jivJaN said: My opinion is.. that this kind of science needs to be very exact before putting into motion.
Medical doctors wont operate on the brain or heart simply because they have a theory and think it might work. On the other hand.. i think psychology does that. It has been prematurely declared as an official and credible science to learn and practice on other people.
Wait... wait... How did the first medical doctor who performed a brain surgery do it, then? How did the first heart surgeon? Surely not because they had a theory that they thought would work.
I don't understand what you're getting at here.
jivJaN said: I hear a lot of you guys say how for what its worth ; at least people get to talk to somebody. I think that if you need to rely on a stranger to talk with you for money.. the problem is quite obvious 
You lack people in your life. In most cases , this happens because people tend to get too distracted with other things. You can call it survival.. but i dont think I will. If you have money to pay a shrink.. you're already doing good enough. But.. you just want more dont you.
And.. to keep you going .. without having to stop back and look at your life and remember when you stopped actually LIVING and became a robot.. You go and have a chit chat with someone who deals with people like you all the time.. You get some pills.. get stupid.. carry on.
Actually, getting to talk to somebody is FAR less effective than empirically supported treatments. That's something that psychologists, since Rogers, have looked at. What is it about the therapeutic relationship that is useful? Is it just having a warm individual to talk to, etc.?
Now, a lot of studies will be set up so:
Group 1: Receives standardized treatment x Group 2: Attention-only control (individuals meet with a therapist, but no treatment is applied)
If there is no difference between the groups, the treatment is considered an utter failure.
Most studies show efficacy rates of around 75%, which means that those receiving treatment report more improvement with the treatment, than 75% of those who just receive the attention.
Also: Insurance provides mental health services. It's not the dated psychoanalysis of old which only the extremely rich could afford. Treatments are brief and much quicker. Most finish in 12 sessions at 1 session per week. A psychologist can request to lengthen the course of treatment if issues remain unresolved, but they must provide convincing evidence to the insurance companies, otherwise funding will be cut.
Quote: I know im not coming up with massive evidence here or anything like that.. But come one.. you know what im talking about .. and it really does happen.
On one hand.. this entire science is like a big drug machine.
You're thinking of psychiatry, not psychology when you refer to drugs.
Quote: On the other.. You actually now have an authority that can , based on this science , have a decision about your individual freedom . Your job requires you to fit a certain norm.. and .. You have the schools that declare children ADD or ADHD and basically croke them up with amphetamines.
Once you take your eyes off the science behind it.. and look at the impact it has on society.. it doesnt take you very long to realize that it is embedded within the social structure in the very same manner some other institutions are that many of us have come not to appreciate any more because of they so openly or secretly exploit us.
You're mixing the fields now, but I think I can address some of this. Psychology only impedes on individual freedom when society dictates it is 'ok' to do so. E.g., suicide attempts, insanity pleas, drug arrests. Believe me, I think most psychologists would prefer not to interfere with a lot of these cases, because there is a wide range of research regarding motivation as a predictor in therapeutic success. If someone doesn't want to be there, they aren't going to see the same results. Unfortunately, they still see some results, and that's better than nothing (in the eyes of society) for individuals who are going against the grain of society.
Psychology operates as a subset of society, not a dictator of. Psychology operates around individual feelings of distress (for the most part). If an individual isn't feeling distressed, psychology doesn't want to change you, but might rather be interested in what it is that allows you to not feel distressed. Social psychology has been great in this area. I hope you'll read a future post of mine on social psychology and positive illusions.
Quote: >>Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and applications concerned with such areas as human development, sports, health, industry, media and law.
...
Yes, the mind is present in all of these aspects, so it makes sense. If one wants to understand human behavior, they certainly need to look at as many aspects as they can, not just the ones involving negative behavior.
I for one am glad that psychology is taking more steps to view things in a positive light. Appreciating those aspects of humanity which allow us to achieve greatness.
Quote: Also.. another interesting thing to notice when compared to other applicable sciences..
Experimental psychology was only done in the medieval Islam , untill the first half of the 20th century ... and now you see what kind of impat and level of practice it has.
Out of all the people.. And all this time weve been here.. ?
While.. you can trace back the study of psychology in philosophical context all the way back to ancient egypt , greece .. india.
Experimental psychology being.... ? It wasn't until fairly recently that we even understood the function of the brain in thoughts. Of course up until that point you're only going to have philosophical dialogue about the nature of the mind. The Greeks believed depression (melancholy) was a result of fluids in the body being off balance. You work with the knowledge you have.
-------------------- Why shouldn't the truth be stranger than fiction?
Fiction, after all, has to make sense. -- Mark Twain
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