Affect in psychiatry is a short-term and very strong positive or negative emotion. It occurs as a result of exposure to internal or external circumstances and is accompanied by vegetative changes in the body. Emotion can be caused by various factors such as anger, joy, fear, anxiety and other emotional states.
In psychiatry, affect is often considered one of the main forms of manifestation of mental disorders. For example, manic states in patients with bipolar disorder require rapid and clear identification and expression of affect. Affect can be a symptom of other mental disorders such as schizophrenia or depression. However, despite its clinical importance, affect as a tool for diagnosing mental states is not ideal.
One of the disadvantages of the affective approach is its limited use in cases of mixed personality disorder, such as patients with antisocial personality disorder. Like most psychopathological manifestations of personality, affective disorders are multifaceted and dynamic, cannot be clearly defined and cannot be fully determined through an assessment of the patient’s current somatic or emotional symptoms. These clients are under constant psychological stress, and affect can change regardless of the external environment. Affect does not reflect the true mental state, and this causes significant difficulties in assessing the disorder.
Another important feature of affective disorders is their continuum, which is extremely important for understanding the dynamics and course of mental illness. Affec
Affect in psychopathy
In modern science, the ability to emotionally mobilize is assessed as the main psychological sign of a person’s mental health. However, the dynamic tension between this ability and the nature of his emotional response still remains a key issue in psychology. This issue has a long history of origin, and therefore has been discussed to one degree or another by many historical researchers. The topic of the psychological need for an individual’s ability to perceive and reproduce the variety of sensations he receives, as well as his need to activate himself, still remains acute precisely because of its complexity and versatility.
In addition, the essence of this topic is further aggravated by the ambiguity of the wording.