Frustration - what is it in psychology in simple words

Frustration - what does it mean? Imagine that you have been waiting for a concert of your favorite artist for a long time. We took time off from work, bought tickets in advance, and made plans to meet with friends. And suddenly the boss decides that you definitely need to be in the office on this day. How will you feel when you hear this news? Surely it will be disappointment, anger, helplessness and severe resentment. This state is called frustration. Why is it developing? And how to deal with it?

What is frustration - definition in psychology

Frustration is a mental state that occurs when a person, for some reason, cannot satisfy his need or fulfill his desire. In this case, the obstacle is external circumstances or internal reasons.

Frustration occurs under the following conditions:

An individual has a need or desire that he plans to satisfy.
An action plan has been drawn up in advance, explaining how and what is best to do.
On the way to realizing your plans, external or internal obstacles arise, sometimes insurmountable.

In short, by definition in psychology, frustration is a typical reaction to disappointment, unrealistic hopes, and the impossibility of self-realization. All these situations are called frustration. Obstacles that arise on a person’s path are called frustrators or frustrating influences. The reaction to frustration is frustration tension. The higher it is, the more difficult it is for an individual to adapt to new conditions. At this moment, the body’s psychophysiological reserves work at full capacity, which ultimately leads to moral and physical exhaustion.

The state of frustration largely depends on how strong a person’s psyche is. Therefore, it manifests itself in different ways. Someone experiences slight sadness and annoyance. Others face unbearable suffering. In both cases the emotions are negative.

The development of frustration, the strength of sensations and their duration are determined by two factors:

How important was a goal for a person that he was unable to achieve, or an unmet need. Let's give an example. Let’s say a girl didn’t have time to go to the store, which is why she didn’t buy a new dress for an important meeting. Or a married couple, dreaming of children for a long time, once again encountered failure with IVF. There will be experiences in both cases. But in the second, the state of frustration will be many times stronger.
Psychological state of a person. Does he know how to find a way out of critical situations, does he have leadership qualities, can he soberly assess the situation and make decisions.

The types of reactions to frustration in the described cases vary. The meaning of the word “frustration” in Greek is the collapse of hopes. So, being disappointed, a person can completely abandon an unattained goal or need. This is one option. There are two others:

change the goal while maintaining available resources;
still go forward, simultaneously finding ways to get around the obstacles that stand in the way.

In simple terms, the concept of frustration arises when a person is simply unable to change circumstances. Let's go back to the example with the girl who didn't have time to go to the store. But there are also others that she can stop by before the meeting. This means that she has nothing to worry about. But in the case of the inability to give birth to a child, the situation is more complicated. Here, frustration refers to insurmountable obstacles that are almost impossible to eliminate.

Methods for diagnosing frustration

Frustration in psychology is diagnosed using methods:

Sobchik verbal test to determine the intensity, direction and type of frustration reaction in adolescents;
Wasserman's technique for diagnosing social frustration;
Rosenzweiger technique;
questionnaire by V. Boyko.

To diagnose frustration in children and adults, the Rosenzweiger technique is usually used - this is a cross between a word association test and a thematic apperception test. Drawings in which two people are having a conversation are used as stimulus material. One of the characters is depicted at the moment of uttering words describing the frustrating situation in which he or his interlocutor found himself. The subject is asked to guess the likely answer of the interlocutor. Based on the reactions given by the subject, conclusions are drawn about his inherent level of frustration tolerance and preferred ways of getting out of situations that interfere with his activities or satisfaction of needs.

You can independently assess your level of frustration by answering the questions of V. Boyko’s questionnaire. Mark the statements with which you generally agree.

You feel envious of some of your friends.
You feel dissatisfied with the way your close relationships are going.
Life is not fair and you deserve a better fate.
Under more favorable circumstances, you could achieve much more in life.
You are upset that plans are not upset and hopes are not realized.
You notice that you begin to take out your anger or frustration on others.
The fact that you are much more fortunate in life than you is outrageous.
It’s frustrating that you can’t relax as much as you’d like.
You are depressed by the current financial situation.
I am haunted by the feeling that life is passing me by.
Someone or something makes you feel humiliated.
Unresolved everyday problems make you irritated.

A stable tendency towards frustration is indicated by the number of positive answers from 5 to 9 points, a high level of frustration is indicated by 10 or more statements with which you agree.

Theories of frustration

The state of frustration has always been a lively discussion in the world of psychology. This has led to several related theories.

D. Dollard's theory

According to this theory of frustration, it is closely related to aggression. The nature of this emotion has been studied by many scientists. And here's what they found out:

Biologists believe that the gene for aggressiveness is inherent in a person from the moment he is born. In men, due to the greater amount of testosterone, it manifests itself more strongly, and in women it is weaker.
Sigmund Freud said that aggression indicates self-destruction and that a person is not satisfied sexually.
Sociologists are confident that the reason for aggressive behavior lies in relationships within the family.

As for Dollard's theory, it says that aggression invariably brings with it experiences and vice versa. The strength of aggression directly depends on the significance of the unachieved goal and the difficulty that stood in the way of achieving it. But this is not the most interesting thing. According to the scientist, this negative emotion is directed not at obstacles or circumstances, but at those people who have nothing to do with them.

Dollard's theory has been heavily criticized because frustration is a concept characterized not only by aggression, but also by a number of other negative emotions, such as melancholy and despondency.

Theory by K. Lewin, R. Barker, T. Dembo

According to these scientists, frustration contributes to regression. In psychology, this is the name for a state in which a transition occurs from one form of development to another, weaker one. For clarity, we can cite the example of elderly people who in old age become like children, both in behavior and emotionally.

In the case of frustration, the situation looks something like this: a disappointed person tries to protect himself from unpleasant emotions. Regression occurs - a kind of defense mechanism. The individual relieves himself of all responsibility for not achieving his goals, refuses further action and simply gives up.

N. Mayer's theory

According to this theory, frustration robs people of their ability to set goals. They focus on failures, which makes them unable to look forward and change something in their lives. The result is chronic apathy.

Maslow's theory

Remember Maslow's pyramid of needs? So, he said that the strength of frustration depends on the level of unsatisfied need. For example, not getting a desired position will cause stronger feelings compared to not buying a dress or not watching a movie premiere.

Frustration: the difficulties of life

American scientist Clayton Alderfer developed one of the well-known theories of motivation - ERG, which is in many ways similar to the theory of the hierarchy of needs according to A. Maslow.

Existence - the survival of a person as a biological unit (lowest level of needs).
Relatedness - social needs.
Growth - self-development needs (highest level).

It is believed that as long as the needs of the lower levels are unsatisfied, frustration will not arise due to the unfulfilled desires of the higher levels. Thus, for a person who finds himself without a roof over his head, an upset date will not cause as many worries as it could under other material circumstances.

Experiencing a state of frustration according to the theory of K. Alderfer leads to a shift down the levels of needs. That is, if it is impossible to satisfy the needs of some hierarchical level, unrealized energy is directed to the needs of the same or lower level that are available to satisfy.

Thus, the inability for some reason to realize one’s talent or calling can lead one down the path of seeking self-affirmation in society (a dizzying career, high social status as an end in itself).

The inability to realize oneself in society results in the creation of love or friendship relationships that compensate for the feeling of loss of self-worth. Feeling the weakness of his “I”, a person can “join” another, self-realized person and feel his importance. “I am the wife of a respected professor,” “I am the best friend of a successful actor.”

The inability to realize the needs of the two highest levels inevitably leads to abuse at the lower level. A person sleeps and eats too much. He buys things he doesn’t need, just to fill the inner emptiness.

Frustration in personal life

Love frustration is interesting because difficulties in the way of realizing romantic feelings only increase people's attraction to each other. Other needs, desires and interests fade into the background.

Outwardly, love frustration can find expression in behavior that cannot be called the actions of a loving person. The proverb “hitting means loving” takes on a new meaning within the framework of the study of frustration in psychology. A surge of aggression caused by frustration is often directed at the object of sympathy. Hence the criminal stories with the pursuit of the object of passion, outbursts of jealousy, throwing acid, sexual and physical violence.

Frustration also occurs when a partner is objectively unable to satisfy our emotional needs. For example, a woman hopes that when she meets a man who loves her, she will finally feel loved, adored, and beautiful. However, he is faced with the fact that in a relationship he begins to feel even more acutely self-doubt, his “imperfection”.

And all because not even the most ideal partner is able to compensate for the lack of self-love. No matter how much attention the partner pays to the woman in this example, she will always not have enough. And she will experience frustration every time a man switches his attention to other areas of life - work, friends, hobbies, even children together.

Is it possible to avoid frustration in love? Of course, but only if a person has mental maturity and strives to create equal relationships, relying on the psychological resource of the partner, and on his own strength.

Poverty as a frustrator

In conditions of chronic lack of funds, people's concepts about the nature of happiness are changing. It is useful to remember a parable here. The poor man complains about the cramped conditions of his one-room apartment, in which he has to huddle with all his numerous relatives. The wise man advises the poor man to temporarily place a dog, poultry and other living creatures in the same room in order to experience what is truly a catastrophic situation. Happiness is relative.

Poverty leads to frustration not only when it is not possible to satisfy basic personal and family needs. Financial situation becomes a powerful frustration when society consists of people with different income levels. Despite an objectively high standard of living, a person drives himself into a state of frustration with the help of upward social comparison.

Particularly strong frustration is observed if a person believes that all rich people create their wealth exclusively through illegal and immoral means. Also, a person’s perception of himself as poor, disadvantaged, depends on the ratio of his aspirations and real achievements.

Signs of frustration

Signs of frustration do not always manifest themselves in full force, so this condition often goes unnoticed. But it is still possible to diagnose it.

So, the following symptoms are characteristic of frustration:

Focus on the problem situation. A person cannot think about anything else, which is why he ignores what is happening in other areas of life.
Helplessness, hopelessness. The individual realizes that he needs to be distracted, but he is not able to do this.
An ongoing feeling of inner anxiety, melancholy. It seems that life has lost its colors. All this provokes the development of a depressive state.
Decreased performance, laziness, apathy. The desire to do anything completely disappears. Motivation goes away along with it.
Low self-esteem, guilt, lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities.

To the listed signs of frustration one can add indulgence, isolation, and refusal of any contact with the world.

concept of social frustration in psychology

The concept of tolerance is often accompanied by the term social frustration. If tolerance has not been developed, then when there is a strong stimulus, an insurmountable obstacle, a state of frustration occurs as a special psychological reaction of a person to difficulties in life that interfere with the achievement of his goals. In a state of frustration, the true deep tendencies of the personality are revealed and various types of intolerant reactions to the environment are most clearly manifested. Most researchers believe that in this state, aggressive (or auto-aggressive) forms of behavior often arise, and there is also a pronounced tendency to manipulate others. Aggression and destruction as extreme forms of frustration behavior lead to extremism, which poses a threat to social balance and the well-being of society. In this regard, for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of tolerant and intolerant behavior, it is advisable to consider the very concept of social frustration.

The study of frustration as a separate psychological phenomenon (both in Western and Russian psychology) was not widespread. The concept of frustration was touched upon only in the light of other psychological phenomena, for example, aggression (researchers Dollard, Bandura and others) and stress (Selye, Lazarus).

The term “frustration” has been used in numerous theories, concepts, and hypotheses concerning problems of motivation, emotions, behavior, and individual activity. But a holistic theory exploring this phenomenon has not yet been created.

Frustration (from Latin frustratio - deception, failure, disappointment, frustration of plans) is a psychological state expressed in characteristic experiences and behavior, and caused by objectively insurmountable (or subjectively perceived as insurmountable) difficulties on the way to achieving a goal. Frustration can manifest itself in oppressive tension, anxiety, and a feeling of hopelessness. The reaction to frustration may be withdrawal into a fantasy world, aggressive behavior and other reactions. A very important result of frustration, according to some researchers, is a “narrowing” of consciousness - almost all attention is focused on the unsatisfied need, the perception of reality is sharply distorted.

The following general signs characteristic of frustration can be identified:

– the presence of a need, motive, goal, initial plan of action;

– the presence of resistance (obstacle – frustrator), while resistance can be external and internal, passive and active [20].

In modern foreign psychology, there are various theories of frustration: the theory of frustration fixation (N.K. Mayer), the theory of frustration repression (K. Bagner, T. Dembo, K. Yewin), the theory of frustration aggression (J. Dollard et al.), heuristic frustration theory (J. Rosenzweig).

“Dictionary of a practical psychologist”[21, p. 734] defines frustration as “a mental state of experiencing failure that occurs in the presence of real or imaginary insurmountable obstacles on the way to a certain goal.” When studying frustration, the following concepts are distinguished: frustrator (the reason causing frustration), frustration situation, frustration reaction.

The level of frustration depends on the strength and intensity of the frustrator; the functional state of a person caught in a frustrating situation; stable forms of emotional response to life’s difficulties that have developed during the formation of personality. When considering the concept of “social frustration”, special attention is paid to frustration tolerance, defined as psychological resistance to frustrators, which is based on “the ability to adequately assess a frustrating situation and anticipate a way out of it.”

The concepts of “frustration tolerance” and “coping” are similar in content. The term “coping” was introduced by R.S. Lazarus to describe a person’s ability to overcome obstacles. “Coping” translated from English means “the ability to resolve difficult situations, to master them” [14, p. 45]. Difficult situations and the ability to cope with them, in turn, predetermine the adaptive potential of a person in the modern world.

There are two types of coping. They talk about problem-centered coping when a person tries to solve an urgent problem and thus get out of a frustrating situation. With another type of coping - emotion-centered - a person is completely absorbed in his emotions and does not try to escape from the situation. The first type of coping involves a quick way out of the current situation, and the second contributes to the emergence of aggressive (or auto-aggressive) forms of behavior, as well as manipulation of other people.

T. Shibutani considered frustration in connection with compensatory reactions of the individual. When a state of frustration occurs, a person uses “typical techniques” [28, p. 74], which Shibutani characterized as “various substitutes for satisfaction; when the initial impulse cannot be satisfied directly” [Ibid].

Shibutani described two main directions of reactions to frustration: aggression and retreat. At the same time, conscious and unconscious retreat occurs when an acute conflict arises between two opposing tendencies. One of the common reactions to frustration, according to Shibutani, is also fantasy, when images are used as substitutes for satisfaction.

F.E. Vasilyuk in his work “Psychology of Experience”[5] also paid attention to frustration. He considered frustration as one of the types of critical situations, calling them “situations of impossibility.” In such situations, a person “is faced with the impossibility of realizing the internal needs of his life (motives, aspirations, values, etc.).” “Impossibility,” according to Vasilyuk, is determined by what vital necessity is paralyzed as a result of the inability of the subject’s existing types of activity to cope with the existing external and internal conditions of life [5]. Thus, “internal and external conditions, type of activity and specific vital necessity” are, according to Vasilyuk, the main characteristics of critical states, including states of frustration.

Vasilyuk considers the necessary signs of a frustration situation to be “the presence of strong motivation to achieve a goal” and “obstacles” that prevent this achievement [5, p. 36].

Frustrating situations are classified according to the nature of both frustrated motives and “barriers”. As an example of a classification of the first kind, Vasilyuk refers to A. Maslow’s distinction between basic, “innate” psychological needs (safety, respect and love), the frustration of which is pathogenic, and “acquired” needs, the frustration of which does not cause mental disorders.

Barriers in a frustrating situation can be physical (for example, the walls of a building), biological (illness), psychological (fear) and sociocultural (rules and prohibitions). Vasilyuk also mentions the division of barriers into external and internal, used by T. Dembo to describe his experiments. Dembo called internal barriers that prevent the achievement of a goal, and external barriers that do not provide an opportunity to get out of the situation.

In a situation of frustration, a person experiences a variety of feelings, such as guilt, anxiety, restlessness, tension, indifference, etc. Vasilyuk described several types of frustration behavior: motor agitation (purposeless and disordered reactions); apathy; aggression and destruction (usually with a high level of frustration); stereotypy (the tendency to blindly repeat fixed behavior); regression [5, p. 38].

In his work, Vasilyuk refers to the works of Western psychologists studying the phenomenon of frustration. Thus, Mayer in his monograph “Frustration: Behavior without a Goal” wrote that “the behavior of a frustrated person has no goal, that is, it loses its goal orientation.” According to A. E. Fromm, “frustrated behavior represents an attempt, although often futile, to achieve a frustrating goal.” Vasilyuk agrees with Mayer’s point of view and concludes that “a necessary sign of frustration behavior is the loss of orientation towards the original, frustrated goal”[5].

Thus, Vasilyuk defined frustration through the loss, firstly, of control by the will, and secondly, of the “motivational consistency” of behavior (“loss of patience and hope”).

Vasilyuk defines the categorical field of the concept of frustration as a category of activity, describing it as “the life world, the main characteristic of the conditions of existence in which is difficulty, and the internal necessity of this existence is the realization of the motive.” Overcoming difficulties on the way to “motivated” goals is the “norm” of such a life, and a critical situation specific to it arises when the difficulty becomes insurmountable, that is, it turns into an impossibility.

Another domestic researcher B.I. Hasan described frustration as “an attributive companion and at the same time a generator of conflict” [22, p. thirty]. The mechanism of frustration, according to this author, can be considered “the very fact of discovering another action as an obstacle, the incompatibility of actions with their simultaneous and equivalent desirability” [Ibid].

Studying conflicts, Hassan concluded that the contradiction that arises and the feeling of frustration experienced “can best be studied “within” the individual, as well as its consequences and the mental processes aimed at overcoming it.” Also, according to Hasan, frustration is not associated with conflicts, or is one of the substantive grounds for conflict.

L.I. Ermolaeva, who studied frustration as a socio-psychological phenomenon, described various approaches to understanding frustration, highlighted the dynamic structure of this phenomenon, the stages of development of social frustration and its conditions.

The activity approach considers frustration as “a discrepancy between the motive and the result of an activity, generating an emotional reaction of a negative sign” [6]. In the methodological approach, frustration is understood as one of the types of critical life situations. Ermolaeva defines frustration as a complex phenomenon that has a personal and transpersonal nature, as well as “a psychological phenomenon that arises in the real life of social subjects” [6].

The basis of social frustration, according to the researcher, is “blocking the generally significant socio-psychological needs of people.” Social frustration is considered as a critical situation in the life of social subjects.

Ermolaeva identified three groups of determinants of social frustration, occurring in the meta-, intra- and interspace of the social subject, as well as three stages of development of frustration: pre-frustration, the beginning of frustration and “expanded” frustration.

To summarize, Ermolaeva defines social frustration as “an object-subject phenomenon that reflects the external world in individual, group, and public consciousness through the formation of a socio-psychological attitude” [6].

Often the term “frustration” is used in relation to a person’s encounter with extreme difficulties. A person always has some needs, unsolved problems, plans for the future, but not all needs can be satisfied and plans fulfilled. The satisfaction of a need may be hindered by an obstacle, a barrier that is understood by the subject as insurmountable. When a person encounters such obstacles, a condition called frustration may arise.

Rosenzweig, the author of the technique of pictorial frustration, defined frustration as a state when the body encounters a more or less insurmountable obstacle on the way to satisfying its needs [18].

A.I. Ploticher believed that frustration should be understood as a psychological phenomenon characterizing the state of the individual, not the organism [16], and shared the definition given

N.D. Levitov, according to which “frustration is a human state, expressed in the characteristic features of experiences and behavior, and caused by objectively insurmountable (or subjectively understood) difficulties that arise on the way to achieving a goal or solving a problem” [10].

N.D. Levitov in his work “Frustration as one of the types of mental states”[10] also wrote that according to the definition given by Brown and Farber, frustration is the result of conditions under which the expected reaction is either prevented or inhibited.

Other authors, for example V.S. Merlin, believed that in situations of frustration there is nothing socially typical and that reactions to frustration are inherent not only in humans, but also in animals. By frustration he understood “the state of a person or animal with such dissatisfaction of any motives that exceeds the threshold of his tolerance” [12].

Reactions to frustration can vary. The type of reaction depends on the degree of frustration, personality characteristics, level of personality development, age, and life experience.

Reactions to frustration are determined by preparedness for a “meeting” with frustration. Research by K. Obukhovsky and A. Bombard showed that “the expectation of the consequences of frustration is sometimes more powerful than frustration itself” [15, 3]. Associated with frustration is the concept of tolerance (“tolerance, endurance in relation to frustrating situations” [2, p. 27]). If tolerance has not been developed, then when there is a powerful stimulus or an insurmountable obstacle, a state of frustration occurs.

One of the manifestations of frustration may be aggressive behavior, i.e., generalized aggression occurs, directed at an obstacle. You can build the following sequence: desire to overcome an obstacle - aggression - anger (various violent inappropriate reactions). Psychologist Geitz believed that irritation, aggressiveness, and anger are most often caused by frustration.

In American psychological literature, there is a very common tendency to highlight aggression among reactions to a frustrator. There are attempts to interpret any aggression as frustration. In this position, for example, are Miller, Mauer, Dub, Dollard. Aggression is one of the pronounced sthenic, or active, manifestations of frustration. However, active, or sthenic, manifestations of frustration cannot be reduced

to aggression. Some researchers, in particular Mayer, consider fixation to be a typical expression of frustration. Fixation is defined as a kind of chainedness to the frustrator, which absorbs all attention, causes the need to perceive, experience and analyze the frustrator for a long time. And here the stereotypical perception and thinking manifests itself.

Another response to frustration may be retreat or withdrawal. At the same time, the emerging aggressiveness does not manifest itself openly and can cause states of long-term fixation. Another reaction to frustration, according to researchers, is regression, when a difficult task that needs to be solved is replaced by an easier one.

E.I. Kuzmina [8], considering the phenomenon of frustration, highlighted the concepts of freedom and non-freedom from frustration. “Unfreedom is a frustrating state that arises in a person when he realizes and experiences that the boundaries of possibilities that interfere with self-realization are insurmountable, as well as as a result of his committing an unfree action, an unfree choice (with a reduced, distorted picture of the components, processes, possibilities of activity) under the influence of another person, group, traditions, stereotypes, etc.” According to Kuzmina, some individual characteristics of a person and personal qualities contribute to liberation from frustration (for example, the strength of the “I” - emotional stability, nonconformism, high level of responsibility, high self-esteem, etc.), others, in turn, prevent liberation from frustration ( character accentuations: stuckness, anxiety, emotiveness, excitability, exaltation; low level of responsibility; conformism; emotional-volitional instability; tendency to aggressive behavior; low self-esteem, etc.).

I.S. Korosteleva [7] in her work “Psychological prerequisites and consequences of experiencing frustration in normal conditions and in psychosomatic diseases” conducted a comparative analysis of the attitudes towards frustration of psychosomatic patients and healthy subjects. As a result of the analysis, the author came to the following conclusion: psychosomatic patients react ambivalently to a situation of frustration, “when the accumulation of negative affect actualizes the motives that determine the withdrawal from continuing activities in it, and the experience of guilt stimulates the continuation of activities to preserve self-esteem” [7]. Thus, in a situation of frustration, patients use a “surrender reaction,” which may indicate an expression of “refusal to search.”

An analysis of scientific publications shows that social frustration as a complex and little-studied phenomenon has attracted the attention of many researchers. And although the contribution of these scientists to the study of frustration is undeniable, a single agreed-upon theory has not yet been created, and this problem requires further theoretical and practical research.

Causes

Conventionally, the causes of frustration are divided into 3 groups:

Social, moral, ethical. In any of his actions, a person takes into account social norms or even his own concepts of what is good and what is bad. An example is sexual dissatisfaction associated with the widespread belief that one should not enter into intimate relationships before marriage.
Physical, biological. Let's give a simple example of frustration. You planned a serious event, but suddenly you broke your leg and ended up in the hospital. You wanted to carry out your plans, but circumstances played against you.
Psychological. An individual cannot achieve a goal due to the fact that he considers himself not strong enough, smart enough, etc. He suffers from low self-esteem, some fears, and complexes.

Also, reasons can be divided into external and internal. The first include improper upbringing, frequent conflicts, dissatisfaction with the place occupied in society. The internal reasons for the development of frustration are contradictions in the process of setting goals. Thus, a person can try to simultaneously satisfy desires that are opposite to each other. One will be fulfilled, but the second, accordingly, will not. This is how frustration arises.

Reasons for the development of frustration

Circumstances that provoke a state of frustration can be divided into three categories:

Privation is the initial lack of necessary tools and resources to achieve a goal. For example, the lack of vocal abilities to build a career in the opera house.
Deprivation is the loss of objects previously used to satisfy a need and to which a strong attachment was formed. For example, the death of a child, a fire in the house in which he lived his whole life.
Conflict is the impossibility of satisfying a need due to the presence of two mutually incompatible motives, ambivalent feelings, or conflict of interests. For example, a university professor’s desire to have an affair with a student is met with the conviction that this is unprofessional and unethical.

Factors that cause frustration are called frustrators. These can be various circumstances, situations, people and their actions that arise on the way to realizing a desire in the form of an insurmountable barrier. The following types of frustrators are considered in psychology:

physical (imprisonment, lack of money, time);
biological (diseases, physical disabilities, age restrictions);
social (other individuals and conflicts with them, social norms, laws, sanctions);
psychological (limited knowledge, insufficient level of development of abilities, fears, doubts, internal conflicts).

Obstacles in the form of unfavorable external circumstances are easier to bear psychologically because they allow you to transfer blame from yourself to other objects. If a person sees the cause of failure in himself, this often leads to low self-esteem and self-flagellation.

The development of frustration is also influenced by the legitimacy of the frustrators and the individual’s claims. In most cases, if a person is convinced that his legal rights were somehow violated, he experiences more pronounced frustration.

Forms

In psychology, there are 3 forms of frustration. The first is extrapunitive. What it is? This is a state when a person believes that circumstances and the people around him are to blame for his failures. He shows aggression towards them and at the same time strives to achieve his goal. It is not possible to achieve what you want, therefore, aggression, as well as frustration in general, intensifies.

The second form is called intrapunitive. It means that a person focuses on himself as the cause of failure. He becomes withdrawn, depressed, and anxious. Added to these negative emotions is a loss of meaning in life and complete apathy. The individual cannot perform even simple everyday activities, in particular, take care of the house and himself.

And finally, the third form of frustration is impunitive. A person shows complete indifference to the difficulties along his path, or considers them fate, predestination. He does not blame anyone for failures, but simply gives up desires and needs or switches to something else.

Symptoms of Frustration

A frustrated person experiences a whole range of negative emotions:

Diffidence;
Irritability;
Anxiety;
Closedness;
Despair.

Moreover, his behavioral reactions largely depend on his character and personal qualities. Most often, when confronted with a frustrator, a person behaves aggressively, and aggression can be directed both at the source of the problem and at the people around him. In the second case, a replacement reaction occurs - the person cannot cope with the problem and takes out his anger on other people. Symptoms of frustration in this case are various aggressive actions and statements, anger, and loss of self-control.

Sometimes frustration makes a person withdraw into himself. Thus, he “capitulates” to the problem. Retreat can be conscious or unconscious. In the first case, a person openly admits that he was wrong and that he has made mistakes. In the second, he withdraws into himself, sublimates or fantasizes. In such a situation, a symptom of frustration will be “switching” to another type of activity. Thus, failures in family relationships force people to concentrate on career growth and vice versa. Symptoms of frustration in this case also include unusual fantasies or isolation.

Infantile people are prone to regression when faced with frustrators. When they find themselves unable to achieve their goal, they simply give up and lower the bar. If we go back, for example, with the purchase of our own home, an infantile person in such a situation will simply move to live with his parents and stop striving for independence. Thus, he will return to the pattern of behavior that once allowed him to satisfy his need for housing.

The healthiest response to a frustrating situation is tolerance, that is, acceptance of the problem. In this case, a person realizes his mistakes and tries to find a suitable solution. He shows increased optimism, calls what happened a positive experience and strives to achieve his goal again.

Types of frustration

Types of frustration differ from each other in the area of life in which a person was unable to get what he wanted. There are several of them.

Love and sexy

The first appears in cases where there is a break in relationships or some serious problems. Without receiving reciprocal feelings, a person experiences an increase in his attraction to the object of passion. Such an emotional outburst sometimes leads to inappropriate behavior, manifested in an obsessive desire to meet or even violence.

Frustration looks almost the same in existing families, when one of the partners does not receive from the other what he needs, for example, attention. The lack of what you want causes a lot of negative emotions. It doesn’t matter what kind of relationship there is in the family.

As for the intimate sphere, frustration here is not much different from love. Without receiving satisfaction, the partner becomes aggressive and irritable.

Social

Social frustration occurs in cases where there are conflict situations in relationships with society. It appears if a person cannot get the desired position, social status, the opportunity to study at the chosen educational institution, etc.

It is worth noting that diseases that limit mental and physical activity are also involved in the development of social frustration.

Frustration of needs

We are talking about Maslow's pyramid of needs mentioned above. Failures and mistakes are not needed to develop this type of frustration. It occurs after the need is satisfied. Why? Because the individual faces a new goal. And so on in a circle. The inability to satisfy absolutely all existing needs causes frustration.

Frustration in relationships

We are not talking about romantic relationships, although this type of frustration is most often mentioned in connection with them. It's about relationships with people around you. Disappointment, aggression, and resentment arise in cases where an individual cannot defend his opinion and makes concessions, does what he does not want. Unable to refuse, he gives in to his opponent, which is why he subsequently experiences anger and other unpleasant emotions.

False

This state is similar to frustration with expressed emotions. But they have less power. You can cope with them without resorting to the help of a specialist.

False frustration occurs when the functioning of those parts of the nervous or endocrine system that are responsible for emotions is disrupted. For example, an excess amount of adrenaline causes emotions in a person similar to those that appear during frustration.

Existential

Existential frustration is a condition characterized by disappointment in life in general. An individual loses the meaning and purpose of existence for many reasons. Among them:

dismissal amid high unemployment;
retirement;
completion of training in the absence of the opportunity to get a job in the specialty;
complicated divorce;
economic and political changes in the state.

It is difficult for a person to adapt to new conditions. He does not see opportunities to realize his abilities, so he experiences boredom and apathy. Over time, such circumstances lead to the development of neurosis. And it entails a deterioration in relationships with others, an attraction to alcohol and drugs.

Reaction to frustration

The primary reaction to a frustrating situation is usually aggression, which is either suppressed, appearing in the form of irritability, or openly expressed in the form of anger. The secondary reaction depends on temperament, on the forms of response to life’s difficulties that have developed during life.

A person with a high level of frustration tolerance quickly copes with negative feelings and can demonstrate surprise, cognitive interest in an object, a situation that impedes the achievement of a goal, and sports passion. A person with low adaptation skills slides down the emotional scale and falls into more severe emotional states than irritation and anger. Depressive reactions, increased anxiety, and fears are observed.

Depression can be seen as the opposite of aggression. Characterized by a feeling of powerlessness, hopelessness, a feeling that “life is over,” apathy, and loss of motivation.

Often there is an obsessive fixation on an activity that has become useless or even dangerous in the new conditions. Fixation is associated with mental rigidity, stereotypical perception and thinking, the inability to “let go of the situation,” switch to a new goal, and abandon previous ways of interacting with the outside world. A particular form of fixation is capricious behavior. Fixation is also characterized by a kind of mania, when the failure that has occurred absorbs all a person’s thoughts, forces him to endlessly analyze his behavior and study the frustrator in detail.

Depending on the direction of aggression, reactions are distinguished:

extrapunitive reaction (anger, anger, indignation) - the desire to blame others for what happened, an outburst of aggression on external objects;
intropunitive response (feelings of shame, pangs of conscience) - self-accusation;
imputative response - a philosophical attitude towards the events that have occurred as something inevitable, the absence of the desire to look for those to blame.

Depending on what a person is fixated on, there are three types of reactions to a frustrating situation:

fixation on an obstacle: “it’s so unfair, we need to fight this,” “wow, it’s even more interesting to play this way”;
fixation on self-defense: “if you had explained everything to me right away, I would have managed it”;
fixation on need satisfaction: active search for solutions and help from others or the position “somehow everything will be resolved by itself.”

Consequences

So what is frustration? These are negative emotions caused by the inability to get what you want, insurmountable obstacles to achieving your goal. Ideally, the response to frustration should be positive. This means that a person is looking for ways to get around problems and difficulties or learning from mistakes made. But it also happens that the negativity drags on. In these cases, emotional frustration has the following consequences:

Aggression. This emotion can be directed at a problem or circumstance, or at people who have nothing to do with the situation. It manifests itself in the deliberate creation of conflict situations, hostility and even physical violence. The individual cannot control himself.
Auto-aggression. The same as aggression, only it is directed at oneself. The main manifestation is self-destruction. A person deliberately risks his life, ignores the body’s alarm signals and refuses treatment, and develops bad habits.
Retreat. In this case, one of the defense mechanisms is used - depreciation. A person who cannot get what he wants reduces its importance. This happens not only in words, but also in behavior. So, he can perform impulsive actions and make strange decisions.
Regression. It was said above that during regression, trying to protect oneself from negative emotions and experiences, a person returns to the previous level of emotional development. It all looks something like this: having failed to achieve his goals, he freaks out, cries, and blames those around him for everything.
Fixation. The individual realizes that he will not be able to fulfill a desire or satisfy a need. Therefore, he simply “fixes” himself in his normal state. He lives the same way as before, but aimlessly.
Pointless activity. Experiencing strong anger and other negative emotions, a person decides to channel them in what he thinks is the right direction. But in fact, all his actions are meaningless and disordered. They don't bring any benefit.

And, probably, the most common consequence of frustration is apathy. Its main danger is the high risk of developing into depression.

Vivid examples of the state of frustration

To understand what the essence of frustration is as a specific state of human consciousness, it is necessary to consider this concept using examples from real life.

Very often, a state of frustration arises as a result of various life phenomena (a quarrel with a friend, an unpleasant conversation with a colleague, a critical and caustic statement from a boss, a categorical refusal of a loved one to help in solving a particular problem, etc.). Some people may plunge into a state of frustration even if for some reason there is no public transport stop in the usual place, the application on the phone suddenly refuses to open, or the favorite dessert in the pastry shop has run out. Many other types of unplanned results of actions, to which a more developed person in this regard will not pay any attention, can also cause a state of frustration in a person whose level of emotional and mental development is far from ideal!

Example No. 1. Andrey and the alarm clock

On Wednesday, Andrei woke up very late, because the alarm clock, which he was sure to set when going to bed, for some reason did not work. Opening his eyes and looking at the time, Andrei realized that he was experiencing a little stress, and his mind was plunging into a state of frustration, because he had several things planned for the morning: pay utility bills and meet with a client.

Why did Andrey begin to experience a state of frustration? The fact is that the malfunction of the alarm clock disrupted several of the man’s needs, one of which was the need to do everything he had planned before lunch.

Other violated needs that caused Andrey’s state of frustration are the need for security (paying utility bills) and the need for social acceptance (meeting with a client).

Example No. 2. Maxim and lunch

When going to work, Maxim did not have breakfast, because he knew for sure that during the lunch break he would be able to eat normally. But 20 minutes before the start of the long-awaited lunch break, he was visited by a very important client, whom Maxim had neither the desire nor the opportunity to refuse a conversation with.

The meeting with the client dragged on, so the man did not have time to have lunch. Maxim began to experience slight frustration, because an unplanned conversation with a client prevented him from satisfying one of the basic needs of any person - the need for food!

Example No. 3. Alina and energy drink

In the evening Alina feels very nervous. She understands that something strange is happening to her body, so the girl feels restless and experiences a state of frustration. Why?

The fact is that Alina, while fulfilling her work duties, allowed herself to drink two cans of energy drink during her lunch break. The substances contained in the energy drink increased not only the level of activity of her brain, but also her level of anxiety.

The girl feels the need for her body to be in a calm state, save energy and prepare for a night's rest, because the working day turned out to be hard, so she is very tired and wants to fall asleep as quickly as possible. A body filled with energy substances cannot relax and rest normally. Because of this, Alina experiences irritation and nervousness. She gradually plunges into a state of frustration.

Example No. 4. Nikolai and sex

Nikolai has a day off today. He spent the whole day at home and was looking forward to his wife coming home from work. When Nikolai's wife returned home, the lovers had dinner, watched a new episode of their favorite TV series, and then just fooled around, had fun, chatted and laughed. At some point, the man realized that he was beginning to experience irritation, the level of which was increasing and increasing every second. What happened?

Nikolai plunged into a mild state of frustration because his need for sex was not satisfied. The wife, tired from work, had enough of cheerful chatter and watching the series together, but Kolya needed more active actions to satisfy his basic needs.

Example No. 5. Marina and low self-esteem

Marina spent a lot of time completing an important project. Not only did she not receive decent pay for her work, but she also did not hear a single good or pleasant word from her superiors. The girl experiences a feeling of irritation and disappointment. Marina's consciousness plunges into a state of frustration, because her social need for self-affirmation through finances or other people was ignored.

This need arises in people with low self-esteem. People whose self-esteem does not depend on finances or the opinions of other people have a need for self-development, but there is no need for self-affirmation. To satisfy the need for self-development, it is enough for an individual to do what he loves and understand that during this activity he develops and becomes a wiser person.

Example No. 6. Oleg and meditation

Oleg had a very busy day, so by the evening he was so tired that he no longer had any strength left to meditate. The man simply goes to bed, but cannot immediately go to the kingdom of Morpheus, as he experiences a little excitement. Why does Oleg, whose day went quite well, not experience calm, and his consciousness plunges into a state of frustration?

The fact is that the man did not devote time to meditation, which is a fairly important aspect of his daily life for him. For a person who is engaged in spiritual development, the satisfaction of spiritual needs, in contrast to basic physical needs, is of paramount importance.

How to get rid of frustration

First you need to learn to control negative emotions. It is important to eradicate them at the moment they appear. Thanks to this, you can avoid senseless, impulsive actions. Self-regulation techniques, for example, concentration on breathing, will be of great help in this.

The next step is to think about what prevented you from getting what you want or achieving your goal. If the problem can be solved, look for a solution. If this is not possible, replace the goal, increase the time frame for achieving it, and set several intermediate tasks.

The third step is to meet and communicate with those people who have already encountered frustration and were able to overcome it. This will help you realize that you are not alone. In addition, perhaps the experience of new acquaintances will be useful to you in your situation.

What else will help cope with frustration?

Look at yourself from the outside. Is it really that bad? Maybe we shouldn’t stop and give up?
Think about it, is the fulfillment of your desire so important to you? Is it related to fashion, stereotypes or public opinion?
Make an action plan. If you decide that your desire needs to be fulfilled at all costs, but there is no such opportunity now, think about what you can change. Carefully study all the steps that can be taken in the direction you need. Make a detailed plan. Assess the difficulty of each item.
Decide on a deadline. Set a date by which you will implement each item in the plan. Just don't overestimate your strength. Remember that you are human. Under no circumstances set yourself impossible tasks, otherwise your frustration will only increase.
Be patient. Don't forget that you won't be able to achieve your goal in a day or two.

And one more important piece of advice: rest. Emotional fatigue is an obstacle that will prevent you from working effectively. Therefore, take breaks, for example, set aside time for a hobby.

How to deal with frustration?

Psychologists offer several ways to get out of frustration.

Replacing the means to achieve the goal

Increased mental and emotional stress can be used to analyze the actions taken and search for alternative ways to achieve the goal. For example, a girl refused to date you. You are feeling frustrated. You feel like a failure in love. Before you completely fall into pessimism, you should think about why the girl you liked actually rejected you.

Not everyone in love is easy-going. It takes some time to realize that this is the person they dreamed of. It is possible that the girl who rejected you is not sure of her feelings. And it’s easier for her to immediately refuse you than to give you, perhaps, vain hope. Try changing your approach. An alternative solution is to offer a no-obligation friendship to give the person the opportunity to get to know you better.

One more example. I failed to get into my desired university. But is this the only way to gain knowledge in your chosen field? History knows many self-taught people who achieved exceptional results in their field. For example, the Englishwoman Mary Anning, who went from a poor, uneducated fossil collector to one of the greatest paleontologists of the 19th century.

Examples of frustration from life

Probably every person has encountered frustration. Imagine a situation familiar to many: a man is going to watch an important football match for him. He did everything in his power to achieve this: he agreed with his boss to leave early, bought his favorite beer and snack, and invited friends. The first difficulty is a traffic jam. But it has been successfully overcome. The match starts at 17-00, there is still time to prepare. And now the guests are assembled, the table is set, the referee is preparing to blow the whistle to start the match. And suddenly, due to scheduled work, the electricity goes out. Frustration arises.

In this case, the difficulties that stand in the way of the hero can be overcome, for example, by going with friends to a sports bar.

I'll give you an example from my life. I get frustrated in the morning. Usually in the evening I draw up a rough action plan and set an alarm for a certain time. It seems simple. But in the morning I manage to miss the alarm and oversleep. Naturally, I get up after this in a bad mood and with no desire to work at all.

In my situation, the obstacle is also easy to overcome. It is enough to go to bed a little earlier, and in the morning do not lie down, but get up at the first alarm signal.

Frustration in simple words

It’s very nice to go through life easily, grabbing the bird of luck by the tail! If we achieve the intended results, we experience a feeling of joy, flight, and spirituality.

And, conversely, when plans are disrupted, a depressing state sets in, which is understood as frustration. It takes place differently for each individual and reveals the level of endurance regarding the difficulties, problems and mental reaction to them.

The obstacles themselves are objectively of two types:

Easily or not so easily removable. For example, if there is no item you need in one store, let’s go look for it in others.
Irresistible. These are problems and difficulties that we cannot influence, eliminate or minimize. Let’s say a young man spent a long time preparing to enter a higher educational institution, studied with tutors, did not get enough sleep at night learning the basics of science, but did not pass the competition.

Frustration usually occurs where a person is unable to resolve problems on his own and somehow influence the outcome of the situation. Indeed, if the obstacle is easily removable, then there is nothing to worry about!

The emerging state of frustration is always stressful for a person, in some cases leading to depression. But this is always mental tension and moral suffering, the degree of which varies from tolerable to unbearable.

How is it possible, we dreamed, we planned, we took the necessary actions, but we didn’t get what we wanted. The more resources invested in satisfying the need, the greater the disappointment.

When setting particularly significant, vital goals, frustration can lead to rash actions, the use of alcohol and drugs. It is very important to maintain peace of mind and either abandon the goal at this stage or look for other ways to achieve it.

Overcoming Frustration

In order to adequately survive the state of frustration, you need to pay special attention to it at the beginning, when the frustration has just become noticeable. It is at this moment that a person commits rash, chaotic, meaningless actions - both aimed at achieving the primary goal and those far from it. The main thing is to survive aggression and depression, to calm these moods in yourself. Self-regulation techniques are suitable for this.
The second step is replacing the primary goal with an alternative, but more accessible one. Or considering the reasons for failure and making a plan to overcome them. It is better to first analyze the situation. If it turns out that it is really impossible to overcome the difficulty (there are too many objective factors that do not depend on the individual), then it is recommended to choose a different goal or delay achieving the previous one if external conditions may change over time.

The state of frustration makes you feel inferior. In response to this, a person usually reacts with defense mechanisms or excessive activity (overcompensation). A third option is also possible - consciously overcoming a traumatic situation.

Features of frustration behavior are described through motivation and organization. The first factor presupposes a meaningful and promising connection between behavior and the motive (need) that provokes frustration. Organized behavior presupposes that it is endowed with at least some purpose, not necessarily leading to the satisfaction of the primary motive that caused the frustrating situation. The combination of these parameters determines the nature of behavior. For example, it can be motivic and organized, or motivic but not organized, and so on.

Love frustration

A break in a relationship can lead to love frustration, which can intensify love for the opposite sex. Some psychologists claim that this condition is a common occurrence, others believe that it is rare.

Love frustration appears after the lack of the desired result expected from the object of passion or after parting with a loved one. It manifests itself in inappropriate behavior, aggression, anxiety, despair, and depression. Many people are interested in the question: is there such a love that allows people to remain independent from each other? Such love exists, but in the lives of strong and mature people. It should be taken for granted that all relationships contain minor elements of dependence. It is up to you personally whether you fill the whole life of another person.

Love frustration will not occur if we are drawn to our partner out of our strength, and not out of our weakness.

Models of frustration behavior

The collapse of plans leads to different reactions. They can persist for a long time or follow each other, leading to recovery or deterioration of the psychological state.

Substitution

Having not achieved what he wanted, the subject switches to new tasks. Sometimes they contrast with the original goal, which is criticized. Thus, having not achieved success in writing, a person switches to heavy industry, calling the work of writers frivolous.

During replacement, necessary but missing qualities are transferred to other people. By getting rid of feelings of disappointment, an individual can transfer unrealized energy to creative processes (sublimation).

Excitation

Characterized by aimless, disordered actions and thoughts. A person can move haphazardly through rooms, start and stop chores around the house, twirl his hair, and go through real and imaginary events in his head.

Apathy

Lack of physical and mental reactions. The subject loses interest in everyday and professional tasks and may remain in a lying or sitting position for a long time without attempting to do anything.

Escape

The person physically escapes the problem (locks himself in a room, changes his place of residence) or limits the flow of negative information. So, when faced with aggression on social networks, he stops visiting his account, after seeing unpleasant news, he stops reading newspapers and online media. Instead of real ones, an individual operates with fictitious facts, creating a preferred environment in his head.

Fixation

An unattainable goal becomes a fixed idea. A person exhausts himself with gymnastic training, despite his age and lack of data, and continues to try to get into an educational institution or company after repeated refusals.

Aggression and destruction

Expressing anger harms surrounding objects (people) or the individual himself. Aggression can be verbal or physical. An upset subject will seek to cause harm to himself and others in order to achieve what he wants or by losing control of emotions.

Depression

Frustration at failure can lead to mental illness characterized by low self-esteem, anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure), decreased appetite, and sleep disturbances. Triggered by failure, depression can develop into a chronic condition that affects one’s perception of one’s personality and interaction with society.

Addictive behavior

In an attempt to cope with negative feelings, the individual turns to substitutes for positive emotions: alcohol, psychotropic and stimulant drugs, junk food or the Internet. The danger comes from various sources that negatively affect the state of the body and social life.

Forms of frustration

The forms of manifestation of frustrating behavior in humans are directly related to the above theories.

In total, psychology distinguishes 4 forms of the condition.

Aggression (“attack to seize”)

As a psychological state against the backdrop of failure, aggression means not only a direct attack, but also hostility and a threat. A person is consumed by anger, anger, rage and needs to be thrown out.

Hostile behavior can be:

Explicitly - we are rude, lose our tempers, fight;
Hidden - we are sarcastic, blaming, embittered, becoming toxic people.

Cases of aggression occur all the time. When at work it was not possible to complete a project on time and received a reprimand from management, a person takes it out on his spouse or children at home. The latter are especially defenseless and cannot give a worthy rebuff, so they often become a target.

Aggression can also be directed inward, then we uncontrollably engage in self-criticism and cultivate feelings of guilt. Active self-flagellation becomes the cause of many serious illnesses, and not only mental ones.

Fixation (freeze, stop)

Passive form of reaction to frustration. Fixation can develop in two types:

Action according to the “knurled” pattern, lack of forward movement. No matter what happens, a person does not try to change his attitudes and algorithm of actions. Fixation is not hostile to the surrounding world, but it does not bring any benefit or benefit either.
Obsession with the frustrator. Thinking remains unchanged, it is stereotypical. A person chews on his suffering for a long time and can become capricious and touchy.

Any type of fixation is destructive and does not allow taking measures to correct thought forms and situations.

Transition to distracting activities

There is a desire here to “forget yourself”, to escape from the problem. A person understands that he cannot satisfy the existing need for something, and begins to actively express himself in other areas.

For example, failures in our personal lives provoke us to throw ourselves into work. Failed projects in work life lead to sports, meeting with friends, and finding new hobbies.

Regression

Under the influence of frustration, a person becomes extremely infantile. He “rolls back” in his development. Motives for activity become childish and immature, and the search for a way out of the situation ceases. The individual stops reflecting and analyzing cause-and-effect relationships. There is a shift of consciousness to the level of satisfying the needs of the lowest level.

In addition to the psychological contents and manifestations, frustration differs in duration from different people - from brief outbursts of emotions to long-term depression.

Stages of frustration

Frustration manifests itself in several stages. Each of them is characterized by its own characteristics of individual behavior:

At the first stage, behavior is organized and motivated.
The person begins to lose self-control. Voluntariness weakens, but does not disappear completely. There is a glimmer of hope that the situation will be resolved. The behavior is motivated, but not purposeful (disorganized).
At the third stage, the connection between motive and behavior is completely lost. Individual actions are still endowed with a goal, but it is not connected with the first motive (behavior not for something, but as a result of something).
The fourth stage is characterized by a complete loss of self-control. The person does not even realize the meaninglessness, disorganization and unmotivation of his own behavior.

Deprivation and frustration

Often these two conditions are confused, although they are different. Frustration occurs due to unsatisfied desires, as well as failures in achieving set goals.

Deprivation occurs due to the lack of opportunity or the very thing necessary for satisfaction. However, researchers of the frustration and deprivation theory of neurosis argue that these two phenomena have a common mechanism.

Deprivation leads to frustration, in turn, frustration leads to aggression, and aggression provokes anxiety, which leads to defensive reactions.

The problem of frustration acts as a theoretical discussion, and is also the subject of experimental studies that are carried out on people and animals.

Frustration is considered in the context of endurance to life's difficulties, as well as reactions to these difficulties.

I. P. Pavlov repeatedly noted the influence of life’s difficulties on the unfavorable state of the brain. Excessive difficulties in life can lead a person either to depression or to excitement. Scientists divide difficulties into insurmountable (cancer diseases) and surmountable, requiring enormous efforts.

For researchers of frustration, of interest are the difficulties associated with insurmountable obstacles, obstacles, and barriers that prevent the satisfaction of a need, solving a problem, or achieving a goal. However, insurmountable difficulties should not be reduced to barriers blocking the intended action. Perhaps it is necessary in your case to show strength of character.

Why is frustration dangerous?

The condition has a negative impact on the psyche, impairing a person's ability to make decisions and adapt to stress. It contributes to the development of depression and increased anxiety. In people prone to compulsive behavior, frustration provokes attacks of dermatillomania and trichotillomania - skin picking and hair pulling.

Montreal experts linked actions with perfectionistic behavior. Individuals prone to it are prone to disappointment and inattention if they do not achieve their goals. They are also more prone to boredom.

Even healthy people cannot be frustrated for a long time. If the condition does not provoke negative changes in the psyche, it will definitely worsen the quality of life by reducing self-esteem and deteriorating the ability to interact with society.

Prerequisites for frustration

Frustration does not occur immediately; it is preceded by several characteristic stages, thanks to which a state of frustration can be suspected and prevented:

accumulation of dissatisfaction as a result of repeated failures;
the depth of dissatisfaction (depends on the severity of the need and the frequency of failures);
emotional excitability as an individual personality trait (the more pronounced, the faster frustration arises);
level of aspirations and habit of success (for people with high demands and accustomed to success, even a minor obstacle can cause frustration);
the stage at which the obstacle appeared (if difficulties arise at the very end of the activity, near the goal, then the frustration is stronger).

Reactions

When a person’s state changes, the human psyche begins to implement defense mechanisms. They can be expressed in different ways; the main scenarios were highlighted by S. Rosenzweig.

The extrapunitive mechanism is the most common. With it, the individual blames the outside world for everything. He develops a pathological desire to achieve what he wants.

Behavior becomes rigid and childish, the person begins to be capricious and mischievous

The intrapunitive variant is less common. It refers to the feeling of guilt that an individual experiences. He tends to blame himself for everything. In such a state, a person is inclined to punish and deprive himself.

Impunitive - also rare. With it, the individual does not blame anyone and accepts the situation as it is. He understands that any failures are temporary, and there will definitely be a way out.

Examples from life

To make it clear what frustration is and how it can vary in the degree of impact on a person, we will give two specific examples.

Example 1

Andrei Ivanovich was looking forward to watching the World Cup final, where his favorite team qualified. Since the show started at 5 p.m., he asked management to leave work two hours early, and not without difficulty, with a promise to work it on the day off.

On the day of the final, Andrei was in high spirits; at 16:00 he ordered a taxi and went to the supermarket closest to his house for a drink and a snack. There were traffic jams on the roads, but everything worked out well; the car reached the store in 15 minutes.

The man bought his favorite Kruger beer, dried squid, salted cheese, dried shrimp and went to pay. There was a line at the checkout, Andrey was noticeably nervous, and managed to leave the market only at 16:40. Having run to the apartment, Andrei Ivanovich managed to undress, change into slippers, set the table and sit comfortably in an easy chair.

At 16:55 he turned on the TV, drank a glass of beer with pleasure, snacked on a juicy shrimp, and poured a second glass. Commands appeared on the screen, the judge gave the go-ahead... and a planned power outage occurred in the house.

Example 2

Lena is a beautiful and bright girl with a higher education, works as an economist at a bank and has a decent income. But it so happened that by the age of 32 she was not yet married, although she really dreamed of a family and wanted to have a baby.

One day her car broke down right on the road; the girl was unable to fix the problem on her own. Fortunately, a few minutes later, a car stopped nearby and “He,” the man of her dreams, came out. This is how their first acquaintance took place.

The young people dated for six months. Lena has never been so happy. It seemed that he and Igor were ideal for each other: they read the same books, loved the classics, and were fond of cycling. There was also complete harmony in sex.

Igor started talking about the wedding, saying that he really wanted children. In the summer, the lovers were going on a trip to the sea. Lena made far-reaching plans and applied for a mortgage loan, hoping to buy a larger apartment.

Everything collapsed at one moment when Igor’s legal wife came to the girl’s home. As it turned out, the guy had been married for more than five years, and two children were born in the marriage. It turned out that Lena is not the only lover of the womanizer. Without clarifying the relationship, the girl broke off relations with the man who had become so dear, but turned out to be a liar and a traitor.

Both our heroes fell into a state of frustration. But the consequences for each of them will be different. Undoubtedly, Andrei was upset. But the difficulties of watching football could be overcome. For example, he could go to friends or a sports bar and watch at least the second half. Even if this failed, it is unlikely that an adult man would grieve over the missed pleasure for more than two days.

As for Elena, the situation is more serious. Emotionally, the girl experienced anger, frustration, melancholy, and very severe suffering. She could not change anything in her relationship with Igor. And not only because he is married, it is no longer possible to trust this person. The dream of a family and a child remains a dream and you will have to start all over again if you are lucky enough to meet your person.

Manifestations

It all depends on the situation in which the person finds himself. If it is, say, the same dress, then the person will be upset, but will still be able to find a way out of the situation. In the case of betrayal, everything is much more complicated and significant. The person may become severely depressed. Psychologists identify several stages in the development of emotions in a state of frustration, some of which can be skipped in relieved states. To make it clearer, we will use a dress that is already familiar to us as an example.

Aggression. It almost always occurs and can be short-term (swear, stomp your foot out of frustration) or long-term (get very angry, start to get nervous) in nature.
Substitution. The person begins to unwittingly get out of the situation, coming up with a new way to satisfy the need (find another store where you can buy the same dress).
Bias. If substitution does not work, then the person looks for an easier way to be satisfied (for example, buy another dress instead of the desired one, not so beautiful, but at least something).
Rationalization. In other words, looking for the positives in what happened (I didn’t buy a dress, but I saved money).
Regression. The opposite of rationalization. It is characteristic of pessimists who begin to lament and worry emotionally.
Depression, stress. A sharp decline in mood that is difficult to restore. This stage does not always occur.
Fixation. The final stage, the way out of frustration. A person draws conclusions that allow him to avoid getting into similar situations in the future. Feelings and thoughts about lost satisfaction are consolidated.

A special case of an aggressive reaction to frustration is shifting blame to circumstances. Simply put, a person begins to convince himself that “I didn’t really want it.” A classic example: I.A. Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes.” The fox wanted to eat the berries, but could not get them. And then she reassured herself that the grapes were unripe, and that even if she had reached for them, she would have set her teeth on edge. This psychological technique helps people overcome the stage of depression and maintain a cheerful mood.

There is another classification of states of frustration. These are several types of frustration behavior. Even those who are not interested in psychology can easily identify them by remembering themselves and those around them:

apathy (staring aimlessly into the distance or withdrawing into oneself);
motor agitation (walking around the room, active gesticulation);
aggression (anger, nervousness);
regression (crying, desperate screams).

Psychologists say that the type of behavior during frustration depends not on the type of unsatisfied need, but on the character of the person. That is, a choleric person will get angry and scream, a melancholic or phlegmatic person will most likely withdraw into themselves. A sanguine person can frustrate in different ways.

Frustration according to Maslow

Abraham Maslow, the author of the famous theory of needs, also spoke about frustration. It is noteworthy that its manifestations can be inversely proportional to the well-known pyramid. To begin, let us briefly recall the hierarchy of human needs.

What is the inverse proportionality expressed in? Let's look at two examples of frustration. First: you didn’t have time to buy your favorite pizza for the evening and remained hungry (physiological need). Second: the new position did not go to you (self-expression). In which case will you worry more? Of course, in the second, despite the fact that this need comes in last place.

Maslow's need frustration has another interesting note. The psychologist is confident that until a person satisfies a higher-level need, he will not become a victim of frustration due to the unsatisfaction of the needs of the following stages. In other words, for a person who has problems with housing, an upset date will not be so serious.

What can we do to counter frustration?

The state of frustration arises from the gap between what you want and what you have. How to close this gap? Sometimes the wisest decision is to give up the desire. Especially considering that our desires are sometimes not ours at all, but are imposed on us from the outside: advertising, social standards, judgments of parents, friends, etc.

A creative approach to a problematic situation helps to overcome frustration: sometimes you can make lemonade out of a lemon.

Sometimes frustration comes from our narrow-minded views and misconceptions about how things “should” be. Then you can get out of frustration by revising your concepts, by replacing outdated beliefs with more adequate ones.

How to cope?

This condition is sometimes impossible to avoid, and it mainly brings disappointment and emotional decline. But frustration can and should be fought, striving to ensure that negativity does not harm the nervous system so much, does not spoil the mood and does not become an obstacle to achieving the set goal. What do psychologists advise?

Autotraining. The simplest thing a person can try to do in the first seconds after the onset of a state of frustration. Count to 10, take a deep breath and exhale.
Accept the situation and try to get rid of the victim syndrome. If nothing can be changed, there is no need to lament and think, “But if only everything were different...”. This will only make your situation worse and make you even more upset.
Prepare in advance and calculate possible problems in advance. A classic example: leave for the station in advance, saving a few minutes for force majeure (traffic jams, for example).
Ability to switch. Some people, on the contrary, increase their frustration with sad thoughts, sad songs or watching gloomy TV shows. But you need to do the opposite. Did something go wrong? Well, let it be, but now I can go to the store and buy myself something tasty. And the headphones must play cheerful rhythmic music, which puts you in a positive mood and thinking.

Sooner or later a person reaches such a state as frustration tolerance. This is the ability to withstand unfavorable situations and come out of them with honor, and sometimes even with benefit for oneself. Some people think that this is an entire art, but in fact it is enough to master the above techniques.