PSYCHOMYTHOLOGY- Series on Popular Myths about Psychology- 3

Myth 3. Psychologists only deal with the ‘Crazy’.

Psychologists deal with all sorts of behavior. It ranges from normal day to day behaviors like love, relationships, happiness, stress etc to the ‘so called’ ‘abnormal’ behavior like anxieties, phobias, obsessions, depression, hallucinations, delusions etc.

Over time a psychologist may choose to specialize to study a particular behavior.  For e.g. Counseling Psychologists specialize to address the normal day-today issues, Clinical Psychologists specializes in abnormal behavior, Psychological Assessments and Psychotherapy, Rehabilitation Psychologists specialize in disability management and special education, Organizational/ HR Psychologists specialize in work related behavior and many more branches of Psychology address many other issues. Though a psychologist may have a broad knowledge of behavior, ones specialization of course helps significantly in the concerned area! (Over here lemme warn you abt quacks exist as well- refer Real vs Quacks)

For e.g.  A clinical psychologist such as me, as mentioned before (Refer- pointers on clinical psychology ) deals with abnormal behavior, Psychological Assessments and a broad range of Psychotherapies (yes, there are different types of psychotherapy!) Through detailed assessment (s)he tries to best understand the client, his/her problem and other related factors, and come up with an effective therapy plan to tackle the same. At times the problem may be given a name (a diagnosis), but this isn’t mandatory.

His/her goal eventually (via therapy) is threefold-

1. Symptom Reduction (simply put reducing the negative behaviors)

2. Modification of problem behavior, and learning effective behaviors/coping strategies (self explanatory)

3. Self Realization & Personal growth (acquire better understanding of self, and access ones potential)

More on therapy in one concise article – refer Psychotherapy

So in Short,

Psychologists’ deal with all kinds of behavior/people, not just the “crazy” ones. Depending on their specialization, each may be better at their chosen specialty than the other. If you have a psychological symptom/condition they can help you reduce it and manage it, however if it’s just that you are seeking meaning in your life (not simple of course!)They can facilitate that as well.

Despite the differences with regard to specializations, all psychologists work toward the well-being of their clients. 

Having said that, on a personal note I strongly feel (I’m sure most of you as well) that deeming someone “crazy”, “loony”, “Nuts”, “Freak” is demeaning and stripping them of their humanity.  Consequentially you may ask us (mental health professionals)-

“Then why do you diagnose people in the first place?”

Also you may have the following doubts-

“If I see a Mental Health Professional they would diagnose me, everyone would think that I’m crazy.”

This brings us to the next myth-

Myth 4. Mental Health professionals will confirm your worst fears, and the Psychiatric Labels in turn will cause Harm by stigmatizing me/my family.

More on that in the next post. Coming soon…… 🙂 !