There is such a science - psychohygiene. It sounds paradoxical. How, say, can you disinfect a soul? It turns out you can. The principles of psychohygiene are the same as those of ordinary, medical and household hygiene: in order not to get sick, not get infected, not "pick up an infection", you need to follow certain rules …
Conventional hygiene was also a paradox in those years when microbes were unknown, and scientists laughed at Leeuwenhoek and his microscope. It cannot be that diseases are caused by tiny "animals", as Levenguk's contemporaries called microbes. And it cannot be that these "animals" can be transmitted from one person to another! However, time has put everything in its place. And the doctors began to wash their hands, as the obstetrician Semmelweis advised, whose fate was unenviable. For such an offer, he was persecuted by the scientific community, fell into depression and ended his life in a psychiatric clinic. Many people now relate to mental hygiene in a similar way - to the science of how to maintain mental health. On which physical health and human life itself depend …
PROTECT
Mental hygiene was recognized as a science in 1900, when the German psychiatrist Robert Sommer outlined its principles and postulates. This science received its final recognition after another psychiatrist, Clifford Birgs, wrote the book "The Mind That Found Itself". In 1909, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene was created, whose task was to implement the principles of maintaining mental and moral health, education, teaching, and dissemination of knowledge. Human life depends on psychological and moral health - this is the simplest statement of the essence of the teaching.
In the Theresienstadt concentration camp, prison psychologist Viktor Frankl created the "Department of Psychohygiene". Secretly, of course. He led the teaching and preaching work, this secret saving department of mental hygiene. To prisoners in inhuman conditions, people who were subjected to physical and mental torture, Frankl explained the main principles of psychological protection. He talked about how to psychologically resist destructive influences, mental torture, humiliation, insults. In 1942, a concentration camp prisoner philosopher Emil Witz, risking his life, made a secret lecture "Hygiene of the Soul". This activity of psychologists and philosophers helped many people survive. Survive and save yourself. Ability to protect your personality, maintain your dignity,to actively resist destructive influences even in a concentration camp - this is what allowed the prisoners to maintain the psychological protection that Hans Selye wrote about. Not letting yourself be killed psychologically is the main thing. Because the formula is simple and has long been known: psychological death entails biological death. This is how a person is made. If a person is destroyed psychologically, a person will die physically in the shortest time possible.
CLEANING AND SWITCHING
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Let's highlight the main ways of protection from negative people and their influences, which have been used since ancient times in different cultures and ethnic groups.
The first and most important is recognition, awareness. So we recognize the existence of microbes and therefore we apply protective measures, hygiene: I wash fruits and vegetables, keep our home clean, do not allow sneezing in our face, realizing that we can become infected. We wash our hands before eating … Simple hygiene practices are based on the knowledge that there is a danger and should be avoided. And take preventive measures if we want to preserve our health and life.
The method of distancing from the “harmful person” is very simple. It can also be called a removal method. It is necessary, if possible, to curtail contact with a person if we feel bad after communication or even thoughts about him. Do not go to the envious, do not eat or drink with him - this is the wisdom of King Solomon. And you should be very selective in inviting you to your house; our home is our fortress.
Reflection, return methodAre mirrors used by other peoples. Compliment and praise must be returned immediately if they leave a residue in the soul and seem insincere. Also praise the one who praises, calling him by name: “Thank you, Marya Ivanovna, for the praise. You, too, look very healthy and rosy. It is immediately clear that your business is going uphill! If the praise was really insincere, the praiser can get very irritated without any reason. As if caught in something unseemly … And in response to a suspicious gift, you must immediately give something. Return energy, so to speak. Strike a balance. If this cannot be done for some reason, you should give the gift to outsiders in need - it will not harm them, they are not emotionally involved in the situation, and anger and envy are not directed at them. On the contrary, a gift will bring them joy - and evil will disappear,will scatter like smoke. Will turn into good!
The cleansing method is very simple; you need to take a shower or a bath as soon as possible, "wash off the negative from yourself." So they wash children after unpleasant communication or a look; so it is necessary to "wash yourself", consciously and slowly wash away all the bad. Previously, for this purpose, they went to the bathhouse, where the village healer "ruled", corrected violations. But a shower is fine too.
The switch method works too. After negative communication, you need to listen to great music. Read a good book. Communicating with nature, admiring its beauty - this will relieve stress and help you switch to the sublime and beautiful, as Academician Bekhterev advised. “Benedictus” helps a lot, as in the Middle Ages they called a blessing from a kind and emotionally significant person. The curse, "maleedictus", is healed by "Benedictus", kind words and wishes. Especially if they are pronounced by a professional; as the healer once uttered his protective spells melodiously and eloquently.
Objective defense also works; the positive meaning and beneficial effect of rituals and ceremonies has been proven. They act on the subconscious and enhance psychological protection. So, scientists noted that those people who poured out their fears in writing, and then threw out a piece of paper in the trash, passed exams and negotiated better, for example. As if the bad left and disappeared from life and from the human psyche. Psychological rituals are the oldest method of protection from influences, there is nothing wrong with them, because they serve only a good purpose - to protect yourself and your loved ones.
TWO DAYS FOR RESCUE
And it is worth remembering the "48 hour rule" - it is during this time that the harmful effects of stress can be prevented. And negative psychological influences are stress. If in two days it was possible to discuss the situation with "positively charged" people, analyze it, answer the question "who do you suspect", take measures of purification, switching, reflection and other protective methods - stress will not harm health. Psychological negative feelings will not turn into illness and depression …
Therefore, you should believe your sensations and feelings - it is through sensations that we learn about the world and survive in it. And one should believe in the principles of mental hygiene - to avoid mental infection and contagion in the same way as we avoid physical contagion. Respecting yourself and your feelings, preserving your dignity, believing your feelings, keeping your social circle and your home clean is enough to avoid the consequences of destructive influences. Which, unfortunately, exist, like invisible viruses and microbes, but they can and should be fought against.
Psychologist Anna Kiryanova