Rigidity: characteristics, causes, and treatment

Not only psychology specialists ask themselves the deep question of what rigidity is and how it is caused, but also ordinary people who are interested in this feature of the human psyche and its consciousness. Further, we will take a closer look at what this unusual word is of itself; we will study in more detail the concept of rigidity and its variety. We will also try to understand the causes of its occurrence and methods of overcoming it. Moreover, the advice of professionals in this field will be explained and their general recommendations will be given.

The concept of "rigidity" has several interpretations and definitions. Immediately it should be noted that this is a kind of complexity and unreadiness of the human consciousness to respond to certain kinds of situations that force a person to leave his own comfort zone. But this is not always a pathology.

Rigidity in psychology and psychiatry means the complete or partial incapacity of a person to change his intended path and program of consciousness, complete denial or serious difficulty changing conditions that must be changed to some extent. In simple terms, a person simply does not want and is afraid to change what needs to be changed. Rigid people do not tend to change their habits, whatever they are. They are very stubborn in many situations, even if they realize that they are wrong in this or that situation. They simply cannot afford to agree with an opponent or one or another point of view.

Rigid people very often have stress and mental problems, they are emotionally unstable and at the same time quite impressionable. It is quite difficult for close and just surrounding people to engage in dialogue with such people, for this, as a rule, one has to put a lot of effort or to divert such person to other topics. But it is not all that bad. Despite the “patterned reality”, such people can achieve good success in life, but this depends on many factors.

To date, in psychology there are several types of rigidity, which include:

• cognitive;
• affective;
• emotional;
• motivational.

Consider each of the varieties for a more detailed understanding of this phenomenon.

Cognitive rigidity is the difficulty in restructuring perception from one question to another, from changing one topic to another and from completely changing one picture of the world to another. A great many subjects live in their own exceptional reality, categorically refusing to create a new picture of the world, even if it is required by certain conditions and new information, which supersedes the old one. People with cognitive rigidity will act in certain situations and solve some problems only according to their old and proven patterns.

But affective rigidity presupposes the presence of certain responses in human consciousness. This variety implies the affectiveness of certain responses to changing emotional objects.

Emotional rigidity implies difficulty in restructuring the system of motives in certain life circumstances. At the same time, circumstances require restructuring, plasticity and behavior change.

Many scientists argue that emotional rigidity is a kind of “persistent emotion” to everything, an invariable reaction. It turns out that despite the regular change of circumstances or situations, the individual continues to react to them in the same way, without changing his emotions. That is, regardless of what happens, there will be no change in the emotional state.

Motivational rigidity is a kind that implies the stagnation of a person in his own reality and the complete unwillingness to replace monotony. That is, a person categorically refuses to burden himself with such tasks to adapt to a new world and information. This also includes the fact that the individual does not want to change the usual ways of meeting their needs, completely "trusting" the old ones.

Since in psychology the term rigidity refers to the section of mental disorders, you should know where it comes from.

This mental disorder implies a reduction in certain processes of mobility and adaptation of the human consciousness to the vital difficulties and problems arising in it. That is, the absence of such adaptation to life entails the absence of flexible thinking, and this means that it becomes very difficult for an individual to orient himself in a changing world every second.

The emergence of rigidity, as a rule, is associated with many factors that are most often not isolated and are distinguished by specialists in the complex. So, this disorder may be due to somatic factors:

• the structure of the central nervous system and its mobility;
• certain pathologies associated with diseases of the central nervous system;
• genetic predisposition and any endocrine disorders;
• changes in the course of maturation and aging;
• severe nutritional and nutritional disorders;
• severe poisoning of the body, including chemicals and substances;
• serious head injuries;
• also, the disorder can be caused by regular use of alcoholic beverages and all sorts of drugs.

The psychological factors related to the rigidity of rigidity include the following points:

• features in the human temperament;
• Different types of parenting, from childhood;
• the presence of psychological trauma and severe shocks that affect the individual;
• the presence of comorbid disorders - nervosa and hysteria, as well as some others that cause anxiety, apathy, lack of emotion and a neutral attitude towards life;
• personal conflicts, split personality;
• psychoses of various etiologies, including paranoia, manic psychosis, schizophrenia, and other related conditions.

Many psychologists and psychotherapists who worked on the type of higher activity and a set of innate properties of the nervous system, worked on the emergence of mechanisms of rigidity. The American psychiatrist R. Cloninger distinguishes 4 types of mechanisms in his writings.

• Formation of a certain dependence on certain things by encouraging or punishing. In this case, the behavior of the individual could not be approved by parents from childhood or even stopped by harsh punishments.
• Lack of search skills, life on the pattern. Unwillingness to learn something new as a result of the absence of any stimulating factors.
• Formation of personal behavior, which involves the avoidance of certain life circumstances.
• Lack of personal experience in solving certain life tasks and any problems that arise in different ways.As a rule, individuals apply patterned behavior and stamps that they have already mastered, which do not require novelty.

Many aspects can be attributed to the psychological signs of rigidity of thinking. Since a person cannot form or correct his behavior under certain circumstances, the signs may be the following points:

• excessive impressionability and emotionality with the interlocutors;
• upholding one’s righteousness under any circumstances;
• excessive loyalty to habitual habits;
• sometimes strong suggestibility;
• inability to analyze and correct certain actions.

People with rigidity can be complex, they are often tied to seasoned stereotypes. Despite many factors, there are pluses.

As for the character, it should be noted here that people of this type are rather purposeful, which is typical of many leaders. They are always clean in the house, self-confidence is characteristic of such people, they always rely only on themselves. By nature, rigid people most often do not show their emotions, hiding them from other people. But this does not mean that they have no emotions at all, they just hide them.

Also, as an example, we can say that many people with mental rigidity are more resistant to everyday stress due to their adapted reactions and patterned emotions.

As a rule, people with rigidity are inborn rivals. They are very fond of disputes and debates, but this does not mean that it is impossible to communicate with them, just like everywhere, you need to find your own approach.

Relationships with other psycho-types may be different, because it depends on many factors. But in general, many people may not notice that there is a rigid person next to them, because his communication will not differ from others.

Such people perfectly realize themselves in many areas of activity, finding a common language with employees and colleagues. They can be introverts and extroverts. They are clearly inherent in common sense, and sometimes cold calculation, so indispensable in some professions.

Despite the fact that, as such, rigidity may not carry negative consequences, sometimes it also happens that people with excessive severity of rigidity are considered mentally unwell, which requires appropriate treatment from specialists.

Rigidity is manifested in children and adults. Just like that, after reading the book, it is unlikely that you will be able to change the character of the child or to rehabilitate the loss. In most cases, consultation of a professional who can select the appropriate complex of training, behavioral correction, and sometimes special preparations is required.

However, not always some moments of manifestation of rigidity require a serious adjustment, this question is also best discussed directly with a psychologist or psychiatrist who can give answers to many questions.

As a rule, overcoming rigidity is a very complex process that takes a lot of time. Especially if it is revealed pathology. The goal of the doctor here is becoming a kind of imposing correct and competent thoughts on the patient. But at the same time, the patient should think that these rational thoughts come from him, that is, they are not imposed on him during the therapy.In this case, the therapy will be crowned with success if the patient realizes that he really needs it and will contribute in every way to the correction of his thinking, reaction and further behavior.

The rigidity of certain psychological processes may not be a pathology, since it manifests itself in almost every person under the influence of certain life circumstances. It can also be developed over time. In many cases, do not need anything.

It is worth contacting a specialist only if an individual shows signs of rigidity.Moreover, if they negatively affect a person and his life. Depending on the specifics of the patient, therapy can easily be selected, but only personal efforts will help to achieve success.

Experts recommend that many people attend psychoanalysis sessions, thereby revealing to the doctor their negative thoughts and experiences. In order to independently improve your condition and uncover the positive aspects, you can do art therapy, yoga and meditation. Understand their role in society and purpose can help all sorts of training aimed at identifying the best quality.

Summing up, it should be noted once again that the rigidity of character and thinking may not be pathological at all, it all depends on the specific set of human qualities, his attitude to certain situations and emotions.

In more detail, the regular type of character is discussed in the following video.