influence and self-influence, the word and the image always act unidirectionally and mutually reinforce each other.

The ability to influence oneself with verbal formulas and corresponding mental images during a period of reduced wakefulness allows one to consider PMT as one of the options for self-hypnosis.

I heard the opinion that stress in life is necessary. But at the same time, they write everywhere and say how dangerous they are to health. Where is the truth? Is stress dangerous or beneficial?

When the Canadian physiologist Hans Selye studied stress in the first half of the last century, he stated that it was impossible to completely avoid stress in life, and it was not necessary. After all, stress is an adaptive reaction of a person that allows him to survive in environment, avoid dangers. Stress occurs in any situation that somehow threatens a person’s well-being and even life. As a result, his adaptive abilities increase, a concentration of both physical and mental strength occurs, thanks to which he copes with the obstacle that has arisen. But this applies only to short-term exposure, that is, stress that does not occur very often and is of short duration. Otherwise, they cause significant harm, depleting the body.

Prolonged stress is the cause of many diseases, not only those related to nervous system, but also amazing internal organs. It's all about the physiological processes that occur in the body. When exposed to a factor that causes stress, hormones that have an stimulating effect, primarily adrenaline, are released into the blood. There is a rapid release of glucose in the blood, pulse and breathing increase - this is necessary for additional oxygen flow to the brain and muscles. The number of lymphocytes increases to improve protective forces body. The pupils dilate, as vision needs to be improved. But digestion is slowed down in order to save energy for organs that are more important at the moment. Therefore, in a stressful situation, appetite usually disappears.

If, thanks to these measures, the unfavorable situation can be resolved, post-stress relaxation occurs, and gradually the functions of all systems return to normal. But if the stress is prolonged, or stressful situations happen very often, a state of rapid exhaustion sets in, because no organ can work in a state of constant tension. Immunity sharply decreases, so the risk of infection increases due to stress infectious diseases. Vascular tone is disrupted, which can lead to the development of hypertension and related brain problems. Due to hormonal imbalance, the functioning of all other organs and systems suffers. As a result, under the influence chronic stress general health deteriorates significantly.

As you can see, only short-term stress is positive for a person, especially associated with positive emotions and experiences. Otherwise, there is no talk of any benefits of stress, and it must be dealt with.

You can judge that it’s time to get serious about solving your stress problem by the following signs:

Do you have a problem? constant feeling irritability, depression;

You cannot fall asleep for a long time, your sleep is restless and intermittent;

Feeling physical weakness, headache, fatigue, reluctance to do anything;

Concentration decreases, memory problems arise and the speed of the thought process decreases;

It is almost impossible for you to relax, to get your affairs and problems out of your head;

Interest in others decreases, even in best friends, to family and friends;

You look at life with pessimism, feel sorry for yourself;

Your appetite is reduced or, on the contrary, you are haunted by a constant feeling of hunger, you overeat (this happens less often);

Obsessive habits appear: you bite your lips, bite your nails, etc.

If you cannot cope with stress on your own, be sure to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Pros and cons of stress

Despite popular belief, stress can be not only harmful, but also beneficial - the nature of its influence on a person depends on many factors, among which the three most important can be identified: the intensity of stress, its duration and the susceptibility of a particular person to a given stressor. Let's look at these three factors in more detail.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, American psychologists R. Yerkes and J. Dodson established that the nature of a person’s performance depends in a certain way on the level of his emotional activity. It turned out that a person develops maximum productivity with an average level of emotional arousal, while both an excess of emotions and a lack of them lead to a decrease in work efficiency.

Dependence of labor productivity on the level of stress

The same is true with stress. Each job requires its own certain level of stress: for mental work it is less, and for physical work it is more. For example, for an accountant preparing a quarterly report, it is desirable to experience a minimum level of stress, while for a politician speaking in front of voters, on the contrary, a certain dose of excitement and excitement is desirable, which will help him “ignite” the public. For a programmer who is developing a new computer program, it is advisable to be calm, and for an Olympic athlete who is going to storm a world record, maximum stress is necessary, otherwise he will not be able to give his all to win. Therefore, when faced with stress, do not rush to fight it - it is possible that it helps you mobilize all your strength to achieve your goal.

Science has established that the greatest danger, the greatest danger, is caused not by strong and short stress, but by long-term, although not so strong, stress. Short-term severe stress activates a person, as if “shakes” him, after which all body indicators return to normal, and weak, but long-term stress causes depletion of defenses, and primarily of the immune system.

Nowadays, scientists have little doubt that daily minor conflicts and everyday troubles (associated with an angry boss, naughty children, noisy neighbor, a long line to the doctor or reproaches from a spouse) have a much more detrimental effect on health than severe, but one-time stress caused by a much more significant reason. This paradox, like many other “oddities of human nature,” goes back to the distant past, when nature prepared our ancestors to powerfully but briefly repel dangers, but could not predict the stresses associated with an unsuccessful career or waiting in traffic jams. Our genetic “Fight-or-Flight” program is designed for a few minutes, at most, hours of intense activity, but even with mild stress, there are not enough anti-stress hormones for weeks or months of worry.

According to the founder of the doctrine of stress, Hans Selye, each person has a certain reserve of adaptive energy, and if he has used it up, the third phase of stress inevitably begins - the “exhaustion phase.” Therefore, the main conclusion from this information: do not bring your stress to a chronic stage, try to solve problems as quickly as possible, even if maximum voltage strength The main thing is to immediately organize yourself a proper rest and restore the body’s defenses.

Individual sensitivity to stress.

Each person has his own “threshold of sensitivity to stress” - that level of tension at which the effectiveness of activity increases (eustress occurs), as well as a “critical threshold of exhaustion” when the effectiveness of activity decreases (distress occurs). Determining these points is extremely important in order to live and work, on the one hand, effectively, and on the other, not to the detriment of one’s health. To understand where these lines lie between useful and harmful tension, you must listen to your feelings, trusting your body and your intuition as much as possible. At the same time, do not be afraid to experiment with loads. At some point, you will discover at what level of stress your fighting spirit appears and luck comes into your hands (people have long called this state “luck”), and under what loads and at what duration of stress fatigue appears, strength does not have time to recover , and in my soul doubt arises about the need for further struggle. Then it makes sense to stop and analyze the situation. It is possible that you have simply lost your way - and are pursuing a false goal that only leads you away from the right direction.

Chapter 1 The Pros and Cons of Stress

Pros and cons of stress

A few words about stress. This word has become very common today, even fashionable in its own way. Every now and then you hear: “Don’t make me feel stressed!”, “Now I’ll make you so stressed that you won’t recognize your own people!” etc. It is easy to see that in such expressions stress is understood as something unwanted that can cause trouble. And those who say so do not know that the author of the theory of stress, the Canadian scientist Hans Selye (1907–1982), who published the first works on this topic back in the late 30s of the last century, at the last stage of his life revised his previous views in many respects. In 1974, he published the book Stress Without Distress. Already in the title, the old concept of “stress” is contrasted with the new one – “distress”. What is their difference? “Stress” is an English word that is widely used in everyday speech when talking about processes such as “tension, pressure, pressure.” And “distress” translated from English means “grief, unhappiness, exhaustion, malaise.” The difference, as is easy to see, is significant.

So, according to the final views of G. Selye, people should not and are not able to avoid stress, because many factors that cause stress (stressors) are the most important activators in the life of every person. Since stress accompanies almost any activity, only those who do nothing can avoid it. According to G. Selye, idleness itself is also stress, or rather distress. Here are a few excerpts from the named book by G. Selye: “Stress is the flavor and taste of life.” “Complete freedom from stress leads to death”. “Even to death?” – many may be surprised. Yes, precisely to death. After all, the body, without receiving stimulating stress influences, ceases to function properly and gradually begins to die.

Thus, we draw a fundamentally new conclusion: stress is good. But in cases where stress factors bring grief, unhappiness, and suffering, they become distressed. And distress as a harmful phenomenon must be combated. Better yet, prevent it from occurring as much as possible.

In contrast to distress, the Swedish scientist Lennard Levy proposed another term - “eustress” (the Greek prefix “ev” means “good, favorable”).

So, at present everything is put in its place: any effect on the body is stress: if it causes harm, it is called distress, and if it brings clear benefits - eustress.

The question naturally arises: how to protect yourself from various distressing influences, from everything that is harmful to health? Of course, a lot depends on the spiritual and material improvement of the life of society, on its attitude towards nature; in many cases, various medications and other means from the medical arsenal can help. But still, the greatest opportunities for self-defense lie within the person himself - only many do not know about it. They don’t know that nature has endowed our body with powerful mechanisms self-regulation. The ability to use the capabilities of these mechanisms is a great force in the fight against distressing factors, and this skill should be adopted by everyone. In other words, everyone who does not want to become a victim of various negative circumstances generated by our difficult and stressful life and, in spite of everything, strives to maintain and strengthen their health, simply must learn to manage themselves, their mental and physical state.

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Pros and cons of stress

I heard the opinion that stress in life is necessary. But at the same time, they write everywhere and say how dangerous they are to health. Where is the truth? Is stress dangerous or beneficial?

When the Canadian physiologist Hans Selye studied stress in the first half of the last century, he stated that it was impossible to completely avoid stress in life, and it was not necessary. After all, stress is an adaptive reaction of a person that allows him to survive in the environment and avoid dangers. Stress occurs in any situation that somehow threatens a person’s well-being and even life. As a result, his adaptive abilities increase, a concentration of both physical and mental strength occurs, thanks to which he copes with the obstacle that has arisen. But this applies only to short-term exposure, that is, stress that does not occur very often and is of short duration. Otherwise, they cause significant harm, depleting the body.

It is prolonged stress that causes many diseases, not only those associated with the nervous system, but also affecting internal organs. It's all about the physiological processes that occur in the body. When exposed to a factor that causes stress, hormones that have an stimulating effect, primarily adrenaline, are released into the blood. There is a rapid release of glucose in the blood, pulse and breathing increase - this is necessary for additional oxygen flow to the brain and muscles. The number of lymphocytes increases to increase the body's defenses. The pupils dilate, as vision needs to be improved. But digestion is slowed down in order to save energy for organs that are more important at the moment. Therefore, in a stressful situation, appetite usually disappears.

If, thanks to these measures, the unfavorable situation can be resolved, post-stress relaxation occurs, and gradually the functions of all systems return to normal. But if the stress is prolonged, or stressful situations happen very often, a state of rapid exhaustion sets in, because no organ can work in a state of constant tension. Immunity sharply decreases, so the risk of contracting infectious diseases increases due to stress. Vascular tone is disrupted, which can lead to the development of hypertension and related brain problems. Due to hormonal imbalance, the functioning of all other organs and systems suffers. As a result, under the influence of chronic stress, overall health deteriorates significantly.

As you can see, only short-term stress is positive for a person, especially associated with positive emotions and experiences. Otherwise, there is no talk of any benefits of stress, and it must be dealt with.

You can judge that it’s time to get serious about solving your stress problem by the following signs:

You have a constant feeling of irritation and depression;

You cannot fall asleep for a long time, your sleep is restless and intermittent;

Feeling physical weakness, headache, fatigue, reluctance to do anything;

Concentration decreases, memory problems arise and the speed of the thought process decreases;

It is almost impossible for you to relax, to get your affairs and problems out of your head;

Interest in others decreases, even in best friends, family and friends;

You look at life with pessimism, feel sorry for yourself;

Your appetite is reduced or, on the contrary, you are haunted by a constant feeling of hunger, you overeat (this happens less often);

Obsessive habits appear: you bite your lips, bite your nails, etc.

If you cannot cope with stress on your own, be sure to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Positive and negative effects of stress on the human body

Since ancient times, such a state of the body as stress has been necessary to preserve life. He saved from death and gave the command to immediately mobilize all the strength and capabilities of the body. The benefit of stress was a quick reaction to danger. Rapid breathing, increased blood pressure, and the appearance of aggression. In this condition, all parts of the body are well supplied with blood, the brain makes quick decisions, the muscles tense and are able to perform many tasks that require endurance or quick movements. The strength for this is provided by glucose, adrenaline and cortisol, which, under the influence of stress, are released into the blood, provoke excitement and give a powerful impetus to action.

Stress - positive and negative sides

What are the benefits of stress?

Stress can be beneficial for health when it is short-term tension that is not associated with negative experiences. The blood is saturated with oxygen, the pupils dilate, blood pressure rises moderately, energy appears for active actions, vitality rises sharply.

The positive aspects of such reactions of the body are that under its influence the activation of neuropeptides occurs. These substances restore metabolic processes, improve memory and relieve insomnia. Endorphin, the hormone of joy, is released into the blood; the feeling of danger and anxiety goes away; your mood rises, which allows you to be more psychologically stable in various situations.

“Good” stress is the birth of a child, physical activity during sports, joyful events that happen in life.

With short-term stress, immunity increases. This occurs due to an increase in the number of lymphocytes in the blood. The attachment hormone oxytocin is produced, which helps to establish communication with new acquaintances and strengthen old connections. Only with short-term stress does the process of perception and processing of information improve, neural connections are strengthened, which is the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

A stressful situation will help you achieve new results. Only by going beyond your capabilities can you implement complex projects or achieve sporting achievements.

Psychophysiological stress can be controlled. Scientists have found that there is so-called adaptation energy, which is inherent in the body from birth. It helps to cope with sudden changes in a person’s usual environment. With saturated stress, which the body considers limiting, energy for adaptation begins to be released and leads the body to stabilize its condition.

Classification of stress

There are several types of stress:

1. Distress is a state that has a negative impact. It worsens health and leads to diseases that the body itself cannot cope with.
2. Emotional stress leads to moral exhaustion and reduces productivity.
3. Psychological stress is associated with problems of being in society. Society dictates its own rules, obliges us to adhere to many norms and moral principles, control over negative emotions, the accumulation of which leads to breakdowns.
4. Eustress is associated with positive emotions. In the process of exposure to eustress, the mood rises, mobilization of forces occurs and a state of mild euphoria occurs. This is the result of minor short-term exposure to a stimulus.

Pleasant stress - wedding

What are the dangers of stress?

The entire human organ system still reacts to stimuli, but over time the environment has changed, there is no moment-to-moment danger that threatens life. Psychophysiological stress began to acquire completely different properties and functions.

The positive influence of voltage decreased sharply and acquired new characteristics. Whether a person needs stress is a very controversial question. In big cities there is active interaction with other people, so the emotions that a person experiences have not changed at all. Reactions to them have been preserved since ancient times, but they no longer receive an outburst. Hormones accumulate in the body and affect its physical level.

Effect on organs

Negative impact or bad influence stress on the human body:

The effect of stress on the human body is considered quite harmful. But it was not always so. This reaction of the body has ancient roots - in the Stone Age, our ancestors, who hunted wild animals, sometimes managed to save their lives due to stress.

Stress and food

The habit of eating stress with all sorts of goodies, fast food, adds problems to an overloaded body and depletes the last reserves of energy. In this case, appetite disturbance occurs, body weight becomes less or, on the contrary, increases; a person may feel constantly tired; mood changes; Itchy skin rashes may appear. If this destructive process is not stopped, the quality of life will steadily deteriorate until it becomes a nightmare.

How to behave

If you can't change your environment, you should change your diet. Avoid refined foods and carbonated drinks and include in your diet foods that will help fight stress.