Deprivation - what is it, types, examples, consequences

Each of us has faced deprivation in one way or another in our lives. This word is often used by psychologists, and it appears regularly in popular articles about self-improvement. At the same time, not everyone correctly understands what deprivation is, often confusing it with frustration and some other phenomena. Today we will analyze in detail what this condition is, and also find out what types of deprivation exist, how and why it occurs, and how to get rid of it. Let's begin.

What is deprivation

So, deprivation - what is it in simple words? Deprivation in psychology is a condition in which a person can no longer lead his usual life. This happens when circumstances change or the ability to satisfy one’s needs is lost.

The word “deprivation” comes from the English verb deprive, which means to deprive, to take away. It has a negative connotation. We are talking not only about physical, but also about mental needs.

A similar definition of deprivation is given by J. Langmeyer and Z. Matejcek, who studied the development of this phenomenon in children. According to them, it develops if an individual cannot satisfy mental needs over a long period of time.

These needs include:

• the need to create conditions suitable for work or study;
• desire to establish and develop social connections;
• the need for self-realization, goal setting, finding a place in society.

Deprivation is often compared to biological failure. Physical well-being noticeably worsens if the body lacks vitamins, oxygen or adequate nutrition. The same thing happens with mental health if a person lacks communication, love and other feelings.

How deprivation manifests itself

The manifestations of deprivation differ in each individual case. They are influenced by many factors, in particular age.

In children

Most often, childhood deprivation develops in children who, for whatever reason, end up in an orphanage. The first months of their life they are practically no different from other babies. But studies have shown that they are 3-4% more likely to develop disorders of the central nervous system. And genetic pathologies are more common among them than among others. That is why, in most cases, disabled children are deprived of their mother's love.

By the age of 1 year, the difference between “home” and abandoned children becomes more noticeable. Often the latter are diagnosed with rickets, insufficient body weight, and delayed psycho-emotional development. They do not show curiosity about what is happening in the environment, are inactive, do not want to talk, and do not respond well to speech addressed to them. Moreover, throat diseases are common among such children and the body’s defenses are reduced.

The main reason for the development of deprivation in this case is life surrounded by orphans, without parental love and care. In second place is unscrupulous medical examination of a child in the first months after birth.

In adults

In adulthood, deprivation manifests itself in a number of physiological and psychological symptoms:

• increased anxiety;
• decreased vitality, apathy;
• dissatisfaction with oneself;
• frequent mood changes;
• unmotivated aggression.

A person becomes so depressed and helpless that he simply loses interest in everything that happens around him. Not only does he not see a way out of the current situation, but he also does not want to look for one.

There are other manifestations of deprivation. Among them is fear of novelty and the unknown, as well as of quite familiar phenomena and objects. Over time, these sensations become so strong that the person becomes their hostage.

Reasons for development

The causes of this disorder are considered to be:

• raising a child in a single-parent or large family;
• unfavorable psychological situation in the family;
• mistakes of family education;
• parents ignoring the child's needs;
• disrespect for the child’s personality on the part of peers or parents;
• raising a child in an orphanage;
• lack of bright positive emotions in the life of a child during preschool age;
• low self-esteem of the individual;
• weak type of nervous system in the child;
• organic pathology of one or more analyzing systems;
• a person’s inability to protect their rights and interests;
• stress in a child as a result of the death of parents;
• a person’s long stay in a medical isolation ward during treatment of an infectious disease;
• the cadet undergoes training in a closed cadet corps;
• stay of an adult in prison;
• emergency incidents that prevent a person from maintaining communication with loved ones and leaving the apartment;

Types and consequences of deprivation

All types of deprivation have their own characteristics and consequences.

Sensory

This form of deprivation has been best studied. It presupposes conditions in the life of a child or adult when the external stimuli around them are either limited or change frequently. Stimuli include light, smells, and sounds. A good example is pilots who spend a lot of time at the controls. Their psychological state worsens due to the fact that they are almost always alone, while doing extremely monotonous work.

You've probably seen a lot of movies talking about the concept of sensory deprivation. Take, for example, the same Robinson Crusoe, who spent a long time alone on a desert island. Tom Hanks' hero experienced the same adventure in the film Cast Away.

There are several consequences of this type of deprivation:

• change in direction of thinking, problems with concentration;
• daydreaming, attempts to escape reality;
• deterioration of time orientation;
• illusions, hallucinations;
• excessive excitability, nervousness;
• headaches, a feeling of aching muscles, the appearance of “spots” before the eyes;
• rave;
• anxiety, fears;
• personal changes.

With sensory deprivation, 3 types of reactions occur:

1. Excessive excitability and at the same time general emotional depression. A person reacts to banal situations very sharply.
2. Interest in what used to bring pleasure decreases, the mood is calm and even apathetic.
3. Taste preferences change, as do emotions. What you liked before now causes irritation, and vice versa.

These are emotional reactions. Changes also occur in the cognitive sphere:

1. Violations of verbal and logical thinking develop, attention and speech deteriorate.
2. Perceptual processes are inhibited. What it is? A clear example is a violation of three-dimensional perception. It seems to a person that the walls are moving, narrowing or expanding.
3. Suggestibility increases.

In simple terms, sensory deprivation is a lack of emotions. And such hunger is often confused with ordinary hunger, trying to satisfy it with food. It turns out that obesity and overeating are directly related to this type of deprivation.

Despite the rather unpleasant consequences, sensory deprivation also has positive aspects. For example, it encourages a person to generate unusual ideas and find a way out of difficult situations. Just remember the same Robinson Crusoe, who, while living on the island, implemented a lot of creative ideas.

Coping with sensory deprivation is easier for introverts. Difficulties will arise for extroverts, as well as those with a hysterical and demonstrative personality type. It is difficult for such people to survive the restriction or absence of external stimuli.

Motor

Motor deprivation develops in cases where there is a need to temporarily limit mobility (from 2 weeks to 4 months). It is characterized by:

• hypochondria;
• depression;
• unmotivated fears;
• instability of emotional state.

It is difficult for a person to concentrate. He develops problems with speech and memory. He becomes lazy both physically and mentally.

Cognitive

Cognitive deprivation occurs due to a lack of, chaotic, or disorganized information. Its consequences are:

• boredom;
• inadequate reasoning about the world and one’s place in it;
• incorrect conclusions about what is happening in the world and with people around them;
• inability to act effectively.

The lack of information causes anxiety and unreasonable fears about the present and future. They are followed by depression and sleep problems. Performance decreases, vigilance is lost, and the ability to concentrate deteriorates.

Emotional deprivation

This condition is also called mental deprivation. It is the most difficult to diagnose. This is due to the fact that it has many different manifestations. Some people experience fears, others suffer from depression. There are also those who, on the contrary, become overly active, sociable, and waste their time on superficial relationships.

Such deprivation is most difficult to bear in childhood. The child experiences a delay in several types of development at once: cognitive, emotional, social.

Social

The essence of this type of deprivation is the isolation of a person or group of people from the outside world. There are several types:

1. Forced. Isolation was created artificially; neither the person himself nor society expected it.
2. Forced. In this case, isolation is initiated by society. A good example: an orphanage, a prison and other similar institutions.
3. Voluntary. Such is the self-isolation of hermits.
4. Voluntary-compulsory. The person himself limits social connections in order to quickly achieve his goal. Students of the Suvorov School or, for example, a school for gifted children are in such isolation.

Psychosocial deprivation has the following consequences:

• anxiety;
• fear;
• depression;
• psychosis;
• emotional stress;
• euphoria as from taking drugs;
• irritability;
• frequent conflicts;
• incontinence;
• suicidal thoughts.

As for disorders at the cognitive level, the most common are memory problems, speech impairment, loss of good manners, and problems with abstract thinking.

Those most susceptible to social deprivation are young mothers, elderly people who have just retired, hermits, and workers who have been on sick leave for a long time.

Existential

Associated with the search for one’s place in society, the meaning of life, and the study of issues of death and existence. There are 4 subtypes of existential deprivation:

1. It develops in adolescents in cases where they are limited in their ability to realize themselves.
2. At a young age, deprivation is a condition caused by the choice of profession and the search for a partner to start a family. The reasons for its development are loneliness and isolation from society.
3. At the age of 30, it is important for a person that his life corresponds to the previously set goals and plans.
4. At the age of 40, there is a reassessment of values, an analysis of the years lived.

There are several reasons for the development of existential deprivation:

• change in social status;
• loss of meaning in life, inability to achieve goals;
• unexpected rapid change in living conditions;
• monotony in life.

Another reason, no matter how strange it may sound, is achieving a goal. It's boring for a person to live without a dream.

Educational

In this case, the concept of “deprivation” means pedagogical neglect, unsuitable learning conditions for the child, and the inability to fully reveal his abilities and potential. All this leads to loss of motivation, decreased interest, and reluctance to attend an educational institution. Over time, these symptoms develop into a persistent aversion to the educational process.

Educational deprivation in psychology is divided into 2 subtypes. The first is emotional. This is a state when the teacher ignores the characteristics of the student. The second is cognitive. This means that knowledge is presented formally, without deep explanations.

Paternal or maternal deprivation

It develops not only in childhood, but also in older age. This implies the absence of dad or mom, as well as inattention on their part.

Interesting! The lack of paternal love is called paternal deprivation.

If the mother leaves the child for a short period of time for a good reason, the condition will quickly stabilize. Otherwise, extremely unpleasant consequences develop. These are developmental delays, apathy, and a tendency to depression.

Sleep deprivation

Otherwise known as chronic sleep deprivation. It develops in situations where a person does not allocate enough time for night rest. If the situation does not change for a long time, drowsiness appears even during the day, the mood deteriorates, the person becomes distracted and forgetful. His performance (intellectual and physical) is deteriorating.

The development of sleep deprivation is provoked by several reasons:

1. Actually, lack of sleep caused by passion for computer games, the need to do overtime work or homework, or waking up due to the crying of a small child.
2. Insomnia. The person often wakes up during the night or gets up early. Another option is that he has trouble falling asleep for a long time. As a result, he spends the entire day fighting the urge to sleep.

Another reason for sleep deprivation is anxiety. You cannot sleep because you are thinking about some problems, for example, difficult family relationships or difficulties at work.

Complications

The effect of prolonged experience of sensory deficits negatively affects the functioning of the nervous system and brain. The simplest consequences of this phenomenon are: insomnia, absent-mindedness, mood swings. In severe cases, the disorder is associated with complications such as:

• distorted perception;
• memory impairment;
• disruption of biological rhythms in the body;
• increased personal and situational anxiety;
• loss of the ability to distinguish between hallucinations and reality.

It is impossible to cope with the severe consequences of sensory deprivation on your own. In these cases, consultation with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist is required.

In children

Children with sensory deprivation often experience:

• exhaustion of the nervous system, decreased resistance to stress;
• mental disorders, neuroses;
• depression and stress;
• psychosomatic diseases;
• lag in the rate of motor, speech and intellectual development;
• emotional coldness, lack of empathy;
• deviant behavior, aggressiveness;
• formation of a victim position, lack of leadership qualities in the character structure;
• difficulties of social adaptation.

In adults

In the modern world, there are types of professional work where workers are forced to be in conditions of deficit of sensory sensations while performing their job duties. An example of sensory deprivation is the work of speleologists, astronauts, and submariners: the lack of natural light leads to their loss of sense of time and disruptions in the biological rhythms of the body. Such working conditions change people's consciousness.

How to cope with deprivation

So what is deprivation? This is depriving a person of his usual way of life. You can change the situation if you return to him what was taken away or replace it with something else. For example, feeling empty, many people become interested in religion. Some find solace in traditional teachings, while others become members of various sects. There are also those who immerse themselves in watching TV series or computer games. Such methods of dealing with deprivation in psychology are called destructive.

There are also constructive methods to combat this condition. Among them: sports, self-development, active work on oneself and one’s personality.

Deprivation should never be ignored. If you leave everything as it is, you are guaranteed to become dependent on some useless activity or hobby. Therefore, it is better to consciously do something useful.

Types of deprivation play an important role in “treatment” tactics. So, with sensory, it is recommended to paint life with bright colors, add emotions and impressions to it. When experiencing emotional deprivation, it is worth finding someone you can trust.

In particularly severe cases, it is recommended to consult a psychotherapist. Working with it will help eliminate destructive experiences and aspirations, as well as protect the psyche from irreversible consequences.

My recommendations

It so happened that I lived in an unfamiliar city for almost 2 years. All my friends and relatives remained elsewhere. There were no friends or acquaintances here. I spent almost all my time on my own. Such a social deprivation.

I can only say one thing - you can get rid of it if you completely immerse yourself in some interesting activity and make new acquaintances. Reading and self-development helped me. I read books about how you can change your life for the better, and fiction. As soon as I got used to the new conditions and coped with the symptoms of deprivation, I began to meet new people. And it so happened that I still communicate with some of them.

Treatment options

Therapy begins with a comprehensive diagnosis. Diagnosing sensory deprivation means diagnosing depression. If deviations from the norm are minimal, you can cope with this condition yourself with the help of auto-training and relaxation exercises. In case of severe negative symptoms, treatment methods should be chosen by a psychotherapist, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.

Drug therapy

Drug treatment is prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the individual characteristics of each clinical case. As a rule, therapy is based on a course of antidepressants, sedatives with the additional use of sleeping pills.

Mental correction

To achieve a lasting positive effect from treatment, drug therapy must be combined with psychocorrectional classes conducted by psychologists and psychotherapists.

Psychocorrection is aimed at changing negative stereotypes of individual behavior.