There are facts about life that no one can readily assimilate even when one is taught a million times over by the best teacher available. One such is that life is a task; a kind of challenge that must be enjoyed rather than endured. However, the ability to learn and adjust based on feedback from multiple sources should guarantee a smooth journey.
We are born with empty slates in our brain called Tabula Rasa by psychologists but as we grow from cradle to the grave; we are bombarded with multiple stimuli that demand our attention, processing, and response with inscriptions on our minds. The mindsets produced may be well-adjusted or maladjusted depending on the nature of the challenges and the resources available to handle them.
Erik Erikson the famous psychologist who propounded the theory of Epigenesis captured the substance of this discourse. He views life as a succession of biological stages each having its own social conflict whose resolution has lasting effects on personality. The Ego identity which is an integrated, unique, and autonomous sense of self is expected to be the final product. He believes that if the ego fails to master the crisis, this failure will hamper identity formation and may generate psychological disorders. However, failure at one stage does not guarantee failure at the future stage. In his scheme, the ego is a strong resilient force, and there is always a second chance.
Intervening between these stressors as we call them and our responses is the human mind. Within the vaults of the human mind are two mechanisms namely the unconscious psychological strategies known as the defense mechanisms and coping mechanisms which are conscious, adaptive coping strategies. The legendary management consultant; the late Dr Stephen R Covey amplified a subtle but profound psychological concept that revolutionized management thinking whether at a personal or organizational level. He emphasized that intervening between the challenges and the responses we give is the human mind that has an installed capacity to constantly make a wholesome, rational choice of response. This he opined differentiates us from animals that do not have self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and willpower. However, human beings differ in their basic constitution which may explain varied patterns of adjustment in folks exposed to the same challenge; but no human being is configured to maladjust irrespective of the enormity of the challenge.
A group of psychological disorders that arise due to the failure of adaptive mechanisms to effectively handle, especially psychosocial stressors are called adjustment disorders. They arise between normal behavior and major psychiatric morbidities and constitute one of the problematic sub-threshold disorders. Adjustment disorders are stress-related phenomena when the stressor precipitates maladaptation and symptoms that are time-limited until the stressor is attenuated or a new state of adaptation occurs. Adjustment disorders present major diagnostic dilemmas because they are often poorly defined, overlap with other diagnostic groupings, and have indefinite symptomatology. Although insufficiently researched but clinically relevant because it is linked to an identifiable cause- the stressor; the concept of adjustment disorders emanating from maladaptation to stressors automatically prescribes psychotherapeutic treatment, and it is often used in clinical parlance as a non-stigmatising diagnosis of a psychiatric condition. Whatever the controversies; they constitute a diagnostic entity recognisable by the development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an identifiable psychological stressor within three months of exposure with the symptoms causing marked distress and significant impairment in social and occupational functioning. The stressors are majorly psychosocial involving family relationships for children, failed financial and legal transactions, and school performances like failing to gain admission or being advised to withdraw. The first year of marriage is usually turbulent, with situations of termination of prospective marital relationship especially after the engagement ceremony, sudden retirement, or retrenchment. Even promotion in workplaces may precipitate adjustment disorder which may incapacitate optimum performance in the new post. These situations are usually dismissed and not expected to give anyone mental distress even when it is apparent that there is incapacitation. Our culture and religious inclinations usually in the direction of denial may prevent a good number of folks from seeking help from relevant mental health experts. Thoughts of suicide can be very prominent among them as a way of escape or seeking attention just as some may take to drugs of abuse.
The overall strategy is to connect the patient to resources within his or her circle of influence that will enhance the ego strengths through the facility of supporting relationships. Psychotherapeutic intervention should be handled by trained professionals and not by an untrained, freelance counselor. Our human resource managers need to understand the negative impact adjustment disorders have on personal and organisational performance and design programs to effectively handle this problem. Children with adjustment issues deserve urgent and focused attention especially when it affects conduct.
