In the conditions of long voyages, the need for psychological help arises when the team has the following more or less pronounced psychological characteristics that manifest themselves in relationships and relationships. A state of stress arises and developsas a consequence of increasedinternal (psychological) tension.

when the team has the following more or less pronounced psychological characteristics that manifest themselves in relationships and relationships. A state of stress arises and develops as a consequence of increased internal (psychological) tension.

Externally, it can manifest itself in two forms:

1. Increased emotional response to all influences; intemperance in relationships; a sharp, inadequate reaction to incoming information; irritability over trifles;
2. reduced activity, the desire for solitude, "withdrawal into oneself", heavy internal experiences, "ostentatious" desire to be calm and balanced;

Hysteria is usually the result of prolonged stress: loss of control over their behavior, intemperance of speech, illogical words and actions, "fixated" on failures;

The state of affect occurs suddenly and develops rapidly, in conditions of prolonged physical and mental fatigue. The primary causative agent is, most often, an unexpected strong external influence (information, someone's act, some kind of behavior, the action of personnel. On the contrary, for many it manifests itself in the improvement of personal properties and qualities, in the desire for self-regulation. Homesick for his family, the sailor thinks about a lot, evaluates himself and his relationships in a new way, seeks to correct what he has done as a result of a mistake. But for some, especially inexperienced young sailors, nostalgia can acquire the property of apathy or depression, and then it can be very difficult with-out the help of the command staff or experienced sailors.

Apathy, arises and develops gradually, as physical and moral stress increases. It manifests itself in a decrease in business activity, the appearance of indifference, indifference to their duties, to public life. In its extreme manifestation, a person in a state of apathy descends, ceases to take care of himself, does not even follow the basic rules of personal hygiene (does not wash, stops shaving, does not keep track of his clothes, order in the cabin, etc.); Depression, characterized by a negative emotional background, which has a retarding effect on physical and mental activity. It arises and develops gradually in the process of increasing longing for the shore, repeated heavy experiences of isolation from the earth, from relatives and friends. In extreme cases, a feeling of hopelessness, depression, resignation to fate is possible. Under the influence of such difficult experiences, volitional regulation of one's behavior is lost. Their duties are burdensome, time drags slowly. A person gets tired quickly, makes mistakes, can leave his post, not react to the given command, fall asleep on watch; Obsession, as a mental state, is formed in some sailors under the influence of such features as the everyday monotony of repetitive events and life facts from day to day. T/X is following a set course, the ocean is moderately calm, everything around is familiar, recognizable, even if it is the first time in these areas. The daily routine of life on the ship is painted to the smallest detail. Watchkeeping, rest and leisure are all according to plan. Nothing new, no surprises. In these conditions, someone directs their efforts to improve their specialty, others participate in amateur performances, many are fond of sports, fiction, art, creativity. Some sailors have painful ideas about their past and future, which are not peculiar to him and, as it were, imposed from the outside. These alien-imposed thoughts, opinions, ideas are unpleasant to him. He would like to get rid of them, but the more he strives for this, the more they stop his consciousness. They are always with him and often he wakes up in a cold sweat from dreaming of these very phenomena. The negative impact of obsessive states on individual seafarers can be very significant.

• Nostalgia, a condition characteristic of all sailors, in which longing for a distant Homeland, for the shore, for home, for family is expressed. In most cases, nostalgia does not have a negative impact on the behavior and activities of personnel. On the contrary, for many it manifests itself in the improvement of personal properties and qualities, in the desire for self-regulation. Homesick for his family, the sailor thinks about a lot, evaluates himself and his relationships in a new way, seeks to correct what he has done as a result of a mistake. But for some, especially inexperienced young sailors, nostalgia can acquire the property of apathy or depression, and then it is difficult without the help of a specialist.

The activity of seafarers in conditions of long-distance navigation is caused by a violation of habitual life activity, the constant presence of crew members in conditions of limited space, monotonous activity, a sharp narrowing of external social ties, in particular separation from family, relatives, increased risk of emergencies, etc. One of the complex mental states that occur in persons in conditions of limited space and special conditions of professional activity at sea, is a state of loneliness. The perception of loneliness in a situation of group isolation of the professional activity of seafarers is conditioned by a combination of psych emotional states generated by objective and subjective factors. The study and understanding of the peculiarities of the subjective perception of loneliness will allow us to determine the main ways of psychological assistance to long-distance seafarers, choose the most effective means of correctional work with them by a psychologist, develop appropriate programs for psycho prophylax is of the consequences of experiencing loneliness of seafarers. Crew members often find it difficult to adapt to the conditions on the ship. Stress factors include confined space, vibration, jet lag, daily routine, limited social circle, and so on. Unlike coastal specialists, a sailor cannot leave the watch at any moment, see and mentally relax with his loved ones, throw out what worries him. Any reproach expressed (rightly or wrongly) can shake an already stressed psyche. In this regard, the command staff has an additional task to rally the crew into a single team.

The personal reasons for loneliness also include low self-esteem. The feeling of loneliness generated by such self-esteem often leads to a person's feeling of unfitness and worthlessness. A lonely person is an emotionally detached subject of communication, having relatively changed structures of values and social needs, avoiding social contacts and responsibility for decision-making in a particular interpersonal situation. That is, one of the main criteria of loneliness in the socio-psychological aspect is the level of communication. In my opinion, the determinants of loneliness are most often manifested in a complex, that is, in a certain relationship and interdependence. Both experiences and the state of loneliness are first considered only in one negative modality. Recently, more and more researchers tend to see loneliness not only as a form of crisis, but also as a condition for personal development. Considering this, it should be determined that along with the manifestation of the patterns and psychological determinants of loneliness described above, the psychological nature and factors of loneliness experienced by long-distance sailors are supplemented by the specific content of the special conditions of their activities and the system of ideas and attitudes to family life.

According to the results of unstructured interviews conducted by V. Stepanenko, it can be noted that the perception of loneliness by sailors has two main vectors:

1. Perception of the temporary emotional state associated with work at sea;
2. perception of lifestyle, regarding the creation of a family and establishing relationships with others. Thus, the theoretical analysis of various approaches to substantiating the psychological nature of loneliness allows us to define it as a complex phenomenon expressing a certain form of self-knowledge; a psychogenic factor of the emotional state and experience of a person who is in isolation conditions; the essential characteristic of the psychological development of the individual. Among the psychological determinants of a person's loneliness, the most prominent are the internal psychological properties of the personality, as well as certain psychological states, such as self-doubt, isolation, depression, inner emptiness, low self-esteem, avoidance of interpersonal communication, stress factors.

Much attention is paid to the diagnosis of mental states in psychology. To do this, they use various methods, including testing for attention, logical thinking, and memory.

For example, in order to determine the level of emotional and stressful states, testing is most often used. There are 50 statements in the questionnaire of this scale. Answering them, it is necessary to write "Yes" if you think that this statement corresponds to your behavior or character, "No" if you do not agree with this statement, "I do not know" if you find it difficult to answer.

• Questionnaire for long-distance seafarers.

1. I usually work with a lot of stress.
2. After the watch, I fall asleep with difficulty.
3. Unexpected changes in the usual environment are unpleasant for me.
4. I often have nightmares.
5. It is difficult for me to concentrate during exercises, classes and trainings.
6. I have extremely restless and intermittent sleep
7. I would like to be as happy as, in my opinion, others are happy.
8. Of course, I lack self-confidence.
9. My health worries me a lot.
10. At times I feel completely useless.
11. I often cry, I have "wet eyes".
12. I notice that my hands start to shake when I try to do something difficult or dangerous.
13. At times, when I am confused, I have severe sweating and this extremely worries and confuses me.
14. I often catch myself worrying about something.
15. I often think about things I don't want to talk about.
16. Even on cold days, I sweat easily.
17. I have periods of such anxiety that I cannot be on watch.
18. Ship's watch is almost always associated with extraordinary tension for me.
19. I am much more sensitive than my comrades.
20. I am easily confused.
21. My position among my comrades worries me greatly.
22. It is very difficult for me to concentrate on performing my duties on watch.
23. In swimming, I feel anxiety almost all the time because of the expectation of danger.
24. Sometimes I get so excited that it's hard for me to fall asleep.
25. I had to experience fear even when I knew that nothing was threatening me.
26. I tend to take things too seriously.
27. It sometimes seems to me that such difficulties are piled up in front of me that I cannot overcome them.
28. Sometimes it seems to me that I am good for nothing.
29. I feel insecure about my abilities almost all the time.
30. In swimming, I am very worried about possible failures.
31. Expectations always make me nervous.
32. There were periods when heavy premonitions deprived me of sleep.
33. Sometimes I get upset over nothing.
34. I am an easily excitable person.
35. I am often afraid that I am about to blush.
36. I do not have the spirit to endure all the upcoming difficulties of swimming.
37. Sometimes it seems to me that my nervous system is shaken, and I am about to fail.
38. Usually, my hands and feet are quite warm.
39. I usually have a smooth and good mood.
40. I almost always feel quite happy.
41. When I have to wait for something for a long time, I can do it calmly.
42. I rarely have headaches after experiencing worries and troubles.
43. I don't have a heartbeat when waiting for something new or difficult.
44. My nerves are no more upset than other people's.
45. I am confident in myself.
46. Compared to my friends, I consider myself quite brave.
47. I am no shyer than others.
48. I'm usually calm and it's not easy to get me out of myself.
49. Practically I never blush.
50. I can sleep peacefully after any troubles. To process the received data, it is necessary:

• Count the number of "Yes" answers in statements from 1to 37;
• Count the number of "No" answers in statements from 38 to 50;
• Count the number of "Don't know" responses across the entire questionnaire and divide them by 2;
• Summarize the results obtained.

The larger the amount received, the greater the state of anxiety. This is especially noticeable in stressful situations when emotional tension reaches high values. In long voyages, the occurrence of such conditions is not uncommon. Therefore, the diagnosis of mental states of personnel using the considered methodology may be justified. Of course, an anxious state, increased anxiety is not stress yet. But this is already a very likely prerequisite for stress, and possibly a stronger discharge of accumulated internal tension. Sigmund Freud also emphasized that stress occurs when a person has an unbearable idea that comes into sharp conflict with fundamental values. "An unbearable idea," he wrote, "is excluded and forms an isolated mental group together with everything connected with it. But initially it had to be presented in consciousness, entering the main stream of thoughts, otherwise there would not have been a conflict that is the reason for such an exclusion." It is these moments that Freud considers "traumatic". It is then, he claims, that the conversion takes place, as a result of which there is a "dismemberment of consciousness" and a "hysterical symptom" occurs. In this case, there is resistance to any attempt to establish a connection between unbearable ideas and conscious processes.

Therefore, in order to prevent stress, it is necessary to find out the cause of unbearable ideas (in our case, anxiety, anxiety) and help a person get rid of them. However, the whole difficulty lies precisely in finding out the causes of a particular mental state of a person, because most often mental phenomena do not manifest themselves according to the clear principle of "cause investigation". The same mental state can have a variety of reasons, and it is very difficult to understand which case the psychologist is dealing with. Moreover, even if this understanding exists, it is just an assumption or interpretation. In our case, the cause of anxiety in a young sailor participating in a long voyage for the first time was identified with a high degree of reliability and timely assistance was provided to him in overcoming those "unbearable ideas" that gave rise to anxiety and anxiety.

Another variant of the express survey is based on choosing from the proposed list of adjectives those of them that, in the opinion of the interlocutor, most correspond to his mental state. In this case, he is offered a list from which he selects 5-7 words. To work with personnel on a hike, the following list of words is recommended:

The analysis of the words chosen by the interlocutor allows us to judge to a certain extent about his mental state and emotional predisposition. In a long voyage, the sailor's self-assessment of his mental state is of great importance. A person always and in any conditions to some extent observes himself, tries to understand his feelings and perceptions, in his relationships and relationships. For many, this happens involuntarily and therefore is not always realized. In such cases, changes in his condition may have both a positive and a negative orientation.

It often happens that a sailor, under the influence of the monotony of ship life, fatigue, changes in physical well-being (the appearance of headaches, insomnia, loss of appetite), begins to develop irritability that is not characteristic of him, inattention to comrades, intemperance. Observing themselves, assessing changes, many sailors consciously try to regulate their states and intuitively find effective ways of such self-regulation. But for some it doesn't work out. In this case, he closes himself in, becomes gloomy, sullen, inattentive. Another sailor, on the contrary, is excessively active, talkative, obsessive.

In all these cases, it is possible to correct the negative socio-psychological tendency that has appeared in the crew with timely psychological help. And one of the most effective ways of such assistance would be a timely explanation to the personnel before the voyage, possible conditions of a long voyage, their expected impact on the well-being of sailors and their training in self- assessment techniques available in ship conditions of their mental states and their self-regulation.

In the psychological method, the following four types are distinguished according to the techniques used and the methods of their implementation, regardless of the specific living conditions:— The first type is unconscious self—regulation, carried out when a sailor, being in a serious state of high internal tension (possibly on the verge of a psychological breakdown, hysteria, affect) tries to distract himself, do another thing, change the situation. At the same time, he fusses, grabs one thing, throws it, moves on to another. He needs to speak out, to vent his inner energy on others. For some in this case, a good way out is hard physical labor.

But on a ship with its strict schedule and the strictest organization, the set of such opportunities is limited to the limit. Therefore, a sailor, if he has not completely lost control over himself, most often intuitively limits his activity, restrains himself by willpower, as if calms down. But inside it continues to rage and this energy rushes from the brain to the internal organs, affecting the work of the heart, stomach, lungs. "Centrifugal reaction to internal organs hits weak organs the hardest. Ultimately, they may not work, they may not withstand strong tension, they may "break down". That is why most coronary diseases and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract have a psychogenic system." Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the translation of a person's external reaction to internal restraint does not completely eliminate the mental stress that has arisen and, therefore, its negative effect on the body continues and can accumulate, so to speak, in a "canned" form.

The provision of psychological assistance in such cases should be aimed at relieving the internal tension of a person in compliance with all the norms and rules of statutory relationships in the crew. Experience shows that in such cases, the role of such assistance can be performed by any thoughtful external influence, including a clear order from the captain.

— The second type — as well as the first — is unconscious self-regulation. It is based on the physiological possibility of activating the central nervous system through muscular nervous impulses. Without going into the physiological subtleties of this process, I note that with strong muscle tension, the central nervous system is activated through the medium of reticular information. "With muscle relaxation, on the contrary, the influx of nervous impulses into the brain is reduced, thereby reducing the overall level of activation of the body... Thus, an increase or decrease in muscle tone causes, respectively, an increase or decrease in the activity of the central nervous system." Consequently, by arbitrary relaxation or tension of the muscles of the corresponding areas of the skeletal muscles can strengthen or weaken (drown out) certain emotional states. For example, it has been found that "In depressive states, the respiratory muscles are strained, in the emotions of fear, the muscles of the speech motor apparatus and the back of the head are strained. And if we learn to relax the corresponding muscles, then we can get rid, as a rule, of unpleasant emotions."

For example, many experienced crew members have learned in practice that if, while on watch, equipment that requires high attention in the absence of other stimuli and therefore has a soporific effect, adjust their breathing so as to slow down the inhalation and exhale quickly, then sleep is like never before. The drowsy state disappears, cheerfulness appears, mental activity is activated. Thus, experienced sailors, as it were, unconsciously, intuitively in a difficult and dangerous situation, regulate their states, overcome fear, act boldly and decisively. But in reality, "this self-regulation is still subordinated to consciousness, since the physiological mechanism of this mental activity is carried out under the influence of the dominant motivation at the moment."

Consequently, the very possibility of one's own influence on one's mental state ultimately depends on the learned, in this particular case, motive of the shift specialist's activity, since "practically general external information entering our central nervous system is inevitably compared and evaluated on the scales of this dominant motivation at the moment." Psychological assistance to a particular watchman, taking into account the considered psychological mechanisms of self-regulation of mental states, will largely be determined by its focus on the formation of the appropriate motivation of the watch and the ability to use their muscular potential.

The third type of self-regulation of mental states is carried out consciously by changing the external conditions of their life and activity. Suppose, for some reason, a person has been in a state of constant stress for a long time. To eliminate the causes, he can change the situation, engage in other activities, organize his life in a new way, etc. But in conditions of a long voyage, these opportunities are extremely limited.

Nevertheless, even in these conditions, experienced sailors adapt to the peculiarities in such a way that they find favorable conditions for self-overcoming difficult experiences and mental states caused by prolonged separation from land, family, Homeland. It is not by chance that various types of creative activity in the field of independent passion for literature, art, and sports are widely developed on merchant ships and in the fishing fleet. It is in the use of these opportunities that the purposeful organization of psychological assistance to personnel in swimming consists.

The fourth type of self-regulation of mental states occurs when the first three types have ended in vain. This happens with the strongest internal human experiences in the form of prolonged stress, frustration, constant apathy or depression. Most often, sailors, being in such states, stop trying to overcome them, so to speak, "obey fate." And if they are not provided with appropriate assistance, then gradually this condition is fixed in the corresponding features and properties of the seafarer’s personality.

This is how gloomy, sullen, unsociable sailors with such character traits as selfishness, stubbornness, suspicion is formed in the navy. It is important to keep in mind that some of them get used to this lifestyle and therefore are very difficult to be influenced by education. Moreover, psychological assistance to such sailors requires high professionalism. But the need for such assistance is very high due to the fact that, such; sailors, as a rule, are great specialists, have a significant impact on the crew. And often this influence can have negative moral and psychological consequences.

In the practice of psychological support and educational work on ships on long voyages, a number of proven methods, methods, and techniques of psychological assistance to personnel are used. Some of them are used as preventive measures, others are included in the arsenal of the command staff to adjust the mental states of subordinates in order to maintain a positive moral mood, others are most effective in overcoming severe mental overloads and stressful states. As a recommendation, we will take a closer look at those that are applicable in long-distance navigation conditions.

Purposeful change in the content of disturbing ideas, obsessive thoughts, unbearable conclusions, which, by definition, Z. Freud's "form a purposeful mental group" in consciousness, subjugate the main stream of thoughts that generate the emergence and development of stressful states. The most effective means of overcoming such states is a critical analysis of the emergence in one's consciousness of such "unbearable ideas" and, according to the apt definition of Z. Freud” displace" them from his consciousness. In other words, the essence of psychological assistance in this case is to stimulate a person to consciously regulate his mental states. It is clear that to do this, it is initially necessary to divert his attention from traumatic thoughts to other problems and then switch to these problems of his needs and interests. There can be many specific techniques and ways of such individual work with subordinates. The main thing in their choice is that the verbal impact provided is carried out taking into account the individual characteristics of a person and cannot be defined as the captain's often formal concern for his subordinate.

Best of all, the displacement of disturbing ideas is achieved by switching thoughts to the really right direction, which for some natural reasons was suspended during the flight. This can be started even before the flight event.

The process of displacement of disturbing ideas can be carried out in various ways. This depends on many reasons, including the specific conditions of a long voyage, the socio-psychological atmosphere in the crew, the personal characteristics of the subordinate, his official status, etc. In one case, the captain may need to hold more than one meeting with the sailors; in another, it will be enough to talk frankly with him about some acute problems that have arisen as a result of his behavior and some specific actions. Speaking of an order as a means of psychological assistance in the displacement of disturbing ideas from consciousness, we do not mean a change in the personal qualities of a subordinate, as discussed above, but only a way to help subordinates return to their normal mental state, which has changed under the influence of negative factors of a long voyage. The impact on the external manifestations of various stressful states, including affect, increased emotionality, aggressiveness.

As a rule, the state of increased emotional excitability in its extreme forms of manifestation (affects, tantrums) on the ship, although they happen, are not typical. Firstly, because the vast majority of seafarers have a sufficiently high mental resistance to the effects of traumatic factors of long-term navigation and, secondly, because of the decisive importance of the statutory ship organization, capable in any conditions, if not to prevent, then to put a reliable barrier to the uncontrolled manifestation of such conditions. Nevertheless, although rare, but still such cases happen. The charter clearly defines how the captain should act if an ongoing nervous outburst has led to a violation of the statutory order and negatively affects the solution of the tasks set. At the same time, acting according to the charter, the captain can also use the advice of a psychologist.

It is known that the most important thing in these conditions for a person is to "let off steam", that is, to get rid of that high activity that suddenly appeared in consciousness and cannot be balanced in their own brain systems. Therefore, a person instinctively seeks to switch at least part of it to external motor and speech reactions. What to do? Anything, but not to persuade, not to shout yourself, not to go beyond the normal relationship, not to threaten. It is advisable to just let the sailor speak out, pour out his soul, listen calmly, gradually, if possible, without entering into an argument, insert non-verbose soothing phrases such as: "Yes, of course, you can think about it", "Well done, of course you are right about that", "The main thing for us now is calm", "No need to fuss," etc. In such an environment, feeling support and sympathy, he begins to restrain his emotions by willpower, slow down gestures, suppress facial expressions, which helps to weaken the arousal that has arisen, balance nervous processes.

Ways to stimulate subordinates to self-regulate their mental states. Among them, the organizational activity of the command staff is of great importance for the purposeful use of the time provided on the ship by the daily routine for leisure, sports, intellectual self-improvement. It is at this time that seafarers can engage in the recommended methods for self-regulation of their mental states, including:

• independent training on switching your attention to stimuli of various emotional significance. The methodology of such training does not require special training. In his free time from work and occupation, the sailor settles down in a place reserved for rest and tries to distract himself from what is happening around him, mentally reproduces in his mind the events and facts of his life that cheer up, act reassuringly, strengthen self-confidence, strengthen strong-willed attitude. It is only important that such a screening is carried out regularly, preferably daily, if possible, at the same time. Its duration can be no more than 15 minutes. Pleasant memories will not only distract from obsessive thoughts or anxious premonitions generated by the actual difficulties of a long voyage, but also, positively coloring thoughts, images, events, phenomena, will cause aspirations for active activity, improve mood, strengthen strong-willed perseverance.
• short-term, but intense physical workout. This does not mean classical sports training, namely physical warm-up in ways and means possible in the conditions of the vessel. This is, as a rule, a set of simple physical exercises (squats, pull-ups, push-ups, etc.). As well as independent mental training, such a warm-up not only distracts from difficult experiences and mental stress caused by external influences on the psyche of a sailor, but also improves well-being, strengthens self- confidence, in their abilities and capabilities. It is only important to strive to ensure that physical warm-up is carried out regularly, preferably at the same time with a systematic increase in the load on the body. By the way, on many ships in long voyages for these types of physical exercises, competitions are held in which the entire crew participates. There is no need to convince how much the authority of, say, the captain rises if he becomes the champion of the vessel in pull-up or any other exercise.
• practicing special breathing exercises. I mentioned above that skillful regulation of one's breathing, especially when carrying out such watches, where high attention is required, and maximum concentration with the monotonous soporific effect of the equipment on the human body helps to maintain one's condition in the necessary working mode. But in order to skillfully use this opportunity, it is necessary to master the process of purposeful breathing in advance.

The system of providing psychological assistance to subordinates may include various methods of auto-training. Moreover, at present, autogenic training, as the most effective means of self- management, is attracting more and more attention. This is facilitated by a sufficient number of techniques for self-mastery of auto-training.

It is possible to recommend auto-training as psychological assistance to personnel to master this method, it is necessary to create conditions that are not only incompatible with the conditions on the ship, but also contradict them. For example, it is very important to eliminate all extraneous stimuli during classes, including the noise of working mechanisms, the shock of waves, pitching, etc. Moreover, the instructions require that during training a person completely disconnects from the surrounding reality and is in a kind of trance state, which is incompatible with the requirements of constant readiness to perform their duties on the ship.

Disconnect from the surrounding noise for a few minutes, fixing your attention on one of them. Let’s assume on the impact of waves on the side of the ship, imagining at the same time how deftly the mighty stem deals with the incoming next wave; in time with the pitching,” purr" your favorite melody to yourself. If you succeeded, then you are in a great mood.

It can be assumed that thanks to these simple exercises, there was a conscious regulation of one's mental state. Now the sailor is quite satisfied with himself and this satisfaction, reflected in his face, attracts, encourages communication without fear of spoiling his mood.

In the same selective variant, you can use other forms of auto-training, adapting to them in the specific conditions of a long voyage. Therefore, V. Stepanenko decided to propose a method, "Regressive psychotherapy"