The Psychology Thread

The brain does all kinds of weird shit regardless. But with those pills I gotta say...the brain tingles are kinda fun.

But yeah they never work immediately. Give it at least a week of keeping up with the treatment fully before even considering it is working/not working. At least.

if you are hoping for alternative treatments I got other suggestions with my Extreme Therapy if you care for them. One of them involves a machete shaped like THREE machetes, a cursed skull, seven thousand nazi zombies, and a stale bowl of Captain Crunch cereal.

To anyone who may be concerned, just wanted to give an update that I'm making good progress, that is all.

Good to hear. Keep up the good work: even if it bogs down or gets rough patches, it's well worth the "OK, note to self: no apples" moments of catastrophe to get there.

Excellent, excellent...

Is there any specific term for this kind of conflict:

So you are loyal to two people. They are not too similar, but they do share some common goals and traits, so you can be loyal to both of them. However, they start to turn against each other, and both of them want you to side with him/her.

Is this just a generic conflict of loyalty?

Um... if we had specific terms for every last way interpersonal relationships could get strained, we'd have a flower press bigger than the DSM. That, and writers, poets and songwriters would get angry for us muscling in on their turf.

A conflicting loyalties situation is hardly... unusual. <_<

edited 16th May '15 9:50:47 AM by Euodiachloris

Cognitive Dissonance covers some of it. The idea is that people feel uncomfortable when they have two sets of concepts that are not consistent with each other, like two friends, each of whom you like, but who do not like each other.

Are Jung's theories accepted by the general psychologist community? It seems as thought that Jung has many detractors many from religious figures.

edited 17th May '15 1:52:06 PM by GAP

Urg. -_- Short answer: so outdated, you wouldn't believe. Only LitCrit professors and snake oil salespeople haven't read the memos.

Yeah, Jung isn't really a part of psychology curriculae. Mostly because Freud is already a good example of early psychological methodology (and is easy to highlight flaws with), whereas Jung is just kind of...mysterious and mystical and weird and not really scientific in any way.

Jung is as scientific, current and modern as cranial trepanation to release the evil spirits trapped within. Its therapies are based in loads of tarot card readings, ritual dancing and shouting "ooga booga!" at random intervals. "Psychologists" who practice it are very well trained professionals that will look after you. r money.

A full game session of jenga is more therapeutically useful.

I swear we need T-shirts: "Jung ≠ Ψ".

So the whole idea of 'the shadow' like in Persona is just as bs as 'the collective subconscious' also like in persona?

We've moved on. Instead of "the shadow", we have "the unconscious and autonomic aspects of self-image formation and processing involving multiple pathways"... Which are a darned sight more complex and ephemeral than Jung knew.

And, instead of the "collective subconscious", we have tonnes about unconscious social behaviours as well as several ways to delve into various aspects of metacognition.

It's not that Jung wasn't useful. It's just that psychology has moved on and found holes. In another 50 years, we will have found more holes in current cognitive theory. *shrugs*

There is no "collective subconscious" as in subconscious memories shared by all human beings. So far as anyone can tell, memories are not passed on in the genes.

Yup. The best we've got are cultural patterns and behaviours that get learnt in various ways. And, that's it.

Dancing around a fire and shouting "Ooga booga" is, however, leading to mystical spiritual experiences for which I can charge you $150 an hour if you so desire to receive the full Jung experience.

I'd like to ask about depression, after a talk with some intelligent but not always well-informed people I know.

My understanding is that it is demonstrably a mix of psychological and somatic factors (at least in severe cases), medicines help but should be accompanied by therapy, and ultimately everyone has to pull themselves out of it - but every recovery is different, and the best advice in general is to keep doing things you might have enjoyed before to prevent the positive feedback loop of lacking both joy and motivation.

The most difficult question to me was whether it is possible to be depressed and continuing a normal work schedule. Severe depression makes one want to stay in bed all day because it's not worth the effort to get up, but is it that for lesser cases, the routine of work is the one thing that keeps them able to do anything. And then there's Hideaki Anno, who was not only productive but very driven and creative through his worst time.

And is it true that suicide most often happens with milder depression that leaves enough initiative to do something?

Does depression have clear diagnostic signs?

Just The Wikipedia page will give you a list of all the signs of depression. The thing is, most people won't tick all those boxes 24/7, 365.25 (being biological, depression has its cycles), and many of them can be quite subtle in how they present to others as well as to the sufferer. Misattributing even sever depression is startlingly easy to do, let alone milder or oddly presented types.

And, that's not factoring in a common sign: trying to hide what is going on so as not to be a bother to others (self-esteem issues are pains like that). And, in a bid to do that, you'd be amazed what people can force themselves to do, even if they feel horrible. -_-

I'm one of those who increasingly dislikes trying to detangle the physiological and psychological aspects of illnesses: each impacts the other. So, you won't find me dismissing anything as "simply somatic": that's horribly short sighted. Even a few days of a specificly altered mood leave neurochemical markers for a week or two afterwards... never mind what months or years of depression do to neuroanatomy, the wider nervous system and even organs. -_- So, yeah. <_< Try not to do that, OK? Talking therapy isn't just helping the head.

Linked to the above is the whole suicide thing: it isn't that "mild = greater chance" thing that does it... is the transition between layers that does. When somebody starts to improve a bit, their energy level and cognitive dexterity will usually perk up a bit first... the problem lies in that long-term patterning in the brain that can take months to change, so their underlying emotional state? Now has something to work with, and...

edited 20th May '15 3:30:51 AM by Euodiachloris

People are also very different in their coping skills. Depression is funny. Some never are hit with lethargy even if they are suicidal.

If they have a good system or social support around them, they may be more functional than what they could be.

Like my friend with severe depression is a graphic designer. Her boss knows about her depression and allows her to change the lighting or play music in her office, or leave stay out notes within reason so she can be functional at work. So she is still able to do her 9-5 job just fine.

Others? They just barrel through. Much like functioning alcoholics.

You do what you gotta do to make it work.

Suicide is more linked to three things other than depression:

Opportunity. Agression. And Recklessness.

The more violent and reckless the life history of a person is, the more likely suicide is rather than depression alone. I present to you Dysthymia which while being a "milder" form of depression it is caractherized by being prevalent for a long time.

That said, suicidal thoughts and attempts are not rare in depression, and any mention or even thought of suicide is to be taken very seriously from a person with depression. It is not a risk worth taking.

Depression has links to hormonal, neurobiological, chemical and physiological affectations as well as social, economical and such. But each person is different so how affected a person is by everyday situations is different. Not every soldier who comes out of a war comes shellshocked or anything. Not every person who suffers through a patch of poverty goes through depression. So analyzing the context is pretty difficult and varied from person to person.

Basically it's fucked up shit but yes, doing things you used to enjoy even if you don't want to or don't feel up for them is part of the therapy, and the medicine is there to help pick you up while you and others help ya get your shit up together, not to fix it.

Not much left for me to add, except that I've found the best way to alleviate many of the symptoms of depression is to hand around with optimistic people. Control your environment, you control your mood...

There is also my EXTREME therapy. Cures what ails ya.

Yeah, but getting hold of mature cobras isn't that easy.

Well try it on them to make them more forgiving. They will have to juggle mongoose. Mongoose. Mongeese? Also Honey badgers.