How to explain the state of passion and why it is dangerous: definition and examples, help

Updated July 23, 2022 757 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. There is a state of the human psyche called affect. It does not occur often and not for everyone, but once it does occur, the person ceases to be himself.

Most often, this word is used as part of the phrase “state of passion,” which is talked about when trying to explain the state of a person who has committed illegal actions.

But what kind of affect is this? And why its presence can exempt you from liability even for very serious crimes.

What is a state of affect - mechanism

The meaning of the word affect comes from the Latin affectus. It means a strong and relatively short-term emotional experience, accompanied by pronounced motor and visceral manifestations (Big Dictionary of Psychological Terms Meshcheryakov B., Zinchenko V.).

The concept of a state of affect is closely related to the physiological processes occurring in the human body. The very first thing that happens to a person is a powerful release of the hormone adrenaline . At the level of autonomic (internal) reactions, the pulse quickens, breathing becomes more shallow, blood pressure increases, vascular spasms may occur or coordination of movements may be impaired.

People who have experienced a state of passion then note an exacerbation of chronic or hereditary diseases, a state of moral and physical exhaustion.

Affect in psychology

The state of affect in psychology is a strong but short-term emotional experience . It occurs after the action of a serious external irritant. This condition appears against a person’s will; he is unable to control it.

It is characterized by a narrowed consciousness, in which a pathological reaction may occur (reactions that are not typical in ordinary life: cruelty, violence, rudeness).

Often, a state of passion mobilizes a person’s mental and physical resources, but the individual cannot be fully aware of his actions.

Affect in criminal law

In a state of passion, according to criminal law, a person is practically deprived of the opportunity to think soberly, so a person cannot be fully responsible for his actions.

There are physiological and pathological effects.

Physiological affect is compared to abruptly arising and very strong emotional excitement. The psyche is completely disorganized, the person loses control over himself. The main feature of physiological affect is the suddenness of its occurrence.

Affect is usually calculated in a few seconds and quickly reaches its highest limit, so people who claim that they were in a state of passion for 10-20 minutes are mistaken. This means that they were not in a state of passion, but, for example, in strong anger.

Pathological affect is characterized by a short-term painful mental disorder. Often, due to the pathological effect, deep confusion may occur.

This condition is a rather rare, even exceptional case in judicial practice. Often, to determine whether the suspect was in a state of passion, a special psychological and psychiatric examination is prescribed.

Does the state of affect somehow affect punishment?

If it has been proven that a person committed a crime or illegal actions in a state of passion, then the punishment for him is significantly reduced.

The meaning of the word affect

(lat.) - the opposite of peace of mind, denotes any suspension or difficulty caused by feeling in the ordinary, normal flow of ideas. Thus, A. deprives a person of calm prudence, thinking and will. Usually, the causes of affects are strong and sudden impressions, under the influence of which a person’s state of mind is shaken and suddenly changes. These impressions are very diverse, both in type and in the degree of disruption that they produce in our inner world. Old psychology, with its theory of individual mental abilities, attributed emotion to the realm of feelings, and passions to the realm of will; This division is now abandoned along with the very theory of independent mental abilities. However, it is necessary to distinguish passions from passions: the former usually arise suddenly and, quickly reaching their highest tension, disappear just as quickly, giving way to a reaction; the latter are distinguished by greater duration and constancy, often develop and grow very slowly, but, once they have mastered a person’s mental state, they can only be suppressed with great difficulty. The degrees of A. are very different. In the highest tension they have a stunning effect, sometimes even causing death, such as fright from joy or fear. The feelings caused by A. can be both pleasant and unpleasant, or even simultaneously joyful and sad, as, for example, with surprise. In relation to the method of shocking peace of mind, A. can be divided into excitatory, or exciting, like anger, revenge, joy, and depressing, like grief, sadness, etc. With the close connection that exists between spiritual and physical states, shock , found in A., passes to the body, which is proven by the feeling of relief or embarrassment experienced in these cases, blush from shame, pallor with anger, etc.; the body, on the contrary, counteracts the duration of A. At higher degrees of A., nature itself took care of the means of resolving A., for example, tears or laughter. There is no reason to assert that only man is subject to affects, since similar phenomena are found in animals; however, only a person, due to his highest spiritual development, is able to suppress and tame A.

In criminal law, the question of the influence and significance of A. seems very controversial from both the theoretical and practical sides. Crime is a product not only of external circumstances, but also of a person’s character and temperament, the result of his lack of habits for a lawful life; the fight against these internal elements of the crime constitutes one of the aspects of punishment. Where illegal activity is a product of a mental disorder, punishment is replaced by treatment, supervision, the role of a prison is played by a hospital, shelters. But impunity for acts committed in passion, in a fit of passion, cannot be allowed. Otherwise, we would have to open a free path to all unbridledness, animal instincts and abandon the protection of the state, public order and tranquility. But, on the other hand, A., as sudden, impetuous excitations of the body, are accompanied by a number of not only bodily, but also mental changes, and the latter do not remain without influence on sanity (see this next). A person under the influence of A. or is completely covered by one idea, one desire, loses all possibility of assessing motives, the possibility of struggle and choice; sometimes even the very perception of impressions, thanks to A., takes on a fantastic character; or, on the contrary, mental life becomes dull, the mood takes on the character of depression, actions become unconscious and unaccountable. It is obvious that under such conditions sanity and responsibility cannot exist. Therefore, it is necessary to accept the principle that if ordinary, so to speak, physiological A., do not eliminate sanity, but can only affect the measure of responsibility, then A., crossing the line of ordinary nervous excitement and acquiring a pathological (painful) character, eliminate sanity like a transient madness. Our current legislation (the Statute on criminal and correctional punishments and the Statute on punishments imposed by magistrates) does not include A. among the states of insanity, so that, in the event of an act committed in a pathological A., not associated with mental illness, the court can release the defendant in only one way - by answering negatively to the general question of guilt. Regarding the influence of physiological A. on the degree of responsibility, there are special regulations in Art. 134 p. 5 Lay. about the order. and in Art. 13 p. 2. Peace. Est. In both of these cases, the law indicates only one group of affects - strong irritation (according to the Code of Punishment), provided that this emotion was caused by insults, insults or other actions of the person to whom the guilty person did or attempted to do harm, and by Mir. Const., if A. did not occur due to the fault of the defendant himself. The special part of the Code gives more importance to affects. about punishment, in most personal crimes, for example, murder, leaving without help (see this next). According to the new draft criminal code, pathological A. fits the general concept of causes that eliminate sanity. Wed. N. S. Tagantsev, “Lectures on Russian criminal law” (St. Petersburg, 1888); Lyon, "A. and passions" (“Arch. Forensic Medicine,” 1868, No. 1 - 3); Slonimsky “Insanity as a cause of insanity” (“Sud. Vestn.,” 1873, No. 1 - 3); Sikorsky “On mental states during affects” (“Collection of forensic medicine”, 1875).

Signs of affective behavior

The main indicators of the state of affect are:

1. Disorganized motor activity (a person may twitch, grimace, or make unnatural movements).
2. Unreasonable behavior.
3. Sudden and usually inappropriate conditions for a person.
4. A feeling of exhaustion at the mental and physiological level.
5. Emotions of an extremely violent, explosive nature.
6. Unconscious actions that cannot be controlled.
7. A quick onset and an equally quick stop.

State of affect - examples

There are many examples of actions where a person was in a state of passion:

1. The husband came home and found his wife in bed with her lover. In a state of passion, he kills his lover (or unfaithful partner).
2. A fragile girl of short stature was insulted by a man of large and athletic build. The girl attacked him and caused him very serious injuries.
3. During the fire, the father knocked out the metal door with one blow, since his child was behind the door and needed help.
4. A soldier throws himself under bullets to prevent his comrade from dying.
5. A man who cannot swim jumps into an icy pond to save a drowning child.

Have you personally observed or experienced a state of passion? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

Affect is...

Translated from Latin, the word “affect” means emotional excitement or passion that arises as a reaction to a traumatic, threatening event, where a person does not see the desired solution.

To put it simply, affect is a short-term clouding of consciousness , accompanied by strong emotional experiences, organic changes and chaotic motor activity.

One in this state can be compared to an animal rushing about in a cage. A person loses control over himself - volitional and mental functions, and therefore subsequently does not remember what happened to him.

“The illegal actions were committed in a state of passion, so the court acquitted the accused” - this phrase is often said in movies.

In the criminal law of many countries, a state of passion is a “good reason” to drop charges even for murder, since the person at the time of the crime does not seem to belong to himself.

Unconscious actions under the influence of strong emotions (usually negative) cannot be regarded as intentional, therefore there is practically no demand from the individual.

It is important to note that emotions in the usual sense (joy, fear, sadness) and affect are different things. The first are perceived by the individual as “I”, their manifestation. The second is subjectively perceived as “something that does not depend on me.”

Why are such conditions dangerous?

Affect does not always pose a threat to others, but the person experiencing it can cause relative or even serious damage. In a state of passion, a person can suffer physically (break down, get hurt, break something). Often this condition leads to death. For example, as in the case when a soldier tries to shield his comrade from bullets.

Also, due to outbursts of passion and anxiety, the human psyche may suffer. Most often this is expressed in the form of disorders:

1. Bipolar affective disorder (alternating emotional highs and lows).
2. Depression or depressive episodes of varying severity.
3. Chronic mood disorder.
4. Various anxiety disorders.
5. Phobias that are associated with interaction with society (fear of speaking in public, fear of communicating with strangers).
6. Agoraphobia (fear of leaving home if someone close to you is not nearby).
7. The development of hypochondria (a person begins to feel the need to constantly go to the doctor, it seems to him that something hurts).
8. Stress disorders.

The consequence of affect is always emotional exhaustion and a drop in the level of personal productivity, a broken, unstable state.

Illustration: Maklakov A. G. General psychology: a textbook for universities. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2011, p. 393

EFFECTIVENESS

Psychopathology requires a sharp distinction between cognitive processes and mental impulses. The word “feeling” denotes two types of processes and therefore easily leads to misunderstandings, since many sensations are called feelings. In the same way, Nalovsky’s “intellectual feelings” are processes of cognition. Hunger, thirst, pain, etc. are mixed processes; they contain a sensation and a feeling related to it, or, in other words, a feeling caused by it. Other physical sensations, such as the sensation of tension in our muscles, also have a different relationship to the feelings, since they not only have a secondary influence on the feelings, but are also controlled by them and therefore form a direct part of the symptomatology of affects. We call the group of functions limited in this way affectivity.

Only affectivity in the strict sense has, both in a healthy and in a sick state, a well-known influence on physical functions (tears, cardiac activity, breathing, etc.), as well as on inhibition and the identification of thoughts. In general, it is the driving element of our actions. It extends the reaction to an isolated impression of a sensory organ to the entire organism and the entire psyche, eliminates opposing tendencies and thus gives the reaction a certain volume and strength. It determines the unity of action of all our nervous and mental organs. In addition, it strengthens the reaction also in a temporal sense, giving a certain direction of action a duration that goes beyond the limits of the primary excitation. It is the cause of many splits and transformations of our Self, some forms of delirium, etc.

Affectivity exhibits a certain independence in relation to intellectual processes, since affects can be transferred from one process to another and since different people react so differently to the same intellectual processes, it is impossible to establish any norm for affectivity. In the same way, the development of affectivity occurs in a child completely independently of the development of intelligence.

Therefore, there must be different types depending on the nature of the reaction to processes that have a strong emotional overtones. This characteristic of the individual determines whether he will become hysterical or paranoid, or whether he will fall ill with another form that is currently considered functional.

Attention is one of the manifestations of affectivity. It guides associations to the same extent as feelings, and does not manifest itself outside of affects. In pathology, it undergoes the same changes as feelings.

In a child, feelings can, as is easy to notice, so replace reason that the result of affective manifestation and inhibition of associations is equivalent to the result of complex logical operations. This is the so-called instinctive response.

In pathology, affective abnormalities come to the fore in the entire picture of the disease. In organic psychoses, affectivity is by no means dulled, as has often been asserted. On the contrary, in organics the affective reaction is facilitated (compared to normal people). Dullness is only apparent, secondary, it reflects the dulling of the intellect. If the patient can no longer create a complex idea or fully understand it, then, naturally, an appropriate emotional reaction cannot be expected from him.

The same applies to alcoholics; In epileptics, affectivity is also preserved, but instead of the lability that occurs with organic diseases, it shows greater stability.

In oligophrenics we encounter all sorts of variations in affectivity, as in healthy people, but only within even wider limits. In dementia praecox, the affects are suppressed in a certain way, however, their manifestations can still be proven.

The holothymic influence of the general mood setting should be distinguished (especially in pathology) from the catathymic influence of the affective coloring of individual ideas. For example, delusional ideas of manic patients and melancholic people have a holothymic origin; Delusions of persecution and most neurotic symptoms are catathic. Every healthy and sick person can, depending on the situation, exhibit a holothymic or catathymic reaction, and the tendency to one or another type of reaction can vary in its strength as desired, completely independently of one another. Normally, both of these predispositions are moderately expressed; in a schizoid or cycloid one of them seems especially strong, in a schizopath or cyclopath one of these predispositions is intensified to the point of a painful state, in a schizophrenic or manic-depressive patient one of them is increased to a psychotic state. According to Kretschmer, these mental types correspond to certain physical constitutions.

Affectivity is one of the aspects of our drives and instincts (ergies). Experiences corresponding to drives are associated with pleasure (from an internal point of view); experiences that are in conflict with drives indicate subjective displeasure.

Mechanisms that are important for depth psychology, such as repression, displacement, transference, etc., appear to be self-explanatory affective mechanisms; however, from our point of view, some of Freud's minor ideas, such as censorship, should be interpreted somewhat differently.

SUGGESTION

Suggestibility is one of the aspects of effectiveness. Suggestion and effectiveness have the same effect on the psyche and the body. As far as we can tell, they also act in the same ways.

With primitive relationships (in animals), almost only affects can be suggestible. Suggestibility, like effectiveness, manifests itself in children earlier than intelligence.

Suggestion has the same effect on a group of individuals as affect does on an individual: it determines the unity and duration of the action; it creates collective affect. The greater the emotional value of an idea, the more contagious it is. The suggestibility of a group of individuals is, for many reasons, greater than the suggestibility of an individual.

Everything that is described as an action of autosuggestion can just as correctly be described as an action of effectiveness.

The ratio of suggestibility and effectiveness to attention is the same (as well as to pain).

PARANOIA

So far, it has not been possible to establish the origin of paranoia from a pathological affective attitude. In particular, the mistrust that should underlie paranoia is not an affect. Moreover, it does not occur in all forms of paranoia.

With paranoia, no general or primary mood disorder has been established. Transient or long-term signs of manic or depressive mood disorders occur in paranoia (as in healthy people), but they are not the basis of the disease, but only moments that give the picture a certain color. The clearly visible painful affects are secondary consequences of delusional ideas.

Likewise, in paranoia there is no general disturbance of perception or apperception or a general change in memory images. The presence of hypertrophy I is by no means established in paranoia as a permanent symptom.

What is designated as hypertrophy of the ego and as an egocentric character is partly a consequence of the fact that with paranoia, an affectively colored complex of ideas always comes to the fore in the psyche. Therefore, among paranoids, as well as among normal people, who, due to some affective reasons or due to a constellation, display an orientation towards certain ideas - everyday, as well as less ordinary events, enter into an associative connection primarily with this complex. Since much that has nothing to do with the patient is brought into a false connection with the complex, delusions of relation arise from this. Since all affectively colored complexes are closely related to the ego, the latter is brought to the fore; the definition of “hypertrophied self” is by no means suitable for this process. In addition, every paranoid person has aspirations or desires that go beyond his capabilities; in the same way, this cannot yet be designated as hypertrophy of the ego.

A more thorough study of the emergence of delusional ideas shows that under the influence of chronic affect (affect associated with a given complex), delusions arise using the same mechanism as in a healthy person in an excited state. The pathological point is that these delusions cannot be corrected and that they draw new experiences into their circle.

The prerequisite for such an attitude is affects that have a large switching force and very significant stability in the sense of resistance to logical functions. Thus, associations corresponding to affects become excessively strong and are revealed over time, while associations contrary to affects are inhibited, and it comes to logical weakness; but first of all, thanks to this, an incorrect application to one’s own personality of everything that happens in the surrounding environment arises; illusions of memory arise, which fulfill the desires of euphorically minded patients in delirium of grandeur; those same patients who are in a normal or depressed mood, who somehow feel their insufficiency to achieve the goals they have set for themselves, compensate for these illusions of memory (after affects displace from consciousness the unbearable idea of ​​their own weakness) by what they endure in the delirium of persecution the cause of failure to the outside world; in the fight against the latter, the patient should not lower his self-esteem, but, on the contrary, as a fighter for his right, he can increase it. The cancerous spread and incurability of delusions are determined by the ongoing conflict between desire and reality.

That with delusions of persecution different relationships must take place than with delusions of grandeur is clear from the fact that its occurrence does not occur directly.

The predisposition to create paranoid delusions is in some connection with schizoid or schizophrenia.

Some, infrequent forms of delusional constructs in mild and arrested cases of schizophrenia cannot yet be clinically distinguished from paranoia. Otherwise, we have reason to assume that in schizophrenia there is always an anatomical process that does not occur in paranoia.

Forms of so-called paranoia (such as paraphrenia), which do not correspond to Kraepelin’s concept of paranoia (including the litigious form), cannot currently be either unconditionally attributed to the schizophrenic circle, nor completely separated from it.

Types of affect

Along with pathological and physiological affect, there is another classification, according to which affective experience is classical and accumulative.

During the classic affect, which occurs after a controversial action, a person is overcome by violent emotional experiences. The condition is characterized by a short-term course.

Accumulative affect does not arise unexpectedly and suddenly. It is due to the fact that a person accumulates negative emotions, stress and worries for long days or even months, and then explodes. In the moment, accumulative affect also occurs quickly; duration expresses only “preparation” for it.

Who is affected by the accumulative effect?

Accumulative affect and its stages are characteristic of timid, closed people who, for various reasons, do not want or cannot express their emotions.

Phases of affect

If a person experiences strong emotional excitement, which develops into affect, then in his state he goes through 3 stages.

Affects in psychology and phases of their occurrence

In psychology, affect is intense experiences that lead the psyche into strong arousal, occurring at a time when a person cannot satisfy a particularly important need. Such a need can be both biological and social in nature.

For example, the instinct of self-preservation is a natural mechanism (biological). It “works” the same way for all people: if you are in mortal danger (a person is moving towards you with a knife), then for the sake of its survival, your body - body and psyche - will use all kinds of resources.

In such a situation, a person discovers abilities - he runs faster than the coolest sprinter or fights with an offender like the best martial arts master in the world. After the decline of affect, these abilities disappear, as if they never existed.

The course of affect is divided into 3 stages:

1. Pre-affective – consciousness is still intact, but there are disturbances in the perception of one’s experiences and what is happening. Gradually emotions come to the fore, logic is lost.
2. Affective explosion - accompanied by all the phenomena described in the chapter “Signs”. Typically, the peak of the experience is accompanied by one of two unconscious reactions: fight or flight.
3. Post-affect – a person feels “squeezed like a lemon” and wants to sleep. There are no emotions or physical strength.

In a state of passion, a person loses control, which means that all his “musts,” “musts,” and “musts” dissolve, revealing his natural essence.

Social norms and rules fade into the background, and the individual does what he would never allow himself to do in a normal state of mind: he can hit, insult and even kill if circumstances so require.

How to help with a condition

When experiencing a state of passion, a person needs help.

Psychotherapy

Help with affectivity necessarily includes relief of symptoms with the help of drug therapy, psychotherapeutic assistance and assistance in further social adaptation. All these actions are performed by specialists (psychiatrist, psychotherapist, other medical personnel).

Is it possible to help yourself?

In some cases, a person can help himself. This is especially necessary for people who are not fully aware and do not fully experience their emotions. If tension occurs, they should:

1. Take a short break and try to understand your own emotions. The questions “What feeling am I experiencing now”, “What is happening to me?” will help a person with this.
2. If you have difficulty naming your own feelings, you should turn to the 7 basic emotions and choose the most suitable one from the list. 7 basic emotions: shame, guilt, fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise.
3. When the feeling is selected, try to understand to whom it is addressed from the outside. The answer “to yourself” is not suitable, since any emotion has its own object.
4. Try to understand what need was not satisfied, what you really want now (recognition, attention, love, security, power, self-realization). If a negative feeling arises, then there is an unsatisfied need. These processes are always interconnected.
5. When the emotion has been realized, it needs to be realized or directed to the object to which it should have been addressed. For example, tell a person: “With your words/actions, you offended/insulted/scared me.”

Of course, it is impossible to insure yourself against accidents, difficult life situations and emergencies, but you can learn to express your emotions and protect yourself from affect that may arise in everyday life.

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If a person experiences serious difficulties with understanding and experiencing emotions, it is worth starting to keep a diary and learn mindfulness. A diary will help you structure your achievements and correct your mistakes in time.

Thank you for reading the article. Share your thoughts and experiences about being in a state of passion. Have you ever seen this happen? What about testing? Repost the article on social networks and save it so as not to lose it and return to it as needed.