Maleychuk Gennady Ivanovich The article makes an attempt to consider mental health from the perspective of the experiences of the person himself. In this approach, the criterion of mental health is the phenomenon of identity, and the subject of the study is the texts of the subjects. Indicators for diagnosing the quality of identity are proposed. Appeal to the concept of “mental health” is important and relevant for the reason that it acts as a central concept in the modern professional, primarily practical activity of a psychologist. The model of mental health used by a psychologist acts as a direct “tool” for assessing the state of a person who has turned to him for help, and how the professional sees this model will largely determine the content and strategy of the psychological assistance provided to him. The emergence in our country of the profession of “practical psychologist” focused attention on a person not as a bearer of symptoms, but as an active “creator” of his own health, which led to the interest and practical need to clarify the term “mental health”. The concept of mental health, defined within the framework of existing medical and The pathopsychological model, acting as a means of thinking in modern theoretical and applied aspects of psychology and psychiatry, today no longer corresponds to the humanization trends of modern society, as well as the demands of psychological practice. Currently, there is a gradual but confident transition from the pathocentric (focus on disease, pathology, treatment) to the modern sanocentric model (focus on health, recovery, prevention) of mental health. In recent publications on psychology, there is an increasingly persistent call for amplification of the concept of “mental health” towards the psychological component (V.I. Slobodchikov, I.V. Dubrovina, A.V. Shuvalov, O.V. Khukhlaeva, etc.). However, despite such interest, an ambiguous situation remained with regard to the term “psychological health”: on the one hand, psychological health in the most general sense is proposed as a meaning-forming and system-forming category of a practicing psychologist, as a criterion for the effectiveness of personality functioning; on the other hand, psychological health remains a metaphor that does not have a specific scientific content (A.V. Shuvalov). The concept of mental health in the context of the psychological model in foreign psychology is developed in the so-called concept of “positive mental health”, the origins of which are representatives of humanistic psychology , like K. Rogers, K.-G Jung A. Maslow, J. Bugental, V. Frankl, etc. The above-mentioned authors define mental health through the prism of personality in terms of activity and personal development. At the present stage of development of psychology, their ideas have found their embodiment primarily in various systems of psychological practices (client-centered psychotherapy, existential-humanistic, logotherapy, gestalt therapy, etc.) As for theoretical psychology, here everything becomes more complicated due to the descriptive nature of those used by humanistically oriented concept psychologists. In Russia, the development of this concept is carried out in the works of I.V. Dubrovina, B.S. Bratusya, V.I. Slobodchikova, A.V. Shuvalova, E.R. Kalitievskaya, V.I. Ilyicheva, O.V. Khukhlaeva and others. In the works of these authors, the idea of ​​a new approach to understanding mental health is developed in line with the humanistic tradition and is embodied in an attempt to substantiate the term “psychological health.” The above-mentioned authors, firstly, talk about a holistic approach to the study of man, and secondly, they are not limited to the idea of ​​man only as a mental dimension, but insist on the need to highlight the “personal”, “spiritual” as a special dimension. So, for example, I.V. Dubrovina talks about psychological health as a conceptcharacterizing the personality as a whole and reflecting the highest manifestations of the human spirit. Thus, it can be argued that today in psychology there is a need to develop the concept of “mental health” with clarification of both the concept itself and the criteria that determine its content and quality. The phenomenon of mental health can be considered at two levels of manifestation: external, considering it from a from the point of view of the observer (doctor, psychologist), and internal, or subjective, from the point of view of the person himself, experiencing himself as healthy or unhealthy. In our work, the focus is on the subjective level of manifestation of mental health, which determined the appeal to such concepts as “experience”, “text”, “I-statement”. As a systemic concept that integrates all the previous ones, we considered the concept of “identity.” Mental health is a dynamic, processual phenomenon; its assessment must be approached taking into account its characteristics. Considering mental health as a process involves turning to such phenomena when describing it that would have similar characteristics, namely, processuality, dynamism, and integrity. In our opinion, one of such phenomena that could act as an integrative criterion of mental health is the phenomenon of identity, as a dynamic formation of consciousness. V.P. Zinchenko and E.B. Morgunov, discussing units of psychological analysis, propose the following requirements for them:• The unit should not be a diffuse or syncretic formation, but a structural formation, a coherent psychological structure;• The unit should contain, in the opposite form, the properties of the whole;• Units that preserve the structural properties of the whole, must be capable of development, including self-development; • The unit must be a living part of the whole; • The unit of analysis must allow one to explore the relationship of the psychological function (or process) being studied to the fullness of the life of consciousness as a whole and to its most important functions [1]. Identity, in our opinion, meets all of the above requirements. Identity is a dynamic, developing, structural, multi-level, complexly organized, holistic, procedural formation. Consideration of identity as a criterion of mental health is not new. A number of authors (E. Erickson, O. Kernberg, R. Burns, J. Bugental, R. Laing and others) attach special importance to the formation and formation of a healthy identity as the basis, the core of a person’s personality developing in all its diversity and consider identity an integrative criterion of personal health. For E. Erikson, mature identity or psychosocial identity is a firmly acquired and personally accepted image of “oneself,” together with all the richness of the individual’s relationships to the surrounding world and corresponding forms of behavior, acts as an important characteristic of the integrity of the individual at the highest levels of development. “...A healthy person actively builds his environment, is characterized by a certain unity of personality and is able to adequately perceive the world and himself” [2, p. 101]. Identity is a condition of mental health, a characteristic of a sufficiently mature personality. For G. Amon, self-identity is a nuclear psychological formation that ensures the integrity of the individual and is closely connected with central mental functions [11]. “Health is not the absence of illness, but security and freedom of one’s own identity, its constructively aggressive and creative implementation in a group” [3. p.222]. The concept of identity, as already mentioned, refers to those concepts that consider mental reality as a holistic, dynamic formation. By identity or self-identity we understand the process of a person experiencing his Self as belonging to him, that is, the experience of identity with himself, his Self. This understanding of identity is based on the ideas of considering this phenomenon in line with the existential-humanisticconcepts (A. Maslow, R. May, J. Bugental, etc.) So, for example, J. Bugental talks about internal, genuine, procedural identity, contrasting it with external identity, formed in society and having rigidity. This kind of internal identity is formed as a result of personal and spiritual growth, as a result of internal awareness, internal listening. Identity, being the unit of a person’s experience of his Self as belonging to himself, acts as one of the manifestations of the content of mental reality, makes it possible to highlight his own Self, its non-identity with Another . The choice of identity as an experience of one’s Self as a criterion for mental health is not accidental, since experience as “...an internal attitude...to one or another moment of reality” [4. p.383] is a dynamic unit of consciousness, in which “... the basic properties of consciousness are given as such,” every experience according to L.S. Vygotsky, “...there is always an experience of something.” Experience is the basic unit for the study of personality and environment, since “experience is the unit of personality and environment” [4. p.386]. A similar point of view is shared by V.P. Zinchenko, arguing that “not only every mental experience is an experience of the Self, but in every experience the latter is contained entirely” [5. p.8]. The concept of identity, which we understand as the process of a person’s experience of his Self, is a concretization of the experience of L.S. Vygotsky as an experience aimed at the Self. Thus, identity acts as a process and result of experiencing internal reality, one’s Self. The experience is characterized by the following features: 1. Through experience we can imagine the unity of personal and environmental moments.2. Experience is a person’s internal attitude to a particular moment of reality.3. Experience is intentional. Every experience is always an experience of something. There is no experience that is not an experience of something.4. The experience is individual, since it shows “what the environment is for the individual at a given moment.”5. Experience is a dynamic unit of consciousness. Identity is a continuous, changing flow of a person's experiences of his identity. This is a dynamic, complex, internal formation, which is normally in the process of constant refinement, construction of the image of one’s Self, inscribed in the context of the external environment - the world and other people, and represents a systemic procedural unity. The function of this systemic process, as already indicated, is the clarification, correction and self-construction of the image of oneself, other people and the world as a whole. The result of this process is the self-concept and the concept of the Other, defined for a given moment, which are structural components of the “identity” system. The above structural components of the “identity” phenomenon are closely dependent and mutually influential. Each individual component of the system simultaneously carries all the basic qualities of the system, but cannot represent the entire system, which, in the totality of all structural components, as is known, represents a new quality. On the other hand, according to systems theory, a change in any of the components of the system automatically leads to a restructuring of the entire system. Consequently, identity as a dynamic property of a person can be considered as a structure and as a function, as a process and as a result. Structural-dynamic analysis of identity assumes the presence of structural components and complexly integrated connections between them. Structurality and integrity, dynamism and stability – these are the dialectical properties of identity. Only the presence of these contradictory properties at the same time makes it possible to talk about the existence of true identity. Let us highlight indicators of identity quality using a theoretical analysis of the literature on this issue. Indicators of identity quality In relation to the indicator, the criterion is at a higher levelgeneralizations. Indicators are something by which one can judge the state, development, progress of something; they are used as indicators of degree or change. They record a certain state or level of development of the reality under study according to a selected criterion. Since identity is a related phenomenon of consciousness, it will have similar indicators. In psychiatry, formal signs of consciousness are known, proposed by K. Jaspers: • Sense of activity - awareness of oneself as an active being; • Awareness of my own unity: at every given moment I am aware that I am one; • Awareness of one’s own identity: I remain who I have always been; • Awareness that “I” is different from the rest of the world, from everything that is not “I” [6]. According to K. Jaspers, “Within these four characteristics, consciousness “I” shows different levels of development: from the simplest, wretched existence to a full-blooded life, rich in a wide variety of conscious experiences” [6, p. 23]. In psychology, M. Rosenberg identified the following parameters for the development of a person’s self-awareness: • The degree of cognitive complexity and differentiation of the self-image, measured by the number and nature of the connection of perceived personal qualities. The more of his qualities a person isolates and relates to his Self, the more complex and generalized these qualities are, the higher the level of self-awareness;• The degree of subjective significance of the self-image for the individual;• The degree of internal integrity, consistency of the self-image;• The degree of stability, stability of the self-image in time; • The degree of self-acceptance, a positive or negative attitude towards oneself. In the characterization of identity that E.T. Sokolov as a “sustainably experienced identity of the Self in time and space”, she identifies the following qualities: integrity, differentiation, dynamism and stability [7, p. 4]. Analysis of indicators of self-awareness and identity shows the presence in these formations of a number of seemingly contradictory opposite qualities that are actually dialectically related: integrity and differentiation, dynamism and stability. Constancy (stability) and variability (dynamism) The concept of identity is characterized by duality, which, as P. Ricoeur notes , in relation to the question of a person’s self-identity turns into an antinomy [8]. On the one hand, this is something that reaches a culmination in its development and gains some integrity and completeness during the puberty period, on the other hand, we can see identity as constantly changing until the very end of life, never remaining unchanged. How are these seemingly contradictory qualities combined in identity? The transition from something unchangeable to the opposite that fills it is the essence of the dialectical development of identity in the history of the individual’s existence. About this certain semantic ambiguity, P. Ricoeur writes the following. Identity exists in two meanings: firstly, “the same” – similar, similar, unchangeable (idem – Latin, “the same”) [8]. Secondly, the “same” is itself, any individual is himself. Here we are not talking about identity in the sense of immutability, but about continuity, i.e. self-identity during changes. Continuity here appears in the meaning of continuity. Ricoeur points out the antinomy of identity: personality has a certain unchanging basis, and at the same time we know that everything in us changes [8]. Stability is manifested, firstly, in the feeling of oneself as an unchangeable person, regardless of changes in the situation, role, self-perception; secondly, in experiencing your past, present and future as a whole; thirdly, in the feeling of the connection between one’s own continuity and the recognition of this continuity by other people. Based on this, identity is considered as a certain structure consisting of certain elements, experienced subjectively as a feeling of identity and continuity of one’s own personality when perceived by other people who recognize this identity and continuity. Dynamism is experienced as the potential variability of oneself, one’sI, openness to new experiences, as a condition for development. E. Erikson understands the process of identity development as simultaneously integration and differentiation of various interrelated elements (identifications). For each person, these elements form a unique gestalt. Whenever any changes occur - biological or social - the integrating work of the ego and the restructuring of the elements of identity are necessary, since the destruction of the structure leads to loss of identity and associated negative states, including depression and suicide. Identity development comes from the unconscious identity to the conscious. Conscious identity presupposes the presence of the ability to reflect. J. Marcia also notes in his latest publications that identity develops throughout a person’s life [9]. He introduces a distinction between two ways to achieve identity: 1) gradual awareness of some data about oneself (name, citizenship, abilities, etc.), this path leads to the formation of an assigned, or premature, identity; 2) a person’s independent decision-making regarding what he should be - this path leads to the formation of a constructed, or achieved, identity. Thus, identity as a function is a dynamic, constantly changing subjective reality of the experience of one’s Self, as a structure - relatively stable over time the formation of the Self-concept and the concept of the Other. Identity performs an essential and integrative function in the psyche, being the core that holds together and around which the personality is united. But identity is not just a configuration. One can also define identity as an important mental function, which is a necessary condition for the existence of the individual. As a mental function, identity is characterized by its dynamic constancy. In clinical psychology, the parameter of stability of self-identity is given special attention, which is explained, firstly, by its diagnostic significance in connection with disorders of self-awareness, and secondly, by the close interest of modern psychoanalysis and clinical psychology in the phenomenology of “diffuse ", "chameleon-like", "false", "situational" identity (O. Kernberg, S. Akhtar, E.T. Sokolova). On the other hand, excessive stability leads to staticity, rigidity - a quality of identity characteristic of clients of a neurotic level. Consequently, the optimal balance here would be dynamism - staticity. Differentiation - diffuseness Another indicator of the quality of identity is the degree of its differentiation. According to the general law of development formulated by V.S. Solovyov, identity, like every developing formation, goes through three obligatory moments in its development: primary, poorly defined and united integrity; differentiation, dismemberment of primary integrity; internal free connectivity, organic free unity of all elements within the whole. The most general logic of the development of systems involves a movement from a fused, undifferentiated, undivided unity to differentiation and the formation of clearly defined boundaries of subsystems as a necessary condition for their subsequent interaction and integration into a single whole. It is worth noting that such general principles can relate to the organization of any system - both “internal”, such as self-identity, and “external”, for example, to the system of family relations. In the historical process, “the syncretism of indivisibility is replaced by relations of opposing oneself first to the world, then to other people, then establishing varying degrees of coherence or opposition, reciprocity or disunity" [10]. K. Jaspers, in his monograph “General Psychopathology,” reflecting on differentiation, writes that, firstly, it means an increase in qualitative forms of experience. Secondly, it means the division of a generalized, vague mental experience into a number of clearly defined experiences, which imparts richness and depth to the experience as a whole. From individualphenomena of a low level as a result of such differentiation, phenomena of a higher level are born; vague instinctive life is enriched with new content. Increased differentiation leads to greater clarity and awareness. Vague sensations and feelings give way to clear thoughts [11].E.T. Sokolova writes that diffuse identity is considered as “a nuclear formation within the borderline personality organization, which is found primarily in borderline and narcissistic personality disorders as the absence of a coherent and stable sense of one’s own individual certainty [12, p. 5]. Integrity - fragmentation Under the integrity of identity O. Kernberg in this case implies the integration of individual elements of the identity of the Self and object-representations. Good integration of the Self and object-representations according to Kernberg is characteristic of the neurotic level (the highest level of functioning within the framework of psychoanalysis), and the less integrated the Self is, the more likely it is to have a borderline and psychotic level of mental functioning [13].E. Jacobson considered the criterion of identity formation to be the ability of the Self to recognize the entire integrity of its own mental organization (despite its increasing structure, differentiation and complexity) [14]. N.I. Nepomnyashchaya, studying the dependence of fragmentation (dissociation) or integrity of the self-image on the peculiarities of awareness of self-reflection, determined that “the higher the level of self-reflection, i.e. The broader and richer the content from the standpoint of which a person reflects himself, the more stable his Self is, the more preserved the integrity of the personality. That is, the ability to remain oneself depends on “going beyond” oneself (transcending) [108]. In all the described cases of dissociation, it is the “integral-reflexive self” that suffers. “Thus, we can say that the “integral-reflexive self” represents the basis of the integrity of the individual” [15, p. 153]. The holistic-reflexive Self is a person’s experience of his universality and infinity, his identity with the world (ibid.). She identifies levels of self-reflection as indicators of integrity-dissociation:• “Situational Self” (I am immersed in specific situations, lack of reflection;• Partially value-oriented Self (rising above random, any situational, selectivity of significant specific situations;• Value Self (rising above specific particular situations to the most significant generalized content; • Holistic-reflexive self (Going beyond the value selves). To summarize, let us formulate some perspectives on the theoretical study of the problem. Despite the known differences in interpretations, the authors, in our opinion, are united in drawing the ontogenetic line of development. identity, which goes from a fragmented, specific, partial “partial” image of the Self to a holistic and generalized one; from emotionally labile, “fluid”, loaded with affects and undifferentiated representations of oneself and the Other - to a more differentiated, complexly organized and cognitively-affectively balanced structure. , capable of organizing and “holding” contradictory and ambivalent experience, a structure that, in the course of development, becomes increasingly free from the direct influence of satisfaction/frustration, affective oppositions of “good” and “bad.” In other words, the development of self-identity can be understood in terms of the increasing differentiation of private identifications from the direct influence of affects, and, consequently, the development of more advanced self-regulation mechanisms that can provide the entire system with greater stability (“constancy”), integration, and integrity. We also come to the conclusion that the key factor in its normal or abnormal functioning should be considered the level of self-regulation mechanisms, so that the “primitive level” of defense mechanisms, typical of the borderline personality organization, will not be able to ensure the stability and integration of the self in the face of frustrations ininterpersonal interactions. Analysis of indicators of identity and its structural components (Self-concept and concept of the Other) identified their similar parameters, which is not accidental. From systems theory it is known that the elements of the system have the same qualities as the entire system as a whole. Identity, like any dynamic property of a person, is a continuum at one pole of which is complete identity with one’s “I”, at the other - alienation from “ I". Consequently, identity can be represented in the form of a scale (identity scale) containing different degrees of expression of a given dynamic formation. The pole of the identified or “true self” can be expressed in the form of the following self-experiences: “I know who I am and accept myself as I am. I am me". The pole of the unidentified or “pseudo-I” is characterized by a diffuse image of one’s Self, up to the non-identification of the Self as a separate system and the dependence of the image of the Self on the situation. Figure 1. – Continuum of identity I = I |------------- ------------------------------------| I # I Identified I Unidentified I Psychology deals with the study and description of a person’s experiences of the identity of the I, including minor violations of this identity. Psychiatry gives us descriptions of gross violations of identity, up to its complete disintegration in a state of psychosis, in which the sense of “I” is completely lost. The following are identified as specific forms of identity disorders in psychiatry: depersonalization, dissociative disorders, multiple personality disorders. 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