I have always had some frustrations with professionals in the field of psychology. Perhaps I am simply paranoid from watching such movies as
Changeling, but I feel that the role of a psychiatrist in society is overplayed. Some people genuinely need help sorting out their problems, but there simply is no diagnosis for being mentally healthy as there is in other aspects of medicine. Even if a biologically healthy individual were to walk into a psychiatrist's office, the conclusion would be one of illness.
If the healthy person were content, then something was being concealed. More visits would be required.
If the healthy person were angry or defensive for being probed, then the person has a problem with authority, aggression, or violence. Let's ignore that it is socially abnormal for a perfect stranger to seek a deep, one-sided monologue regarding one's past.
If the healthy person were clean-cut, then that person was trying to overcompensate for the past.
If the healthy person were quite the opposite, then that same person has issues confronting problems from the past.
If the healthy person has sexuality issues, then that person is, depending on the psychological professional, a damned soul needing salvation or facing some sort of identity crisis.
If the healthy person saves money, then that person has trouble enjoying himself or herself.
If the healthy person spends money, then that person has trouble with being a responsible member of society.
If the healthy person's grades are low, then it must be ADD or something else that drugs can fix.
If the healthy person just wants to go home to a familiar place with family or friends, then that person is too afraid to take chances or tackle deep issues.
The list could go on forever, but listing forever would cause you to either stop reading my rambling, if you haven't already, or would cause your head to explode, and I don't want someone to have to clean up the mess you'll leave. I was just thinking about this as I watched the TV earlier. There are so many shows where a diagnosis makes the case, and those cases are extreme, thus making very good television entertainment. The truth is that most of us who get counseling or try to listen to such quacks as Dr. Phil really need to evaluate why we have no confidence in our own judgement. Usually, even a poorly guided child can become a decent adult by simply knowing that some things are basically right and others are basically wrong. The intricate complexities of social interaction cannot be adequately resolved by talking about how someone's father did not express their love enough or how someone else's mother was an alcoholic. Some people need a professional to talk about their history of sexual abuse or why they get angry every time they see a Duke-North Carolina game (the answer: both teams should lose), but the rest of us tend to be functional adults.
What do I know? I'm no professional in the field, but I have known that most people who go to counseling are more frustrated when they leave the office than before entering for the first time.
I guess my diagnosis for people that believe in contemporary psychology as it exists today is that you are crazy. Perhaps those of you who stayed long enough to read this nonsense are also crazy for doing just that.
