# Psychology is...



## Doc Rice (Dec 28, 2009)

I hate saying I have social anxiety disorder, so I don't. I am uncomfortable in social situations and I am just trying to get better at it so that I can enjoy my life a little bit more, and maybe hook up with some girls. :b

But as I have come to think of it, I think psychology is kind of bull****. At the very least therapy seems like bull****. I mean most of the sessions I have gone to, my therapist tells me to pretty much just do these exposures. It's all a waste of time, simply because I've figured that out for myself. If I want to get better at guitar, I practice. Pretty obvious stuff. Throughout the sessions my therapist adds "technical" terms, which don't seem technical at all, and just outline what most of us know already. I haven't experienced any breakthroughs or had anything said to me that makes me think differently and what not. 

I think you're getting my point. It almost seems like a scam at times. I know that may sound odd, because this stuff is taught at universities, but they charge a criminal amount for very little.

I hope I don't get flamed or anything, nor is this an attack on people like myself, who are anxious in social situations (I don't want to use that arbitrary title). I was just wondering what others thought about this, if they shared my thinking, etc.


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## Same Difference (Aug 26, 2010)

Doc Rice said:


> I hate saying I have social anxiety disorder, so I don't. I am uncomfortable in social situations and I am just trying to get better at it so that I can enjoy my life a little bit more, and maybe hook up with some girls. :b
> 
> But as I have come to think of it, I think psychology is kind of bull****. At the very least therapy seems like bull****. I mean most of the sessions I have gone to, my therapist tells me to pretty much just do these exposures. It's all a waste of time, simply because I've figured that out for myself. If I want to get better at guitar, I practice. Pretty obvious stuff. Throughout the sessions my therapist adds "technical" terms, which don't seem technical at all, and just outline what most of us know already. I haven't experienced any breakthroughs or had anything said to me that makes me think differently and what not.
> 
> ...


Psychology is a pseudoscience, that's all. It doesn't actually work, and I'm surprised by the level of legitimacy it's attained, considering it belongs in the same category as astrology and homeopathy. If you want to hire someone who will sit down for an hour and listen to your problems, then by all means go see a therapist, but otherwise no one can give you better advice than yourself.

Modern psychology is comparable to where medicine was in the early 1800's. Theories were being proposed, cures were being suggested, some treatments did nothing, others were harmful, and some worked quite well. So-called medical experts had no idea why certain blood transfusions were successful while others ended up killing the patient. They had no knowledge of blood types, DNA, viruses or bacteria. Doctors rarely washed their hands. Amputations were performed without anesthesia.

Practitioners of psychology have no true understanding of the human psyche and human personality. They can't cure mental illness, and they certainly can't change who you are.


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## Doc Rice (Dec 28, 2009)

LaRibbon said:


> If you don't find the therapy helpful, just stop going?


I have. I'm guessing there is really no help for me though. Even throughout all of the exposures, I haven't progressed at all. I'll be like this for the rest of my life, and that's not terrible, I think. I just hate the bull**** therapists say, "It's curable," or "We can help you." **** them.


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## StevenGlansberg (Apr 1, 2009)

Every therapist is different. It might take awhile to find one that clicks with you and that may or may not be worth the effort. But I wouldn't assume anything about therapy from one therapist.


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

Same Difference said:


> Psychology is a pseudoscience, that's all. It doesn't actually work, and I'm surprised by the level of legitimacy it's attained, considering it belongs in the same category as astrology and homeopathy.


:roll

www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=168

Abnormal psychology is only one branch of psychology. But I will agree that it's probably the least reliable one. Probably the biggest problem is that the process of defining mental illness is very political and involves lots of $$$. The other problem is that unscientific figures and schools such as Freud, Jung, and the psychoanalytic school became very entrenched in the academic establishment. Using only case studies just isn't valid. Matching treatment and disorder also seems to be a problem in clinical practice. Another problem is the gap between academic psychology and practitioners (there are still age regressions going on). I think most advances in ab psych in the future are going to come out of neuroscience.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

LaRibbon said:


> This made me lol.


same here...


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

Eastern psychology is great but western psychology in general is flawed, confused and abused..

In the US specially it's all about business...psychology and mental health are businesses more than anything else and they are often abused to take advantage of people just like how any other big business tries to take advantage of people..
From what i have seen so far its primary goal seems to be about making people fit in to follow what everyone else is doing which is to go to school, college, get a "normal" job, get married, have kids..bla bla so you can proudly say to yourself I'm "normal"...just to keep the wheel going without offering any real cures...society approval in general is very important to our psyche...but when you live in a defected society controlled by dirty politics and "misinterpreted" religions that go against your own nature then the approval of that society and fitting in can cause so much problems to your psyche...and there are psychologists who understand this but are taking advantage of people that struggle to fit in..

I'm not saying that fitting in is bad or it's wrong to be "normal" but being different isn't necessarily a bad thing either..there are some things you need to change about yourself and some things you don't and you should embrace them instead...but society has a way of putting down any qualities that don't follow the "standards"..if you are different then there must be something wrong with you..

Just look at how they over diagnose children with stupid crap these days to make them take medications..it's BS
The most retarded one has got to be ADD/ADHD...diagnosing children because they are creative and like to wonder and play (which is what they are supposed to be doing) and they aren't focused on the school crap.. :sus

Psychology isn't bad...it's just abused


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## fredbloggs02 (Dec 14, 2009)

I'm sorry you feel so bad about yourself.... Cognitive therapy has helped me a hell of a lot, not the exposures so much but talking things through with a more competent mind than mine was. It sounds to me like you and your psychologist don't really have an understanding if he'she is forcing you to do stuff you think is pointless. I'm getting there myself, starting to pick up these skills to help myself, it is a skill and I'm learning to apply it to myself. I was in a terrible place, I won't elaborate on that but cognitive therapy did help me and I trust psychology to help people through the darkness.


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## Edwin (Jun 19, 2008)

Scorpius said:


> Just look at how they over diagnose children with stupid crap these days to make them take medications..it's BS
> *The most retarded one has got to be ADD/ADHD*...diagnosing children because they are creative and like to wonder and play (which is what they are supposed to be doing) and they aren't focused on the school crap.. :sus
> 
> Psychology isn't bad...it's just abused


You shouldn't say that on this forum. A good deal of Social Anxiety sufferers actually have a form of ADHD/ADD, and I'm one of them. No amount of therapy can cure me, and only medication helps. This disorder has destroyed my life.


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## faux (Sep 10, 2010)

Psychology has helped a lot of people, so be perhaps you shouldn't be calling it bull****. The problem lies in you and not the theory of psychology. For CBT or other psychology methods to work you have to want to make it work and some people are afraid of change so do not take on board everything they are taught because they automatically assume it will not work. The idea of CBT is to change the way you look at things. If you continue to think how you have always thought you will continue to be who you have always been. You need to change your ways if you want to rid yourself of social anxiety and this is what psychology aims to do. You are already going against what you have been taught by creating this thread and saying "CBT is bull**** and psychology is a scam". You firmly believe it doesn't work, so it won't work - simple.


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

Edwin said:


> You shouldn't say that on this forum. A good deal of Social Anxiety sufferers actually have a form of ADHD/ADD, and I'm one of them. No amount of therapy can cure me, and only medication helps. This disorder has destroyed my life.


I'm def. sorry if you are offended by that remark..but it's not directed at you..it's directed at those who diagnosed you with it...the people that all they do is diagnose others with mental illnesses simply because they are different..I don't see this kind of behavior as a disorder nor do i see SA as a disorder or any kind of behavior as a disorder...i just see it as being different..our anxiety and depression and the real disorder comes from the struggle of not accepting ourselves and trying to fit in ideals not because there's actually something wrong with us..the struggle is in our own head and in the deep rooted negative believes about ourselves and reality

How exactly is ADD destroying your life?..isn't it because on some level you're not accepting yourself and trying to fit in some ideals? wouldn't you say if you accepted yourself as being different and dropped the society ideals and expectations that are pressuring you to fit in then you would have nothing to worry about

My point is that a lot of times diagnosing people is not even true in the first place..the problems comes from the wrong believes that there's something wrong with us not that there's necessarily something wrong with us..the struggle is in getting rid of those negative believes and labels and learning to accept ourselves

This kinda clears what I'm trying to say about ADD as not being a real disorder:

http://hyperfast.homestead.com/fakediagnosis.html


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## Edwin (Jun 19, 2008)

ADD destroys my life because I can't control my thought processes, regulate emotions, deal with people because of the former, concentrate on uninteresting tasks, get any sense of reward out of making a life for myself.

It is real, what we call it is irrelevant. The cause is genetic and probably involves several genes. I've felt there was something wrong with me my entire life, even before I could understand how exactly. It's like being born without limbs and noticing others do have things to move around with and grab things; the difference is that it's something with the brain.

Because you can't see the differences in my brain, and can only see a tiny part of the results (behaviour), you assume it's made up. Scientists has found enough evidence of real tangible physical differences in the brain. They have the tools to inspect this organ, you do not. Please stop being ignorant.


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## Doc Rice (Dec 28, 2009)

faux said:


> You firmly believe it doesn't work, so it won't work - simple.


Maybe you're right.



fredbloggs02 said:


> Cognitive therapy has helped me a hell of a lot, not the exposures so much but talking things through with a more competent mind than mine was.


That's an interesting statement. How exactly has talking with someone who has a, supposedly, more competent mind beneficial? What have they offered up that has created a big change or any type of benefits? I think the vast majority of people who are anxious know it's unreasonable. I'm guessing that it probably is the same for other psychological disorders. "Think positively"; "Challenge your thoughts"; All of that seems like a pretty easy concept to understand. In fact, I had done that prior to going to therapy.


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

Edwin: I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say and and no i won't stop being ignorant and believe everything "scientists" and authority say

You clearly just don't like what I'm saying and offended by it..sorry but if you really understood what I'm saying you'll see that your condition is based mostly on deep negative beliefs about yourself..those believes can turn things to reality..you are suffering now because of how terrible psychology is approached in western society..if they were actually good at what they do they would have offered a cure..but medications won't cure you..it will make you dependent on it just to get some relief


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

LaRibbon said:


> So...you're saying schizophrenics, OCD, bipolar ..etc aren't real disorders. They're just different, and all their problems would disappear if they could just 'accept' themselves. I don't think you've researched your argument at all. Structural and neural activity abnormailites in the AD/HD brain have been idenitified by neuroimaging studies. And AD/HD causes impaired functioning in day to day life. That's why it's considered a disorder.
> It's really easy to sit around saying 'oh people are overdiagnosed these days'. Maybe it's true maybe it isn't. How would you know?


They are not disorders in the first place..they become a disorder once they are labeled by authority as a disorder..they just need to be approached right..that's what i mean by saying western psychology is flawed, confused and abused..psychology in the west isn't approached right in the first place..it's based on a bunch of theories, dirty politics and greedy pharmaceutical companies
And i don't deny that there's something wrong with someone that has ADD or SAD..but let's not call them mentally ill, convince them so and prescribe them medications

How would i know people are being over-diagnosed these days?..it's common sense...there's a diagnosis and medication for everything now..it's really obvious and lame actually

I have not seen those yet myself (going to) but they're probably along the lines of what I'm trying to say:

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/marketing-of-madness-are-we-all-insane/

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/big-bucks-big-pharma/
 
There's also things like this:

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/91183979_the-oxycontin-express.htm

 I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with people and they should just get over it...but I'm saying that the way psychology is approached in the west in "general" certainly isn't mainly about helping people..it's more about making money off their pain..it's a "business" and indeed like the OP is saying psychology can be a scam sometimes...but like i said psychology itself isn't bad at all..it's just abused


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## ozkr (Dec 2, 2005)

Some of the arguments presented here against psychology are not very well developed. Arguing that therapy is not helpful at all because it did not help you is fallacious at best. Arguing that psychology is the source of suffering doesn't make sense. Arguing that psychology is a pseudoscience based on little understanding of the whole discipline.

These arguments are based on cynicism, ignorance of psychology in general, and most importantly, wild expectations of what psychology can do for you. Therapy is not a magic cure, and neither is psychiatry. You have people here who swear by meds and say they provided them with a cure, but you also have those who claim they didn't change anything. The same goes for therapy. Some say CBT helped them a lot, while others say they wasted their time and money just to hear a person telling them what they already knew. 
Some have tried it all but nothing worked. You know why? Because people have high expectations of what other people can do for them. People who expect others to fix their problems without having to put any effort of their own are set for failure, which they will never accept as being their fault. 
You can see this everywhere. That's why you have people with obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure who are mad at their doctors, nutritionists, dietitians or trainers for telling them the same thing over and over: stop eating bad stuff, start eating good stuff in moderation, and exercise. Those who follow those rules will succeed but those who don't will grow cynical and blame their doctors for not doing enough or for telling them what they already knew.


tl;dr : arguments against psychology are not well founded and nobody will fix your problems for you.


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

1. Continuum fallacy: Just because an artificial demarcation has been made between having a disorder and not having one for clinical purposes does not mean that, because this demarcation is artificial, there is no "abnormal behavior." If you have 20/20 vision, your vision is obviously better than someone who is legally blind and can only make out faint shapes. Just because there is a line drawn between "blind" and "not blind" when there is a continuum doesn't invalidate the existence of blindness.

Novella makes a similar argument in the link I posted above:


> But even if we assume that, say, the ability to attend to a task varies on a bell curve (a matter of contention, but let's grant this for hypothetical purposes) that does not mean that we should consider every point on the curve as equally normal or healthy. Let's take blood pressure, for example. The upper end of biological variation of blood pressure is considered a disorder (more on this definition later). It is a risk factor for several diseases. Considering high blood pressure as unhealthy and worthy of treatment is not controversial. There are numerous examples of this in medicine. There are certain parameters for healthy biological function and if variation strays sufficiently outside of these parameters health or function is compromised.


Mental illness usually exists on a continuum, not a categorical "ill/healthy" model. No one is completely physically healthy either. It doesn't become a problem until it interferes with quality of life. The problem with these labels is that there is still a social stigma attached to them. No one is ashamed to say "I got the chicken pox," thus labeling themselves as physically sick.


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## Sunshine009 (Sep 21, 2008)

Psychology without morality, spirituality, and postive emotions is very limited in its effectiveness.


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

2. ADHD: I commonly see the argument that somehow ADHD would have been adaptive in earlier human culture. Perhaps the condition is correlated with higher creativity or responsiveness to the environment (I don't know), but this still ignores all the negative implications of the condition. For example, those with ADHD have a significantly higher risk for accidents and self-injury. A high degree of inattentiveness is also a core symptom of ADHD. This means the hypothetical hunter-gatherer is also likely to cut himself while fashioning a tool or miss the warning of a look-out to run away from an approaching threat.

There are new and robust findings on the biological basis for ADHD -- those diagnosed tend to have less developed frontal cortices and reduced dopamine levels and there have been genetic correlations as well. That makes this idea that we have no idea of what ADHD "looks like" as presented in the documentary posted by Scorpius rather dishonest.

Also, Scorpius, you should probably look at what you use to support your case before you go around posting Scientology backed propaganda again.


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

Belshazzar said:


> Also, Scorpius, you should probably look at what you use to support your case before you go around posting Scientology backed propaganda again.


you always have a name for lowering something that is against your restricted scientific views..pseudoscience, Scientology, new age propaganda..lol

I'm posting these documentaries because it's the only way i can get the message across..if i start talking about what eastern psychology has to say about the mind, you'll automatically dismiss it because it's not scientific and most will probably not relate to it anyways

Either way if you still fail to see the truth I'm presenting about the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and how western psychology is approached in "GENERAL" then i don't know what to tell you..


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

Scorpius said:


> you always have a name for lowering something that is against your restricted scientific views..pseudoscience, Scientology, new age propaganda..lol
> 
> I'm posting these documentaries because it's the only way i can get the message across..if i start talking about what eastern psychology has to say about the mind, you'll automatically dismiss it because it's not scientific and most will probably not relate to it anyways
> 
> Either way if you still fail to see the truth I'm presenting about the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and how western psychology is approached in "GENERAL" then i don't know what to tell you..


Once again, don't post something to support your views without knowing what it is first. The first documentary, in fact, contradicts what you posted earlier. Scientology also has a rigid anti-psychiatry ideology that brings little to the table but denialism, which is why other anti-psychiatric organizations have banned Scientologists. The docs may have some good points, but they are buried under gross factual errors and logical inconsistency as they haven't the slightest interest in objectivity. (Sorry if I made the baby Xenu cry.)

I won't dismiss "eastern psychology" as unscientific because I have never heard of such a branch of psychology. I must assume you are referring to eastern philosophy. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Finally, I am not uncritical of psych-practices. In fact, I have written a lengthy research paper criticizing the political machinations of the DSM committee and related figures.


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## Scorpius (Feb 26, 2010)

I've watched the first documentary and i agree with most of it..I don't think it contradicts anything i said..i made my point clear and in case you didn't get it I'll say it one more time:

Psychology is abused in western society and in GENERAL it's just a BUSINESS that is mostly about making money, sometimes on the expense of people's health and not necessarily about helping them..that is my point and that is pretty much what the documentary presents (all the dirty politics of psychiatry and pharmaceutical companies)

About the validity of the documentary..you are not supposed to take any documentary as 100% truth and you will never find out if it's completely true or not..you watch it and use your common sense and reasoning to get the truth out of it..saying that this documentary is Scientoligy propaganda and that anti-psychiatric organizations have banned them doesn't have anything to do with the validity of the information presented..that's just politics talk..
Marijuana isn't supported by the government..does that mean we disregard the information presented about it and call it propaganda simply because it's not supported by authority..that's poor logic

And I'm referring to Hinduism, Buddhism and the eastern view on psychology in general..you can call it "eastern philosophy" if you want that's just a term..but what they really deal with is the human psyche..

And I'm glad that you wrote a paper criticizing the DSM..seems like we actually agree on something at last..lol

I understand that this is a controversial subject..i'm not asking anyone to completely believe in the documentary..but there are some truths in it that can't be denied and people need to be more careful trusting authority with their mental health


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## Belshazzar (Apr 12, 2010)

Scorpius said:


> I've watched the first documentary and i agree with most of it..I don't think it contradicts anything i said..i made my point clear and in case you didn't get it I'll say it one more time:
> 
> Psychology is abused in western society and in GENERAL it's just a BUSINESS that is mostly about making money, sometimes on the expense of people's health and not necessarily about helping them..that is my point and that is pretty much what the documentary presents (all the dirty politics of psychiatry and pharmaceutical companies)
> 
> ...


I think the documentary does contradict what you were saying earlier. It seems your issue is with the labeling of mental disorders. The doc supports the idea that such disorders do not exist, rather they are the by-products of physical illness (such as virii or anemia) or are emotions attached to an event that will go away by themselves with enough time. Unless you do actually hold the second position?

I think it's fair to call this Scientology propaganda (especially since it was funded by the CoS). I don't expect a doc to be 100% correct, but it should at least attempt some degree of honest and objectivity. Like I said before, it's riddled with factual errors and tons of spin. If I posted "Reefer Madness" (the original, not the musical) or the "This is your brain on drugs" ad, you would be justified in calling that anti-Marijuana propaganda.

I know that DT Suzuki worked with Fromm and Jung, that Albert Ellis was influenced by Buddhism, and that some psychotherapists use meditation as part of treatment. Besides that, I don't know what eastern philosophy has to do with psychology.

I don't see why the fact that it's a business makes it somehow invalid or overwhelmingly deficient. It's also not entirely a business -- research in psychiatry and psychology is usually done in universities. Clinical psych tends to be the business end of it. Non-psychiatric medical practice is also a business, but modern medical science is far better than anything we've had in the past and getting better all the time.


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## Doc Rice (Dec 28, 2009)

ozkr said:


> Some of the arguments presented here against psychology are not very well developed.
> 
> These arguments are based on cynicism, ignorance of psychology in general, and most importantly, wild expectations of what psychology can do for you. Therapy is not a magic cure, and neither is psychiatry.
> 
> ...


No, this is more of a rant. :b

It is based on cynicism. Ignorance? Well, yes and no. Based on my experience it sucks.

What does that mean? Does that mean that I have no hope? For people who have tried it all, does that mean they are ****ed for the rest of their lives?

A lot people who have tried to overcome SA have tried all they can. The analogy you use is even worse, and further proves my point: what about people who eat right and exercise, yet have high cholesterol because of family history and genetics? It's pretty easy to see that not everything you can change, hence my point about psychology.


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## ozkr (Dec 2, 2005)

Doc Rice said:


> No, this is more of a rant. :b
> 
> It is based on cynicism. Ignorance? Well, yes and no. Based on my experience it sucks.
> 
> ...


Well, there are those who are cynical or pessimistic and will not trust the system no matter what you tell them. Some trust no one while others don't trust themselves or their own ability to improve. Then there are those who have great expectations of what psychologists can do for them while being ignorant of what psychology is, how it works, or what a therapist can do for them. I'm not implying you fall under either category as you might have your own reasons for thinking psychology sucks, but what I'm saying that having a disappointing experience does not discredit psychology as a whole. If it therapy did not work for you, then it didn't work for you. For others, it is the support they needed to improve their lives. 

Not at all. What I mean by saying that they're not a magic cure is that they will not provide drastic, immediate, and effortless improvements to anyone's life. Therapists support people by making them work through their problems, not by using some sort of superpower that will make problems go away. Any therapist who claims he/she can fix you without having you put any effort is lying.

One could blame one's genetics, but there are so many variables as to what shapes our personalities, behaviors, and ways of perceiving things that it is problematic to assume that nothing can be changed or improved due to our family history. Sure, in my analogy I failed to include genetics or things you can't change, but what about those things that can be changed but people refuse to do anything to change them because they're hard? What about the morbidly obese people who claim they have tried everything, except for the things that require effort, don't show immediate results, are uncomfortable and painful, and yet they wonder why they can't shed a few pounds. What about those who want to improve their health without having to change the bad habits and negative ways of thinking they have developed over the years? 
Bad habits don't develop overnight. Some people might have a natural predisposition to being depressed or socially anxious, but that's not the case with everyone. For some it happens gradually and the negative problems associated with those disorders become stronger as they feed on the negative thoughts and experiences they produce. People then become cynical, distrustful, and hopeless, which leads to a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
One of the first steps to fixing a problem is to acknowledge you have one, but it's difficult to do so when the problem itself makes you think nothing about yourself can be fixed. That's when you need help.


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

People aren't machines. The only possible correct interpretation of psychological diagnostics comes from within, not from someone else. Different people will recognize and appreciate the same appearances differently, and different people who appear will portray themselves differently. Whether or not a psychologist can help you is a matter of luck in whether or not he's on the same page as to what qualifies as proper portrayal.

That said, psychological concepts can be coherent in themselves, but again, they have to be internally applied in order to be deductive instead of inductive.


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## Doc Rice (Dec 28, 2009)

ozkr said:


> Not at all. What I mean by saying that they're not a magic cure is that they will not provide drastic, immediate, and effortless improvements to anyone's life. Therapists support people by making them work through their problems, not by using some sort of superpower that will make problems go away. Any therapist who claims he/she can fix you without having you put any effort is lying.


I can agree with the majority of what you're saying.

The above quote is interesting in particular, as it really is the face of the issue and why I started the topic. What happens after doing everything you can doesn't work? Let's imagine you do an incredible amount of exposures, take medication, have meet up groups with others, etc. What then? Is there any hope? If so, what's should they do? If not, what should they do?

I realize these issues are hard to answer (if they even have answers) and make a large part of what people talk about with therapists (along with these things kicking around in their head).


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## ozkr (Dec 2, 2005)

Doc Rice said:


> I can agree with the majority of what you're saying.
> 
> The above quote is interesting in particular, as it really is the face of the issue and why I started the topic. What happens after doing everything you can doesn't work? Let's imagine you do an incredible amount of exposures, take medication, have meet up groups with others, etc. What then? Is there any hope? If so, what's should they do? If not, what should they do?
> 
> I realize these issues are hard to answer (if they even have answers) and make a large part of what people talk about with therapists (along with these things kicking around in their head).


I think much of it depends on what you define as "everything you can" and what parameters you use to measure the efficacy of the things you've tried. At what point do all the things you've tried go from being something you're trying to something you tried and did not work? At what point do you decide that something is not worth trying anymore? What is too much effort or too much time? What is an incredible amount of something? What is success and what is failure? 
It's all subjective and relative to both the magnitude of your problem and the amount of success you expect to get from any form of treatment. Having little patience and unrealistic expectations will not do anything for anyone. There are many things to try and there are many ways to try one thing, so one just has to keep trying things while being open, patient, perseverant, and realistic.


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## Dovakhiin (Oct 18, 2013)

Doc Rice said:


> I hate saying I have social anxiety disorder, so I don't. I am uncomfortable in social situations and I am just trying to get better at it so that I can enjoy my life a little bit more, and maybe hook up with some girls. :b
> 
> But as I have come to think of it, I think psychology is kind of bull****. At the very least therapy seems like bull****. I mean most of the sessions I have gone to, my therapist tells me to pretty much just do these exposures. It's all a waste of time, simply because I've figured that out for myself. If I want to get better at guitar, I practice. Pretty obvious stuff. Throughout the sessions my therapist adds "technical" terms, which don't seem technical at all, and just outline what most of us know already. I haven't experienced any breakthroughs or had anything said to me that makes me think differently and what not.
> 
> ...


What would make you thing cognitive psychology is the only answer, there are dozens of other approaches. Behaviourism is dehumanising whilst it rejects science so that wouldn't be wise to encounter. The biological approach is a reductionist theory I.e. Everything boils down to chemicals,chromosomes, hormones and DNA it also rejects human thoughts and feeling so again it is dehumanising.

The humanistic approach takes a holistic view and looks at each person as a whole person and accepts human thoughts and feelings, we are all unique. We strive forward to become better and eventually self actualise, if their is an in congruence between positive self regard and self concept we could suffer from mental issues. If we can't move forward, I.e. Poverty, no friends or motivation we can't get better. So self centred therapy helps the persons come to terms with their ideal self in order to strive forward.

Hoped it helped.


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## bottleofblues (Aug 6, 2008)

faux said:


> You are already going against what you have been taught by creating this thread and saying "CBT is bull**** and psychology is a scam". You firmly believe it doesn't work, so it won't work - simple.


If you've done it to death and it hasn't helped you, how can you _not_ believe it won't work. Most of us form our beliefs from evidence, supposedly CBT will teach you some of your beliefs are faulty, but are they? Just because you have a negative belief about yourself that doesn't serve you well doesn't necessarily mean it is wrong.


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## bottleofblues (Aug 6, 2008)

Same Difference said:


> Psychology is a pseudoscience, that's all. It doesn't actually work, and I'm surprised by the level of legitimacy it's attained, considering it belongs in the same category as astrology and homeopathy. If you want to hire someone who will sit down for an hour and listen to your problems, then by all means go see a therapist, but otherwise no one can give you better advice than yourself.
> 
> Modern psychology is comparable to where medicine was in the early 1800's. Theories were being proposed, cures were being suggested, some treatments did nothing, others were harmful, and some worked quite well. So-called medical experts had no idea why certain blood transfusions were successful while others ended up killing the patient. They had no knowledge of blood types, DNA, viruses or bacteria. Doctors rarely washed their hands. Amputations were performed without anesthesia.
> 
> Practitioners of psychology have no true understanding of the human psyche and human personality. They can't cure mental illness, and they certainly can't change who you are.


Well said, couldn't agree more. And i think the use of anti depressants is like how they used leeches in the old days for any type of physical ailment. They don't know if it'll work, but hey it worked for joe bloggs over here with his problem lets give it a go.
Psychiatry is also a pseudoscience, there's no scientific evidence that because you're feeling down then this SSRI might help, unlike say a drug to lower your blood pressure.
To OP i also found therapy to be a waste of my time and money, most of the time i felt like i was told things i already knew, or had tried in the past. All that exposure stuff, i eventually did on my own as part of life, eg i used to feel anxious standing in line waiting at the bank, i don't now, not through any conscious effort it just kind of went away naturally through my having to attend the bank and be in other queues from time to time.


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## AdamUK (May 1, 2004)

At nursing school they taught us to first develop a good relationship. Then learn about what the issues are. Then empower the person to help themselves.

Like already said usually you know what can help. Deep down anyway. It's up to the professional to tease it out then motivate you to action.


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