for help. Some time ago, I described these phenomena in several publications, referring to them as “a syndrome of unclear head,” or “cerebral energy deficiency syndrome’ (Ermoshin, A., 2002, 2008).
We have planned to take some action aimed at decreasing the level of stress and maintaining the healthy condition of the blood vessels. These actions can help us re-establish the efficient functioning of the brain and prevent panic attacks, hypertension, or a brain haemorrhage as well as establish an effective learning pattern.
Influence of upbringing
Speech block can manifest itself not only in case of a foreign language, but it can also be connected with the conditions of one’s upbringing. There are families where communication does not really seem to play such an important role. Parents and kids either simply have no time to talk or, what is much worse, children are asked to “keep their mouths shut’. There is a syndrome called “alexythymia,” where a person suffering from it is not capable of identifying emotions and expressing them. There are also cases when a child stops talking, as a result, of a deep emotional trauma. These reactions are called “selective mutism’ (Shevchenko, Y.S. et al., 2007/ Шевченко Ю. С. с соавт., 2007).
A gag in the mouth
A colleague of mine once told me that he had to work with a girl who involuntarily stuffed handkerchiefs or paper tissues into her mouth. From their sessions and the conversation with her parents, he found out that she had often been told to “keep her mouth shut’. When she did not obey, she was often punished. It is no wonder this patient developed a major neurosis14.
Tensions in the relationship with the parents or with the teachers can often have a negative effect on the speech.
Influence of historical associations
A language can be seen as attractive or repellent because of the associations it evokes.
For example, in the USSR in the 70-ies, the English language was often associated with rock’n’roll and freedom. “I would learn English only because Lennon spoke it” was a famous phrase among fans of the Beatles back then (which is a changed quote from Mayakovsky’s “I would learn Russian only because Lenin spoke it”). Nowadays, English is the language of international communication, and people seem to have a more neutral reaction to it. We will have to wait and see what it will be associated with in the future.
Not so long ago, German was closely associated with fascism, tragic moments in the history of Russia and pain.
The soldiers are fighting back
Inna lived in the South of Russia, and these are her impression from her trip to Germany. She went on a ferry cruise on the river Rhine.
As she was standing on the deck and listening to the ubiquitous German speech, she was trying to feel this language. Suddenly, she felt that every cell of her body was trying to resist it. It felt as if, as on some round screen, she saw the following picture: “Russian soldiers organized an all-round defence and were shooting back from every available weapon at the German words, which were trying to get into my mind and body.” She was surprised to experience such a sensation since there had not been any particular stories connected with WWII in her family history. “After this experiment, my body was filled with this obsessive vigilance and a wish (just in case) to leave this very hospitable country15.”
The war ended a long time ago, but many people of older generations still need to make a special effort in order to leave the captivity of their historical associations. Younger generations have a more tolerant attitude to Germany and the German language.
A primordial instinct
A negative attitude to the sound of foreign speech goes a long way back and can be explained by the evolutionary experience of humanity.
Everything is on fire
Elvira, who was born in Kazakhstan, describes the images that come to her mind when she hears the sound of French: “Soldiers are galloping by with a whooping sound. They bring suffering and pain. Everything is burning. I feel a terrible fear in my stomach.”
This reaction might seem odd if we take into account the fact that Elvira’s husband is Belgian, and that she has already been living in Europe for several years16.
Xenophobia (fear of the foreigners) and parochial altruism (love towards the ones from your tribe) are written down in our genes. The results of research conducted by evolutionary psychologists confirm this fact (Markov A., 2012). It is important to know about it in order not to become a slave of your own instincts, and it is necessary to be aware that there are different nations and different languages and, hence, update the attitude we initially inherited from our collective unconsciousness. We need to do certain cultural work so that we could rise above our own biologically defined hostile reaction to “others.”
Organic lesion of the central nervous system
The difficulties connected with focusing one’s attention due to the consequences of certain brain injuries require a separate matter. Such traumas can be prenatal, natal, and postnatal (let’s also take our chance at learning something about Latin and Italian: “nato’ means “born,” and “Natale’ means “Christmas’).
“Prenatal’ means before having been born, and “natal’ means during the labour. The most likely cause in these cases is the lack of oxygen during pregnancy or labour (if the umbilical cord is clamped, etc.)17.
Postnatal traumas are received after birth. Falling out of a cot, getting hit in the head by a swing, hitting the head against ice: all these situations are far from being rare. Apart from that, you can also add general anaesthesia, a suns stroke, consequences of the flu with fever, meningitis, brain concussion in adulthood, consequences of drinking alcohol, and the influence of other unfavourable conditions. All these illnesses can take their toll on our attention and memory.
Some of the characteristics of such sort of problems can be diagnosed with the help of the test called “A constructive drawing of a person’. In the drawing, you will see a head filled with the round elements (eyes, a nose, a mouth), or there will be a hat or hair standing on end; at the same time, there will be a relatively ‘calm’ body (made of one rectangular block).
Fig. 9. A constructive drawing of a person in case of cerebral concussion: an overall relaxed body with “hair on end” on the head as the sign of the local suffering, without affecting the other parts of the body. In case of asphyxiation lesion (clamping of an umbilical cord at birth, for example) there will be a face, filled with elements: eyes, a nose, a mouth.
If such symptoms are discovered, then it calls for a special treatment to restore the balance of inhibitory and excitative cerebral processes (bromides, magnesium compounds, etc.) as well as brain nutritive compounds (nootropics). The medication, as mentioned above, is usually prescribed by neurologists.
Depressants
As told by Y. Ilyin in 2014.
Written down in Trier, Germany in 2009.
Written down in Odintsovo, Russia, in 2010.
Using proper medical terms, we should call it “a residual organic lesion of the central nervous system of post-asphyxial cause.”
