How to heal from childhood neglect

6 Healing Habits of Adults Who Recover From Childhood Emotional Neglect

Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN): When your childhood home treats your own feelings like unwelcome intruders, you absorb a forever lesson (even if its never stated outright), Your emotions dont matter. When you receive this message as a child, you naturally adapt. You wall off the deepest, most personal expression of who you are: your emotions, which are meant to stimulate, energize, direct and connect you. You go into your adulthood unable to feel enough, unaware of your feelings, and mostly blocked from them.

Does invisible, unmemorable Childhood Emotional Neglect leave its mark on you? It does.

Can it hang over your head through your entire adult life, interfering with your ability to feel, connect, engage, and enjoy life as you should? It can.

Is it possible to actually recover from the Emotional Neglect you grew up with? Yes!

But it is also true that CEN recovery takes work. And its also true that this work is harder for some than for others. In fact, the very symptoms of CEN have a way of blocking your recovery (more about that in a later blog).

During the last 8 years of working with emotionally neglected adults in my office and my online CEN recovery program, I have noticed that there are some healthy practices that are particularly healthy for CEN people to follow, seeming to literally smooth the path of recovery for them.

Of course, the 6 Healing Habits I will describe below are not automatic for CEN people or easy for them to cultivate. Each is, in its own way, a key part of CEN recovery. These are the things I teach and help my clients cultivate in themselves. If you have CEN, think of them as goals to work toward.

The 6 Healthy Habits of People Who Recover From Childhood Emotional Neglect

Noticing your own feelings

Growing up in an emotion-free zone, you had to wall off your feelings to cope. In this way, you were literally trained to ignore whats going on inside of you. The most vital part of CEN recovery involves welcoming your emotions back into your life. So the first habit to cultivate in yourself is the habit of tuning in to your body. Being aware of your feelings and noticing when they come and go gives you the opportunity to listen to their messages, know yourself better, make more authentic decisions, and feel more valid. This healthy habit lays the foundation for your CEN recovery.

Listening to yourself first and last

Being taught to ignore your inner experience means ignoring your own gut sense. This prevents you from learning whether you can trust your own judgment. You may automatically rely on other peoples opinions, ideas, and advice about you and your decisions. Or you may leave too many options up to chance, leaving your destiny up to the universe to decide. Cultivating this important habit means always consulting your own gut sense first, and then again last. In-between you may ask others, learn more, or research, but in the end, its on you. Its what you decide for yourself based on what your body tells you.

Actively seeking enjoyment

A Duke University study by Hanson, et al. (2015) found that emotionally neglected kids go into adolescence with an important structure in their brains under-developed. Its the ventral striatum, which is the area of the brain that registers feelings of reward. If your ventral striatum is a bit undeveloped, never fear. You can develop it now! This habit is actually rather fun to work on too. To cultivate this habit pay close attention to what you like, love, and enjoy. Then actively ask for it, plan it, and structure it into your life. Your brain can change and you can make it happen.

Overriding your impulses

Living your life disconnected from your feelings can leave your emotions unstructured, unprocessed, unmanaged and unruly. Your emotions may drive you to make decisions you shouldnt make or make mistakes you will regret. And, when you do make a mistake, you are probably very harsh on yourself. The habit of overriding your impulses involves forcing yourself to do things you dont want to do and stopping yourself from doing things you shouldnt do. Purposely overriding your feelings in making certain choices trains your brain to be controllable. Learn more about how to practice this habit in the book, Running On Empty (link below in Bio).

Self-talk

Self-talk is a remarkable coping technique. This habit is well worth your time to cultivate and practice. It involves literally talking yourself through a painful moment, a scary challenge, or a difficult situation. You can repeat a mantra that you need to absorb, remind yourself what youre capable of, or challenge negative thoughts. The possibilities are endless and must be tailored specifically to you. Here are some examples:

You can do this.

You are important and you matter.

You deserve to get your needs met just as much as anyone.

Speak up. Say it now.

Saying no (an expression of boundaries)

Saying, No is difficult for emotionally neglected folks. For you, it feels wrong, it feels selfish, and you assume you must justify yourself. But none of that is actually true. Saying no is your right under any circumstances, and the more you do it, the easier it will become. As you say, No, I cant help you with that. No, Im not available. No, I dont want that, it starts to help you set your boundaries with people and it gives you the space to focus more on yourself, which is exactly where your focus must be to heal.

Final Thoughts

Some of these habits will be harder for you than others. I suggest you choose the one that seems the easiest for you and start with that. But try your best to keep them all in your mind each and every day. The more you practice each habit, the easier and more natural it will start to feel.

Noticing what youre feeling and trusting yourself, talking yourself through tough moments, overriding and managing your impulses, and setting your boundaries. All of these habits work together to help you fill your own shoes and trust your own gut. And heal your own Childhood Emotional Neglect.

4 Ways to Begin to Recover from Childhood Emotional Neglect

Source: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

If you’re a highly sensitive person, there’s a good chance that you experience emotions in a very strong way — so much so that your emotions can flood you. Highly sensitive people (HSPs) are born with a nervous system that processes and “feels” things much more deeply than average people. Most HSPs are aware of their own feelings and the feelings of others, which can be a powerful gift.

But what happens when you grow up in a family that doesn’t value this trait at all? That could mean:

Parents who said you were “overreacting” for having feelings.
Your parents never expressed their own emotions and were uncomfortable when you did so.
Being labeled as different (a “dreamer” or “crybaby”), because you are sensitive.

Sadly, this isn’t uncommon. A growing body of research suggests that many otherwise healthy families raise their children with emotional neglect — a failure to value or respond to emotions.

This can create unhealthy outcomes for any child, but especially highly sensitive children.

What Does It Mean to Be Emotionally Neglected?

According to psychologist Jonice Webb, childhood emotional neglect happens when a parent fails to respond to a child’s emotional needs. “It may sound like nothing, and it often looks like nothing,” Webb has written, “But actually, [it] can have as great an impact upon a child as abuse, even though it’s not noticeable or memorable like abuse is.”

Often, that lack of emotional response doesn’t look unhealthy at all; the parents may take great care of the child overall. But something invisible is missing: The parent doesn’t validate their child’s feelings or respond to their child’s emotional needs. And that has consequences. Webb says emotionally neglected children can end up feeling deeply alone. As kids, they feel like their needs aren’t important, like their feelings don’t matter, or like they should never ask for help because it’s perceived as a sign of weakness.

When they grow up, childhood emotional neglect can stick around as unnecessary guilt, self-anger, low self-confidence, or a sense of being deeply flawed. But that’s true of anyone who grew up with emotional neglect. What if you’re an HSP? If your biology has made you highly attuned to emotion, what does emotional neglect do to you?

How Emotional Neglect Affects a Highly Sensitive Child

Webb emphasizes that you cannot make a child highly sensitive with an emotional upbringing, and likewise, you can’t make someone less sensitive through emotional neglect. High sensitivity, by definition, is a genetic trait; you’re either born with it, or you’re not.

So emotional neglect doesn’t change whether a child is an HSP. But according to Webb, it does affect HSPs very differently than other children.

That’s because emotions are, in many ways, an HSP’s first language. And an emotionally neglectful family basically doesn’t speak that language. While the parents certainly have emotions of their own, they avoid expressing them outwardly or acknowledging the emotions of others. It’s like they completely divorce themselves from the most important part of their HSP child’s inner life.

At best, growing up as an HSP in an emotionally neglectful household is like being a musician in a world with no music. In other cases, it’s much worse — it’s the equivalent of having parents who actively tell you that your music is bad.

As Webb writes, “Imagine being a deeply thoughtful, intensely feeling child growing up in a family that is neither. Imagine your intense feelings being ignored or discouraged. Imagine that your thoughtfulness is viewed as a weakness.”

Of course, many HSPs don’t have to imagine that at all; it’s often how they were raised. And that kind of emotional neglect sends HSP children a message: Your greatest strength is not valued here.

9 Ways Childhood Emotional Neglect Harms Highly Sensitive People

Everyone is affected by their childhood environment, whether it’s good or bad, but for highly sensitive people, this effect is amplified. Research suggests that HSPs suffer more in bad environments but do especially well in good ones. So it’s reasonable to expect childhood emotional neglect to have an outsized effect on sensitive kids.

While not every HSP child who deals with emotional neglect will face all of the situations below, some outcomes may include:

1. Their high sensitivity becomes a joke, even with their parents. Comments that a child is “too sensitive” or “a dreamer” may be well-intentioned, but inevitably come across as a negative judgment.

2. Siblings may pick on the HSP. Brothers and sisters are usually suffering emotional neglect as well, but they may take more naturally to the “toughen up” message than their HSP sibling. And that makes it easy for them to establish themselves higher up on the pecking order.

Source: fasphotographic/Shutterstock

3. They think there’s something wrong with them. There’s no limit to how many times I’ll say it: Highly sensitive children are normal. But it’s impossible to internalize that if you’re told over and over that you’re the odd one out. Instead, you internalize that your emotions aren’t “right” and don’t matter.

4. They have confidence issues. Given the above, it’s no surprise that a sensitive child starts to doubt and undervalue themselves. But emotionally neglectful parents often see this as a weak spot, too, and pressure the child to be more confident — without ever validating the child’s strengths and feelings.

5. They have problems dealing with criticism. Highly sensitive people in general react strongly to criticism, and criticism is always hard for a child. But for an HSP child, emotional neglect means that they never get to see feedback done in a healthy way. And, naturally, they can’t develop healthy ways to deal with criticism themselves if they never see it modeled at home.

6. They experience overwhelm, crashes, or panic. All HSPs can become overstimulated by loud or busy environments and overwhelmed by strong emotions at times. But healthy HSPs learn to manage this through self-care. Often they need a quiet, safe place to retreat to. For highly sensitive kids, that’s only possible if the parent or parents are understanding of this need — and emotionally neglectful parents are not. Instead, they typically see the child as “overreacting.” They may even get angry at the child. This can make overwhelm a source of panic and fear in the child.

7. They can feel profound loneliness. When your emotional needs don’t matter, and no one seems to understand you, you quickly become isolated and may feel alone in the world.

8. They can feel unable to ask for help. Any child who suffers from emotional neglect learns that they shouldn’t ask for help, because it won’t be given, or because it appears “weak.” This is especially damaging to HSP children because they need to learn to speak up for their needs in a world that often doesn’t understand them.

9. They can feel anxious. All of these factors can combine to leave an HSP child with ongoing anxiety, fueled by the fear that they are always doing things “wrong.”

4 Steps to Recovering from Childhood Emotional Neglect

Childhood emotional neglect (CEN) doesn’t disappear when you grow up. Adults carry it with them into their lives, and it affects everything—their relationships, their self-image, and their mental well-being. But emotional neglect is something you can recover from. Here are four strategies to help:

1. Get to know and accept yourself. Understanding your high sensitivity is an important step toward accepting your needs as normal and valid. And learning about the CEN “emotional style” can help you identify — and change — patterns you’re not even aware of. A good starting point is Webb’s checklist to determine if you grew up with CEN.

2. Accept that your feelings, needs, and wants matter as much as anyone else’s. This may mean doing more of the talking in a friendship, voicing your needs clearly to others, or drawing boundaries.

3. Start to express your needs. People recovering from CEN typically keep their emotions hidden or even feel “numb” because their emotions are walled off. As an HSP, that may mean you only express your needs when you’re completely overwhelmed (or you withdraw and never express them at all). But the time to express your feelings is in normal, daily interactions. “When you begin to treat yourself as if you matter,” Webb has written, “the people in your life begin to see you differently and respond to you differently. They start to see your personality, your emotions, and your needs. And they start to respond to what they can finally see.”

4. Practice self-soothing. Self-soothing is something that most people learn how to do as kids when being soothed by the adults who love them. If you grew up with emotional neglect, you likely never learned this skill — but it’s not hard to learn now. You can find a guide here.

And, of course, many people will benefit from talking to a therapist about their childhood emotional neglect.

A version of this article was originally published at Highly Sensitive Refuge, my community and blog for highly sensitive people.

How to get rid of a nervous tic in children?

How to get rid of a nervous tic - this question is becoming very popular. This phenomenon has recently been encountered more and more often by a fairly large number of children. What is a nervous tic? Nervous tic is a disease that has a neurological nature. By the way, a nervous tic occupies a leading place among neurological disorders. Most often, children aged 6 to 10 years old experience a nervous tic. Transient or, as they are also called, transient nervous tics occur in about three out of ten children. Statistics show that boys are five times more likely to experience this phenomenon than girls.

Many parents get very frightened when faced with a nervous tic. In order to figure out how to deal with nervous tics, you need to know exactly what it is and what causes it. Doctors give the following definition of such a phenomenon as a nervous tic: it is an involuntary and repeated movement or some kind of sound that occurs repeatedly over a short period of time. For example, twitching of the cheeks or eyebrows, tension in the muscles of the face, puckering of the lips. Voice tics are manifested by rhythmic sniffling, screaming, noisy sighs or sobs. All ticks are divided into certain subgroups:

1. Motor tics . Motor tics are often also called motor tics. They are

manifested by spasmodic movements of various muscle groups.

2. Voice ticks . As already mentioned, they are manifested by sharp sobs and cries that appear against the will of the child.

In addition, all nervous tics in children without exception are subdivided into simple and complex . With simple forms of tic, only one muscle group is involved in it, for example, mimic or calf muscles. Moreover, a nervous tic can be manifested not only by a simple twitch of the cheek or eyebrow, but even by bouncing or squatting. All nervous tics are either transient, that is, temporary, lasting no more than one year. But in the event that tics appear regularly for 12 or more months, doctors talk about a chronic nervous tic.

Nervous tic or...?

Parents often confuse a nervous tic with obsessive movements. So, for example, one can often hear complaints from parents that a child, having barely got rid of the habit of incessant blinking, begins to bite his nails. Other parents complain that their child has become constantly winding a curl around his finger or checking ten times in a row whether the light is off or the door is locked.

So - such actions have nothing to do with nervous tics, rather they refer to the so-called obsessive movements. This problem needs to be solved jointly with child psychologists. However, if you have any doubts, consulting a neurologist will not bring your child any harm.

Signs of a nervous tic in children

There are certain distinguishing features of a tic that may help observant parents notice that there is a problem. As you remember, a nervous tic is the result of involuntary contractions of a certain muscle group. But, nevertheless, if the child is asked and he tries very hard, then a slight tick can be stopped by an effort of will and control over the muscles. As a result, the child ceases to constantly blink, sniff, or shrug.

In addition, a nervous tic has the ability to migrate, changing its location. So, for example, a baby’s eye may twitch one day, the cheek the other, and the muscles of the shoulder girdle on the third day. Many parents mistakenly take each new location of a nervous tic for a newly begun independent illness. However, in reality this is not the case at all. Migration is just recurring bouts of the same disease.

The severity of the disease and its causes

How pronounced a nervous tic is depends on many factors, for example, on the time of year, time of day, psycho-emotional state of the child at the time of the onset of an attack of the disease, and others. So, for example, in a child who spends a long time playing computer games or watching television programs, the psycho-emotional state is most often unstable. And it is quite natural that the risk of a nervous tic is much higher, and the degree of its severity will be brighter. Emotions such as anger, resentment, embarrassment, and even joy also increase the frequency and severity of tics.

But at a time when the baby is busy with some exciting activity that requires maximum concentration of attention from him, for example, while playing or reading an interesting book, a nervous tic can significantly reduce the intensity of the manifestation of nervous tics, up to their complete disappearance. However, as soon as the child finishes his exciting activity, the tick immediately returns to normal.

It goes without saying that parents of children suffering from attacks of a nervous tic, first of all, ask neuropathologists the question of what is the cause of a nervous tic. However, even modern medicine is not able to give an unambiguous answer to this question. However, doctors still identify several factors in the presence of which children are at risk of developing a nervous tic. It is about them that will be discussed below.

So, nervous tic - causes:

Genetic factor.

Genetic predisposition in the development of nervous tics in a child plays an important role. So, for example, if the mother or father of a child in childhood also suffered from bouts of a nervous tic, their baby has a very high chance of falling into a trap of a nervous tic.

Disorders of the central nervous system.

Often, those children who suffer from hyperactivity syndrome, attention deficit, minimal brain dysfunctions face a nervous tic. Doctors - neurologists are aware of a similar feature of this group of babies and know how to help such a child.

Stressful state of the child.

In the event that a child has experienced a nervous shock, or he is in a state of chronic stress, the risk of a nervous tic reaches approximately 80%. A stressful situation can be caused by various circumstances - an unfavorable microclimate in the family, illness or death of relatives, the appearance of new family members, and much more.

School starts.

Pediatric neurologists have such a thing as "Tick September 1". Such a nervous tic is caused by those stresses that adaptation to school conditions inevitably entails, especially among first-graders. Strictly speaking, this type of nervous tics are also tics caused by the stressful condition of the child.

Conjunctivitis.

Most often, pediatric neurologists hear complaints from parents about such a type of disease as a nervous tic of the eye in children. Most often, however, blinking is not a nervous tic. It occurs as a consequence of the presence of conjunctivitis in a child, or even its consequence. The child experiences discomfort in the eyes and constantly blinks involuntarily, trying to eliminate them.

Influence of external factors.

Sometimes unexpected factors become the cause of nervous tics. For example, a turtleneck with a tight neck can be the culprit of a motor type of nervous tic. The child, trying to get rid of the feeling of pressure on the neck area, will constantly rotate his head. And even after the turtleneck is removed, the tick will haunt the baby for some time.

Babies' perception of nervous tics

It is also impossible not to mention the reaction of babies themselves to such an ailment as a nervous tic. As a rule, the vast majority of babies coexist perfectly with their nervous tics, without thinking about why they arise, and not at all attaching any importance to this fact, unlike overly shy parents. And the children surrounding the baby with a nervous tic, as a rule, do not pay absolutely no attention to this feature of their friend.

By the way, very often those parents whose children have experienced a nervous tic blame themselves for this. A lot of moms and dads have been tormenting themselves with doubts and reproaches for a long time: if I hadn’t scolded, if I hadn’t refused, if I had bought, and so on and so forth. Of course, stressful experiences and nervous shocks contribute to the launch of the mechanism of a nervous tic and its further development, and many other problems may well provoke - therefore, you should not injure the child’s fragile nervous system once again. However, you should not blame yourself for the fact that the baby has developed a nervous tic, because without a predisposition to this disease, a nervous tic will still not appear.

How should parents behave?

What should the parents of those children who are faced with such a problem as a nervous tic have in mind? Doctors - neurologists and child psychologists give parents a number of specific recommendations:

Do not focus on the existing problem.

Do not constantly remind the child of his illness, even casually, in a conversation with adults. Doctors have proven that the more you talk about a nervous tic in the presence of a child, the more often his attacks will occur and the more pronounced they will be.

Do not put pressure on the child.

Too many parents make the same very common mistake. They ask and even order the child: “don’t sniff”, “don’t twitch”, “don’t blink”. However, such a measure will not only not bring any benefit, but will greatly aggravate the situation, having the most opposite effect - increased sniffing and blinking. Moreover, the child does this not at all in order to annoy his parents, just constant shouting and pulling makes the baby unconsciously, involuntarily fixate on a nervous tic. As a result, even a mild nervous tic can take a rather severe course, which will require serious and long-term medical treatment.

Seek immediate medical attention.

At the very first symptoms of a nervous tic, parents should immediately seek medical help. However, unfortunately, many parents do not do this, because they consider a nervous tic not an independent disease, but just a bad habit, because otherwise the child would not know how to stop a nervous tic.

Most likely, parents come to this conclusion on the basis that the child, by an effort of will, is able to restrain an attack of a nervous tic for some time. And as a result, the child receives the medical care he needs only when the disease takes an already advanced stage. But in the event that a nervous tic in children, treatment should be started as early as possible so as not to start the disease.

Create a comfortable psychological environment for the child.

Of course, following the child's lead in everything and indulging all his whims is far from the best way out. However, parents are simply obliged to create a psychologically favorable microclimate for the child - you should not discuss serious problems with the child, because often the child understands much more than it seems to adults. You should not speak negatively about his friends, and even more so, sort things out in front of the child, even if you do it in a completely calm tone and with icy calmness.

Time limit for watching TV and working at the computer.

In order to reduce psycho-emotional stress, and at the same time protect the child's eyesight, try to limit the time of watching TV and working with a computer as much as possible. It is much wiser to organize the child's daily routine in such a way that the baby spends as much time as possible in the fresh air, and not in a stuffy room.

Treatment of nervous tics

Here we come to the final question: nervous tic - how to treat it? In very many cases, transient (temporary) nervous tics in children disappear on their own, without any serious intervention from a neurologist. However, although quite rare, doctors still encounter cases when temporary tics smoothly flow into chronic ones, affecting more and more different muscle groups. Doctors call these tics generalized.

Most often, children's tics do not require any special treatment. Parents should only follow the simple rules and recommendations that have already been given above. As a rule, the correct organization of the child's daily routine and the microclimate surrounding him very quickly help to forget about such a problem as a nervous tic.

However, in particularly severe cases, when for some reason it is not possible to get rid of a nervous tic in a child for some reason, doctors are forced to resort to medication. Taking into account the age, weight of the child, the characteristics of the course of the disease, the doctor will select the appropriate medicine for a nervous tic. Parents should not categorically refuse it, since if the child has a complex neglected nervous tic, the treatment should be serious. Tablets from a nervous tic will not bring any harm to the child's body.

Sometimes there is no trace of a nervous tic very quickly, literally two or three weeks, and the child completely forgets about such a problem as a nervous tic. However, unfortunately, sometimes doctors have to observe a completely opposite picture - the treatment is progressing quite slowly and requires constant attention and control from the mother. And then Carlson's favorite saying comes to mind: "Calm, only calm!" Otherwise, the child’s illness will not rush to disappear, and the parents themselves risk getting a nervous tick!

Doctor Konon T.A.

Pedagogical neglect. What is Pedagogical neglect?

IMPORTANT
The information in this section should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, only the attending physician should prescribe diagnostic tests. For diagnosis and proper treatment, you should contact your doctor.

Pedagogical neglect is a developmental disorder caused by insufficient education and training. It is characterized by deviations in behavior, educational activity, moral values. Manifested by reduced intellectual abilities, narrow outlook, infantilism, emotional imbalance, difficulties in socialization, immoral acts. Specific diagnostics is performed by psychological methods: tests for intelligence, thinking, attention, memory, projective methods and personality questionnaires. If there are no concomitant diseases, pedagogical neglect is eliminated with the help of psychological and pedagogical correction.

Causes of pedagogical neglect
Pathogenesis
Classification
Symptoms of pedagogical neglect
Complications
Diagnostics
Treatment of pedagogical neglect
Prognosis and prevention
Prices for treatment

General

Pedagogical neglect is considered as a factor of behavioral disorders and psychological development. Another name is “difficulty in education”, they speak of children as “difficult”. At an older age, the synonym “socio-psychological neglect” is used, which implies not only a decrease in cognitive functions and violations of the emotional and personal sphere, but also social maladjustment: a teenager does not attend educational institutions, later does not get a job, leads a “parasitic” lifestyle. The data of epidemiological studies vary - the number of "difficult" children is constantly changing, depending on the general socio-economic conditions. The highest prevalence is determined among boys.

Pedagogical neglect

Causes of pedagogical neglect

The lack of educational and pedagogical influence occurs with certain relationships in the family, educational institution. Factors in the formation of pedagogical neglect include:

Family relationships. In the family circle, the child receives the primary social experience, on the basis of which the further perception of the world around is formed. Pedagogical neglect appears with insufficient participation of parents in the life of the child, low material level, unfavorable living conditions, poor educational and cultural development of parents, frequent conflicts, neglect, and the wrong style of education.
Educational environment. Difficulty in education develops as a result of errors in the organization of the educational process, poor relations with classmates and teachers. Academic failure, lack of confidence are formed with an inattentive attitude towards the child, ignoring his psychophysiological and personal characteristics, and the absence of elements of an individual approach.
Social relations. "Difficult" children have constant conflicts with teachers, parents, peers. Psychological isolation, loneliness reduce the desire to attend an educational institution, the child begins to seek support and assert himself through antisocial groups.
Child's individuality. Psychophysiological, emotional and personal characteristics, hereditary traits, health status, self-esteem, the level of social activity - all these internal factors can enhance pre-neglect or prevent its formation. At risk are children with an unstable weak type of nervous activity, neurological disorders, prone to depressive and dysphoric emotional states, having pointed character traits that prevent adaptation.

Pathogenesis

The development of the child is determined by age crises, social situations, psychophysical characteristics, orientation towards the acceptance of experience through communication, activity. Mental and physical abilities are laid from birth in the form of inclinations, their implementation is determined by the type of education, life circumstances. The discrepancy between environmental conditions and the inclinations of the child leads to distortion and deformation of development. The lack of psychological and social incentives is the basis of the pathogenesis of pedagogical neglect. It has a progressive character, with time the developmental lag behind the norms of the age group grows and expands.

Classification

There are several classifications of pedagogical neglect. The most common is based on the age of the child and the extent of the symptoms. There are four stages of violation:

First stage. Corresponds to the period of preschool childhood. It is due to the disharmonious style of family education: lack of communication with parents, lack or excessive care, increased conflict, conflicting demands of mother and father. Perhaps the development of deviations as a result of the mistakes of kindergarten teachers, an unfavorable position among peers.
Second stage. The period of senior preschool and primary school age. It develops due to insufficient readiness for school. It is based on the mistakes of education, leading to inadequate self-esteem, insecurity, lack of interest in learning. The main manifestations are a negative attitude towards the school, the rules of conduct, and the regime.
Third stage. Adolescence. Negativism, neglect of norms and rules is increasing, there is a tendency to deviant behavior, indifference to learning.
Fourth stage. Covers adolescence and youth. The antisocial nature of behavior is fixed, rudeness and negativism dominate. Possible inclusion in criminal gangs.

Qualitative classification takes into account the prevalence of deviations in a particular area. There are the following types of pedantry:

Medical and pedagogical. It is characterized by negative habits, unwillingness and inability to follow the rules of hygiene.
Moral and pedagogical. It is manifested by a complete or partial lack of morality, unwillingness to control emotions, take into account the feelings of others.
Intellectual and pedagogical. The main manifestation is the difficulty of mastering the school curriculum, the lack of cognitive interest.
Moral and labor. There is no desire to work, the idea of the benefits of labor is distorted.

Symptoms of pedagogical neglect

Common manifestations of neglect are insufficient mental development, lack of education, bad manners. The child lags behind generally accepted age norms and from his own capabilities. Preschoolers do not master the role-playing game, do not accept the rules, the transfer of character functions is not available. They prefer simple subject games - a ball, cubes. Patients often play with children of younger age groups, interest in interaction is weak. Characterized by emotional instability, uncertainty, suggestibility, statement. Of the destructive qualities, there is laziness, absent-mindedness, apathy, low organization, lack of will.

Younger schoolchildren are not psychologically and morally prepared for the beginning of educational activities. Emotional features, personal qualities are disharmonious. Pedagogical neglect is manifested by low school performance, conflict in interaction with peers, teachers, lack of academic interest, neglect of work, and ostentatious rudeness. Interests remain in the field of gaming activities. The behavior is defiant, but there are no hooligan acts.

Adolescents have problems in interpersonal communication, internal conflicts. Academic failure is reinforced by a decrease in the cognitive sphere: an insufficient level of intelligence, instability and absent-mindedness. Rudeness, lack of will, affective outbursts, foul language, bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol, drugs) are characteristic. Personality traits are sharpened, character accentuations develop, complicating social adaptation and negatively affecting the productivity of activity. The norms and rules of behavior in society are ignored. Often there are conflict situations with mother, father, teachers, peers.

Complications

In the absence of psychological, pedagogical assistance, the child's disadaptation grows. In adolescents and young people, pedagogical neglect is complicated by social neglect. Quarrels with teachers, lagging behind the curriculum are complemented by a lack of professional orientation, depletion of interests, hobbies, and lack of practical skills. Characterized by deep alienation from the family, the group of peers. The formation of personality occurs under the influence of asocial, criminal groups. There is a deformation of value orientations, social attitudes. In advanced cases, re-education takes place in children's correctional colonies.

Diagnostics

A comprehensive diagnosis of pedagogical neglect is based on the results of a psychological examination. The child is additionally examined by a psychiatrist, a neurologist to exclude somatic and mental pathologies. Psychodiagnostics includes:

Projective methods. They are used to study the emotional sphere, interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, the hierarchy of values of preschoolers, younger students. Adolescents are shown such techniques to identify denied problems, if there is a suspicion of deliberate distortion of the results of the questionnaires. Presented by drawing and associative tests, methods of interpreting situations.
Questionnaires. With the normal development of intellectual functions, they are used from the age of 10. Aimed at the study of emotions, character traits, habitual reactions in interpersonal interaction, values. The Lichko questionnaire, the pathocharacterological diagnostic questionnaire (PDO), the method of multilateral personality research (MMIL, from 15 years old) are used.
Research methods of the cognitive sphere. The level of intelligence is examined by the Wexler test, the Raven test. Functions of thinking - by the method of classification, interpretation of proverbs, establishing analogies, determining the common and different. Active attention - Schulte tables, proofreading. Memory - by the technique of "10 words", retelling of the text.

The main direction of differential diagnosis is the distinction between pedagogical neglect with mental retardation, mental retardation, and psychopathic personality development. The key point is the pathogenetic factor - insufficient, incorrect education. The presence / absence of neurological pathologies, the maturity of the nervous system (balance of excitation / inhibition, cerebrosthenic, encephalopathic manifestations) are also taken into account. Ledness can be a concomitant diagnosis with mental retardation, mental retardation, and behavioral disorders.

Treatment of pedagogical neglect

The process of elimination of neglect involves psychological, pedagogical and psychotherapeutic correction. In parallel, neurological and mental disorders are treated. The corrective process includes:

Lessons with a psychologist. The goal is the elimination of active-volitional defects, fears, absent-mindedness, shyness, learning to manage emotions, arousal. Skills of productive interpersonal interaction are mastered. With a decrease in cognitive functions, classes are organized to stimulate their development.
Psychotherapy sessions. Conducted individually and as part of a group. Methods of suggestion, self-hypnosis, persuasion are used. Adequate emotional reactions, skills of mutual assistance, friendly relationships are being worked out. In parallel, self-acceptance increases, self-esteem is adjusted.
Social rehabilitation. The method of correction through work, joint activity is used. Under the supervision of a mentor, a teenager is included in the production process, learns to establish contacts in the process of work. There is an awareness of its usefulness, necessity. Young children are sent to sports sections, creative studios.

Prognosis and prevention

Pedagogical neglect is a reversible state.

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