If we observe the phenomena of our environment, there can be little discussion about the fact that when throwing a stone into the air it will fall to the ground due to gravity, or if we put our hand in hot water we will burn due to the heat exchange, since both events are governed by the laws of nature, which are imperative and do not vary by virtue of the place and the epoch. Therefore, if we adopt the laws of Nature known and explained by Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and the strategies used by her (adaptation, diversity, selection, cooperation, competition, useful work, etc.) as referential system, so that the explanatory models of behavior created by man were based on them, it would allow us to perceive and understand human behavior as it is, without cultural, ideological, political or religious connotations that distort reality for their own benefit and constitute the germ of psychological disturbances that arise in our daily lives.
One of these models is the Interactional Systemic Approach,
The cornerstone of the interactional systems approach is that it considers the human being as a biological system complex closely linked to the environment, forming the human-environment supersystem (SH-E) with which matter, energy and information are exchanged. In this supersystem, infinity of interactions take place between its different components (people, other living beings, objects, ecosystems, etc.). Likewise, in the context of the human biological system, there are also numerous interactions between the multiple subsystems that compose it (nervous, endocrine, immune, etc.).
Both types of interactions maintain close and complementary relationships, so that the person's behavior can be explained by analyzing such relationships. As a result of such interactions, events or situations are created that influence in some way the person and the environment in which they develop (in the family, at work, etc.), and when the result of the interaction is harmful (harmful, unpleasant, dangerous, threatening, etc.) or is not the one desired by the person, increases the likelihood of a psychological imbalance and, consequently, disenchantment, frustration and helplessness, which are the triggers of disturbances psychological. The presence of this risk shows the need to know how these relationships are generated and developed in order to avoid that cause events or situations that disturb the stability and psychophysical balance of the biological system human.
The interactions in the SH-E supersystem are regulated by instructions that are grouped and arranged in different specific action programs for each type of interaction: physical laws, social norms, customs, fashions, etc. in SH-E interactions, and mental acting programs in the human brain system.
In the daily life of people within the SH-E supersystem, the exchange of matter (goods and services), energy (food) and information (knowledge) are the basic elements that sustain the interactions, but, although they all act together and complement each other, this approach focuses solely on the exchange of information, that is, in the analysis of the information that emerges from the facts and situations generated by the person-person and person-environment interactions (There may be several: one main and other secondary) and that, when processed through the different brain structures (through the programs mental disorders) can be classified as “harmful” and generate psychological disturbances that negatively affect the person in their life daily.
The characteristics to highlight of this approach in its relationship with psychological disturbances are:
- In an interaction, it is necessary to distinguish between the fact or situation that occurs as a result of it (reality) and the mental representation of it that is generated in the person when interpreting it and making a meaning and an assessment of it, since the psychological alteration emerges from this mental representation, not from the fact same; therefore, it can be said that the disturbing stimulus has a psychological (subjective) and non-physical (objective) nature, and it is this subjectivity that justifies that the same stimulus causes disturbance to one person and not to another.
- This approach focuses primarily on those relationships, elements and circumstances of the interactions that are related to psychological disturbance generated by it. Study the factors and particular characteristics of the person and their environment that intervene in it, leaving aside those that do not influence the interaction.
- Interactions create links of cognitive and emotional nature with the rest of the components of the environment, and the fear of losing them if they are beneficial or the uncontrolled desire to Getting them if you don't have them is one of the most important sources of disturbance in your existence. everyday.
Following this approach, the S-I approach is based on the Functional Model of Mind and in the various mental programs that direct the processing of information in the brain system to perform its analytical function of psychological disturbances and propose action measures to face them. Programs contain the instructions necessary to carry out this processing (each mental function has a specific program) and its importance lies in that part of the psychological imbalances are due either to organic and / or functional deficiencies of the brain structures or processes that serve as support to these programs, either due to errors or anomalies in them: poor perception and attention, interpretation errors, learning and memory failures, etc.
The operation of any living system depends on two factors: the structure and organic composition and the operating instructions or "program" of action. In the field of the human biological system, brain functions also depend on these elements, therefore, deficiencies in their functioning can be due to two main causes:
- Damage to brain organs, structures, and processes due to genetic deficiencies, injuries, infections, toxic agents, diseases, etc. (schizophrenia, ADHD, Alzheimer's, major depression, bipolar disorder, etc.).
- Abnormalities and deficiencies in the brain's information processing systems, fundamentally in the mental performance programs that contain the operating instructions for these systems.
The application of the MFM basically focuses on alterations in psychological balance that have their origin in deficiencies or anomalies in the processing of information by the cognitive and emotional systems of the brain, without necessarily (although there may be) organic or structural damage and the underlying biological processes acting correctly. Although it relies heavily on these processes, it should be noted that the main object is the mental phenomena that emerge as a result of such processes from the processing of information in well-defined brain structures: thought, emotion, memory, consciousness, introspection, etc.
The schematic representation of the information processing phases contained in a stimulus according to the MFM is:
PERCEPTION => INTERPRETATION => CHOICE => VOLITIVE IMPULSE
The use of this model has two objectives:
- Find out why a certain information from an external stimulus (the fact or situation that results from the interaction) is transformed, when processed through these mental programs, in an internal stimulus (a thought, an idea, a desire, an emotion, etc.) capable of generating a `psychological disturbance. internal stimuli generated by these mental programs by themselves, without intervening external stimuli and using only information stored in memory (memories of acts).
- Define the strategy to follow to choose the appropriate information to replace the one that has generated the disturbance and the way to introduce it into the brain's processing system (through a idea, an event, a behavior, a symbol, etc.), to try to modify the instructions of the mental program linked to the disturbance and regain balance psychological.
Since the interactions take place between two elements: the person and the environment, the model analyzes the information from both components, taking into account as basic axes the psychological characteristics of the person who intervenes in the disturbance (personality traits, cognitive distortions, emotional biases, patterns of interpretation and behavior, etc.) and the spatial-temporal-cultural context in which the interaction takes place (the latter includes the social, normative, moral, etc.).
Following this model, psychological disturbance can be caused by:
Anomalies or deficiencies in mental programs
Difficulty perceiving and / or interpreting information or doing it correctly (the person has difficulty understanding reality); inability to choose a response to the stimulus (due to "mental block", or not finding an acceptable response, or not deciding to choose among those available); choice of inappropriate responses that lead to inappropriate actions by virtue of the characteristics of the stimulus and the context in which it occurs. If the anomaly gives rise to a situation that the person qualifies as harmful and relevant to its existence, it will cause the appearance of psychological disturbance.
Autonomous activation of the emotional system
It may happen that the information processing is correct, but that due to the characteristics of the stimulus (situation of mourning, loss of something valuable, interpersonal conflict, etc.) the person suffers an alteration of the emotional state and perceives the bodily sensations unpleasant and annoying that accompany it, also affecting the cognitive system: lack of concentration, mental disturbance, difficulty in reasoning, etc. Likewise, it can also be activated involuntarily when the memory of an event of the event arises in the mind. disturbing past, or when a thought arises about some harmful event that could occur in the future.
Inappropriate concrete behaviors
Without "abnormalities" in cognitive and / or emotional functions. The person is usually aware that her behavior is not appropriate (addictions, rituals, manias or inappropriate habits, uncontrolled impulses, etc.) but is not able to control it, because the behavior is reinforced by obtaining with it a pleasant sensation (pleasure, relief, calm, etc.), although he knows that in the medium or long term it can cause harm and sufferings.
One of the key elements of the MFM are the mental programs that make information processing possible and which are grouped into:
- perception programs (attention and mental construction of perceived reality).
- interpretation and response choice programs.
- action drive programs (their main element is motivation)
The perception program Its mission is to collect as much information as possible about the stimulus (a certain fact or situation) to make a reality with it, that is, to obtain, group and order in a coherent and logical way the information necessary to obtain a mental representation as real as possible of what is being perceived and of the position of the person in front of it. The basic processes of this program are the attention, that selects the elements of the environment to perceive, and the comparison, that relates them to the information stored in memory to obtain a representation of it (it is necessary to recognize and "understand" the stimulus).
The program of interpretation and choice of answer (the SOM) is responsible, on the one hand, for interpreting the stimulus to give it a meaning and predict its possible consequences, and on the other, choosing a response to this stimulus. Its operative is:
a) "If this is perceived, it means such a thing, and it brings these consequences"
b) "In that case, I must act in this way"
The first part refers to the perception and interpretation of the stimulus, so that, based on what the person perceives (and that, on occasions, may not correspond to the authentic objective reality) the program generates an interpretation of the event and assigns a meaning to it (which nature is neutral) which qualifies as harmful (harmful, threatening, dangerous, etc.) by attributing foreseeable negative consequences, giving leading to emotional disturbance and causing the activation of the physiological alarm system with its annoying and unpleasant physical symptoms characteristic. The second part refers to the choice of the response to the disturbing stimulus, therefore, even when the interpretation and its consequences turn out to be correct, the chosen answer may not be correct and give an unexpected result that leads to frustration or a worsening of the situation. If the disturbing event is repeated regularly, it can generate a pattern of interpretation and behavior that are equally repeated.
In this program the most relevant process is logical reasoning (understanding this as the processing of information in a coherent way, that is, making an inference from a conclusion to starting from a set of premises) that interprets the stimulus, generating a meaning and attributing consequences to it and, By virtue of these, he chooses a specific response and gives impulse to the behavioral phase that puts it into practice voluntarily and premeditated. However, there are behavioral responses in which the cognitive phase is very limited.
The action drive program prepares the person for the execution of the chosen action. Its mission is to create the disposition and the mental strength sufficient to overcome laziness, weakness, reluctance, etc. The basic processes of this phase are related to the attitude, will and motivation.
One of the most relevant aspects of mental programs is the mental phenomenon of the conviction, that is, the unquestionable acceptance that the perception, interpretation and assessment that the person has of the stimulus coincides with reality. Likewise, that the conduct carried out by the person is correct, is justified and is proportional to the circumstances.
The phenomenon of conviction it is an emergent property of the mind that arises when the level of correspondence and affinity of the information being processed compared to that stored in memory (knowledge, emotions, experiences, goals and motivation) reaches a certain threshold of coherence, spontaneously arising the conviction that the conclusion reached in the processing of the information is The correct one.
The more arguments we find in favor of an interpretation / assessment and against the antagonistic one, the more easily we will be convinced.
Interactional systemic approach and following the functional model of the mind.
