The concept of lability in psychology and physiology

Emotional lability is instability of mood. It occurs after shocks, experiences and other significant events. This phenomenon is characterized by certain symptoms, signs and treatments.

Human emotional lability is a pathology that is important to monitor and treat. An advanced stage can provoke the formation of more serious diseases.

The word “lability” itself means mobility and instability. Simply put, the emotions of a particular person are changeable, rushing from one extreme to another, irritating not only the nervous system, but also. In physiology, the term is used to denote the mobility of cells and tissues, their response to a stimulus.

In psychiatry and psychology, emotional lability is the property of the psyche to respond with inadequately expressed affect to an external event. For example, a person with a healthy psyche will calmly react to spilled coffee, but an “unhealthy” person may become very angry.

Increased emotional lability indicates a central manifestation of the disease, personality disorder, and is also a symptom of vascular diseases of the brain and endocrine diseases. Experts note that older people and children are most susceptible to this phenomenon.

Emotional lability syndrome in children is associated with knowledge of the world. Children under 5 years old actively explore everything around them: from the sand under their feet to the contents of upholstered furniture. Their reaction may be inappropriately strong to unexpected “research” results. For example, a soft and fluffy cat suddenly bit or released its claws. For an adult, this situation will be normal, but a child will get scared and start screaming. In this case, increased lability does not indicate pathologies and disorders.

For adults with a healthy psyche, increased emotional lability is not typical. Its signs indicate disorders in the body. The most common cause of pathology is stress.

Inappropriate expression of emotions is typical for many people. Increased emotional lability, which manifests itself regularly, requires specialist intervention and correction. Unfortunately, people often ignore such problems and prefer to call the disease special.

Unstable emotionality can flare up suddenly, be expressed in an inadequate attitude towards certain events and disappear just as suddenly. Short-term stress has this effect on the nervous system. However, similar cases do not signal serious mental health problems.

Emotional expression disorder is formed due to the following reasons:

prolonged stress;
a situation that traumatizes the psyche;
endocrine imbalance;
vascular and neurological diseases;
mental disorders.

Prolonged stress is the most common cause of increased emotional lability. In critical conditions, the body experiences difficulties with an adequate assessment of the situation, which results in intolerance to certain events.

A situation that traumatizes the psyche can knock any person out of his usual way of life. This could be the death of a loved one, a sudden change of place of residence, or failure in your personal life. Any event that is important for a specific person.

Endocrine imbalances, mental disorders, vascular and neurological diseases are problems in the body that require treatment. Pronounced emotional lability indicates that it is time to see a doctor and check your health.

The concept of what emotional lability in adults is consists of a definition and symptoms. Timely identification of signs of the disease will allow you to solve problems at an early stage of development and avoid major difficulties in the future.

Emotional lability: what is it in adults? Pathology is accompanied by symptoms that can be used to determine the presence of problems. The very definition of the term suggests that the symptoms express emotional instability. This manifests itself in an inadequate reaction to familiar events.

Most often, people with the syndrome react sensitively to touching films and emotional conversations, small children and animals. They often cry, but they themselves cannot explain why. Yes, kittens and puppies are cute, but not to the point of tears.

Aggression and self-aggression also take place. In most cases, they flare up sharply and subside just as abruptly. This symptom is considered a defensive reaction when people try to hide their problems. An unobtrusive question about your well-being or mood can lead to inappropriate shouting and attempts to avoid answering.

Frequent mood swings are a clear symptom. A person can enthusiastically play a game for 20 minutes, and a minute later decide that it is all nonsense and a waste of time. He may study the cinema's repertoire with interest and plan to attend a show, and later give up and burst into tears.

The next symptom is expressed in passion for the task. For example, a constant and rapid loss of interest indicates emotional lability. Immersion in the study of the history of Ancient China, a quick change of this hobby to cross-stitching, and then to football - all these are symptoms of pathology.

Let us highlight the main symptoms of emotional lability syndrome:

frequent mood changes;
immoderate passion;
aggression;
auto-aggression;
increased tearfulness.

All these symptoms are characteristic of each individual at different periods of life. If you notice them, there is no need to immediately sound the alarm. It is worth thinking about help when they are expressed quite clearly and are repeated regularly.

Pathology in the form of emotional lability is of two types:

border;
impulsive.

The borderline type is expressed in frustration, indifference. A person susceptible to this type of lability expresses emotions weakly and inactively. Increased anxiety and absent-mindedness may occur.

The impulsive type is the opposite of the borderline type. People suffering from this type of pathology are characterized by a negative mood, anger, and addiction. Auto-aggression can result in suicidal tendencies, so it is important for such people to promptly contact specialists for help in solving problems.

Any type of emotional lability is destructive to the nervous system and mental health, which affects all areas of an individual’s life.

Inappropriate expression of emotions is typical for people of different age categories. If in adults this is a pathology that requires correction, then does the same apply to children?

First of all, it must be said that a person is exposed to stress at any age. An adult can control his emotional state, but this is more difficult for children.

Adults influence the development of a child’s psyche and emotional state. Peers also matter, but parents and other close people are more important. Children are exposed to stress equally from excessive care and complete indifference on the part of their parents. It is important to find a balance that will allow the little person to grow into a healthy person.

Regardless of upbringing, the child throws tantrums, screaming and lying on the floor in the most inappropriate places. For the first time, he tests how adults will behave. If this situation repeats regularly, the moment is lost. A little manipulator can get carried away and get into the role so much that regular hysterics will lead to constant tension in the nervous system, which results in emotional lability.

Emotional lability: what is it in children - lack of upbringing, pathology or characteristic? Regular manifestation of symptoms signals a problem, and a one-time “action” is a routine check of the extent of what is permitted.

As for teenagers, the question remains open. During puberty and alienation from their parents, children experience a lot of stress due to changes in their body and appearance. In this regard, many of them face problems in choosing a hobby, and in behavioral strategies. The same algorithm applies here: regular and vivid manifestation of symptoms is a cry for help, rare manifestations are simply a period of growing up.

It doesn’t matter who suffers from emotional lability - a child, an adult, a man, a woman, an elderly person. Anyone can need help, so it is important to use corrective methods and seek professional treatment.

Emotional lability and its treatment are an important aspect in the formation of the personality of children. Adults also require correction, since the pathology does not disappear on its own. Before working with the nervous system, it is necessary to establish the cause of the symptoms.

If this is regular stress, you will have to find its root cause and try to eliminate it. If this is a disease of the cerebral cortex, endocrine or nervous system, therapy with a psychiatrist will be only a small part of the treatment program. In any case, it is worth undergoing an examination of the body and contacting.

Doctors prescribe special medications for adults that can control their emotional state and suppress outbursts of anger, aggression, and expressiveness. Treatment of childhood syndrome occurs differently. Most medications are intended only for adult patients, but other methods of work are used with children.

To a greater extent, parents influence the correction of emotional lability in a child. Adults must explain, cope with failures and overcome difficulties. It is upbringing that can instill in a child calmness and adequacy from early childhood.

Prevention of emotional lability is implemented throughout life. It can be roughly divided into 4 important stages:

child;
teenager;
adult;
elderly.

Each life stage has its own characteristics. Tantrums and unstable emotional state of the child are corrected by patience and personal example of parents and other adults. Children are a mirror image of their parents, so you need to take care of yourself first of all.

Teenagers are a special category, since development during this period is characterized by rebellion. There are exceptions, but they are rare. It is important to talk to teenagers who are prone to emotional swings as if they were adults and try to understand them. Shouting, threats and punishment will not lead to positive results. And again - personal example. When a teenager sees that a parent is calm, trusts his child and perceives information adequately, then he himself becomes the same.

An adult must control himself and monitor outbursts of emotions. Ignoring the problem does not help solve it, but only makes the situation worse. Here it is important to listen to the opinions of loved ones. If they notice emotional instability, mood swings and other symptoms, then they still need to monitor themselves. In other words, for an adult, the prevention of emotional lability consists mostly of self-control.

Older people are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses, such as senile dementia. Prevention for this category of people should be a continuation of work on oneself. Tracking your emotional state will help you avoid serious problems in the future, so you need to avoid stressful situations and take care of your nervous system.

Human life is filled with stressful situations, problems and difficulties. Everyone has to overcome these difficulties, but not everyone can adequately perceive them. If from childhood a person gets used to the fact that all problems are solved by their parents, in adulthood it will be quite difficult for them to cope with them on their own.

Emotional lability syndrome is familiar to most people. If you learn to control emotions, adequately assess difficulties, balance ambitions and opportunities, life becomes much easier.

Emotional lability is a deep area of knowledge in psychology. Experts constantly conduct research, study symptoms and correction methods, and develop treatment. The phenomenon affects both a person’s physical condition and his mental health.

Prevention of emotional lability largely involves reflection and self-control. It is important to remember that a person’s main ally is himself.

Sincerely, Department of Psychological Support and Career Guidance at PSU

Dormitory No. 7 room 77, 81

Slave. tel.: 053379567

What it is

Lability in physiology is the rate of excitation cycles in the tissues of the nervous system and muscles. The definition was introduced by N. E. Vvedensky in 1886. He considered lability to be the period during which tissues are restored after excitation. This value is not constant and is not characterized by rhythm.

Nerve cells are responsible for lability:

The most excitable axons are processes that produce up to a thousand impulses per second.
Synapses—the places of contact between two neurons—are less labile and transmit up to 150 excitations per second.

Thus, the nervous system regulates the vital processes of the body, determining the mental state of a person.

In psychology, lability is the speed of switching between mental processes and the rate of their occurrence. In academia, the emphasis is on emotions. The degree of manifestation and the frequency of mood swings in a person in life situations are taken into account. Lability is also characterized as a pathology, a negative phenomenon that requires correction when emotions are excessive and changeable.

Psychologists highlight intellectual lability. It involves quickly switching between sources of information and tasks that are not related to each other. Such individuals have high intelligence, think about issues in transport, in a crowd, while the people around them and the noise do not disturb them. This is not about chaotic switching of attention, but about thoughtful adaptation. This quality of an individual ensures survival in the modern world and is an advantage.

Lability is often characterized as a pathology, a negative phenomenon that requires correction. But it also manifests an adaptive mental mechanism. Reaction speed and quick switching ensure adaptability and survival in a changing external environment.

To summarize the definitions, lability in science is defined as:

in a normal situation - mobility;
dynamic processes;
in the presence of pathology - mental instability.

The opposite of lability is called rigidity. It is characterized by a stable mental state. But any external changes unsettle a person and cause a negative reaction. Moderate manifestations of lability and rigidity provide advantages. Excessive emotionality or its absence is characterized by psychologists as a pathology.

Provoking factors

The causes of the disorder in question are quite extensive and among the most active provoking factors it is worth highlighting the following:

periodic stress or constant nervous tension;
excess or lack of attention from others;
childhood or current psychological trauma;
hormonal imbalance, endocrine pathologies and other somatic ailments;
avitaminosis.

As already mentioned, emotional lability can play the role of a symptom in the presence of cerebral atherosclerosis, tumor diseases, traumatic brain injuries, asthenia, organic brain pathologies or hypertension.

Causes

Lability is more often considered in psychology as a negative state. However, this property means mental flexibility and helps a person adapt to changing circumstances. Unwillingness to change your behavior causes no less harm in life than changeability and emotionality. Normally, both components are present in the psyche. The difficulties are associated with their excessive manifestation.

Increased lability is inherent in people with choleric character and temperament. By nature, they are endowed with a quick emotional reaction.

However, the symptom is also caused by disorders and weakness of the nervous system:

neurosis;
psychological trauma in childhood;
severe stress in the past, a traumatic situation;
human unpreparedness for social changes.

Physiological factors that form a labile personality type should also be taken into account:

brain disorders caused by trauma;
the influence of substances that cause narcotic intoxication and increase excitability;
oncology;
heart and vascular diseases.

To establish an accurate diagnosis, physiological causes must first be excluded. Diagnosis is complicated by the fact that the border between emotionality and pathological instability is blurred.

Complications

Without treatment, emotionally labile patients experience constant mental stress and fatigue and provoke conflicts with others. This condition often leads to depression, suicidal thoughts and social isolation. Nervous exhaustion is manifested by chronic fatigue, development or exacerbation of somatic diseases. Decreased motivation and concentration prevents patients from independently seeking medical and psychological help. If complications develop, they need support and encouragement from loved ones.

Signs and types

Lability has several varieties, but there are signs common to all conditions.

Distinctive features of a labile personality type:

Acute reaction to minor events. If something goes wrong, a person screams, cries, becomes hysterical. Sometimes he falls into deep depression.
Sudden mood swings. If a person is pathologically labile, his mood is changeable. He easily moves from irritation, hysteria to joy, jubilation under the influence of an insignificant reason.
Fear of difficulties. Labile individuals believe that it is impossible to overcome life's obstacles. The individual avoids them with all his might, communicates little, prefers a narrow circle of friends.
Difficulties in communication. A malfunction of the nervous system makes it difficult to communicate with a person due to sudden mood swings.
Emotional exhaustion. Mental disorders cause an individual to literally burn out. Mood swings lead to fatigue, weakness, and apathy.
Susceptibility to influence. Individuals with mental pathologies often get carried away, find idols, and become attached to them. Sometimes passion reaches the point of absurdity.

These are general indicators that allow one to suspect a patient has mental disorders. But psychologists and psychiatrists identify a number of options for labile character accentuation:

Emotional lability. Excessive expression of emotions is accompanied by paradoxical actions and reactions. Resentment is manifested by hysterical laughter, great joy - by a stream of tears. Low lability, on the contrary, makes itself felt by hypoemotionality, when a person hardly expresses feelings.
Psycho-emotional lability. Along with emotional arousal, it is accompanied by motor activity. Such individuals are suspicious, frivolous, sensitive to criticism, impressionable, and overly sensitive.
Affectively labile type. Negative personality traits are compensated by its good qualities. Such people are open, trusting, and easily fall under the influence of others.
Conformal type. This person does not critically evaluate his own and others’ actions, does not know how to control himself, and has difficulty adapting to new conditions.

In complex cases, pathological lability is accompanied by a deterioration in physical condition. With asthenic syndrome, frequent fatigue, dizziness, weakness, and decreased activity are recorded. In this situation, treatment takes place in a hospital.

Autonomic instability

There is another type of negative lability. This is a disturbed vegetative system. This includes the factor of control over body movements, stability of the musculoskeletal system and all key organs. If you feel dizzy, lose control of yourself, notice tremors in your limbs or numbness, then you are likely to develop autonomic lability. The disorder is also manifested by erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness, tachycardia and impaired sleep stability.

With all these manifestations, you should also consult a specialist.

Diagnostics

The approach to making a diagnosis against the background of negative manifestations of lability is different for children and adults. Until the age of 10, the pathology is almost invisible. Even experienced specialists have difficulty identifying suspicious conditions.

More than 9,000 people have gotten rid of their psychological problems using this technique.

Internal infections also affect the psyche of children. The diseases are mild, chronic in nature, attacks take a long time to pass and return after a short period of time. They may not be the main cause of mental disorders, but they make the condition worse.

In adolescents, lability is more pronounced. But the difficulty of diagnosis lies in the fact that emotional instability is generated by a hormonal surge and is present in every second child aged 12-17 years.

To diagnose a teenager, psychiatrists carefully interview parents, teachers, and friends. The first sign of pathology is frequent mood changes for no apparent reason.

In adolescents, lability is manifested by a reluctance to adapt to others, awareness of emotional instability, and the ability to understand what people think about you. There is no desire for leadership.

Sometimes there is hysterical accentuation, when the child shows egocentrism, but knows how to empathize with others and becomes attached. The demonstrativeness of actions decreases.

In adults, pathological lability is diagnosed based on physiological signs based on information about accompanying circumstances:

changes in hormonal levels;
severe stress, turmoil in childhood;
regular life failures;
diseases of internal organs;
avitaminosis;
lack or excess of microelements.

Human behavior is also assessed. Socialization is difficult due to lack of self-control. There are frequent outbursts of anger and authoritarianism in the family. And although these manifestations smooth out with age, they often prevent a person from building a career and improving his personal life.

Features of lability

In children

Emotional instability in childhood is a consequence of difficult births, infections at an early age, dysfunctional family environment or psychological trauma. The child’s weakened nervous system reacts violently to every external stimulus, and physiologically he is not able to control this flow of emotions. It is easy to notice deviations from the norm by frequent crying, hysterics, hyperactivity, and moodiness. Such children require constant attention from others, physical contact (not only parents, but also teachers at school and friends put pressure on them), they look ungratefully into the eyes, and seek support and participation.

During adolescence, the disease can worsen as it is aggravated by hormonal imbalance. The clinical picture is aggravated by a negative component: joyful manifestations become less frequent and are replaced by anger, aggression and constant dissatisfaction. If parents do not notice such a child and do not help him in time, then at the moment of an emotional outburst the teenager can offend others and himself (not only mentally, but also physically) and even commit suicide.

In adults

Emotional instability in adults refers to a range of symptoms that combine mental and physiological signs of deviance. They can be recognized by constant sweating on the forehead, trembling limbs, burning eyes, nervous and uneven speech, heavy breathing and bright facial expressions. They hang on every word of others, do not ignore any event, vigorously discuss everything, energetically waving their arms.

Emotional instability in adults can be tolerable when the manifestations are periodic, and unbearable when the person constantly has to endure these inexplicable outbursts. Such people have problems at work because neither colleagues nor bosses can adapt to their mood swings. Personal life also tends to collapse; not every spouse will tolerate his mood and hysterics under the slightest pretext.

Unfortunately, most people attribute this behavior to the inability to control their emotions, lack of tact and inclinations. Men like to explain such outbursts of their women as PMS. In reality, everything is much more serious. This pathology of the nervous system requires consultation with a specialist and appropriate treatment.

Among women

Emotional instability often occurs in women during certain periods of her life - premenstrual syndrome or menopause. In this case, it is necessary to take medications to normalize hormonal balance.

Correction and treatment

The interpretation of lability symptoms depends on the qualifications of the psychologist or psychiatrist. He evaluates the significance of the collected observations and makes a decision regarding the diagnosis.

Treatment is prescribed depending on the diagnostic result obtained. It includes:

Correction of the patient's behavior is carried out using sedatives and antidepressants.
Psychologists work with patients on training volitional qualities, concentration of behavior, and attention. Their influence is aimed at establishing smooth relationships in the patient’s family, minimizing the manifestation of shortcomings, and relieving emotional stress.
In parallel, internal diseases, if any, and somatic diseases are treated. The tone of the nervous system decreases, which leads to calmness and concentration.
For labile individuals, a regime that allows you to avoid stress and stay in a comfort zone is important. Important components of treatment are sleep, walks in the fresh air, massage, and good nutrition.
In severe cases, resort to hypnosis. This is a dangerous but effective method. Hypnosis is used if the pathology is caused by severe stress in childhood or defects in upbringing.

If we are talking about an affective state, an outbreak of aggression, treatment is carried out in a hospital. When assessing the patient’s condition, the psychiatrist takes into account existing signs and the overall picture of the morbidity.

In Europe, lability treatment is carried out in sanatoriums equipped with new equipment. Medical centers are located in famous resorts, which creates a comfortable environment for the patient. Doctors monitor the condition of patients around the clock.

Self-medication for emotional lability is unacceptable. The patient cannot independently cope with mood swings, fight manifestations of aggression or causeless joy. This requires willpower, which patients lack. Self-administration of sedatives is unacceptable: they have serious contraindications and side effects.

How does this translate in life?

There are a number of warning signs by which one can recognize the occurrence and “genesis” of emotional lability:

The first symptom is the inability to cope with difficulties, even the most minor ones. A person falls into melancholy and depression earlier, without even trying to do anything about it.
Outbursts of affect - outbursts of hysteria, screaming, crying, laughter, anger, discontent.... and all this in an excessive and sudden manner.
In the intervals between outbursts the person is lethargic and apathetic.
The critical state appears in most cases after “emotional outbursts.”
“Closeness of heart” - a person reacts very sharply to any situation, especially one that for some reason is negative for him.
A harsh reaction to criticism, especially if it is negative. A person with pathology is not able to loyally, calmly and adequately perceive information about himself.
Assessment of behavior, assessment of actions, assessment of skills, assessment of life, both personal and social, becomes a reason for aggression or hysteria.
There is no constructive thinking, no logically constructed actions. All life consists of chaotic reactions to events: outbursts of affect, periods of melancholy and depression.
Disorders of internal organs may also occur.

Based on the above symptoms, you can imagine what a labile person looks like. A type with clear, fast and expressive facial expressions, constant movements in space and a quick reaction to any external signals (sudden sound, clap, beam of light).