State of affect: causes, signs, characteristics, expertise

Most people tend to express their feelings and experiences in a certain way. But in unexpected situations, this manifestation can be inappropriately violent, uncontrollable, and such an explosion of negative emotions is defined in psychiatry as affect.

This short-term psychophysiological state is a consequence of instant fear in the event of a potential threat, extreme irritation, indignation, anger or despair.

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Causes affect

The state of affect is considered a reflex (automatic) response or a subconscious form of defensive reaction in critical circumstances and moments of danger.

Analyzing the causes of the state of affect, experts came to the conclusion that most often it is provoked by situations that in one way or another threaten the life, health or well-being of a person and/or his/her loved ones (physical attack, sexual harassment, etc.). In addition, uncontrolled negative emotions can be caused by traumatic experiences, statements and actions of others that hurt self-esteem, serious interpersonal disagreements that take the form of an open conflict.

Giving examples of affect, first of all, psychologists note situations related to the feeling of jealousy, in which affect is often provoked by alcohol, which has a toxic effect on the brain. Alcohol intoxication disrupts the processes of inhibition of the central nervous system, limits the focus of attention, blocks the cognitive zones of the brain, potentiates aggression, which causes an inadequate emotional reaction of a drunken jealous person.

Conflicts that arise during road accidents can lead to a state of affect: drivers whose car was damaged as a result of an accident may, in a spontaneous fit of aggression, attack the culprit of the accident or his car, which is sometimes regarded as causing harm in a state of affect.

From the point of view of legal psychology, classical affect – the state in which an illegal act is committed – arises either from one strong single psychotraumatic event (clearly aggressive and threatening or associated with verbal humiliation and insult), or as a result of repeated (or long-term) negative impact of some traumatic situation. In the second case, an uncontrollable behavioral reaction is defined as cumulative affect. Often, this is the affect that can be caused in children by domestic violence from adults and corporal punishment. In this case, the appearance of an affective reaction is delayed until the moment when the child or teenager “runs out of patience”.

It is also believed that if a person has a tendency not to restrain the negative emotions that arise in certain circumstances, such behavioral experience can accumulate and become fixed in the subconscious - with an uncontrolled activation of the formed dynamic stereotype in all similar situations.

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Risk factors

The main risk factors for an uncontrolled surge of negative emotions are associated with the above-mentioned threatening situations and conflicts, as well as the lack of time to make the right decision. Experts emphasize the undeniable importance of the time factor: in almost all cases, extreme circumstances require an immediate assessment of the actions taken and a lightning-fast reaction, and when a person is in a state of affect, he cannot assess the degree of their adequacy.

It should be borne in mind that people who are impulsive, overly emotional, abrupt and hot-tempered are more likely to develop a state of affect than those who are characterized by a calmer attitude towards others and moderation in the expression of feelings.

Although, as evidenced by world criminal practice, people with different temperaments are capable of causing harm in a state of affect. For example, melancholics - with their mental vulnerability and emotional restraint - can be exposed to multiple psychotraumatic situations to a cumulative affect.

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Pathogenesis

The phenomenon of narrowing the boundaries of consciousness, focusing attention exclusively on the source of negative experiences (the object of affect) and the loss of the function of analyzing what is happening, collectively perceived as a temporary “clouding of the mind”, determine the pathogenesis of this condition.

They say that negative emotions suppress the mind, disrupting the dynamics of mental processes. That is, at the moment of exposure to undifferentiated psychotraumatic irritation in the cerebral cortex, there is an instantaneous "switching off" of the mechanism regulating the processes of higher nervous activity - excitation and inhibition, perception and thinking, with the loss of a person's ability to control his behavior. And all the energy (in the form of ATP) is directed to the muscles, and this signal ("run or fight") explains the surge of physical strength in an extreme situation even in the weakest people.

As neurophysiologists note, an explosion of emotions occurs with a short-term disruption of synchronization of the activity of neurons in various cerebral structures related to the management of human emotions. These are the reticular formations of the brainstem; areas of the frontal and prefrontal cortex of the cerebral hemispheres; the neocortex, midbrain and cerebellum, as well as structures of the limbic system of the brain - the amygdala (in the temporal regions of both hemispheres), the hypothalamus and the hippocampus.

Asynchronous excitation of neurons in the central nervous system cannot but affect the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, causing a whole range of symptoms (more details below).

Certain changes in neurochemical processes play an important role in the pathogenesis of affect. According to research results, in this condition, as in acute stress, the balance of neurotransmitters is disrupted: the level of cortisol, adrenaline and acetylcholine increases. Excess cortisol hormone produced by the adrenal cortex enhances the negative impact of negative emotions and increases the degree of arousal and aggression - in the absence of the inhibitory effect of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and especially serotonin on affect. By the way, large doses of alcohol reduce the level of serotonin, causing a depressive state in most drinkers. The release of adrenaline (norepinephrine), as is known, excites extreme emotions during panic and emergency situations, and also provokes the synthesis of cortisol, causing an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. And significantly higher levels of acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter in the autonomic nervous system, help enhance the effects of adrenaline.

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Symptoms affect

The first signs of an affective state are determined by the symptoms caused by the reaction of the autonomic nervous system to forced neuropsychic overexcitation: increased heart rate and breathing; hyperhidrosis, pale skin; dilated pupils, dizziness; tremors and muscle tension; speech disorders, facial expressions, and movement coordination.

Further, the course of the processes of the central nervous system is disrupted, in particular: orientation in space and time is lost, the nature of movements changes with the development of hypertrophied motor reactions and automatism, sensory perception is distorted (peripheral vision is lost, hearing is reduced), a surge of strength is felt with a simultaneous limitation of consciousness and memory, aggression in behavior appears.

Symptoms of affect when exiting this state include a sharp decline (inhibition) of emotional and mental tension; prostration (indifference and a feeling of internal emptiness); general weakness, thirst and drowsiness; “gaps” in memory regarding the circumstances that preceded the affect and subsequent actions.

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Stages

In a state of affect, three phases or stages are distinguished:

• preliminary stage – with a rapid increase in emotional tension, a disruption in the ability to objectively assess what is happening and a subjective perception of the situation as extremely dangerous or hopeless;
• the stage of affective discharge (explosion) at the peak of emotional arousal, which manifests itself in uncontrollable motor activity, impulsive actions and inappropriate behavior;
• stage of exiting an affective state.

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Forms

There are several types of affective states. Thus, physiological affect manifests itself

In the behavior of a healthy person with a single traumatic impact of a stressful situation on his psyche. At the same time, the person does not lose the ability to understand and evaluate what is happening, therefore forensic psychiatrists recognize such a state as sane, and the person as adequate and subject to trial.

Domestic specialists define pathological affect as a short-term mental disorder in the form of an attack of strong anger or rage that occurs in response to the traumatic impact of certain life situations. In essence, this is an unconscious affect with a violation of some processes of higher nervous activity, and it is recognized as a state of insanity.

In Western psychiatry, pathological (or pseudobulbar) affect is considered to be a disorder of emotional expression, which can manifest itself as involuntary screams or uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughter, usually associated with borderline personality disorders, dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), hysterical neurosis, multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in cases of depression against the background of hyperthyroidism, as well as after stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Domestic psychiatrists define such disorders as organic personality disorder. These include manic affect, which is observed in the form of periodic attacks in patients with various manic states, and depressive affect in bipolar affective disorder.

In criminal law, all personality disorders are equated with mental pathologies, and for a crime committed in a state of affect associated with the presence of such pathologies, the punishment is less severe - with simultaneous treatment.

It is believed that in a situation of physical violence, a person is most often overcome by a feeling of fear - the affect of fear, fright, horror, confusion or asthenic affect. But in the same circumstances there may also be a violent manifestation of anger and hatred with the emergence of sthenic affect. However, there is an opinion that most people in situations accompanied by violent actions against them (or a real threat of such) behave under the influence of simultaneously overwhelming fear and anger, and many experts believe that separating these two types of affect is legally unconstructive. In practice, self-defense laws still distinguish such nuances, for example, as in German criminal law (according to §33 StGB, exceeding self-defense in a state of fear or asthenic affect is not punishable).

In hysterical neurosis and psychopathy, in tense situations, emotional affect may arise in the form of an expressive manifestation of feelings of a negative nature.

– this is not an expression of strong emotional distress, but a state of depression and apathy after prolonged nervous and mental stress.

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Complications and consequences

The main consequences and complications caused by the state of affect are related to the fact that the actions and deeds performed by a person are not controlled by his consciousness - reason and volitional effort, but are subject to subconscious, instinctive (reflex) factors of the psyche. There is even a Latin legal term: non compos mentis, meaning "no sound mind".

Therefore, the state of affect in the Criminal Code - according to legal canons - is attributed to mitigating circumstances, when a person not only inflicts an insult in a state of affect, but also commits a crime in a state of affect. Even murder in a state of affect, according to the law, entails a different measure of punishment.

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State of affect and criminal law

The special – criminal-legal significance of affect – is associated with criminal liability for committing illegal acts and causing harm in a state of affect (serious bodily harm).

The defense of a defendant who committed a crime in a state of passion (crimes of passion) was first used in 1859 against American Congressman Daniel Sickle, who killed his wife’s lover in a fit of jealousy.

According to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in cases of necessary defense (Part 4 of Article 36 of the Criminal Code) and in cases of extreme necessity (Part 3 of Article 39 of the Criminal Code), a person is not subject to criminal liability if, as a result of strong emotional distress caused by a socially dangerous encroachment (threatened danger), he could not assess the correspondence of the harm caused to the danger of the encroachment or the situation of defense (the correspondence of the harm caused to this danger).

Part 1 of Article 66 of the Criminal Code, “Circumstances mitigating liability,” includes as such strong emotional distress caused by the unlawful or immoral actions of the victim.

Article 116 “Intentional murder committed in a state of intense emotional distress” – is punishable by restriction of freedom for up to five years or imprisonment for the same term.

Article 123 of the Criminal Code, “Intentional grievous bodily harm committed in a state of intense emotional distress,” provides for a significant reduction in punishment.

Today, the state of affect in the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Part 2 of Article 19) is defined as a state of insanity, and a person who, at the time of committing a socially dangerous act, was in a state of insanity, that is, could not understand his actions (inaction) or control them due to a temporary mental disorder, is not subject to criminal liability.

The law provides a set of characteristics that characterize insanity, which are defined by medical (biological) and legal (psychological) criteria. From a medical point of view, insanity may be a consequence of a "temporary mental disorder" - an acute short-term mental illness (in the form of attacks) that suddenly arises (often as a consequence of severe mental trauma) and, under favorable circumstances, suddenly passes (pathological affects, alcoholic psychoses, etc.).

Medical findings are not final: it is necessary to establish a legal criterion of insanity, that is, “the inability of a person, during the commission of a socially dangerous act, to understand his actions (inaction) or to control them precisely due to the presence of a mental illness, that is, a medical criterion.”

Given the short duration of the psychophysiological state, defined as a state of affect, and the short duration of its symptoms, a forensic psychiatric examination is carried out rather than a diagnosis of affect – in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Examination” and the order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (No. 219/6507 dated 01.03. 2002).

According to the established "Procedure for Conducting a Forensic Psychiatric Examination", an examination of affect (as well as chronic mental illnesses, temporary mental disorder, feeblemindedness or other morbid mental states) in persons suspected or accused of committing a crime must be appointed by pre-trial investigation bodies and the court. The examination can be conducted at the Ukrainian Research Institute of Social and Forensic Psychiatry and Narcology of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, in forensic psychiatric examination centers, departments of neuropsychiatric hospitals and dispensaries.

The subject of the examination is not only the determination of the mental state of suspects and accused persons (at specific intervals of time and relatively

Certain circumstances of interest to the investigative authorities and

Courts), but also materials of a criminal or civil case - the elements of a crime committed in a state of passion, medical documentation, audio and video materials and other information concerning the mental state of the person to whom the examination is assigned.

See also - Research of the neuropsychic sphere

During the examination, differential diagnostics is especially important, including the identification of organic personality disorder, bipolar affective disorder, psychopathy, etc.

It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as affect, stress, frustration. Thus, the main difference between stress and affect is the duration of the condition and the nature of emotional and physical disorders that can lead to stress mental or psychosomatic disorders (associated with the physiological reaction of the central nervous system, dysregulation of the cardiovascular system and imbalance of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hormones). And frustration is a suppressed emotional and mental state of internal disappointment and awareness of one's own powerlessness, which can arise in people due to the lack of opportunities to achieve their goals and satisfy their desires (often very far from reality). Among the ways in which people most often cope with this condition, psychiatrists name passive-aggressive behavior, as well as anger or violence.

The criminal law systems of the USA, Canada and Australia use the term "extended insanity". But it is not always a mitigating circumstance when a murder is committed in a state of passion. For example, in 2009, Melbourne resident Darcy Freeman was sentenced to life imprisonment for throwing his four-year-old daughter off a bridge in a fit of rage. Freeman's defense was based on the fact that at that moment he was "seized by temporary insanity", but the jury did not accept this argument as a mitigating circumstance. Although in Australia the law of "temporary insanity" or "mental disorder" generally states that in order to mitigate the sentence it must be clearly proven that at the time of the crime the accused was unable to appreciate the nature, quality or illegality of the actions.