cuntflapsupreme replied to your post: Who bought a DSM-5?

On a skim, it’s definitely a different direction. I have only wandered through the psychotic, mood and substance sections in-depthly though. I can upload some pseudo-scans if you want.

I mean, only if you can handle the responsibility of being my hero for life…! Just curious to see the outline of the personality disorder section, not necessarily the criteria for each diagnosis.

Did they include the personality traits/facets?

chassant-reverie asked: Let us study maslows hierarchy of needs in depth.

The Buddha > Maslow.

Really, really want to know what the finalized personality disorder section looks like. It’s the only section that I had some real hope for.

whatshouldwecallgradschool:

credit: akissformonica

I agreed with this gif up until about eight weeks ago when I started actually learning statistics. Goodness having a good stats professor/book makes all the difference, because they remind you the purpose of statistics and why it’s seriously, seriously important.

someofourstarsarethesame asked: I was thinking something along the lines of psychopathology assessment or rehabilitation? I have a pretty broad interest in mental illness in the criminal justice system, specifically prisons, but I'm unsure of how to narrow this down.

Sorry for getting to this so late!

So what do you mean by “assessment” exactly? Because I have a feeling you might have a different thought regarding that word than mine, because when I hear about personality assessment, it usually means reading about empirically-derived assessments and their psychometric properties and/or philosophical/diagnostic underpinnings.

Anonymous asked: Do you know the difference between terminal masters programs in psychology and masters? How are you supposed to tell? Ex: the one college has a M.S. in Clinical & Counseling Psychology that will allow me to become a licensed professional counselor

I honestly am not positive of this answer, so maybe someone can correct me, but I was under the impression that terminal programs typically mean one of two things (or both):

1) It is the highest degree you can attain for that field. So, in some cases, a master’s is the most advanced degree for certain fields, while a PhD might be for other fields. In mental health, it’s usually the case that PhDs are the most advanced degrees you can attain.

2) I feel like I have heard it used in the context of “ability to practice” upon acquiring said degree. So in some states there will be a master’s clinical psychology program, but it will not afford you the ability to practice upon completion. They are basically extensions of undergrad with more advanced classes.

Anonymous asked: Just wondering what your view, a.k.a. more scientifically inept people that those at my University, thought about the Freudian view of 'unconscious' is? I thought it was disproven and void of any scientific method, but we were taught it nonetheless in a course and now I'm having an argument with a fellow student about it's relevance to science.

It’s tough to disprove something that is arguably not falsifiable. It would be like someone saying, “I can turn invisible but only when no person or device is observing me…NOW PROVE ME WRONG!” Well, we can’t, because you’ve given us nothing we can really objectively measure or prove to be wrong. If it is not possible for something to be falsified then it cannot be measured. That’s science.

Ultimately if someone thinks that the unconscious is relevant to science, I would ask them a few things: 1) define it, 2) show me where it has ever been measured, 3) show some research illustrating its assessment/treatment value, etc.

Basically: can we measure it, and even if we can’t, can our concept of the “unconscious” yield ANY utility in a treatment setting? To my knowledge that has never been verified, and if it has, the benefits are vastly outnumbered by therapeutic orientations which do not place any kind of focus on the unconscious (at least in a Freudian sense).

The burden of proof is on them, not you. If they cannot substantiate an argument then that by itself should tell you that there is nothing for you to even debate. Science does not waste its time in “what if” scenarios, but rather “what is” scenarios.

someofourstarsarethesame asked: Do you have any suggested reading material for my summer break? I'm going to be reading psychological studies about mental illness in prison using psycINFO anyway, but you always have really interesting posts so if you could recommend anything I would definitely appreciate it! Thanks in advance and I hope your summer is terrific.

I would be happy to try and help! But can you maybe give some more specifics? Namely, what your interests are? Obviously this is a broad field and so it’s tough to make over-arching suggestions without a clearer sub-topic. Though if you have broad interests then we could try to start there!

Consider this a social experiment for a future post. Okay not really an experiment, but it will provide some material for a future post.

Tumblr gives you like, what, 150 characters when you respond to a post? So, if you would not mind, please use those 150 characters and answer the following question:

“Who are you?”

Anonymous asked: So what would you recommend for those struggling with a disorder? For context, I've dealt with major depressive disorder for the past 10 years or so.

I am terribly sorry to hear about your struggles. My brother has similarly struggled with MDD for about 12 years now, and I can say I understand [on paper] the suffering attached to this disorder, though I cannot begin to understand what it must feel like.

Realize I would need much more information to give any sort of input. However, if I could summarize my approach it would be as follows:

1. Identify things that have worked for you long-term, and engage in those activities daily. These are often existential issues, such as fulfilling some sense of purpose or meaning, or more benign tasks such as exercising.
2. Identify things that have not worked and only serve as immediate alleviation, and stop doing them.

I can elaborate a little further and say that, often, the activities associated with #1 include engaging in things that bring BOTH HAPPINESS AND SADNESS! Some people value education, and that requires receiving grades or scrutiny that is below our hopes and expectations; without accepting the sad feelings associated with this, it would be impossible to fulfill our value of education. Some people value a loving relationship, and that requires enduring potential rejection or embarrassment; without accepting those sad feelings, it would be impossible to find love.

Conversely, the activities associated with #2 often involve engaging in things that only intend to bring happiness by replacing sadness. These are your typical avoidant techniques: avoiding [meaningful] situations solely because they provoke anxiety, not attempting to accomplish our goals for fear of failure (behavioral helplessness), zoning out in front of the TV, getting drunk on a regular basis, etc.

And so I might ask you the following:

1. What does your depression look like exactly?
2. If your depression were gone, what would you do with your life? And I don’t mean like, “well I would be happier and I would not feel as sad” - right, got that, but NOW WHAT!
3. What have you done to deal with your depression so far? Think of everything throughout time.
4. What have been the effects/consequences for each of the items in question #3?

This is a good starting place because it often illustrates the following simple fact: attempts to control or manipulate internal states do not work. And if they “work,” it is only because they must be continually employed to sustain the effects, which simply means that they are in fact not working (“band-aid for cancer” expression comes to mind here).