The epileptoid type is characterized by increased excitability, long periods of heavy drinking, a tendency to outbursts of anger, and sexual promiscuity, which makes it possible to classify it as a group of impulsive individuals or overly excitable psychopaths (for example, hyperthymic, labile psychotype). In the case of pathology, we are talking about psychopathy. In cases where the manifestations are borderline in nature, the epileptoid is a person with whom it is not easy to communicate, much less live under the same roof.
Personality Features
To see the features of an epileptoid character, let's compare this type with hysteroids and narcissists. What do all three categories have in common? Obviously, this is love and a craving for attention from the environment, but the fundamental difference is that each of these features “seeks” its own special attention.
Narcissists crave confirmation of their grandiosity and originality, hysterics, by hook or by crook, attract direct attention to themselves, but the epileptoid type of accentuation is based on attracting indirect attention to themselves. How to understand this?
Firstly, direct interaction with people is not always important for epileptoids: it is enough for them to know and feel that they are being noticed. Their methods of attracting attention to themselves are very diverse, but they are all very well veiled and hidden.
At first glance, they seem to be quite ordinary people, but it is impossible not to notice them: they shuffle, accidentally drop something, act out, mischief, stutter and litigate. In general, these are very noisy people.
And at the same time, epileptoids try to avoid direct attention directed directly at them. For example, when directly trying to call such a person to dialogue (because of a slander, for example), it is extremely difficult. The fact that you have already bought into this “duck” is enough for them.
Compatibility with other characters
A hysteroid and an epileptoid are compatible only if they can trust each other and learn to give in. It is ideal if a woman has a hysterical personality type. She will lead a normal life and know that behind her is a protector, a chosen one, ready to do anything for her. Moreover, due to his character, a person who has an epileptoid personality type will not even understand that sometimes he is being manipulated.
Such a person can develop friendly and business relationships with a paranoid person. After all, they are leaders by nature, and epileptoids respect rank and are ready to faithfully and devotedly serve their leader. Thus, a combination of such types in government structures is often found, and their friendship and cooperation can last for decades.
An epileptoid will build a good family with a psychasthenic or emotive. We can say that this will be a traditional union, where the husband is the head of the family, and the wife is a respectful woman who values the peace and comfort of her husband. The only problem is that the husband, who has an epileptoid personality type, can put a lot of pressure, imposing his opinion and rightness.
Nothing will work with hypertim, too different views on life, values and priorities. But two epileptoids will get along if they can meet each other.
Conflict character traits
Every feature has its positive and negative features. Let's start the analysis with the disharmonious traits of the epileptoid type of character. As we have already noted, the epileptoid type of character accentuation is similar in signs and manifestations to epileptic changes.
The first negative trait is suspiciousness and vindictiveness. These people remember insults for a long time and even after a long time, if possible, they will try to “annoy” the offender, from which, by the way, they get a lot of pleasure.
Another unpleasant feature is obsession, obsessiveness. Often these people pester potential “victims” like a ban leaf. Also, epileptoids easily “get stuck” on some idea or emotion, which for a long time directs all their behavior. Within the framework of pathology, this is expressed as rigidity of thoughts and actions, as well as the inability to change the style of action. For example, if you ask a patient with epilepsy (and not an accented one!) to draw circles, and after a while ask him to start drawing triangles, he will not be able to change his actions.
Another problem is greed. These people are excellent shuttle traders, but they live by the principle “we ourselves are always not enough.” If they have the opportunity to grab their piece, they will definitely do it, even in unethical ways.
In addition to this, they are very envious. On this basis, a craving for litigiousness often develops, and these people tend to complain and slander. In everyday terms, these are the so-called “professional” complainants, inundating all kinds of authorities with dozens of letters.
The craving for complaining is also based on their grumpiness, eternal dissatisfaction with everyone and everything. Actually, they are characterized by epileptoid pedantry in external manifestations, although, as we will see later, this is also their strong point.
At the same time, epileptoid pedantry and explosiveness go side by side. Epileptoids have virtually no ability to restrain their negative emotions. Therefore, the latter can easily move from excessive mannerisms to explosive shocking. Strong, especially negative experiences usually take over the mind.
The logic of their life: the end justifies the means, they often use others to achieve their goals, although in terms of their ability to manipulate they are definitely inferior to both narcissists and hysterics.
And finally, often epileptoids, due to pedantry, get stuck on their health, they are characterized by hypochondriasis and imaginary illness, and the lack of “treatment” gives rise to their love of litigiousness.
Symptoms
There are character traits that define epileptoids, and in men and women with epileptoid psychopathy, these same traits seem to be excessively expressed, so that their behavior seems abnormal, out of the generally accepted framework.
- Affective outbursts are one of the most characteristic signs. Attacks of anger appear, as it seems to others, out of the blue, but, in fact, epileptoids “save up” their emotions for a very long time and “explode” at a certain moment. Since most of the time such a person is in a state of dysphoria, it is almost impossible to guess when and what will trigger the next outbreak. In a fit of anger, people have poor control over their emotions, can behave aggressively and are not always able to stop in time.
- Dysphoria – decreased mood, melancholy, anger, increased sensitivity to minor irritations. Most of the time the epileptoid is in this state. He seems to be looking for (and finding) reasons to be offended, angry or upset.
- Viscosity of thinking and behavior - it is very difficult for an epileptoid to quickly change his behavior or way of thinking. They love order, tend to “put everything in order” and cannot quickly switch to another object or action.
- Cyclicality – changes in mood, periods of dysphoria and aggression constantly replace each other. With pathology, even a certain “regime” is possible, for example, in the morning the mood is normal, by lunchtime it worsens, and in the evening an explosion occurs.
- Touchiness, suspiciousness - such people take everything personally and notice every little thing if it has anything to do with them. Another side of such self-centeredness is the almost complete lack of empathy and lack of desire to pay attention to the feelings of others.
- Pedantry – a penchant for order and the desire to put everything in its place can turn into pedantry.
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The child is an epileptoid
The first features of epiletoid can be noticed at the age of 2 years and older. The child is stubborn, unable to restrain his desires and expect something. He can cry for hours until he gets what he wants and it is very difficult to calm him down.
In preschool age, such children have difficulty coping with outbursts of aggression, may show cruelty towards animals, other children or adults, and try to manipulate peers.
Epileptoid schoolchildren are characterized by a tendency to pedantry, rigidity of thinking, and inability to quickly change their style of behavior.
In adolescence, the epileptoid is characterized by malice, irritability, and mood swings from melancholy and apathy to aggression. And also a complete lack of pity and empathy towards others.
Harmonious character traits
We should not assume that the traits we have described appear in all cases or are always negative. Many accented people fit very harmoniously into society and use their strengths very well.
Actually, let's list them. First of all, it's a trick. And it is not always associated with deceit. Such people can effortlessly find a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation.
Secondly, cunning and pedantry help the latter to defend their interests and gain benefits from very difficult situations.
Thirdly, epileptoids think through their appearance in detail, they know how to take care of themselves and are sometimes very sophisticated and extravagant.
Fourthly, they are truly the creators of their lives. A dream quickly becomes a goal, which also quickly becomes a result.
In view of such creativity, they easily give up what gets in the way, and in a fit of emotion they are able to achieve serious results in achieving their goals. On the other hand, this is a problem - epileptoids often become victims of drug addiction and addiction.
As we see, these are certain character traits on which a person’s entire life and behavior is built. However, an epileptoid psychopath and an epileptoid personality type are different people. The first, due to his overly pronounced characteristics, experiences difficulties (like his environment) in normal socialization, while an accentuated person still coordinates his actions with the environment and is very mobile in society.
Manipulation
But we should not lose sight of the fact that, nevertheless, epileptoids are prone to manipulation. To avoid falling into this trap, let’s look at three “favorite” manipulation strategies.
The first of our favorite strategies involves litigiousness.
Literally it can be described as “I will complain about you, and you will get it from me!” In simple terms, epileptoids often “show off” their victims. It's not uncommon for this strategy to work all the time. In this case, it is better to either break contacts with the person or try to level out problematic situations depending on the situation. Another strategy is to cover up one’s actions with the role, state or emotion being performed. In such cases, you can often hear “I have to,” or that “it’s not me, but my condition.” All that remains is to point out the constant responsibility of a person for his actions.
And finally, taking the position of a victim, because “a soldier will not hurt a child!” Here emotions, complaints, and vindictiveness come into play.
Characteristic
Epileptoid is a personality type whose character exhibits behavioral and pathopsychological changes typical for patients with epilepsy. Often, such patients have a history of adverse effects during the perinatal and neonatal period, which subsequently manifests as mild neurological deficits.
Features of the epileptoid type are often caused by damage to the brain substance of an organic type, which affects the character and behavior of the individual; these minor pathological changes in the nervous tissue are compensatory in nature. Compared to the hysterical type, the epileptoid type is also susceptible to affective, violent reactions.
However, in the first case, attacks of passion are non-aggressive, non-hostile in nature. The structure of emotional manifestations is dominated by the following components: touchiness, tearfulness, egocentrism, the desire to attract the attention of others, and demonstrative ambition. The combination of hysterical and epileptoid character traits is accompanied by extreme cruelty.
Statistics show that a similar combination of psychotypes is often identified in criminals who have committed serious violent crimes with particular cruelty. Moreover, one of the goals of the crime was to satisfy the need for vivid, intense affective experiences. Epileptoid personality is the presence in the character structure of certain qualities characteristic of a given psychotype.
How do they live?
It is obvious that the characteristics of these people greatly influence their lives, determining the range of phenomena that bring them pleasure or, on the contrary, disappoint, terrify and bring displeasure into their lives.
To understand how to safely communicate with an epileptoid type, it is necessary to take into account the factors of pleasure and displeasure, because we should not forget that these people are carriers of an explosive nature.
Let's start with what does not satisfy them and brings displeasure:
- direct, immediate attention;
- public speeches, for example, if after another slander they have to somehow enter into a debate with a wide audience, then they are more likely to agree to go to peace or hastily retreat;
- discussing their appearance and behavior behind their back;
- picking apart their own behavior and shortcomings. Logic turned against them is perceived as a personal insult;
- carelessness, both in one’s affairs, things and appearance, and in one’s surroundings. They are extremely intolerant of sloppiness and inaccuracy;
- the danger of not being on time somewhere, of not receiving something, of missing out.
Now about the pleasure:
- a feeling of victory, revenge or satisfaction from one’s own cunning, of course, and ordinary people get pleasure from this, but for epileptoids this is the peak of joy;
- immersion headlong in artificial experiences: the plots of books, films, music and poetry, one’s own roles and whims can captivate a person. In this case, there often occurs a temporary “disconnection” from reality, a devaluation of the essential.
Business qualities
These are reliable and efficient employees. Rules and regulations are law for them. All their actions will be carried out according to the instructions. Their diligence does not come from fear, but from the holy conviction that this is exactly how everything should happen, and it cannot be otherwise. They will do anything to avoid being punished or reprimanded for their work, since this is the worst thing for them. It is worth considering that this type does not recognize reasoning. To carry out his duties, he needs specific instructions and facts.
They are clean, respect and appreciate their superiors, and have systematic thinking. People who have epileptoid-type personality changes are more likely to choose special professions. It is important for them to feel their calling, and then they remain faithful to serving their mission to the end. They are not suited to jobs that require empathy or creativity.
Some types of accentuation
Of course, the epileptoid type of accentuation is a collective concept. For the most part, when diagnosing such conditions, specified subtypes of accentuations are distinguished. In particular, these are epileptoid hysterical and schizoid epileptoid types.
The peculiarity of the former is that, together with the main signs of the epileptoid type, demonstrative behavior acquires great weight. With such accentuation, people are no longer so afraid of direct attention, they are even more willing to provoke it.
Moreover, they have a more pronounced hypochondriasis and confidence in the presence of diseases. There is some switching between signs of hysteria and epileptoidism. A person’s explosiveness and readiness to explode at any little thing also increases. Often, against this background, the general aggressiveness of behavior and the readiness to use extreme measures to eliminate one’s own displeasure increase.
Another type is schizoid-epileptoid. In the case of this diagnosis, what is striking, first of all, is pretentiousness and excessive extravagance in the tastes, style of a person, and in all his behavior. At the same time, tolerance for direct attention decreases, and notes of secrecy and aloofness may appear.
Moreover, these people are even more likely to get stuck in a world of surreal experiences, being influenced by what they see for a long time. The resourcefulness and cunning of such people also increases, in particular due to the fact that schizoidism implies a certain diversity of thinking, that is, a lack of fixation on the social meaning of a thing. For example, a spoon can not only be used to eat soup, but also to dig a hole, play drums and be used as a decoration.
Eventually
So, let's summarize the data provided. Accentuation and epileptoid psychopathy, although diagnoses close to each other, are on opposite sides of the norm. Epileptoids are capable of functioning very successfully in society, but not always taking into account the legitimate interests of other people. On the one hand, these are interesting and bright people, on the other hand, they are vindictive, selfish and greedy individuals.
Of course, in no case should you label a person as a psychopath, but in case of real “strangeness” (in social terms) of behavior and increasing social maladjustment, it is worth seeking help and clarification from psychological consultants.
Author of the article: Borisov Oleg Vladimirovich, developmental psychologist
Fear
The worst thing for people who have an epileptoid personality type is to lose control over what is happening. It is he who is driven by the desire to supervise everything and everyone around him. Therefore, such a person is doing well at work, his superiors appreciate him, and with his help he is moving up his career. But at home, his loved ones may suffer from this fear.
For example, he may be constantly late at work because he could not complete all the tasks in a day. And until he puts everything in order and takes control, he will not be able to leave. The fear of being unprepared sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. For example, a student with this type, who does not know what his teacher will ask him, falls into a state of panic. And he cannot explain why this happens.
The likelihood that they will be punished, given a low grade or deprived of a bonus is simply unacceptable for such people. They will regard this as a personal failure and will count themselves among the losers and fools. They have an intensified sense of their own weakness and inadequacy.
Russian “social character” is epileptoid
Since the late 1960s, social anthropologist Valentina Chesnokova has worked together with sociologist Tatyana Zaslavskaya at the Novosibirsk Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, and since the mid-1970s - at the Moscow Research Institute of Culture. She was the first in the USSR to formulate the concept of “social archetype”. Her most famous work, published in samizdat in the early 1980s under the pseudonym “Ksenia Kasyanova,” was the book “On the Russian National Character.” In it, she just understands the essence of the social archetype.
In one of her interviews with sociologist Sergei Belanovsky, Chesnokova explained the essence of her work:
“I believe that genotype is one of the most important factors in the formation of culture, but not in the sense that was previously thought. From my point of view, culture is not a continuation of the genotype, it is rather a mitigation of it. Culture interacts with the genotype, adapting it to the social form of life. And therefore, some things that have a “plus” in the genotype may have a “minus” in the culture. In the book this is discussed in detail using the example of an epileptoid. An epileptoid by its genotype is a selfish person, an individualist. Therefore, culture orients him towards exactly the opposite. She orients him toward collectivism and selflessness. Culture sets these value orientations against his genotypic traits.
When the collapse of Kievan Rus occurred, part of the population moved to the North-East, where the indigenous population were Finno-Ugric people. These are the Ryazan and Murom regions. Where did the tribes “Ryazan”, “Muroma” and others go? They are not there, they assimilated and passed on many of their traits to us. If you take, for example, an anthropological portrait of a Chuvash, you will say about him: “This is a typical Russian!” The other part migrated to the northwest and west, and partly remained in the same place. There was a break in nationality, as a result of which the Ukrainian and Belarusian nations were formed. If we talk about Ukrainians, then they have a related, but different ethnic genotype. Their ancestors did not mix with the Finno-Ugric peoples, but with the southern peoples. The influence of the Cumans was probably strong.”
14984 Russian man at a crossroads
In her book “On the Russian National Character,” Valentina Chesnokova describes the traits of the epileptoid Russian character: “The epileptoid personality is a person who is irritable, selfish, incooperative, apathetic, stubborn and characterized by an unbridled disposition. The epileptoid, being a strongly cycloid, during periods of reduced activity is extremely unresponsive to the stimuli of the social (and other) environment. In addition, it is very typical for him to build complex systems of goals and carefully developed plans for their implementation and then implement them, with very little regard for what his social environment is doing or thinking. At the same time, he implements these plans very persistently, for which those around him consider him “stubborn” and “irritable,” since he does not know how to adapt, but rather straightforwardly demands that he be allowed to do what he started, since he has already started something - to do - and suppresses any attempts to prevent him from doing this.
Thus, the “quiet period” of an epileptoid is characterized by what the environment calls “apathy” and “stubbornness.” During this period, the epileptoid is balanced, and it is extremely difficult to remove it from this balance.
When emotional arousal gradually begins, this process remains hidden for a long time. The epileptoid delays, blocks the emotional reaction, it seems to accumulate a charge within itself. And when he is already properly “charged with emotion,” any minor reason breaks the valve: the epileptoid explodes extremely violently and crushingly. And then it turns out that all those insults and minor scratches, to which at one time he seemed not to react at all, are still alive in his memory, and he pays for them with his surroundings in full measure. He makes noise and rages for a long time, and it is very difficult to calm him down: he must discharge himself. When all the accumulated emotional ballast is dumped, the epileptoid calms down on its own. This rhythm is largely spontaneous and independent of either the internal or external situation, that is, neither of events and relationships with the environment, nor of the state of the organism. During periods of explosions, the epileptoid has very little control over himself.”
In an interview, Sergei Belanovsky asks Valentina Chesnokova:
— Are there cultures with whose representatives conflict arises, for example, in the “market” field?
- I think so. And those with whom conflict is minimal. For example, Russians and Finno-Ugric people. The component of humility among the Finno-Ugric people is even more pronounced than among the Russians. When communicating with each other, these peoples did not irritate each other. I also think that we have an ethnic community with the Lithuanians. It is more difficult for us to get along with Estonians because they are more individualistic.
— And with which peoples of the USSR do we have the greatest mutual misunderstanding?
— Especially with Caucasian ones. In general, by their genotype, they are very temperamental, this causes conflicts. True, if there is flexibility in the character of our partners, then conflicts can be resolved.
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New Russian Consensus
Many cultures focus their ethnic groups on the need to mitigate conflicts. These are the Armenians and Jews. Russians, by the way, do not have this trait. They have patience, which is not the same thing. The Russian avoids conflicts, endures until the last possible opportunity, but if he does not have the strength to endure, then an emotional explosion occurs. And Jews have a cultural obligation to extinguish conflicts. There is an unreflected value incompatibility with Jews. Chronic irritation is unreflected value differences. But Jews react to this irritation in their own cultural way - they try to extinguish conflicts. In general, Jews have their own strong culture. They have their limits and they respect them. In particular, they love children very much. The family is of great value to them, they strive to prevent its disintegration.”
Culture, according to Chesnokova, is opposed to the genotype. Its task is not to reflect or consolidate it, but to adapt it to the environment, to the environment, processing it, cultivating it. The job of the genotype is to create difficulties, the job of culture is to overcome them.
At the same time, at the end of her life, Valentina Chesnokova (she died in 2010) believed that Russian culture was weakening and disintegrating. That is, the genotype in Russia is beginning to overcome culture, and individualism and apathy will again come to the fore in the “Russian character”.
Interpreter
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