In some legal states, and, in particular, in Russia, the term “mental disability” is not used, and people with disabilities and the need for social assistance are not divided into any categories or groups.
At the same time, the difference is quite noticeable, since this concept refers to citizens with intellectual and mental disorders, which significantly affects their integration into society. People with such disorders are many times worse adapted to life in society, and are not always able to perform even simple activities, which does not allow them to provide for themselves or even provide basic services.
On the other hand, many enterprises are not interested in employing people with disabilities, so such citizens try to hide the fact of having diseases as much as possible. This leads to a decrease in their income and a feeling of insecurity. Currently, the question of changing the approach to social adaptation of people with mental disabilities of various ages is very often raised, but so far the desired result is only in the development stages.
Many employees and managers of specialized boarding schools and other specialized institutions are trying to convey information about the need to improve living conditions and employment for adults, and development opportunities for children.
general characteristics
The category “mental disability” includes a whole range of mental and cognitive development disorders, such as:
- epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism;
- mental retardation, dementia;
- speech defects, clinical depression;
- organic disorders of the central nervous system;
- genetic diseases and other pathologies.
Such diseases are often accompanied by dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system, as well as loss of vision or hearing, which further reduces a person’s quality of life several times. But social stigmatization (psychological discrimination) and problems with employment force these people to refuse to register for disability for the above diseases as long as possible.
It is quite difficult to create a generalized portrait of a person belonging to the “mental disability” group - these are people of different ages and illnesses, living in families with different financial levels. Moreover, almost all of them have communicative, behavioral, intellectual and emotional deviations, which is why they differ from ordinary people.
Social integration
In addition to medical care, the main need of citizens with mental disabilities is a normal existence, that is, the realization of the right to rehabilitation, education, recreation and employment. Somewhat less often they need formal employment.
Sometimes, to ensure a “normal life”, such people require support or services that completely replace a hospital. This could be employment (with some participation of a guardian or social worker), cohabitation, medical, psychological and household assistance around the clock.
Important! When providing social support, one should take into account the characteristics of people with mental disabilities - they are very different and need specific ways of interaction. The main thing is not to forget that they are the same people and have similar needs to everyone else.
The depressing fact is that a patient with mental disorders in most cases is cut off from society, and, as they say, locked in an apartment or a psychiatric institution. For a long time, rehabilitation services for this category of people were provided only by specialized psychoneurological hospitals and dispensaries.
Differences between social and medical disabilities
Many guardians and relatives did not trust such institutions - they were afraid that the ward would be “pumped full of antipsychotics” or deprived of legal capacity. At the same time, the majority of respondents also doubt the quality of services offered by social centers. According to the stories of specialists from the Moscow Center for Curative Pedagogy, very often adults who once underwent rehabilitation apply.
Now they mostly stay at home, because their loved ones do not know where they can place a disabled person who has grown up, and what to do with him next. During the time that the patients of the center spend at home, without developing and without consolidating the acquired skills, they lose even those that they managed to instill at some stage. A separate category is older people with dementia.
Psychological problems of disabled people
As a rule, they are not subject to rehabilitation, but are distributed to medical institutions. Most patients with dementia syndrome are in psychoneurological clinics or boarding schools, the rest live in families or alone. At the same time, old people living in cities cannot count on anything else except the help of a social worker.
The most pressing problem for families with elderly disabled people is the lack of information about any assistance and social protection that the state can provide. There are few specialists dealing with the elderly (gerontologists) in Russia and other CIS countries, as well as rehabilitation centers. There is a sharp shortage of staff and equipment in dispensaries and boarding schools.
Often, a nurse in such institutions is tasked with caring for an entire ward, which, given the characteristics of the patients, is too much of a burden. In addition, experts note another equally important problem, which is the lack of established interdepartmental ties between social services and medical institutions.
Attention! Russia recently passed a new social security law, according to which disabled people have the right to additional assistance. But the nature of receiving it is declarative, that is, a person must submit an application, and at the same time he also needs to know what to ask for.
Based on the statistics of the activities of social centers, we can conclude that the majority of disabled people and their loved ones simply have no idea about the existence of such institutions. Therefore, many of the latter are empty, and yet many patients are in dire need of any help.
Points of view
Carl Jung considered the collective unconscious independent of psychological archetypes. But the forms of social consciousness were inextricably linked with historical content and social movements.
"Annals"
In the 20th century, in turn, the humanities considered the intellectual principle of man and society within the framework of classical rationalism of the 19th century . She, identifying consciousness with the sphere of knowledge and scientific development, formed an unambiguous idea of mentality. The humanist clearly distinguished the mentality from belonging to one dominant parent civilization of other cultures and a linear vision of history.
The central issue became the inner world of man , his need for social communication and belonging to groups. Mentality itself is a means of analysis. This idea was laid down in the 1930s by French scientists, creating their journal “Annals”. They developed the foundations of historical anthropology in the “new historical science.”
The fundamental term is found in the works of R. Emeron in 1856, but the diversity and sustainable development is continued by M. Proust, adding the word “mentality” to the neological dictionary. L. Lévy-Bruhl explored two types of mentality in his work “Primitive Thinking” - logical and pre-logical. He emphasized the disproportionate difference between the various tribes of Australia and Africa in line with European rationality. J. Lefebvre conducted research in 1789 as part of the mass panic in French villages. He considered psychological and social aspects into one complex of biologically determined constants.
Z. Barbu, I. Mayerson, A. Ballon, C. Blondel took part in the manifesto of the “New Annals”. L. Febvre in 1946, on the basis of their works denies the unconscious connection within groups, considering consciousness itself to be the source of the formation of history and the personality itself. Mentality is presented as a general system of values, behavior, mind and feelings. Within the whole, Febvre discovers a contradiction between two components of mentality - produced and resistive movements, necessary for the development of the whole.
Employment and assisted employment
Creating comfortable conditions for a disabled person and ensuring his speedy adaptation to a new workplace will enable a person to reach a new level of social life. In addition, he will have a chance to improve his financial situation, and to some extent free the guardian from constant forced employment, because many of them are almost constantly near their wards.
For example, when the Moscow Center for Curative Pedagogy developed and launched the “Working Afternoon” program for disabled children, it became clear that such provision would be perfect for adults. The essence of the program is to relieve parents and guardians for several hours or days while the children are in the care of the center’s staff.
For many parents, this is almost the only opportunity to leave their child in another team for the first time, and for him to experience new sensations. Due to illness, not all children are able to study even in a specialized boarding school or college, and simplified group or individual classes will help them learn new skills and improve their lives, as well as ease the family’s burden.
The action of such programs involves not only providing assistance to the disabled person himself, but also to close people caring for him. After all, such a family also becomes disabled - it finds itself in a disadvantaged state, since relatives cannot simply go on vacation or go somewhere. Accordingly, the state must think through and provide services to such segments of the population.
Difficulties managing finances
Mentally disabled people, due to limited legal capacity, in addition to the fact that, as a rule, own small amounts of money, but at the same time still experience certain difficulties with the use of personal funds. It is not easy for them to withdraw money from an ATM, top up their mobile phone account, make a purchase in a store using a card, etc.
Not all such people have an idea about money. Psychiatrists often say that working patients of a psychoneurological boarding school simply forget what money is, or have no idea what to spend it on, do not remember PIN codes, or lose their cards.
For example, from a conversation with one patient living in a PNI, the doctor was able to find out that he spent his entire pension on installing a modem to play cars, but was still unable to connect to the Internet. This and many other cases once again confirm the need to provide round-the-clock care to such patients.
Mental connection between people
Conclusion: the mental connection is explained scientifically and is due to the high level of human socialization. People are also representatives of the animal world, if we turn to biology. They differ from animals in their high mental development and presence of consciousness.
If you have any questions, please let us know Ask a Question
Social behavior in humans is pronounced. People do not have serious physical strength, deadly claws or teeth. Therefore, to survive in an aggressive world, they had to unite.
A person can maintain a mental (or social) connection with several people at once. It is most pronounced with a partner and with relatives. With friends and colleagues the connection is weaker, but it is still there.
Between lovers
The mental connection between a man and a woman is considered the strongest. Partners are united not only by common goals, interests, topics for communication, a common opinion, etc. Between them there is also love and passion, sexual attraction. Additionally, partners receive maximum emotions together, both positive and negative.
To ensure a strong connection, several conditions must be met:
- Spend as much time together as possible.
- Find common ground.
- Respect each other.
- Provide support during difficult periods.
- Achieve maximum mutual understanding.
Negative emotions can also promote connection. But they must be supplemented with positive ones; only if there is a balance, full-fledged relationships are possible.
Legal insecurity
Citizens suffering from various forms of mental disability, in most cases, become victims of unscrupulous guardians or scammers. An incapacitated person is not able to manage personal funds, and without legal assistance, he can quickly end up in a psychoneurological dispensary or even on the street.
The draft law on providing legal protection to persons with limited legal capacity is currently being finalized, changes to which are aimed at reducing the risk of abuse towards mentally disabled people. One aspect of the law is the appointment of several guardians who will provide care for the patient, as well as monitor each other's actions and distribute responsibilities.
Amendments have been made to the Civil Code stating that, due to a mental disorder, a person may be declared incompetent. This means that a person has the right to vote and perform other actions, but can carry out financial and legal transactions only with the consent of the guardian.
The exception is personal funds - the ward is completely free to spend them. This action may also be limited by the court, that is, if necessary, you will have to go to court and rely on its decision. The court can also limit incoming income, for example, shares, dividends, while the guardian himself has the right to allow or prohibit the withdrawal of social benefits or a pension.
To resolve financial issues, guardians of mentally disabled people often have to go to court
Society stereotypes
The majority of healthy mental subjects in modern society are wary of mentally disabled people. They are often perceived as unpredictable and dangerous, or, conversely, as “vegetables” without feelings, reason or emotions. In almost all interviews, phrases are heard about denying such people respect, that is, the basic right to be just a person. But respect is usually enough to provide such a citizen with at least a minimum of conditions for a full life.
Almost all psychiatrists and people working with mentally disabled people complain that there is no tolerance among the people for such patients. In order to instill at least some compassion, it is recommended to hold lectures in public places and talk about respect for other people. And it would be optimal if such information was received at school, allowing one to absorb from childhood useful qualities that are so necessary in society.
And also, the guardians themselves say that when visiting official institutions, they are regularly faced with suspicions that they have once again come to “beg” or demand their next preferences. Neglect is one of the most common problems for both caregivers and patients.
Such stereotypes spread very quickly in modern society, since mentally disabled people are practically excluded from normal life - they do not attend educational institutions and do not work with ordinary citizens. There is too little publicly available information about them, although over the last decade in Russia its amount has increased due to the creation and functioning of charitable and parent organizations.
Psychology of mentality of generationsV. I. Pishchik, 2014
Topic 1.2. Definition of mentality
The term “mentality” does not have an established definition (general state of mind, worldview, collective unconscious, social consciousness, etc.). D. Field notes that so far psychology “has no real support” in the study of mentality [1996, p. 5]. The problems of empirical research of mentality remain unresolved. From analytical reviews it follows that the term “mentality” was introduced by the “New Historical Science” at the beginning of the twentieth century by the French historiographic school “Annals”. Mentality was presented as a collective worldview (L. Febvre, 1991), an exponent of the non-individual side of the personality (M. Blok, 1973). A person acquires mentality through language, education, communication, and in his life experience. The Annales school, describing mentality, defines it as a mental, spiritual substance characteristic of the entire society and its individual layers, determining its picture of the world and behavior. If we are based on the views of representatives of the “Annals”, then mentality belongs to the public consciousness, the term acquires an independent status as a spiritual-historical phenomenon of culture and its cognitive load is emphasized. Social historians have identified the mentalities of different historical eras.
P. A. Sorokin (2000) highlighted the internal side of culture, which exists as incoherent images, ideas, aspirations and as an ordered system of thinking, which represents mentality. He divided the sensual and ideational mentalities, between which there is an integral, idealistic one. The criteria for difference were the groups’ ways of perceiving and interpreting the world, the system of truth, life needs and ways of satisfying them. Representatives of the sensual mentality perceive the world sensually, representatives of the ideational mentality through contemplation. The leading needs of ideationalists are spiritual, and the way to satisfy them is to change oneself. For the sensual, bodily needs are satisfied through changing the world. The way of perceiving and satisfying needs, embodied in the ideas and ideas of population groups, expresses the peculiarities of mentality according to P. A. Sorokin.
K. A. Abulkhanova and her colleagues identified an integral characteristic of the Russian mentality - socially oriented ideas (political, legal, moral, etc.). She compared these ideas with personality-oriented ones in society and deduced what type of consciousness is the bearer of the new consciousness [1999, p. 17]. K. A. Abulkhanova, building a typology of mentality, is based on the following characteristics: ideas about “I-society”, values (old-new, contradictory-consistent), problematic, optimism-pessimism of social thinking, adaptability - non-adaptation to changed conditions. The types of mentality being built closely correlate with the social strata of society and influence their personal and social position.
Russian researchers are trying to link ethnicity and mentality. G.V. Akopov, T.V. Semenova write that “from the position of social psychology, mentality is an expression of group consciousness in time and space.” At the same time, the authors identify mentality and “innate ethnicity” in the conditions of the historical era [2003, p. eleven].
V. E. Semenov defines mentality as a historically established group long-term unity (fusion) of conscious and unconscious values, norms, attitudes in their cognitive, emotional and behavioral expression [2008]. He identified in Russia a collectivist-socialist, Western-capitalist, Orthodox, criminal-mafia and mosaic-conformist mentality. In his opinion, they are supported by cultural, historical, sociopsychological realities and facts. In our opinion, the author came closest to solving the issue of the connection between the social situation of the development of segments of the population and mentality.
The concept of three mental orders by V. A. Shkuratov (2006) shows a change in mental orders through a change in ways of thinking and communication features. First there was the primitive mentality of primitive society, which relies on mystical thinking and direct communication. As the author notes, the content of communication absorbs communication. In later eras, a written mentality emerged. It assumes the coexistence of irrational and rational thinking in subjects. The communicators themselves regulate the communication process. The written mentality is being replaced by a “media mentality.” It is characterized by the fact that ways of thinking change little, but communication changes completely. Communication is mediated by transmitting devices, interactions become more frequent, but their spontaneity decreases. The content is often replicated and turns into communication [ibid.].
B. G. Meshcheryakov, V. P. Zinchenko write that “mentality precedes worldview, and then integrates into a unified system of consciousness. In mentality, the leading role belongs to experience, and in worldview, knowledge” [2009, p. 357].
A number of authors attribute mentality to the deepest foundations of consciousness. “But for the most part, mentality lies beyond the bounds of human consciousness. Mentality contains a system of a priori attitudes and undiscussable imperatives” [Yakovenko I. G., 2002, p. 145].
We define mentality as the combination of dominant, normatively fixed systems of meanings, meanings and values of the image of the world of a collective subject and its socio-psychological characteristics, manifested in its way of life (V. I. Pishchik, 2006).
