DISORDERS OF WILL AND ATTENTION

Will is the purposeful activity of a person, the ability to set goals for himself. Of great importance in the formation of volitional acts is the motivational sphere of a person, which is a set of desires, motives, and needs. Among the motives are hedonistic (the desire to get pleasure), utilitarian (the desire to benefit), altruistic motives, etc. Among the features of the volitional sphere of a person are suggestibility (exposure to someone else’s influence), independence, indecision (delay of the volitional act at the stage of the struggle of motives), stubbornness (actions in spite of anything), instability (inability to restrain the actions disapproved by the person himself).

Hyperbole – pathological increase of volitional activity, an increased desire for activity.

It occurs in manic syndrome.

Hypobulia is a pathological weakening of volitional activity, the desire for activity.

It is observed in neurosis, depression (the deeper the depression, the more pronounced hypobulia).

Abulia – complete lack of initiative, complete inactivity with minimal preservation of the circle of automated actions. Attention is a mental function that ensures the selection of certain objects in the mind (concentration on something) while simultaneously distracting from other stimuli. Attention exists only in the presence of clear consciousness. There are two types (components) of attention:

1) Active (selective) attention-due to purposeful volitional and intellectual activity;

2) Passive attention-due to the external properties of objects and phenomena, attracting attention occurs without volitional participation, involuntarily.

Attention disorders are manifested by its weakening or strengthening.

Attenuation (hypoprosexia) is manifested by the deterioration of active attention and the predominance of the passive component. There is a distraction, impair the ability of concentration of attention on something.

Irritable attentional weakness – variability of active attention under the influence of external and internal stimuli. At the same time, attention is often focused on some group of ideas (for example, obsessive thoughts).

Reduced attention-deterioration of active attention due to mental stress. Pathology is spoken of in the event that fatigue of attention occurs under the influence of short mental work, in connection with which the patient is unable to write, realize the meaning of what he has read, and experiences a feeling of drowsiness.

Aprosexia is a complete loss of the ability to direct and fix attention.

Increased attention (hyperprosexia) is accompanied by an increase in the passive component of attention. In manic and hypomanic States, increased passive attention is combined with increased attraction of active attention. An extreme degree of distraction is hypermetamorphosis (Hyper-distraction of attention), when every little thing attracts the attention of the patient, patients look confused, react with facial expressions to the most insignificant stimuli, are not able to describe what is happening around them.