What is frustration - A psychologist explains from A to Z

This article was developed under the heading: Psychology.

Section: Processes.

In the modern world, with a fast pace of life, we are often faced with a state when a feeling of dissatisfaction arises when it is impossible to achieve some result. Everything is falling out of hand, the number of tasks is growing. We begin to feel a wide range of emotions and experiences - anger, anger, disappointment, irritation, guilt. This state is defined as frustration. Are you familiar with this condition? Does it make you anxious? Let's figure out what it is, how you can fight it, and how you can help yourself.

Frustration is a common phenomenon for modern man

Symptoms of Frustration

A frustrated person experiences a whole range of negative emotions:

• diffidence;
• irritation;
• anxiety;
• isolation;
• despair.

But the reactions of his behavior are mainly based on the character and qualities of the individual. Usually, when faced with a frustrator, a person displays aggression, which is directed at the source of the problem and the people around him. Sometimes a replacement reaction occurs if a person cannot cope with a problem, taking out anger on other people. Symptoms of frustration will then be various aggressive actions and words, anger, loss of self-control

Frustration can make a person withdraw, retreating from a problem consciously or unconsciously. A person is able to honestly admit that he is wrong and the mistakes he has made, or he can withdraw into himself, sublimate, and fantasize. Then the symptom of frustration will be “switching” to another type of activity. For example, difficulties in personal relationships lead to concentration on career and vice versa. Symptoms of frustration also include unusual fantasies or withdrawal. Infantile people have a tendency to regress when confronted with frustrators. Unable to achieve their goal, they abandon it, lowering the bar.

Example

Leonid Prokhorov

Psychologist, Gestalt therapist

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For example, having difficulty buying his own home, an infantile person will return to his parents’ home, ceasing to strive to be independent. That is, he will return to the behavioral stereotype that once allowed him to satisfy the need for housing. The healthiest response to a situation of frustration is tolerance and acceptance of the problem. Then the person realizes his mistakes and tries to find a suitable solution. He exhibits a high level of optimism, evaluates what happened as a positive experience and strives to achieve his goal again.

The mechanism of occurrence of the emotional state

Frustration is formed in 3 main stages:

1. Setting a goal. A person decides to make this or that desire come true, sets the necessary bar, thinks through the methods and timing of achieving the goal.
2. Striving to achieve a goal. A person makes efforts, tries to achieve the intended results, investing effort, time or money into it.
3. Failure. Despite the efforts made, achieving the goal becomes impossible. The person becomes disappointed, angry, and plunges into a frustrated state.

Further behavior depends on the person’s character and the degree of his indignation.

Causes of frustration - Factors of occurrence

Main frustration factors:

• Physical reasons, i.e. material restrictions - lack of funds, restrictions on freedom of movement, etc.
• Psychological reasons - lack of necessary knowledge, complexes, fears.
• Biological reasons - obvious defects in appearance, health problems, gender differences.
• Social reasons - sociocultural differences with other people, religious or political conflicts, other communication-related problems.

The cause of frustration is the lack of opportunity to satisfy a need, the loss of an object or subject through which the need was satisfied, or a conflict.

A person needs care and understanding, but there is no reliable close friend in his environment. Attempts to make friends with someone or start a relationship constantly fail, and he experiences severe disappointment.

The care and understanding received from a loved one disappears due to a breakup or death. The human condition aggravates the bitterness of loss.

The desire to receive care and support may conflict with internal principles: the desire for independence, selfishness, and reluctance to compromise.

Let's now try to define for ourselves what frustration is.

Lost state when you don't know what to do

28.72%

A state of bitterness because you are limited in something

37.23%

The state of being unable to accept something, which forms a mental block in the mind

34.04%

Votes: 94

Features of the course of neurosis in women

Neurosis is diagnosed in a third of the world's urban population. Neurology is one of the most common ailments of the nervous system—the disease occurs in every fourth person with mental illness. A study of the incidence of neurosis has shown that neurotic disorders are common in men and women over 30 years of age. However, neurotic disorders in women usually occur in a more severe form than in men.

The reason for such conclusions is the emotionality of women. Doctors note that neurosis most often appears in expressive and emotional people. According to statistics, women are more sensitive than men.

Experts also say that, unlike men, women suffer from neurosis almost twice as much. Menopause is considered one of the causes of neurosis in women. Any hormonal changes affect our nervous system and can bring unpleasant consequences.

Perhaps, in this case, a social factor also plays a role - men are less likely to go to doctors, especially to a psychotherapist. However, today experts say that the flow of men to psychotherapists has increased, but women are still more willing to go to a doctor for help.

Also, by the will of fate and centuries-old traditions, not only a career and daily work falls on a woman’s shoulders, but also cleaning the house and raising children. The modern woman has more tasks, the principle “you need to be strong and hold on” is firmly stuck in your head. However, this unknown force will not protect you from overload and fatigue. Then for help you need to contact a psychotherapist who will prescribe treatment. Psychotherapy sessions help to influence the cause of neurosis, change the attitude towards a traumatic situation and facilitate the release of emotions, accelerating recovery.

Symptoms of neurosis in women

The signs of neurosis in women differ from the opposite sex due to our physiological characteristics of the body. For example, among women the list of symptoms of neurosis includes insomnia, frequent nightmares and sleep paralysis, but this is not observed in men. Also, in women with neurosis, there is a deviation in the menstrual cycle.

Doctors identify the following most common symptoms of neurosis in women:

• anxiety;
• irritability;
• expressiveness of behavior;
• refusal to eat;
• impairment of physical qualities: loss of strength, feeling tired, loss of endurance;
• heart and headaches;
• vestibular disorders, balance disorders
• excessive tearfulness;
• sudden mood swings.

There are several types of neurosis, one of them is hysterical, most often called hysteria. According to doctors, signs of this type of disease are most often observed in women. Experts interpret hysterical disorder as an ardent desire to attract attention to the sick person. The disease is characterized by demonstrative behavior. A person suffering from such a disease often screams loudly, makes scandals, and sobs bitterly.

Medical psychotherapists have extensive experience and all the necessary resources for the successful treatment of neuroses.

Features of the course of neurosis in children

Neurasthenia is also common in children of primary and preschool age. Symptoms of the disorder are similar to those in adults. The difficulty in determining pathology lies only in the fact that young children often cannot explain what is happening to them and how they feel.

The child's appetite decreases, sleep problems appear, and nightmares often occur, as a result of which the baby may even cry out in his sleep and wake up without understanding what is happening. Increased sweating occurs and the temperature of the extremities decreases.

In addition to all the above signs of pathology, the child may have a headache, he is sensitive to bright light and loud sounds. There is also often a sharp change from positive emotions to negative ones: crying, aggression and depression.

Experts recommend immediately seeking help from a doctor, since neurosis in childhood is much more difficult to treat than in adults.

What types of neurosis exist and how do they differ?

• Depressive.
  This type of neurosis is characterized by such symptoms in a person as tearfulness, sudden changes in mood, feelings of despair and helplessness. The person suffering from the disorder loses interest in life and becomes melancholy. During depressive neurosis, a person experiences low self-esteem, guilt, and frustration.
• Anxious.
  Often has manifestations at the physical level: dry mouth, increased sweating, rapid heartbeat. Anxiety neurosis can result in panic attacks and phobias. A person constantly experiences a feeling of fear.
• Hysterical (“conversion disorder”)
  - most often manifests itself if a person has experienced a strong emotional shock or a traumatic event. There is a change or loss of motor/sensory function indicating a physical disorder that is not detected. For example, after an accident, a person may experience loss of speech, although there is no physical reason for this.
• Obsessive-compulsive.
  Intrusive thoughts and images appear. Often such thoughts have no rational grain and are catastrophic in nature. To counter the overwhelming anxiety, a person performs compulsive, repetitive actions.
• Rehearsal.
  It manifests itself as attempts to resolve an issue that in the past remained unfinished. A person suffering from rehearsal neurosis transfers conflicting relationships from the past to the present and believes that this reality still exists today.

For example, a person believes that everyone treats him badly or no one likes him. As a result, he begins to behave in accordance with his ideas about others.

• Hypochondriacal.
  The patient becomes too suspicious and overly concerned about his health; he finds symptoms of various diseases where they actually do not exist. A person invents a terrible disease, torments himself, and stress or anxiety appears. Despite negative tests and consultations with doctors, the patient remains convinced of this.
• Depersonalization.
  Fear, panic and anxiety appear. It’s as if a person lives in a dream, “disconnecting” from his own body and thoughts.
• Military or post-traumatic stress disorder.
  It manifests itself under very shocking circumstances, when a person saw death or was captured or suffered serious injuries (physical and psychological). This type of neurasthenia is manifested by very strong stress, panic attacks, and an aggressive state. Such stress is dangerous because it can lead to disability, including functional disability that negatively affects daily life.

Neurosis and memory problems

Excessive anxiety leads to decreased concentration, which means that the patient often has problems with memory and attention. In order to influence the problem, you can take vitamin complexes of natural origin, as well as conduct useful memory training.

Experts recommend engaging in light physical activity and daily exercise to relieve anxiety and excessive worry.

Try not to multitask, this will only make the problem worse. It is better to remove all distractions while working or doing what you love. Such distractions include a mobile phone or any other mobile device. Turn them off when doing important things.

To reduce the strain on your eyes and brain, take breaks from work and study. Don't overwork yourself. You can take a walk in the fresh air or do some exercise.

Neurosis and psychosis: what is the difference?

Often these concepts are confused or interchanged. But diseases are different in their manifestations and the internal feeling of a person. For example, during the development of obsessive-compulsive neurosis, a person maintains a sense of reality and looks for new ways to adapt to it. He recognizes that he is suffering from a disorder and that this suffering is a product of mental instability.

During psychosis, a person perceives the world around him differently. He adapts reality according to his personal perception (often delusional), experiences hallucinations and delusions. And the main thing is how psychosis differs from neurosis: the patient is not aware of his problem.

Neurosis and vegetative-vascular dystonia

As we mentioned above, during neurosis signs appear on the physical level, such as rapid heartbeat, fluctuations in blood pressure, chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc. All these symptoms are similar to the signs of a disease such as vegetative-vascular dystonia.

VSD is a complex of symptoms of different localization that occur when there is a malfunction in the autonomic nervous system. And neurosis is a disorder of the central nervous system caused by the psyche (stress, depression, etc.). Since the nervous system is connected, disturbances in one department provoke disruptions in the functioning of another.

How is neurasthenia diagnosed?

To diagnose and identify the disease, you need to consult a neurologist, and sometimes a psychologist and psychiatrist. At the city clinic, you can contact your primary care physician, who will write a referral to a neurologist. However, this takes time. You often have to wait 2 weeks for an appointment with a doctor. In some cases, this is simply impossible, since it is necessary to quickly conduct an examination and prescribe treatment before the situation becomes critical.

Therefore, we recommend contacting the Medunion medical clinic. We employ practicing neurologists, and you don’t have to wait several weeks for appointments. Sign up today for a time convenient for you, not for the remaining time, and get tested tomorrow.

Patients choose us because we provide the service of a specialist coming to your home if you cannot come to the clinic on your own. You can also take samples directly at home.

Diagnosis includes interviewing the patient or his immediate family (guardians), collecting anamnesis and studying the medical history. To make a diagnosis, the doctor needs to know the symptoms that bother the patient.

To exclude other pathologies, the neurologist prescribes laboratory tests:

• Blood analysis;
• Analysis of urine;
• Ultrasonography;
• CT scan;
• Magnetic resonance imaging.

The specialist will also conduct psychological tests. For example, color technique. It consists in the fact that the patient is offered a palette of colors from which he must choose the color he likes. Colors such as purple, gray, red, brown, black indicate a high probability of developing neurosis.

What leads to frustration - Types of conflicts

Conflicts leading to frustration are divided into three types:

• Conflict of equal opportunities. For example, a person chooses between a foreign career and a responsible promotion up the career ladder. Both options have their merits, so a person experiences the agony of choice.
• Conflict of equal problems. The example mentioned above can be understood differently. Firstly, moving will cause difficulties - the need to improve a foreign language, create new social connections, and break relationships with loved ones at home. Secondly, domestic advancement up the career ladder will also cause a number of problems - the need to be responsible for decisions made, reduction of free time, envy of others, etc.
• Conflict of opportunities and problems. In the above example, when choosing a career path, a person will certainly encounter this conflict. He needs to make a choice between career growth and free time, financial well-being and environment.

It’s worth saying right away that the causes of frustration are not only frustrating situations, but also a number of accompanying factors:

• Repeated repetition of the problem, that is, long-term unsatisfaction of the need.
• Human emotional excitability.
• Degree of dissatisfaction.
• Having a negative experience.
• Goal achievement stage.

When several of these factors are combined with a frustrator, a person overcomes frustration thresholds and finds himself in this difficult emotional state. The more related factors coincide, the more difficult it will be for him to overcome the problem.

In modern society, the bar for success is set too high, and it is very difficult to achieve it. Attractive people with a good job, a prosperous family, their own real estate and other symbols of success are considered successful. In pursuit of achieving the norms established by society, people forget about their real needs and desires, which means that symptoms of frustration appear more and more often.

All types of conflicts are possible in real life

Types of frustaters

A frustater is a factor that forces you to fall into a state of frustration. As a rule, it is this that determines when you fall into such a state

Poverty. In conditions of constant monetary shortage, human ideas about the essence of happiness change. There is a parable in which a poor man complains about his cramped housing, where he lives with numerous relatives. The sage advises him to temporarily place his pets there in order to feel the catastrophic nature of the situation. So happiness is relative.

Poverty causes frustration not only when it is impossible to satisfy the simplest personal and family needs. Financial status is a serious frustration when society consists of people of varying degrees of income. Despite a decent standard of living, a person independently enters into frustration through social comparison.

Particularly strong frustration occurs if a person believes that rich people make their fortune only through illegal and immoral means. The perception of oneself as a poor, disadvantaged person depends on the ratio of his needs to real achievements.

Other types of frustaters:

• Physical reasons. Physical reasons include financial restrictions and loss of freedom.
• Biological reasons. Biological causes are aging, external features, changes in appearance.
• Psychological. Psychological - lack or lack of knowledge, fears, doubts.
• Social. Social reasons are related to communication with other people.

Other quite ordinary things can also act as frustaters.

How to cope

You can get rid of the state of frustration, and also learn to cope with it in the future. After all, our life consists not only of bright and positive events. We need to intelligently approach difficulties so that they do not undermine our activities, but strengthen and give strength. Symptoms of frustration can be successfully treated at any stage.

If this is the initial stage and a person understands that his actions are wrong, he can try to cope with this condition himself. If he understands that it is difficult for him to get out of frustration on his own, if a person is completely immersed in apathy or depression, turning to a psychologist or psychotherapist will be the best solution in this situation.

In any of the solutions, you can resort to the help of sedatives. But don’t get carried away with them, but take a course so that they help push a person to change. And drastic changes are needed. You need to learn to manage your own emotions, change your thinking and perception of difficult situations.

How to get out of a state of frustration?

The most correct response to a frustrator remains tolerance: acceptance of the problem. So correction of frustration involves the formation of emotional constancy. To develop this quality, it is necessary to learn how to set goals and plan ways to achieve them. Having objectively assessed the task at hand, it is easier to find a solution or calmly accept the fact that such a solution does not exist at the moment. Sometimes frustration therapy needs to be left to professionals. In a serious condition and in the absence of motivation to solve difficulties, it makes sense to ask for help from a psychologist or psychotherapist. A professional understands how to overcome frustration with a minimum of losses by solving the problem, coping with its consequences and starting to enjoy life.

It is possible to find many ways to achieve one goal, or to find an alternative goal to satisfy a need or desire. In NLP and hypnosis. For example, there are techniques that allow you to transfer the feeling of love to another object, getting rid of unrequited love. Also, one of the methods of getting out of frustration is introspection, in which a person looks into his inner world.

Of course, if a person's instinct is seriously fixed on a specific person, he will refuse to believe that it is possible to feel such powerful feelings for anyone else.

Finding a target that can compensate for the qualities of the one it is replacing will require patience. However, if this were not possible, people would not marry happily several times in their lives and would not find the meaning of life in new activities after losing the opportunity to do what they love. For example, actor A. Banderas dreamed of a football career, but a leg injury led him to abandon such a dream. It is unlikely that a popular actor today feels frustrated by an unfulfilled teenage dream.

Getting out of this state is difficult, but possible

Models of frustration behavior

The collapse of plans leads to different reactions. They can persist for a long time or follow each other, leading to recovery or deterioration of the psychological state.

Substitution

Having not achieved what he wanted, the subject switches to new tasks. Sometimes they contrast with the original goal, which is criticized. Thus, having not achieved success in writing, a person switches to heavy industry, calling the work of writers frivolous.

During replacement, necessary but missing qualities are transferred to other people. By getting rid of feelings of disappointment, an individual can transfer unrealized energy to creative processes (sublimation).

Excitation

Characterized by aimless, disordered actions and thoughts. A person can move haphazardly through rooms, start and stop chores around the house, twirl his hair, and go through real and imaginary events in his head.

Apathy

Lack of physical and mental reactions. The subject loses interest in everyday and professional tasks and may remain in a lying or sitting position for a long time without attempting to do anything.

Escape

The person physically escapes the problem (locks himself in a room, changes his place of residence) or limits the flow of negative information. So, when faced with aggression on social networks, he stops visiting his account, after seeing unpleasant news, he stops reading newspapers and online media. Instead of real ones, an individual operates with fictitious facts, creating a preferred environment in his head.

Fixation

An unattainable goal becomes a fixed idea. A person exhausts himself with gymnastic training, despite his age and lack of data, and continues to try to get into an educational institution or company after repeated refusals.

Aggression and destruction

Expressing anger harms surrounding objects (people) or the individual himself. Aggression can be verbal or physical. An upset subject will seek to cause harm to himself and others in order to achieve what he wants or by losing control of emotions.

Depression

Frustration at failure can lead to mental illness characterized by low self-esteem, anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure), decreased appetite, and sleep disturbances. Triggered by failure, depression can develop into a chronic condition that affects one’s perception of one’s personality and interaction with society.

Addictive behavior

In an attempt to cope with negative feelings, the individual turns to substitutes for positive emotions: alcohol, psychotropic and stimulant drugs, junk food or the Internet. The danger comes from various sources that negatively affect the state of the body and social life.

Examples of frustration from everyday life

A frustrating situation familiar to everyone from childhood. The mother walks with the child, imposing stereotypical behavior with statements: “You are a girl, they are not supposed to fight!” or “You’re a man, they don’t cry!” As a result, many women cannot fight back in conflict, and men are forced to experience their suffering in secret from other people. In these cases, a frustrated personality arises.

There are many such examples. When a child, faced with minimal difficulties between him and the satisfaction of desires, becomes aggressive, consequently, social frustration arises. For an adult, this will lead to many intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts. Another common example of frustration is severe disappointment in male-female relationships. It arises from stereotypes about relationships. Books, films, magazines form in the human mind a template for ideal relationships that do not exist in reality. Failure of a partner to meet the imagined ideal leads to conflicts, separations, disappointment and frustration.

Fight and try to avoid such situations

Consequences of frustration

There is a replacement of reality with a world of fantasies and illusions, inexplicable aggression, complexes and general regression of personality. Such an emotional state is dangerous by changing a person for the worse. With constant frustration, a person literally begins to degrade. The collapse of plans leads to disappointment in oneself, undermining faith in one’s professional abilities, the ability to communicate with people, and personal independence. A person develops fears and doubts, which result in an unmotivated and unwanted change of activity. A person isolates himself from the world, becomes aggressive, and feels distrust of people. Often there is a collapse of normal social connections.

Did you feel aggression and closedness after frustration?

Yes, I felt some indifference to the world.

95.65%

No, I quickly came out of this state.

4.35%

Votes: 69

Diagnostic methods

There are several ways to identify emotional frustration in a person. The short questionnaire was developed by V. Boyko; it contains 12 points, where a point is awarded for each.

Important! If the final result is more than 10 points, then the individual has high frustration, from 5 to 9 - a high risk of development, less than 5 - there is nothing to fear.

A brief diagnosis is offered by L. Wasserman. It contains 20 questions, each answered from “completely satisfied” to “not satisfied.” The answer is scored from 0 to 4 points. The sum is calculated and divided by 20. As a result, if the result is 3.5-4 points, then high frustration, from 3.0-3.4 - average state, 2.5-2.9 - moderate, 2.0- 2.4 is weak, anything below 1.9 should not cause concern.

When diagnosing, it is important to understand that frustration and deprivation are different conditions. They require a different approach to correction. V. Boyko has a more detailed diagnosis, which allows one to determine accumulated emotions.

Prostration and frustration are also different states. With prostration, a person experiences serious nervous exhaustion, while frustration occurs when it is impossible to satisfy one’s desires.

Types and forms of frustration

Frustration was studied by K. Levin, R. Barker, T. Dembo. They identified a classification based on the types of response to a frustrator:

• Motor, if the reaction is expressed in an explosion of emotions, aimless and disorderly movement, gestures, and expression of feelings.
• Apathetic if there is a loss of desire to move and solve problems.
• Aggressive if there is a desire to crush everything around.
• Stereotypical when a pattern of behavioral reactions arises.
• Regressive if a person begins to behave like an immature person.

The number of forms of frustration states in different studies varies from three to five. Most researchers focus on human reactions rather than on the causes of frustration.

By classifying such conditions according to the source of their occurrence, the following forms of frustration are derived:

• Emotional - intrapersonal conflict provoked by multi-vector emotions, feelings, beliefs and desires. For example, religious people are capable of experiencing emotional frustration when their religious dogmas conflict with their desires.
• Love - disappointment and despair due to problems in relationships: quarrels, conflicts, breakups. It usually appears in people who have emotional dependence on a partner or have stereotyped expectations and inflated demands.
• Sexual - lack of satisfaction from sexual intercourse on a mental level. Appears when partners lack understanding and there is a conflict between expectations and reality.
• Existential - raising the search for the meaning of life to the Absolute.
• Social - disappointment, despair and anger due to dissatisfaction in social position. It arises due to socio-economic reasons: unemployment and strong competition in the labor market, the gap between the financial well-being of different social strata, poor quality of education, etc.

Study the forms of frustration, as classification always helps to specifically overcome the condition

Love and sexy

Love frustration is a psychological state as an experience that appears due to a break in a relationship. Such states are typical for people who are drawn to an object out of a feeling of weakness, and not out of their strength and confidence. A person deeply feels the breakup of a relationship if he is emotionally dependent on his partner. It also appears due to the lack of the desired result that is expected from a partner. Manifested by the following symptoms: aggression, depression, despair, anxiety, and a feeling of dissatisfaction.

Sexual frustration is a separate psychological aspect that implies a lack of sexual satisfaction. A person does not receive a feeling of satisfaction from intimacy psychologically and physically. There is a depression in the mental state, which is caused by disappointment.

This is a fairly common type of frustration.

Social

Social frustration - disappointment, despair and anger due to dissatisfaction in social status. It arises due to socio-economic reasons: unemployment and strong competition in the labor market, the gap between the financial well-being of various social strata, poor quality of education, etc.

Social frustration is more common among men, judging by work practice

Frustration of needs

A. Maslow notes in his works: satisfaction of needs contributes to the emergence of such a state. After low levels of need satisfaction, higher level needs emerge (for example, self-awareness and social recognition). Until high needs appear in consciousness, they are not a source of frustration.

A person who is worried about pressing problems (food, etc.) cannot think about higher matters. In this state, he will not learn new sciences, fight for equality in society, he will not worry about the situation in the country, because he is concerned about pressing matters. Having completely or partially solved pressing problems, an individual is able to rise to high levels of motivational life, therefore, he will be affected by global problems (social, personal, intellectual) and he will be a civilized person.

People are doomed to want what they do not have, so they do not think that often the efforts aimed at achieving the desired goal are meaningless. It turns out that the occurrence of frustration is inevitable, because a person is doomed to experience a feeling of dissatisfaction all the time.

This type of frustration is quite possible to avoid - just watch your health

Frustration in relationships

Frustration extends into all areas of life, including relationships. Being under emotional stress, a person may not notice his partner, ignore his comments and be in thoughts about his own problems. This leads to relationship regression. The person becomes irritable and aggressive. His mood deteriorates, he withdraws into himself and plunges into frustration. Quarrels, bickering, misunderstandings arise in relationships, and this destroys them.

Young couples always go through this condition at some point.

Existential

Existential frustration, which appears if the desire for meaning is frustrated. Apathy and boredom are the main qualities of existential frustration. Existential frustration is neither pathological nor pathogenic. Anxiety and despair caused by a vain search for the meaning of life is more of a spiritual disaster than a disease. Frankl believes that the existential vacuum with its accompanying frustration is “something sociogenic, but not a neurosis.” Despair, which is based on a sense of the meaninglessness of life, is a sign of intellectual sincerity and honesty. In Frankl's later works he finds the expansion of an existential vacuum.

Try to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and worries

Frustration emotions (structure of frustration)

The emotions that most often accompany frustration are not always appreciated. But it is precisely the manifested emotions that can be considered symptoms, signs indicating the true cause of frustration.

• Resentment. Occurs when a person’s sense of dignity is violated, undeserved (in the opinion of the individual) humiliation. For example, with reproaches, insults, deception, incorrect remarks and accusations. Resentment can be stored in a person’s subconscious for a long time, depleting him. Or force you to consciously develop a plan of revenge, to show aggression.
• Disappointment. Occurs when expectations are not met. This is dissatisfaction and displeasure due to an unfulfilled promised or expected event. The more was promised or the stronger and more desirable the expectation, the greater the person’s disappointment.
• Annoyance. This is regret with a hint of anger, caused by one’s own failure or the failure of friends or a significant group (for example, a football team).
• Anger. Indignation, indignation, anger because of one’s own powerlessness in the face of obstacles that arise along the way.
• Fury. Behavior full of aggression. Rage can be noble (war), constructive (debate), destructive (violence, senseless cruelty).
• Sadness. Loss of something or someone. Feeling of loneliness due to the loss of prospects for achieving a goal or communicating with a person. We are talking about anything personally significant.
• Dejection. It consists of a feeling of hopelessness from the inability to achieve a goal, boredom and sadness, loss of interest in everything that is happening. Dejection is accompanied by awareness of the prospect of an unfavorable outcome of the current process. If the process has already ended and the forecast has been confirmed (the person has failed), then a feeling of hopelessness arises, which is accompanied by other emotions (disappointment, sadness, grief, despair).

Thus, frustration is a reaction to life difficulties that interfere with achieving the desired goal. It is reflected in the emotional, cognitive and behavioral spheres.

How people behave when frustrated

American psychologist Saul Rosenzweig identified 3 types of reactions to frustration:

• Extrapunitive (happens in half of the cases). An internal “instigator” awakens in a person, prompting him to search for those to blame in the outside world (people, circumstances). The goal of achieving what you want appears in any way. The emotional background is characterized by stubbornness, anger, aggression, and frustration. Behavior becomes rigid, primitive, previously learned types of behavior are resumed, for example, whims.
• Intrapunitive (happens in 27%). A person is haunted by a feeling of guilt, he blames himself. This ends with auto-aggression (aggression directed at oneself). The emotional background and behavior are characterized by isolation, anxiety, and silence. A person returns to primitive forms, the degree of aspirations decreases, there is a restriction in activity and satisfaction of desired needs (“You haven’t achieved this, you don’t deserve anything”).
• Impulsive (occurs in 23% of cases). The person does not blame anyone, there is an acceptance of what happened. At the same time, he understands that everything can be resolved, it’s just a matter of time and effort. Failures are inevitable, but they can and must be overcome.

These are the 3 main types of behavior in this state

crowding out

Repression is the removal from consciousness of memories and experiences that I frustrate. In psychoanalysis, this mechanism is seen as a way to adapt to unsafe internal drives. Outwardly it manifests itself as unmotivated forgetting or ignoring objects that cause psychological discomfort. But suppressed feelings and memories do not disappear. For example, they can easily be restored through hypnosis.

Repression often occurs during frustration

Reassessment of the situation

A good solution to get out of frustration due to internal conflict is to choose between alternatives. Turn to your mind and your emotions.

Evaluate the pros and cons of each of your desires. Write down the arguments on paper, identify those that are of key importance in your life, leave others. Determining your core values ​​will help you overcome anxiety and fears.

Another way to define a choice is to imaginatively experience its results. Of two alternatives, choose one as the final one, as if the choice had already been made in its favor. Before going to bed, try to feel as realistically as possible that the final decision has already been made. Do not take any definite steps towards implementing the chosen alternative yet.

The next day (several days, a week - depending on the fate of the choice) watch yourself. Everything is important - mood, energy, performance, feelings towards other people, level of irritability. Repeat the same process for the second, third choice.

This exercise will help expand the perceived context of the problem, realize hidden fears and real needs. It is often possible to combine elements that seem to be opposing at first glance. For example, the desire to assert oneself while maintaining the love of others can be combined into an attempt to become a leader of a group.

Internal conflict is a sign of splitting the integral “I” into several subpersonalities. A thoughtless refusal to satisfy the needs of any of the subpersonalities will certainly cause sensations equivalent to the amputation of a part of the body. That is why, when in a situation of internal conflict, as well as external conflict, look for a compromise.

Reassessment of the situation can take a long time in the process of reflection or become an unexpected result of insight. Hypnosis is considered one of the methods of mental integration.

Moreover, hypnosis helps to achieve results as painlessly as possible.

Substitution

Substitution is the replacement of an object or need with another, more accessible and safer for discharge. The operation of such a mechanism explains how troubles at work cause quarrels at home. The inability to enter into an open conflict with the boss leads to the release of aggression on a more dependent spouse or child.

When the replaced action or desire is morally impossible, but the replacement is acceptable, the process is called sublimation. For example, you can get rid of aggression through active physical education.

Substitution includes withdrawal into fantasy and addiction to psychoactive substances. As well as devaluation of the frustrating object or need. For example, after a failure in love, an individual gives up trying to organize his personal life and explains this behavior by the low importance of this area of ​​​​life relative to the importance of making a career or, for example, “spiritual self-development.”

Replacing one feeling with another, usually the opposite, is called reactive transformation. Unacceptable emotions cease to be recognized, and acceptable ones become hypertrophied. Thus, paranoid individuals are capable of suppressing attraction and interest in a person, accepting feelings as dangerous for themselves, and shifting the emphasis to suspicion and hatred.

Some may replace frustration with loved ones

Intellectualization

This mechanism of psychological defense consists in a logical understanding of events from the position of good-bad, useful-useless and relegating to the background the meaning of information that provides actually experienced emotions. An example of intellectualization is human reasoning that death saved a deceased friend from suffering and other troubles in life.

Intellectualization allows you to reduce painful experiences without completely losing data about their presence. When faced with a frustrating situation, intellectualization is perceived as a mature approach to the problem, and therefore is approved and supported in society, being attractive to many people.

But it has disadvantages: it leads to the loss of the opportunity to fully experience one’s own negative and positive feelings. As a result, a person has problems in personal relationships, since self-expression under the influence of this mechanism becomes similar to insincerity and indifference.

One of the most interesting mechanisms of the body is to carry out intellectualization

Regression

It manifests itself in a person’s return to primitive, often childish forms of behavior and thinking that once successfully resolved real conflicts and difficulties. A return to infantile strategies of psychological adaptation can manifest itself in the desire for someone to caress and console. Sometimes an adult man, when faced with an insurmountable obstacle, is able to cry like a little one.

You need to understand: within certain limits, ego-protective mechanisms are a way of normal psychological adaptation. But when a person abuses their use instead of finding a real solution to life problems in practice, personal development is inhibited, and the same life experiences are constantly repeated.

Have you seen regression in people due to a state of frustration?

Yes, I was surprised then.

66.67%

Interesting, I've never seen anything like this before.

33.33%

Voted: 45

Popular protection mechanisms

Among the mechanisms of psychological defense in case of frustration, retreat, aggression, compromise and substitution are most often used. I propose to consider in more detail the forms of each of them.

Retreat

Retreat takes different forms:

1. The most popular option is to imagine achieving a goal using your imagination. In his imagination, a person overcomes all obstacles with dignity, which smoothes out negative experiences in real life. Sometimes it can happen unconsciously, expressed in dreams.
2. Another popular retreat option is nomadism. Most often we are talking about moving from one city to another, frequently changing location. Less often - other external changes that do not solve internal problems.
3. Regression. The person returns to childish behavior. This can continue until such reactions come into irreconcilable conflict with reality.
4. Crowding out. Over time, a person really forgets unpleasant events and emotions.
5. Avoidance. A person avoids difficult situations, important tasks, and conflicts as best he can and as much as he can.

Aggression

Aggression makes itself felt in all forms and types. The personality is overcome by the need to eliminate tension caused by certain conditions. As a result, behavior becomes directed:

• to punish the offender;
• eliminating it from the life of the individual;
• humiliating or harming the offender;
• maintaining self-esteem in any way.

The reaction of aggression includes revenge (including inadequate, for example, causing harm to close people of the target of revenge), affective behavior (touchiness, negativism, stubbornness, emotional instability), complaint (seeking empathy and support in a conflict situation). In rare cases, aggression takes an internal direction. Then there is excessive self-criticism, self-humiliation, addictive behavior, and suicidal tendencies.

The choice of form of aggression (verbal or physical, direct or indirect) depends on the individual’s experience, upbringing, and external conditions. Under certain circumstances, a person is able to control aggression and transform it into at least indirect aggression.

The most common variant is indirect aggression with object replacement. Simply put, a frustrated person finds a scapegoat. The second most popular option is self-affirmation through the failures of other people, self-justification through comparison with those whose lives are even worse.

Compromise and substitution

This means the formation of opposite reactions to the desired needs. For example, this is how moralists and moralists, fighters for morality, appear. In fact, this is a reaction to the inability to follow the behavior that they condemn because of this impossibility.

The second substitution option is projection, which manifests itself as suspicion. A person attributes to other people those qualities and characteristics of behavior that he cannot, but wants to follow.

Compromise forms also include sublimation and rationalization. Read more about this in the article “Mechanisms of psychological defense of the individual.”

Theories of frustration by famous psychologists

Now we will take a closer look at the theories of the emergence and emergence of frustration itself, which were outlined by famous psychological theorists.

Dollard's theory

According to Dollard, experiences usually lead to aggression and vice versa. Aggression is impossible without the occurrence of frustration. Moreover, the more insurmountable the difficulties, the more significant the unachieved goal, the more aggressive the person becomes.

A negative reaction is directed by a person not towards a traumatic event or people, but towards another person, usually not related to the problem. The individual, throwing out dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, gets rid of the frustration block.

The theory was later criticized because anger is not always the only and predominant emotion during frustration. Melancholy, sadness, irritation, despondency, etc. may be present.

Kurt Lewin's theory

Regression is a transition from a more mature form of development to a less mature one. In psychology, a similar regression is observed in older people, whose emotions and actions resemble small children. A person who has experienced frustration rolls back to the previous age group, thus protecting himself from the traumatic event. He removes responsibility for the failures that happen to him, closes himself off from painful sensations, stops looking for a way out of the situation, and “gives up.”

Norman Mayer's theory

He believed that with frustration, goal orientation is lost. A person is fixed in a position, a point that he has reached without getting what he wants, and his goal-setting is completely lost. A characteristic state for such a person is prolonged apathy.

Maslow's theory

He believed that the experience of frustration is inversely proportional to the pyramid of needs. The higher the level of need, the stronger the frustrating factor. Not being appointed to a high-paying position is more traumatic than not being able to buy new shoes.

Reactions

When a person’s state changes, the human psyche begins to implement defense mechanisms. They can be expressed in different ways; the main scenarios were highlighted by S. Rosenzweig.

The extrapunitive mechanism is the most common. With it, the individual blames the outside world for everything. He develops a pathological desire to achieve what he wants.

Behavior becomes rigid and childish, the person begins to be capricious and mischievous

The intrapunitive variant is less common. It refers to the feeling of guilt that an individual experiences. He tends to blame himself for everything. In such a state, a person is inclined to punish and deprive himself.

Impunitive - also rare. With it, the individual does not blame anyone and accepts the situation as it is. He understands that any failures are temporary, and there will definitely be a way out.

General theories of frustration

In addition to all of the above, we also need to look at frustration from mainstream psychological theories. Let's get started.

Frustration aggression

As a psychological state against the backdrop of failure, aggression means not only a direct attack, but also hostility and a threat. A person is consumed by anger, anger, rage and needs to be thrown out.

Hostile behavior occurs:

• obvious - rudeness, disruptions, fights;
• hidden - sarcasm, accusations, bitterness, the person becomes toxic.

Aggression is common. If at work it was not possible to complete a project in a timely manner, the boss received a reprimand, the person takes it out on his wife or child at home. They are defenseless, unable to respond adequately, and often turn into a target.

Aggression can be directed at oneself when a person engages in self-criticism and cultivates a feeling of guilt. Intense self-flagellation can cause many different serious illnesses.

Some people experience frustration in aggression

Frustration fixation

Passive form of response to frustration. Fixation develops in two types:

Action according to the “knurled” pattern, lack of forward movement. No matter what happens, the person does not try to change the settings and algorithm of actions. Fixation is not hostile to the world around us, but it does not bring any benefit either. There is a looping on the frustrator. Thinking remains unchanged, it is stereotypical. A person spends a long time chewing on suffering and can become capricious and touchy.

Any type of fixation is destructive and does not allow taking measures to correct thought forms and situations.

It's about going with the flow, so to speak.

Deprivation and frustration

These conditions are often confused, although they are different. Frustration occurs due to dissatisfaction of desires and failure to achieve set goals.

Deprivation occurs due to the lack of opportunity or the very object needed for satisfaction. But researchers of the frustration and deprivation theory of neurosis believe that these two phenomena have a common mechanism.

Deprivation causes frustration, it leads to aggression, which provokes anxiety, leading to defensive reactions.

The problem of frustration acts as a theoretical discussion and is the subject of experimental studies conducted on humans and animals.

Frustration is considered in the context of endurance to life's difficulties and reactions to them.

Deprivation is a state when you cannot realize something due to impossibility or lack of resources

Frustration regression

Frustrated people become very infantile. They “roll back” in development. Motives for actions become immature, and finding a way out of the situation stops. A person no longer reflects, does not analyze cause-and-effect relationships. Consciousness moves to the degree of satisfaction of the lowest level needs.

In addition to the psychological content and manifestation, frustration varies in duration for different people - from short-term emotional outbursts to long-term depression.

The person begins to act like a child

Is this good or not?

Frustration

– this is both good and bad. It’s good when this state motivates a person, taking into account all mistakes, overcoming all obstacles, to move further towards achieving goals. In this case, frustration is a useful indicator of life problems. It is bad when it is accompanied by an outburst of anger, severe irritability, resentment, anxiety, tension, a feeling of indifference, apathy, loss of interest, guilt syndrome, anxiety, rage, aggression, hostility, which leads to a decrease in self-esteem due to helplessness and rejection, as well as stress and deep depression.

It is wrong to believe that frustration has an exclusively destructive effect on a person and must be suppressed without fail. Psychologists convince us of the opposite: it is a factor of progress and development. Only when a person needs to overcome any difficulties, cope with emerging problems, does he develop, come up with some innovations, become more inventive and resourceful, and begin to show ingenuity and mental alertness.

In addition to this, the state of frustration contributes to the development of willpower, increased courage and energy. The most important thing is to learn to deal with negative emotions, which can lead to bad consequences - serious mental disorders.

Formation of tolerance to frustration

Tolerance to frustration develops. People with a low level of frustration tolerance have certain irrational dogmatic beliefs, expressed in the form of “never”, “always”, “should have”, “unbearable what”. The use of such expressions reduces mood during any, even minor, failure.

In order to eliminate frustration in the future, psychotherapist A. Ellis advises removing the following attitudes:

• “I must achieve success and be approved by significant others. If I don't have that, there's something wrong with me." (Causes low self-esteem, self-aggression, depression).
• “People around me should show fairness and good attitude towards me. If they don’t do this, they need to be punished.” (Forms bitterness, rage, murder).
• “The circumstances in which I live (economic, political, social) must be such that I can easily fulfill all my desires. The complexity of life is terrible! (Leads to low resistance to frustration).

After experiencing failure, allow yourself to retreat, forgive the mistake. Tell yourself that you lost the battle, but the end of the war is still unclear. Develop stability and patience. Make plans, learn to predict possible difficulties in advance. Come up with backup actions.

Tolerance can be developed in frustration

Correction methods

In order to understand what frustration is, it is not necessary to know the definition. It is enough to imagine the features of this condition. It is dangerous if prolonged. Experts identify several methods of disposal.

Replacing funds

Sometimes a person is prevented from achieving a goal by the wrong road. In this case, he needs to analyze his behavior and think about whether he has chosen the right path.

It is useful to develop a consistent action plan

You can't always succeed the first time, that's normal. You need to be able to stop in time and think about your actions.

Replacement target

Sometimes a person misjudges the sequence of work. In this case, he immediately sets himself an unattainable level of goal. Therefore, you need to think about the stages and sequence of actions, and then set a simpler goal.

A simple example: a person takes up sports and in a year wants to get to the Olympics. This cannot be done, but you can set a goal in the form of receiving a discharge.

Reassessment of the situation

The concept of “frustration” is considered in psychology from the point of view of dissatisfaction. But a person does not always understand where his desires are and where those are imposed by society. Therefore, it is important to be able to reflect and separate true needs from false ones. If a goal is imposed by society, but the individual himself does not need it, then there is no point in talking about dissatisfaction.

How frustration is used in psychotherapy

Frustration in psychology is not only a source of negativity. In psychoanalysis they believe: The ego begins to form with frustration. In the theory of neuroses, the pathogenic nature of frustration is spoken of only when the strength of the frustration response to the situation is to a certain extent exceeded. For each person - individual.

Managed frustration in psychotherapy is used in working with a client using the abstinence method, when the therapist refuses to satisfy his expectations, desires or demands. Avoiding rewards for the client increases the frustration that is already present. For example, behind a frustrated reaction to the innocent behavior of a therapist, there may be a psychological trauma received in a relationship with one of the parents in early childhood - also ignored, criticized, ridiculed. The abstinence method facilitates the client's awareness of the transference neurosis, helps to express “dangerous” feelings in a safe environment and work through them.

Psychotherapists often use this technique to solve the problems of their client.

Application in psychology

In psychotherapy, a specialist can intentionally cause frustration in a person. This is necessary in order to show him the problem with true needs. This state often leads to the release of negative emotions.

For example, at a reception a client says that his mother annoys him. The psychotherapist suggests playing the role of a mother. Together they act out a conflict situation, and the specialist deliberately provokes the client. As a result, he shows aggression and other bad emotions. With the help of frustration, it is possible to release hidden feelings and begin to achieve real goals.

Such techniques are quite traumatic and should only be used by experienced people.

Frustration is a natural reaction from the psyche. It is important that it does not drag on.