Hyperactivity

Today we will talk about the problem of hyperactivity, which has become universal. Doctors and educators are searching for ways to solve this problem: from therapy with animals and sports activities to the use of medication. Yet the problem still remains serious. What do the regular participants of our conversation have to say about this?

If a problem becomes universal, then it is no longer a phenomenon but a reality, and it should not be treated as an illness. We are the sick ones if we consider this situation temporary or transient.

At the moment, this phenomenon is defined as a disorder, a disturbance.

Of course, if something interferes, then it is a disturbance.

One can look at it that way too. This phenomenon has various symptoms and a wide spectrum of manifestations. Most of them relate to behavioral problems—everyone talks about this. These problems arise even before the suffering of the child, his parents, and the educational system. Undoubtedly, everyone suffers: one such child in a class is enough for him and everyone around him to suffer. According to statistics, up to 10% of those examined are identified as hyperactive, and this figure is growing. Among adults this percentage is lower, meaning that over time people manage to come closer to the norm. In an average class there are at least four children who are officially identified as hyperactive. But teachers' experience shows that there are 40 such children in a class, and in four of them these are extreme manifestations. Problematic behavior manifests not only in the classroom but also in ordinary situations. Various specialists deal with this, and they all say that cases of behavior caused by a lack of calm and an inability to concentrate are becoming more frequent. As a rule, the parents have no calm either.

That is clear, since it stems from the roots of our nature, and we live in a special period. The time of the linear growth of egoism from generation to generation has ended, and now humanity's global interconnection is beginning to be revealed. Egoism, from simply being large, has become integral, that is, it represents an enormous network of seven billion egoists connected together. For many thousands of years, people's lives were fairly calm. As a rule, they lived in the place where they were born, did not strive to go to other countries, married the neighbor's daughter, and inherited their father's trade. Even clothing was passed down from generation to generation, not to mention the house and household. But today we can't settle down; we fly off on vacation as far from home as possible. That is, adults suffer from hyperactivity too, but they have the opportunity to release the tension on their own. A hundred years ago, soccer fans did not stage the sort of scenes we see today: a hundred thousand people running, shouting, maiming one another. People look for a way to blow off steam, to calm the growing desire to enjoy. They beat up a dummy of the boss. The phenomenon of hyperactivity appeared in the last 50 years, and many adults and children suffer from it. Now it is taking a different form: the restlessness manifests not so much in movement as in the search for inner fulfillment. Something disturbs them from within, not from outside. Only 10% of hyperactive children calm down through movement—which is why we notice them—while the rest fall into depression.

To us psychologists, this is well familiar.

Children have games, movies, the Internet—we give them everything we can. Along with this, depressive states intensify, which also stem from hyperactivity: they want more but cannot fulfill themselves. The excess of activity does not refer to movement.

Do you understand this term as intensification?

The intensification of the egoistic desire, which is supposed to receive fulfillment but is unable to: it has nothing to fulfill itself with, even though we give children everything! Look at what a child has today!

A whole world!

Travel, games, means of communication. And all of it is not enough; none of it fulfills them. So the problem is not that hyperactivity interferes with us. If we take into account all the problems of the intensification of the egoistic desire, which finds no fulfillment and therefore remains in a dejected state—either under the influence of medication or because of various pressures—then we will see a phenomenon that encompasses everyone.

You are speaking of a general phenomenon, and I understand this, because I see many examples of a lack of calm. It manifests even in younger children. Earlier children would play a game for a year or two, but now they instantly lose interest in it and demand a new one. But there is a special group in which this manifests in an extreme way. It is hard for such children to cope with the agitation and the impulses bursting out from within.

We distinguish four levels of the development of egoism in a person: the still, the vegetative, the animate, and the human. Egoism grows and displays itself differently at each of these four levels. If it finds a way to fulfill itself, then it is calm. In reality it is not calm but simply releasing itself through phenomena that do not manifest in movement.

You mean to say that the movement takes place inside, not outside.

Exactly. In other cases it is fulfilled only through movement, and it does not matter where to go or what to do; the main thing is to entangle itself and everyone else. This is precisely the phenomenon we see.

And we call it hyperactivity.

All of this concerns the enormous desire to receive pleasure that is developing within us. And we will not find a solution to it through the methods being offered. By suppressing children, we evoke in them very deep and undesirable phenomena. If there is a blockage, then the water rises higher and higher. It must be given an outlet, otherwise the entire system will explode. If we do not correct the problem, then it manifests at a higher level. By feeding children medication, we raise the problem to a higher level. In the end, we will get people with various disorders, because in due time we did not give them the opportunity to release the tension in a natural way suited to the demands of their egoism. This may express itself in mental illnesses, sexual perversions, cruelty.

Hyperactivity manifests more often in children with a tendency toward delinquency. But there are cases where it is possible to use this quality positively: a child can perform several actions at once, and he has enough energy for the whole day. There are actions that other people cannot perform, but they can. Yet in the period before adulthood they have problems not only with school but also with their peers. They cannot concentrate on any one thing; they are egocentric—they think more about themselves and are less able to understand another. Because of their restlessness, it is hard to play with them. How should we regard this and how can we help them? How do we provide fulfillment, and what kind of fulfillment are we talking about?

Here, undoubtedly, the neglect of upbringing manifests itself. We must make each of them a psychologist to himself: to explain what drives him, what is happening to him, why he constantly jumps up and explodes. It is necessary to speak with children about all these phenomena. We do not explain to them the nature of the human being, its evolution, and the processes taking place in our time. They should know life, but about life, unfortunately, we do not speak with them.

It is interesting that I, as a psychologist, have to do this.

You, as a psychologist, can do this in private conversations. But at school no one explains life to the child. He is stuffed with knowledge, he is taught trades, but he is not brought up—that is, he is not shaped into a human being. He should know what is happening to him, but he is not taught this. That is why he does not know how to properly relate to himself and to others. He needs to be told where and why these problems come to him and how to cope with them. Teaching them the art of acting helps—how to step out of oneself and play another… He should be a partner in working with the phenomena he feels, and moreover see this together with his peers. How do they relate to him, and how does he relate to them? Do they get along with each other? What in general is happening in the class and why? Children should be more independent, understand better, and try to cope with life by their own efforts.

Undoubtedly, this will be difficult for them.

But without explanation, without a foundation, they do not understand the cause of their behavior—and they suffer. Sometimes we get irritated with someone, but when we understand the cause, we relate with understanding to the problem and to the person. This is how children should be taught.

If we explain to those children who are distinguished by hyperactivity or a lack of attention the cause of their behavior, will they become calmer, or will we as a society change? After all, it is generally hard to talk with them, because they are unable to concentrate on anything for more than three minutes.

If you speak precisely about their problem and give them the opportunity to explain and speak out, then you will see a different picture.

Their ability to converse is no less; they simply cannot sit.

But in a classroom one can stand! Let them stand…

Regarding the classroom, we need to think. After all, if you do not sit, you do not learn—movement is not provided for at school. But if children have a need for movement together with an ability to converse, can the ability to speak about the problem and to understand human nature calm them from within?

Certainly. A person who knows the source of a problem can better prepare himself, organize himself, and understand how to relate to other people. He suffers because he does not know how to present himself. He will still have to release the tension, but now in a different way—the way we do it. Children are little people, and they should be treated accordingly. This also concerns those who find it hard to learn. Dyslexia is also a kind of hyperactivity. Children are unable to absorb at the speed at which their brain works.

But how do you explain to a child that he is different from others?

When you speak with a child, do you not feel the need to explain to him why he behaves the way he does?

I support him in the idea that his desire to move is legitimate, since one person needs to move more and another less. He thinks differently, he understands differently, and it is hard for us to accept that not everyone in the class is the same.

It turns out that you are emphasizing the difference between him and the other children.

But that is how he feels! I am not emphasizing his difference; I am showing the positive side of his qualities, since everyone considers them negative.

It is not good to speak that way with the whole class, since everyone differs from others in some way. If we explain the situation based on its general cause, then they will accept it more easily and relate to it naturally. They will understand that, ultimately, they are developing normally. Even if their behavior is not rational and differs from what is generally accepted, they will perceive it correctly. But if a person grows up dejected because he is considered a negative exception, then he is simply unhappy.

And how do we explain to children why not everyone is the same? Why are there several people in the class who prevent everyone from learning? Why do they constantly jump up?

They have the sort of desire that does not calm down for a single moment. They try to fulfill themselves with various things and are constantly seeking release. Others do not need this, since their desire develops more slowly.

So it turns out that hyperactive children are more developed than the rest?

Undoubtedly, since their egoism is greater. That is why they can achieve more in life than others, if they are taught to balance themselves on their own, without the suppressing medications being offered, since society has not developed a proper approach to them. With age, the genes and hormones will balance out, while the inner striving to achieve self-realization will remain greater than usual. Such people will ultimately be more successful. What do the statistics say about this?

This data needs to be checked. But it is already known that many successful doctors are hyperactive by nature, as are programmers: their restlessness does not bother the computer, and their speed of perception is exceptional.

So why not use this for the benefit of society? I encountered such people in the course of working with our archive—they work wonderfully.

They really do have special abilities, but they need help to reveal them.

That is exactly what I am talking about. And one must start from an early age.

In your view, should they study separately or together with other children? Earlier they were separated, but now they are included in the group, adding an educator or an assistant, since conditions must be created for everyone.

Today there are schools where, from an early age, division is practiced not only by field: engineering, biology, languages, art. Classes are formed not only according to specialization but also by level of perception: for more successful children, for less successful ones, and so on. Separation is possible here too, since it is easier for a person to get along in a society where the majority have the same qualities as he does.

As a rule, they are top performers in sports. Probably there are many hyperactive people among athletes. The lack of calm passes only very slightly over time. Among children, 5–10% are distinguished by hyperactivity, while among adults it is 6%. That is, it does not pass in everyone.

It is simply that in adults hyperactivity does not manifest in movement but passes into another form—into inner anxiety.

A person learns to use this quality beneficially and no longer feels it to be an eternal hindrance. But this also depends on the attitude of those around him. In families where the child was accepted as he is, the confidence he gained gave him the strength to understand his particularity and use it correctly.

He needs help finding the right occupation for himself. Then he will know how to quiet the impulses and convert the hyperactivity into another form. In this sense, sports are not very suitable, since they require physical effort.

Most soccer players did not study at school, did not sit in a classroom. But sports really do require consistency and inner discipline.

We have not yet discussed the question of using medication to reduce hyperactivity.

With this I completely disagree. We do not understand the essence of the phenomenon: what is at stake is the desire to receive pleasure, which cannot be suppressed with medication. We are fighting the consequence without getting to the root of the problem. In doing so we destroy the person, since afterward it will break through in undesirable behavior in other areas.

But if a child must nevertheless go through the school period, how can we help him fit physically into the system?

This is difficult to answer for now, but I do not think we should work with hyperactivity by means of medication. I see how easily it is prescribed: for any problem, take a pill. This is very bad. The poor parents do not agree, but there is no way out, since the child faces expulsion from school. The approach is very cruel. Special classes and a new approach are needed: to speak with children about their problems.

Parents are right to fear drug treatment. It does not help if other methods are not added to it.

On this note we will stop for today. We spoke about how we should regard hyperactivity not as a phenomenon but as a reality. It is not a problem but a mirror of our state, at which we have arrived as a result of the development of egoism, which demands a new, integral fulfillment but does not receive it. Attempts to stifle it lead to severe consequences. We also spoke about how hyperactive children are more developed and in the future may come to great achievements. But in order for them to feel themselves a part of society, we should speak with them about the phenomena they feel, explaining the cause. If they speak about this openly, they will understand each other better. The topic of hyperactivity is very broad, and we will continue discussing it in the following conversations.