Prof. Dr. Vagif Rakhmanov, Director of Scientific Research Institute of Child and Family Therapy, Psychology, Medical Rehabilitation, Ukraine
Due to long-term experience of scientific research work with children suffering different psychopathologic and pathopsychological deviations we can assert that excluding evolutionary and age-related, negative (in some cases positive as well) causes it is impossible to carry out medical and psychosocial rehabilitation of patient category under consideration.
Because of previous psycho-emotional stress in perinatal and postnatal period and other negative internal and external causes (pathologic dysontogenesis) children can suffer disorders, retardation or complete stop of healthy physiological development of mental (cognitive) processes, personality and behavioral disorders which can become a reason for delay of normal cognitive activity development. In particular, among such children abstract and verbal reasoning, eye-minded thinking and perception of environment are developed later.
Due to immaturity of mental processes such children in comparison with healthy counterparts differ by immaturity, fragility, blurring pathologies and blurring cognitive perception of abstract reasoning.
Such children have eye-minded thinking appeared approximately after 4 or more years (healthy children have it from 2 to 4 years). Because of disorders and delayed development of eye-minded thinking it’s difficult for them to solve problems; they are in a habit of inadequate reasoning.
Also, in comparison with healthy children, eye-minded thinking begins to dominate later; often primitive types of thinking are taking over; qualitative enrichment and shift of mental (psychological) processes, in particular, thinking, communication, personal development are delayed.
Based on psychological research in comparison with healthy children visual thinking prevails over abstract-logical thinking.
Children with visual thinking (perception) disorder more often suffer over-valued structures. In infancy fixed ideas are diagnosed in unformed episodic manifestation, and often we can define extremely intense affectively loaded structures like fixed ideas.
Often such children are difficult to persuade, they are totally against other people’s thoughts. And parents are often under their thumb. Due to the absence of critic of their behavior in micro- and macro environment they look a bit strange. They can blame not only strange, but also close people for that they don’t understand them, don’t want to help, excuse. Often with coming years such children’s (in future adults’) bitter is transformed into interpersonal conflicts; they can ultimately lead primitive life (even in the prejudice of themselves or close people), exhibit unjustified pride, seize communicating with close people, and speak up long-forgotten past.
Such adolescents show ambivalent behavior towards close people. Their main trait is a low emotional intelligence. Besides they have lowed volitional powers, motivation, physical and mental work capacity, inadequate fixation on events that happened, physical and mental activity that doesn’t conform to their age, marital status etc., inadequate communication.
They look too sad and sulky, thoughtful, watchful, untidy, clumsy, with strange gait and prominent cheekbones, primitively trustful and suggestible (beyond family), asthenized (more often girls), hyperactive (more often boys), don’t react to addressed speech (verbal communication), addiction to cleanness and order in environment (more often with girls), dysmorphophobia, anorexic syndrome (circadian nutrition disorder), pathologic fantasy generation, pathologic interests, hobbies, syndrome of philosophizing (metaphysical intoxication).
List of syndromes characterizing such children can be elongated. A child can have them both separate and combined.
One of personality traits of such children is direct relationship with mother’s and father’s characters, family relationships, including parents’ social status, in particular, great connection to microenvironment and less dependent indirect connection to macro environment.
Resulting therefrom one should draw attention to parents’ neurotic, somatoform and other disorders and parents’ attitude towards children’s disease.
Mostly such children can be characterized by low productivity of cognitive and physical processes with swings of emotionally depressed mood, high anxiety and suspicion and egocentric type of behavior, constant self-distrust, and complete dependence on relatives which manifests in absent diminished attention, disability to take care of oneself and manifest desires.
Conscious behavior is manifested in negativism or refusal of examination or therapy, absence of self-critic and objective evaluation of own actions, inflexible thinking. Such group of children is unpredictable, inconsistent, irresponsive as well as ambivalent in their actions. They can’t adapt in community, protect themselves or help other people, choose friends because of their vulnerability and sensibility. Such children require high attention and support from close people.