Pessimistic what it means. Pessimist: who is he and what is his position in life

Analyzing Various types personalities, the pessimist causes the most pity. He portrays himself as a weak and defenseless person who absolutely does not believe in himself. But is it really so? How difficult is it for him to live, compared to an optimist? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Is it worth re-educating a pessimist, or he also has strengths? What does this type of thinking depend on? What if the child shows a tendency to pessimism? Should I sound the alarm? Let's figure out these issues together.

What is a pessimist?

A pessimist is a person who sees negative in everything and does not hope for a successful outcome of events. Others get the impression that he even likes to “collect” failures. If suddenly the business started is crowned with success, all the same, the pessimist will find many "pitfalls" to spoil the mood for himself and those around him. Of course, we are talking about the extreme degree of such a worldview.

Most often, there are people pessimistic, but to a lesser extent. They can be sure of victory, where they objectively realize their superiority. But, in case of uncertainty, they tend to doubt success. These include the bulk of the population of our planet, because most people will not dare to take up a business that they are not sure of. A striking example is businessmen, which are not all become, but only those who are able to take risks and. If there were fewer pessimists in the world, the planet would be filled with solid entrepreneurs and startups. But this does not happen, which means that the tendency to negative thinking has stuck deep enough into the collective.

Physiological predisposition to pessimism can be considered. It is he who is most often inherent in people who are not confident in themselves and their success. Such people are characterized by weak and unbalanced, which "rewards" them with regular depression and.

But not only innate features make a pessimist out of a person. Upbringing and social environment play a huge role, as well as life experience, which strengthens his confidence in a certain scenario of the development of events. Don't forget about the principle that people get what they expect. So, a pessimist, as well as, with age only strengthens the confidence in his righteousness. Depending on how substantiated his views are, this type can be divided into several types. Let's talk about them now.

Types of pessimists

There is no clear classification of pessimists. They can be conditionally divided into several varieties: rational and irrational... The first ones objectively assess events and understand that they have little chance of success in a particular business. For example, the mass pessimism of the people before the elections in our country. There are really few reasons for optimism here. Dozens of other examples can be cited, which are noted by the following phrase “a pessimist is a well-informed optimist”.

In contrast to this species, the irrational pessimist simply suffers and is prone to fatalism in its negative manifestation. That is, such a person believes that failure will surely await him, and he cannot do anything. This feeling is only strengthened according to the principle of feedback, increasing the person's confidence in his worthlessness with age.

Also, between the first and second types, there are many transitional forms that do not have clear names, they can simply be located closer to objectivity or subjectivity. Regardless of the severity of this sign, it is not so difficult to recognize a pessimist. How this can be done is described below.

How to recognize a pessimist

Any pessimist is characterized by skepticism and negative thinking. It's just that some people have these qualities less pronounced, while others are stronger. If we are talking about a state close to normal, then such a pessimist will only really difficult situation... If we talk about the excessive manifestation (accentuation) of this type of thinking, then it applies to everything. For this person not to undertake, he doubts success everywhere. Moreover, even in cases where it has an advantage.

The most interesting thing is that such a person is not always aware of his psychological characterization... Rarely, when you hear from him "I am a pessimist", because he is confident in his realism.

It's good or bad to be a pessimist

For some reason, it is believed that a pessimist is bad. Many trainers try to wean their clients from this type of thinking. But is “exaggerating” so bad? Let's talk about this now.

Benefits of pessimists

Who are pessimists? In fact, these are those who tend to escalate the situation. Accordingly, they assess events and their strengths more soberly, are ready for obstacles and will not break if something goes wrong. This is their undeniable advantages in front of optimists who sometimes overestimate their strengths and take a superficial attitude to serious things, thereby turning out to be unprepared for failure. But failures happen regularly. Ignoring them is also stupid. Pessimists are more likely to analyze the reasons for their failure, thereby preventing similar in the future.

If there is an optimist and a pessimist in the work collective, then brainstorming takes on a constructive track. The optimism of one clashes with the deliberation of the other, thereby giving out the most viable options.

It is believed that the intellectual level of pessimists is one of the highest in comparison with other types of personality, since their experiences and “exaggeration” seem to push the brain to constantly reflect on the situation. But this is where their advantages end, since the harm from pessimism is no less.

Disadvantages of pessimists

Trying to remember famous pessimists, a person is faced with a rather difficult task, because pessimists rarely become popular. All this is due to their low self-esteem.

The people around do not really like such people. Most often these are school losers who, if they do not gain at least a little optimism, become "gray mice" in their adult years. Almost like in the tale of the ugly duckling, with the only difference - instead of a beautiful swan, an ugly duck appears. It is unlikely that anyone wants to communicate for a long time with a person who is always whining and all the time attunes himself and others to the negative. After all, he not only deprives himself of the joys of life, but also does not allow others to dream and hope for something.

In this the pessimist loses noticeably to the optimist. The latter is welcome in all companies. He arouses interest and sympathy from the opposite sex, he is more willingly hired, more often deals and contracts are concluded. Business is dominated by optimists because they are not afraid to take risks, unlike people who do not believe in success, even when it is guaranteed.

How to deal with a pessimist

Communication with a pessimist requires "iron" nerves from the interlocutor. It is necessary to be a truly diplomat in order not to hurt his vulnerable psyche, while retaining at least a drop of his own optimism. After all, it was not in vain that they came up with the saying "whoever you lead with, from that you will gain".

What a pessimist is is felt almost immediately. He is not confident in himself, in others, in the whole world. There may be several options for the development of events: to try to re-educate him, to perceive him as he is, or simply not to communicate. For those who have a teacher in their souls, we note right away that the older the pessimist, the more difficult it is to instill a spirit of optimism in him. You can perceive him in fact, but in this case, the main thing is not to "get infected" by his despondency. The option of stopping the dialogue is appropriate in the case of a neglected form of pessimism, and so abandoning the person, since he is a little gloomy, is also not an option. Indeed, as indicated earlier, there are many smart people among them, and intelligence in our time is of great value. In general, it is everyone's business to talk or not, but if notes of pessimism appear in a child, it is better to eradicate them.

How to Raise a Pessimist

Even the most sincere melancholic can be made an optimist if you educate a person from childhood. What is needed for this? First of all, it is necessary to give him positive psychological attitudes, to explain that events can be programmed. If you believe in success, then you are much more likely to achieve it.

The pessimistic child appears under the influence of upbringing. If everyone in his family has this type of thinking, then he will adopt this approach from childhood. So, the upbringing of a pessimist must begin with his parents. If they do not stop programming the child for failure, then it will be difficult for him to grow up even as a realist.

At times, attempts at re-education are made in relation to an adult. This is even more difficult, because with each passing year, the psychological type takes root deeper and deeper into. You will have to spend a lot of time to prove to a person the inconsistency of his views. The older the pessimist, the more confident he is in his righteousness and injustice of the world. Re-education will require the desire of the "patient" himself and a whole series of good moments, which he will witness.

Another effective technique can be called self-hypnosis, first of all - affirmations. They are repetitive affirmative phrases. For example, "I am lucky", "I am accompanied by success", "everything conceived is being realized", etc. Gradually, the subconscious mind will get used to these statements and begin to believe in them. As soon as this happens, any pessimist will gradually turn into an optimist. And the sooner you resort to this, the faster you will be able to get rid of uncertainty.

The pessimist personality type is not a sentence, but a reason to think about it. Of course, anticipating negative scenarios for the development of events is a useful skill. But underestimating one's strengths and capabilities alienates a person from success. You should always draw a clear line between norm and overkill. And if skepticism is excessive, it is better to dilute it with a hint of positive.

What is a pessimist? The superficial characteristic of this personality type is familiar to most of us. Oscar Wilde noted it very accurately, writing the following: "A pessimist is a person who complains about the noise when luck knocks on his door." It seems that it is easy to identify people of this kind by their negative attitude towards life. But is this the only trait that defines a pessimist? And what is the definition of this phenomenon is given by modern psychology?

Pessimist: the meaning of the concept

What is pessimism? Science interprets the concept broadly. A pessimist is a person with stable negative attitudes in life, a pronounced tendency to criticism, alienation and categoricalness. It was revealed that people with melancholic people have a physiological predisposition to pessimism. But not only congenital features become the reason for its development. The environment in which the pessimist was brought up or lived for a long time also plays an important role.

Often in a society there is enough temporary manifestation or melancholy to enroll a person in the ranks of pessimists. Especially in our time, when positive thinking has gained such popularity. In fact, everyone has difficult times when negative ones overwhelm their heads and become the cause of a negative attitude towards what is happening. And that's okay. Therefore, it is worth defining pessimists not by one attribute, but by a set of characteristic differences.

Criteria to help you recognize a true pessimist

First of all, this is a persistent negative mood in all spheres of life, not only in one (career, relationships with relatives, etc.). There are other signs of a pessimist:

1. transfer past failures to future actions that haven't even been taken yet.
2. The conviction of a poor outcome of the case, even when all the signs of a positive outcome are present.
3. Painful attitude towards any upcoming changes in personal life or in society.
4. A persistent prejudice that all good things will have to pay off with hardships and hardships.
5. The distrustful attitude of the pessimist towards others, the search for selfish or selfish intentions in their every act.

Also, pessimists have a habit of criticizing what is happening or regularly complaining about fate.

The main types of pessimists and their main differences

Speaking about people of this kind, depending on the mechanism of the development of beliefs, they are divided into two categories:

1. Irrational. Pessimists who do not pay attention to the real state of affairs in life do not believe in the possibility of progress and improvement. Even in positive moments, for them everything is presented in gloomy colors. They are steadfastly convinced of future failures and setbacks. This is often due to the presence of them.
2. Rational. On the contrary, such pessimists have grounds for drawing conclusions about the difficulties and problems in the future. But they often tend to over-focus on bad moments in life experience. They pay more attention to them, using such facts as an explanation for negative attitudes and despondency.

It is worth noting that sometimes rational pessimists are right, but more often they exaggerate the significance of past failures. There are also transitional forms between these two types.

Pessimism - Good or Bad

There is no definite answer to this question. Among pessimists, one can distinguish not only negative, but also positive sides... This is important to note, since the modernization of positive thinking is not always beneficial. She often tears the pessimist away from the norm, not always allowing a sober assessment of the situation and opportunities.

Benefits of pessimists	Disadvantages of pessimists
Lack of high expectations from life, less disappointment. The ability to better prepare for the future ahead and be better at noticing details.	Concomitant frequent anxiety conditions that negatively affect health.
The habit of comparing and analyzing, which promotes active brain activity and the development of intellectual abilities.	Difficulty communicating with people. The loss of real opportunities in life due to the refusal of the slightest risks. Development and strengthening of complexes associated with low self-esteem.

Is it worth getting rid of pessimism

If it manifests itself in the form of adequate readiness for difficulties and reasonable acceptance of the negative outcome of the situation, you should not get rid of it. Moderate manifestation corresponds to reality, formed in the course of sober analysis. It is characterized by a responsible attitude to life and the habit of carefully weighing the different circumstances of what is happening. it useful skills, to get rid of which is definitely not worth it.

As noted above, pessimism is often formed in people with a melancholic temperament. In this case, its manifestations are enhanced by the qualities characteristic of this type of personality. The main ones among them are increased vulnerability, excessive impressionability and the habit of taking the slightest troubles to heart.

Such pessimism is far from the real state of affairs and mainly entails only the disadvantages listed in the table. In order to avoid the associated health problems and, it is important for pessimists to work on getting rid of the tendency to see negativity in everything.

How to get rid of pessimism

Note a few positive things around you every day. For greater efficiency, start a paper or electronic diary of joys. This is the first tip. There are a number of others:

1. Form a respectful attitude towards any life experience, always noting 2-3 positive things to yourself (even in case of failure).
2. Work on low self-esteem, which often leads to a lack of confidence in strength and doubts about the possibility of a brighter future.
3. Plan for a regular change of scenery to broaden your horizons and learn to see more possible scenarios of what is happening.

And further. Get rid of the habit of thinking about bad events over and over again, and decisively leave them in the past.

Features of communication with pessimists

When dealing with pessimists, it is easy to give in to empathy or negativity. Therefore, when contacting them, experts recommend adhering to some rules. First, analyze the person's behavior and determine the cause. Not all pessimists really suffer from constant anxiety about what is happening. There is a category of people who show off their torment and deliberately exaggerate problems. This is done in order to evoke sympathy and then play on it to your advantage. For example, to shift the execution of a task onto someone else's shoulders.

1. Accept the person for who they are. Don't try to impose your beliefs and teach life.
2. In communication, keep focus on. Move away from meaningless moaning by inviting the pessimistic interlocutor to talk about possible solutions situations.
3. Don't take the negativity onto yourself. After communication, do not rush to give in to the feelings of the pessimistic interlocutor.

Take time to reflect on the dialogue, take only facts and useful information out of it.

What to look for if a child is prone to pessimism

To begin with, it is also worth analyzing the reasons for the appearance of such behavior. If the problem is family negative attitudes, work with parents will be needed. It is the family that has the greatest influence on the behavior of the child, which is why it is so important to take care of a healthy home climate. If pessimism manifests itself even in such conditions, it is necessary to determine the source of its occurrence. There are two possible options:

• negative influence from the outside;
• congenital feature of the psyche.

To correct the behavior of a pessimist child in such situations, it is worth spending more time in games and communication. At the same time, focus on positive life moments and achievements. It is also imperative to work on building a sense of safety and security.
If you cannot save the child from the tendency to plunge into negativity on your own, you will need the help of a qualified psychologist. Otherwise, in the future, the pessimistic baby will turn into an adult with the problems described above. They can interfere with his full development and the achievement of happiness in life.

Conclusion

Now you better understand who a pessimist is. Some of his qualities will be useful in life and to us. For example, the habit of taking a responsible approach to business and not placing high expectations on what is happening. But the harm from pessimism is usually greater. Therefore, do not ignore its manifestations in yourself or loved ones. Let it not be an obstacle on the way to a fulfilling and happy life!

Today we will deal with the pessimists. If you have never been called with such a word, then you rarely arrive in a bad mood and usually believe in the best outcome of life situations. Then what do pessimists believe in? We'll find out below. But let's start with the term itself "Pessimism", which will reveal to us a dictionary of philosophical terms.

PESSIMISM -(from lat. Pessimum - the worst, the worst) - in the usual usage of words, a worldview, imbued with despondency, hopelessness, disbelief in a better future; portraying everything in a dark light. Such a personal conviction or philosophical trend, which, in contrast to optimism, considers in the world primarily its negative sides, considers the world to be hopelessly bad, and human existence - completely meaningless.

Thus, pessimism is a kind of a peculiar outlook on life. Along with it, there is also optimism and realism (we will talk about this in the following articles). But the main question is why a person forms a pessimistic outlook on life.

More often than not, people acquire a pessimistic outlook on life because of the people around them. If a person cannot feel trusting with his family, is in an eternal state of anxiety and stress, does not trust others for objective reasons and cannot rely on them - this leads to factors leading to a pessimistic view of the world. With this option, this is a kind of state of the norm and, having eliminated all possible disagreements with loved ones, there is a great chance that a person's worldview will change.

I definitely want to note that a pessimistic outlook on life can be a symptom of a disease such as dysthymia... And in this case, a person needs to consult a psychotherapist.

Dysthymia is chronic subdepression (minor depressive disorder) with insufficient symptoms to make a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. The main symptom of dysthymia is a low, sad, moody, depressed, anxious, or gloomy mood that lasts for at least two years. The patient does not even occasionally experience periods of high and joyful mood. "Good" days, according to patients, happen extremely rarely and do not depend on external circumstances.

If your "pessimistic mood" lasts a short period - try to understand the reasons for the decadent thoughts, talk to someone you trust. Or consider living alone with no one to trust. The main thing is to rely on the real facts of your life and analyze them, and do not succumb to unfounded thoughts about the impossibility of a happy future. If you are having a really difficult period in your life, understand that this is temporary and any black stripe will be replaced by a white one. Do not give up and do not give up on future life. If you feel that you are not able to overcome your condition on your own, be sure to consult with a specialist, at least online.

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A pessimist is a person with sharply negative life convictions, who is characterized by alienation, anxiety and categoricalness. A pessimist always has one universal explanation for all his failures, is inclined to capitulate in all directions, if failure befalls him in only one area. For this person, if something starts badly, then it ends the same way. He blames himself for all the troubles, complains about how weak he is, and is unworthy to do an outstanding job.

What does pessimist mean? The definition of a pessimist has several meanings. The first meaning of the word pessimist is a person prone to negativism, in a pessimistic manner. The second meaning of the word pessimist is a personality of a pessimistic temperament, which reduces everything in the world to the worst.

There is also such a definition of the word pessimist - this is a characteristic who in everything that sees only evil around, looks too gloomily at all things.

A pessimist can be distinguished from the total number of people by distinctive features: extremely pronounced uncertainty in their own actions, categorical negative assessment of everything around, a tendency to constantly experience negative ones, aloofness, gloom and closeness. These traits are both properties and factors that determine mental personality processes, which are responsible for all human actions. From this it follows that the constant mood of a person for trouble becomes a factor that makes him a pessimist. A person with pessimistic views believes that life does not bring him happiness, does not bring joy.

The pessimist very easily falls into a long and strong one. The physical health of a pessimist is not of high quality; on the contrary, it often worries him, therefore such a person is almost always sick. In the field of personal success, this is a person who rarely achieves significant results of activity, and often in this he is hampered by the lack of confidence in his abilities.

Who is a pessimist

A person with a pessimistic worldview, gloomily looks not only at the future of society, but at his own life as well, does not expect anything good from it. We can say that he does not even admit that life can have a white and black stripe, for him it is gray. Therefore, this individual perceives even a joyful event as dangerous, because it portends that it will be followed by a threat.

What does pessimist mean? This concept denotes the personality of a special person, which is expressed in his views, which differ from the beliefs of most people, since most are optimists. Pessimists find it difficult to believe in the sincerity of people's benevolent intentions, and it is hard for them to admit the likelihood that others may want to do positive and compassionate actions towards them.

A pessimist worries about the fate of society, does not expect anything good and pleasant from the news, does not believe in real progress, it is difficult for him to imagine an improvement in the current state of affairs, the prosperity and well-being of his country. Such a person thinks that everything that the citizens of his country are trying to do for the sake of positive changes is in vain, and he reinforces this with his observations, in which he expresses that negative consequences there are always more than positive things happening, so he sees no point in trying.

A pessimistic individual believes that an especially very happy event is bad, since it will have even more tragic consequences. Due to a pessimistic attitude, he becomes unable to sincerely enjoy life events.

The pessimist lives in a world that does not allow others to enter, so that they do not even try to understand him. Therefore, it is very difficult for him to exist when most of the people around are positive personalities. One can only assume what a pessimistic person feels, because he lives without hoping for the best, not trusting people, their feelings and sincerity, living practically without faith. This does not mean that other people look at everything through rose-colored glasses, because you should not also ignore the negative aspects of life. However, if negative moments are still present in life, then you need to fight them, correct the situation, achieve better result, "Do not give up" and do not refer to the injustice of fate.

A pessimist is a person who reduces everything to the worst possible outcome when everything is not so bad. It is difficult to make him rejoice at something, since the prism of joy through which this person could evaluate the event does not have. Therefore, this person is often not notified of the events that have happened - such as a birthday, wedding, and others. It's just that people know that they won't wait for congratulations, instead they will hear that everything does not matter. Not only the pessimist treats joyful events so categorically, he perceives sad situations the same way.

A pessimist is always associated with a whiner, a person who complains about life and all his life events. However, he is also a person, which means that he also needs to do a certain thing in society. He often has a stable job with specific responsibilities. But it is often difficult for pessimists to find an optimal occupation for themselves, they begin to do one thing, if they fail, then they try another, if this is a failure, then they start the third, well, if they failed for the third time, then they fall into depression. However, there is an explanation for all this. Often a pessimist cannot achieve what he wants, because he lacks patience, effort, confidence - after all, this is important in achieving success. Also, they can lead him astray from the direct path of expressing people, which raises doubts.

The mood to expect troubles and troubles, which is characteristic of all pessimists, is a very strong stress-generating factor that increases in conditions of a stressful life: failures in relationships, problems at work. But stress can happen to anyone. It turns out that optimists can also experience nervous states. This means that a person with an optimistic attitude, as well as a pessimistic one, can find themselves on an equal footing. The important thing here is how the person will behave further, so you can immediately determine who he is. An optimist will most likely, in spite of failure, increase his efficiency and activity, which will lead to a positive result. The pessimist will become helpless and doomed to fail. However, if he tried, he would be able to succeed, because the likelihood of this very success is there.

Despite the above qualities of a pessimist, do not underestimate him. Sometimes his qualities are quite useful. Pessimism in many situations can return a person to reality, so he is rarely disappointed, because he does not hope for anything. A pessimist can give a critical, objective assessment of the situation. Pessimists are almost always focused, so they can keep control of the external situation.

How they become pessimists

Most psychologists and scientists come to the conclusion: whether a person becomes a pessimist or not depends only on him alone, the way of life, way of behavior, worldview, and his environment.

There are people who were serious failures in their childhood, but in the future this did not prevent them from becoming successful people. It even had a positive effect on them, as it tempered the spirit. It's another matter if the stability of the affairs of a successful person begins to crumble, he starts having troubles that break the spirit. Because of what a person loses his former grip and confidence. It has been noticed that many become pessimists with age. Most young, young people are optimistic. But a time comes when a person rethinks things, finds a new meaning, stops rushing, becomes more circumspect and inclined to introspection. This person, although pessimistic, is not a failure. This pessimism is expressed in wisdom and experience.

Is it good that a person becomes a pessimist? This can be argued in a specific situation.

The most unpleasant are those pessimists who complain about their personal lives, how bad their affairs are. Some people try to correct such a person, but if he is like this all his life, then it will not be easy to change him, since for him pessimism is a way of life that does not need changes. It is worth accepting it this way, and avoiding frequent communication if it is too depressing.

A pessimistic attitude is also laid down in childhood. Parents especially influence the child's outlook, so he copies their behavior. A child who sees that parents do not adequately relate to reality, exposing events in gloomy tones, begins to subconsciously copy this. There is a good chance that a child who grows up in this relationship will be more likely to be depressed.

The person himself directly influences the emergence of pessimism in himself. Due to insecurity, low self-esteem, and, a person will blame himself for the problems that arise. A negatively minded person is not able to objectively assess what is happening. This way of life is very wrong and leads to the fact that a person begins to live like that.

The thinking of pessimists leads to their constant bad luck. They are fixated on the fact that the cause of all bad events is themselves, such thoughts only attract more failures, personally creating a black streak for themselves.

Indecisive people become pessimists, who themselves make their life gray and are afraid to change it, dragging themselves into the abyss. An individual with a pessimistic worldview falsely believes that it is better to experience negative emotions than none at all. He believes that thanks to this he feels that he is living.

Because of the real desaturation of life, pessimists can create fictional tragedies. Of course, sad and tragic events happen that break the person and he loses the positive. Therefore, it is very important to preserve optimism in life, let go of pain, become aware of feelings and gain experience.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

A pessimist is a person whose outlook on life is based on negativism, despondency and denial of any positive changes. Pessimism is literally the worst outlook on life.

In the ordinary sense, pessimistic moods are perceived by people as a philosophy of life, highlighting only negative features in the environment. At the same time, people who view events from different angles are often called pessimists by mistake. As an example: Che Guevara is a national liberator, but he is also an ordinary terrorist.

This point of view on life is a quite common and normal phenomenon, which, in principle, is not associated with a person's professional or social status. For the most part, “pure” pessimism does not occur, but is interspersed with optimistic views and positive assessments of reality.

Pessimism in society

For the most part, from the point of view of society, pessimism is an abnormal attitude, but here we are talking about pure pessimism. As you know, views on many things are determined by our experience, the context of the situation, and even physical well-being.

For people who have repeatedly faced disappointments, ordinary problems, failures, pessimism can become a "habitual" attitude that will determine the way things look. For example, a person who regularly experiences communication problems may eventually begin to assess their chances of building strong relationships negatively, and most importantly, there is real ground for this. At the same time, behind the mask of pessimism, a bunch of others can be hidden psychological problems that are replaced by humans for many reasons.

At the level of society, the same changes can occur. The modern position of society can be characterized as positivist, it is cultivated by the culture itself. Therefore, people who negatively assess some values ​​and points of view that are customary for a particular society often fall into the category of pessimists.

The same applies to the assessment of any prospects. In the language of business, a pessimist is a person who does not believe in the success of an enterprise. But at the same time, the team needs such a person, since the so-called healthy pessimism is the ability to foresee the worst consequences of something. In everyday life, the ability to predict the consequences of their activities is an essential skill. And many people, when they are going to do something, weigh all the negative options, only then looking for the positive aspects of their actions. It is these people who are often called pessimists. Whether their views on life are really negative is not clear, but their way of assessing (first the risks, then the benefits) presents them to society in this light.

Norm and pathology

So, each person is both a pessimist and an optimist in one bottle. The ability to switch from bad to good and vice versa is an important trait of a flexible and successful person.

But at the same time, a pessimist can become one due to some unfavorable factors. Here is some of them:

• a person's own social incompetence;
• depression;
• asthenia;
• fears, phobias;
• unfavorable context of life.

The first case is pessimism associated with denial, non-recognition of one's own weaknesses and problems. This reason, like the others, is associated with subdepressive states, when a person cannot integrate into any group for reasons hidden in himself. This can be undeveloped communicative competence, excessive isolation, insecurity, attitudes towards one's own inferiority.

At the same time, it is important that the real reasons for their negative assessments of something are not recognized. For example, a person simply does not see the meaning and prospects in communication, while not realizing that real difficulties in interacting with others are associated with his social fears.

Simply put, the pessimist uses rationalization, finding a huge amount of "because ..." to explain his negativistic views on something, but not trying to see the problem in himself.

The other two causes are asthenia and depression, which are often linked. Pessimists are people who are brought to the edge of despondency by a series of life events. For example, the loss of a job, health problems and the loss of a loved one located consistently and close in time can cause a negative assessment of one's future (a pessimist is “born”), and any subsequent negative factor can trigger depression and manic states. In a depression clinic, such stories are not uncommon.

Asthenia as a cause of pessimism is primarily associated with a lack of resources for successful functioning. When a person does not have the strength to do something, it is quite obvious that he begins to assess his prospects in a negative light. However, with a certain amount of rest and the absence of additional stressors, such "tired" pessimists quickly return to their normal state.

As for phobias and anxiety, here the pessimist becomes such because of the uncertainty that accompanies fears, as well as because of the fear of showing their "weaknesses" to the general public. In this case, pessimism is side effect from other psychological problems.

Treatment issues

Should a pessimist be treated? For the most part - no, this is not a disease. Of course, pessimism can be a symptom of other problems, but as a separate phenomenon it rarely requires special correction.

In particular, a pessimistic attitude is not uncommon among adolescents. Negativism like feature this period is normal, but here it is important not to feed it. V adolescence pessimism often manifests itself only in communication with the world of adults, since the first global separation of “I” from parents occurs and children need to create some criteria for distinguishing themselves from parental figures.

In the case of the risks of depression, they gradually become a pessimist; more and more negativism begins to appear in a person's assessments of what is happening. In general, most people independently get out of such an emotional pit, but when there are real threats of the development of depressive disorders, it is necessary to think about prevention. First of all, this is the restoration of the work and rest regime, and, if necessary, psychological support in difficult situations.

It is extremely difficult to convince a person that everything will be great when his picture of the world collapses. However, you can help get through this period and prevent the victim from falling into the grip of depression. In particular, psychological groups and work with an existential therapist will help.

And finally, if a pessimist has already been formed by long-term experience, then it is necessary to carry out correctional and educational work under the supervision of a psychologist-trainer. Simply put, the pessimist must be trained to assess the situation from different angles. Such training can be compared to developing negotiation skills, when a person learns to talk to himself.