Maleychuk Gennady Ivanovich The need to know the criteria of psychological health becomes most relevant in the case of the practical work of a psychologist when providing psychological assistance. At the initial stage of working with a client, the psychologist is faced with the problem of diagnosing his current mental state. Both the form of psychological assistance (consulting, correction, psychotherapy) and the choice of methods and means of psychological influence and professional interaction strategies will depend on the result of this diagnosis. At this stage, it is very important what model of health the psychologist adheres to, since the health-illness criteria that he will use in his work will depend on this. To date, there is neither a generally accepted model of health-illness, nor a definition shared by everyone. The variety of definitions is supported by the existence of numerous trends in modern psychology. The most recognized is the definition proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that health is not just the absence of disease, but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of the individual, the perfection of the body, vitality reliability and harmony of all its functions. This definition, despite all its uncertainty and descriptiveness, nevertheless contains a number of important points: 1. An attempt is made to provide a meaningful definition of health, and not a definition from the opposite, as is most often the case: “health is the absence of disease...”;2. Health is considered as a systemic, holistic, complex phenomenon, including several levels: physical, mental, social;3. A positive approach to the definition of health is proposed. The following criteria for mental health are also proposed here: • Awareness and sense of continuity, constancy and identity of one’s physical and mental “I”; • A sense of constancy and identity of experiences in similar situations; • Criticism of oneself and one’s mental products (activity) and its results;• Correspondence of mental reactions (adequacy) to the strength and frequency of environmental influences, social circumstances and situations;• The ability to self-manage behavior in accordance with social norms, rules, laws;• The ability to plan one’s own life activities and implement it;• The ability change the way of behavior depending on changes in life situations and circumstances [3]. It is important that among the listed criteria there are both objective criteria and subjective ones related to a person’s self-perception of himself. In previous publications [6;7], we described the phenomenon of psychological health as a diagnostic tool for a practical psychologist. The appeal to this concept is dictated, firstly, by the limited capabilities of the constructs mental health and the norm of mental health for describing the procedural qualities of the mental, and secondly, by the need to take into account, when determining mental health, such phenomena as personality development, self-actualization, self-regulation, self-identification, etc. Considering mental health as a process involves turning to such phenomena when describing it that would have similar characteristics, namely, processuality. In our opinion, one of such phenomena is the phenomenon of identity, as a dynamic formation of consciousness. Let us define identity as a person’s experience of identity with his “I”. 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 complex systemic procedural unity. The function of this system process, as already indicated, is to clarify,correction and self-construction of the image of oneself, other people and the world as a whole. The result of this process is a self-concept defined for a given moment, built into the concept of the Other and the concept of Life, as a private aspect of the picture of the world, which, along with the self-concept, are structural components of the “identity” system. The above three structural components of the “identity” phenomenon, recorded at a specific moment in the process, are closely dependent and mutually influenced. 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. Thus, 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 [5]. Structural analysis of identity assumes the presence of structural components and complexly integrated connections between them. Structurality and integrity, dynamism and staticity - 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 dwell in more detail on the first two and try to identify the levels and components of identity. In the structure of identity, as mentioned earlier, the following components can be distinguished: Self-concept or image of Self, concept of the Other, or image of the Other, concept of life. Self-concept is a system of a person’s ideas about his Self and attitudes towards it. The concept of the Other is a system of a person’s ideas about the non-I, the Other and relationships to it, the concept of Life, respectively, is a system of a person’s ideas about life, its values, a philosophy of life, a picture of life. A similar picture of the structure of identity is offered by O. Kernberg [4] . Using the term “representation”, he formulated a position about three structural elements of the Ego: • Self-representation or image of the Self, Self-concept; • Object-representation, concept of the Other; • A special affective Ego-state, reflecting the characteristics of the Self-Other relationship. Self-presentation, or self-representation (according to Kernberg), is a concept that refers to the various ways in which an individual symbolizes the image of himself that he experiences (consciously or unconsciously) and the emotions associated with it. Object-representation – combines the ways in which an individual symbolizes the image of a significant Other that he experiences; Ego state is a concept that reflects the functional relationship between the Self and the object and the emotions associated with them. The composition of these affective ego states determines the central sense of identity [10]. Since identity is a property of consciousness, we can assume the presence in identity of levels and structures similar to consciousness, namely: cognitive (knowledge about one’s “I”), emotional (attitude to I and his assessment) and behavioral (projection of the first two levels on interaction with the world). Accordingly, we can say that the structural components of identity will also have distinct levels, i.e. and Self-concept, Other-concept and Life-concept can be considered at the cognitive, emotional and behavioral levels. The quality of these structural components of the Self will determine the specificity of the phenomenon of identity. Identity, like any dynamic property of a person, is a continuum at one pole of which is complete identity with one’s “I,” and at the other, alienation from the “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 toto the non-identification of the Self as a separate system and the dependence of the image of the Self on the situation. I = I |---------------------------------------------- ------------------| Self # Self Identified Self Unidentified Self Psychology deals with the study and description of a person’s experiences of the identity of the Self, 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. In our opinion, knowing the quality of identity, one can determine the level of personality disorder. Both the Self-concept and the concept of the Other and the concept of Life can be differentiated to varying degrees and have varying degrees of integrity and awareness. An undifferentiated self-concept at the cognitive level will manifest itself in the fact that a person’s knowledge about himself will be fragmentary, fragmentary, and contradictory. The attitude towards oneself will also be unstable, unstable, contradictory, dependent on the opinions of other people. An undifferentiated concept of the Other will mean that ideas about the Other will be fragmentary, while the assessment of others will be built according to the polar type “good - bad”, “friend - foe”, etc. The concept of Life will have similar characteristics. Continuum of Self-concept Differentiation of Self-concept Diffusion of Self-concept Integrity of Self-concept Splitness of Self-concept Stability of Self-concept Situational nature of Self-concept Objective perception Perception of Self not based on reality Highly developed skills Poorly developed skills of self-regulation Self-regulation Continuum development of the concept of the OtherConsistency in perception The object of perception of the Other is split Good discrimination Blurred boundaries of the concept of the Other concept of the Other Flexible regulation of proximity Reactions of adherence, distance and distance or ambivalence Perceptions of Others, Perceptions of Others not based on reality based on reality Continuum of development of the concept of Life Holistic picture of life The picture of life is contradictory Differentiation of the picture of life Diffusion of the picture life Perception of life Perception of life not based based on reality on reality Indirect picture of Life Direct picture of life The continuum of mental health - mental ill-health will be determined by the qualities of identity: from a high level of identity development to a low one, up to alienation. Without turning to gross psychopathology, let us consider how one can imagine the identity of a psychologically healthy person and a person with a neurotic personality organization. For a healthy person, self-image will be: 1. Differentiated and holistic. (First dialectical contradiction) (“I’m different, I’m both this and that, but it’s all I, I accept everyone.” E. Yevtushenko has a poem that, in our opinion, very accurately reflects the phenomenology of the mature identity of a psychologically healthy person : “I am different, I am overworked and idle. I am all incompatible, inconvenient, angry and kind...”; 2. Stable and flexible (I am who I am). there is, I know who I am and what I am, but I can change, selectively rebuild myself"). Similar ideas will be observed in relation to the Other person (the generalized image of the Other) and Life. A neurotically organized personality will be characterized by incomplete, diffuse ideas about. in your Self. In general, there will be a tendency towards polar ideas about the qualities of the Self. “I am good, I am bad, etc.” Acceptance of the Self will be directly dependent on the opinions of other people who are significant to the Self. Self-esteem, due to this, will be unstable and situational. Many aspects about the qualities of the Self will be unconscious and not integrated into a holistic idea of ​​the Self. Ideas about the Other person will bebe characterized by similar trends. The image of the Other will be unstable, situational, or, conversely, excessively rigid. Ideas about life will also be unstable, diffuse or too rigid. The presented structural components of identity and their specific features can be recorded in the texts of I-statements. Identity, as mentioned above, depends on the content of the Self-concept and the concept of the Other and the concept of Life and is manifested in a person’s experiences of the Self, the Other and Life, which can be identified through statements related to oneself. I-statements are a person’s self-descriptions, an indicator of knowledge about oneself and attitude towards oneself. We adhere to the point of view of M.M. Bakhtin, who believed that any statement is a process of constructing the Self [2]. The text is a sign broken through the I, so it has not only meaning, but also meaning. The text is always structured; it reflects the course of life, its implementation. The meaning of experiencing one’s Self is embodied in a person’s text, his Self-statement. A statement as “...a unique, historically individual whole” [2; 499] is an expression of consciousness, reflecting something, the statement “... as a subjective reflection of the objective world” [2; 484]. In addition, for us, any statement is not accidental, since, according to S. Freud, in the field of the psyche there is nothing arbitrary, indeterministic. Thus, for us the text as a statement is: individual, expresses consciousness, has meaning and meaning, structured, non-random, expresses the flow of mental life. All of the above gives us the right to assert that in specific I-statements of a person his identity is manifested, as a process of experiencing his I. Let us illustrate this with an example, turning to the real self-descriptions of two people who have identities of different qualities .1. “I am a young woman with my own characteristics: strengths and weaknesses, feelings and desires, goals and dreams. I consider my advantage to be my “easy” character, which allows me to communicate with people without conflicts and quarrels. Thanks to this, I have many friends, a loved one next to me, and this for me is one of the main values ​​in life. I also have shortcomings, but I don’t want to write about them. Currently, my feelings, desires, dreams and goals are connected into a single whole and are aimed at creating a beloved, strong family, and finding a favorite, in-demand job. In my life I always hope for the best, I rejoice in what I have achieved. Overall, I'm a happy person. I love my life very much.”2. “Currently I work as a geography teacher at a secondary school. I'm unhappy with my job. I would like to do quieter (desk) work, since working with people, in my opinion, is the most difficult. In the future, I dream of changing my occupation, but I am facing a big problem. I don't know specifically what I want to become. If I don’t solve this problem in the near future, then I will work in school for a long time.” If the first self-description characterizes a person with a high level of identity, then the second indicates an identity crisis. The above allows us to consider identity as one of the main criteria of psychological health and poses the task of developing methods that allow not only to record this phenomenon, but also to determine the degree of its severity. References 1. Aleksandrovsky Yu.A.. Borderline mental disorders. Guide for doctors. M. Medicine, 1993. 2. Bakhtin M.M. Literary critical articles. - M.: Fiction, 1986. 3. Bukhanovsky et al. General psychopathology: A manual for doctors / Publishing House LRRC "Phoenix", 2003. 4. Kernberg O.F. Severe personality disorders: Strategies for psychotherapy. - “Class”, 2001. 5. Maleychuk G.I. Identity of early youth. Clinical and phenomenological approach: Monograph. - Brest: Br.GU im. A.S. Pushkin, 2001. 6. Maleichuk G.I. Clinical-phenomenological method in the study of psychological health of the individual / Psychology “Aducacy and recovery”, 2005 No. 2 p.43-48 7. Maleichuk G.I. №1, 2004.