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FACTS AND FICTION IN PSYCHOLOGY
- Psychologists can read the minds of others.
This is a popular myth that prevailed from the beginning. No honest Psychologist would claim so. However, as Psychologists are trained in observing the verbal and non verbal behavior of people, they may be able to guess the intentions of others more accurately than lay people.
- Psychology is an occult science.
This is absolutely untrue. On the other hand know that Psychology is the scientific study of the experience and behavior of living beings with a view to understand the principles that govern these phenomenon. As in other sciences Psychology aims at 'Prediction' and 'Control' of behavior.
- To study Psychology, one should have extra ordinary capabilities.
Totally untrue. Any body who is interested in this subject can study it.
- A Psychologist can hypnotize any body with a piercing look.
No. Never! Psychologists who are trained in hypnosis or hypnotherapy can hypnotize others if the patient/client is totally willing and cooperative. A mere study of Psychology will not equip a person to hypnotize any body.
- If one can hypnotize a person you can make him do any thing.
Sorry, never. Even under deep hypnosis a hypnotized person will not obey if he is asked to perform unethical actions.
- Mental illness is incurable.
Times have changed. Presently mental illness can be treated effectively with drugs and psychotherapy by competent Psychiatrists and Clinical psychologists.
- Mentally ill people are dangerous.
Surprisingly it has been found that mentally ill people have lower rate of violent behaviors, such as assault, rape and homicide than those in the general population. Nevertheless, people with Paranoid disorder (suspicion that others are plotting against them) may assault others to protect themselves.
- Genius is 'akin to insanity'.
No such relationship has been found in experimental studies. On the other hand some major studies have shown that people who had IQs 140 or above (bordering on genius) when reassessed in their mid-forties showed that their death rate, divorce rate, and mental illness rate were all lower than those for the general population. It is concluded that it is a myth to believe that creativity and genius are 'akin to insanity'.
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Unhappy Women: Caught In Identity Crisis?
Department of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
In 1963 in the U.S., a Psychologist named Betty Friedan was perplexed by an unusual mental condition that she found was quite widespread among women, of all ages. Women (mostly married) complained of depression, of being unable to focus on things, of bursting into tears without reason, sleeping a lot and feeling unusually tired. They just felt – for want of a better description – unhappy. Yet, seemingly, there was no reason for many of these women to feel so. They had secure marriages, had children, and financial security and social networks, and were involved in community groups. Many had at least one or two years of college education before deciding to settle down to marriage and children. Friedan was clearly confused as to why this collective depression among women existed; it was in her words, a "problem that had no name". In her book titled The Feminine Mystique she traces the origins for this problem. She tells us in her book that very early on she realized that these women’s suffering were not individual, that is, these were not women who had some biological, hormonal, sexual or other psychological defects. The answer to this problem clearly lay elsewhere.
Friedan talked to hundreds of women and realized that the source of these women’s depression was an identity crisis. On the one hand, women from girlhood were being told that they would find fulfillment and happiness as wife and mother, in traditional feminine roles. On the other, the reality was that as women spent more and more of their energy being just that, they felt more and more unhappy. As one young mother told Friedan: "I’ve tried everything women are supposed to do – hobbies, gardening, pickling, canning … but I’m desperate. I begin to feel that I have no personality. I’m a server of food and a putter-on of pants and a bedmaker, somebody to call on when you want something. But who am I?". Another woman told her that she had everything – a husband who was moving up in his career, a lovely new home, enough money. Yet, when she woke up in the morning there was nothing to look forward to. Women had just one question that summed up their feelings: Is this all there is in life?
Tradition is very strong in India and dictates many aspects of our lives. In India, regardless of religious differences, caste, class or regional location, tradition makes particular demands on the way women live their lives – from the clothes that they can wear, to their mobility, the kinds of jobs they take up and so. Psychologists have observed that as young girls grow into adolescence and womanhood, they comply more and more with the feminine roles demanded of them. For instance, it is well known that girls are better achievers at the school level and often are rank-holders and toppers in Std X exams. Their performance, however, falls considerably once they are in Pre-degree, in entrance exams and in professional courses. Some people may argue that girls are unable to cope with the rigor of advanced studies but studies conducted abroad suggest that women are subtly conditioned to feel that over-achievement is an "unfeminine" trait.
Alongside this traditional part of society, women are also influenced by the advantages of modern life. Education, jobs, friends, and money are increasingly changing the image that women have of themselves. More and more young women have aspirations that do not fit with the feminine roles of ‘wife’ and ‘mother’. Does the impact of modernity bring with it its own brand of "identity crisis" for women? Our understanding of women’s responses to their social conditions arise from their voices: from stories, autobiographies, movies, and so on. A collection of short stories by women in Kerala Inner Spaces: New Writing by Women From Kerala (1993) reflects how women are caught within the web of expectations that is imposed on them by tradition and family. Each story is dark and bleak – in most of them the female character is portrayed as trapped and unable to escape her destiny. Bharati Mukherjee, a US settled Indian writer, also fashions women characters who struggle to fulfil the demands of Indian tradition and their own hearts – in one book, Wife, the character eventually turns to murder. Kamala Das’ well-known autobiography My Story records her emotional wanderings searching for meaning that she never found as a wife. Deepa Mehta’s movie, Fire, is popularly known for its lesbian theme – how two women discover happiness in their emotional and physical attachment to each other. Yet, the understated part of the movie is the sterile life that these women lived as conventional housewives. "I was dead", says the character played by Shabana Azmi. Their radical and rebellious decision to run away together is perhaps not an option that many women in India would take – but shows that women are trying to resist society’s hold on them.
As a researcher into women’s issues, I find similar themes of emptiness and vacuum in the everyday lives of women. A woman, who is now a primary school teacher, told me that she "wasted seven years" sitting at home just after marriage. In another case, a woman admits difficulty to having sexual intercourse even though she loves her husband. She feels the problem lies in a sense of frustration about being only a housewife. In more extreme situations, as in the "Ice Cream Parlor" incident that became a scandal in the Malabar region a couple of years ago, seemingly ordinary women – housewives, students, and so on - consented to being part of a prostitution ring. The motive was clearly not monetary – it is interesting to ask what was missing in their lives that drove them to take these potentially dangerous risks. Many women who are asked by family to give up their jobs or studies after marriage do experience a sense of identity loss.
What Friedan argued in the sixties in the case of women in the U.S. and which is probably applicable for women here in India, is that they be allowed to pursue activities that enhance their identity. The idea of ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ are artificially created in and by society and trying to fit real human beings into these ideas will probably lead to dissatisfaction and frustration. Women, like men, are creative beings. Often, the ideas of ‘femininity’ stifle women’s creative side – women are more than just mothers and wives. For many women, a working career is what gives them a sense of being and purpose – an identity that is enriching. It is not easy to say that one thing will suit all women, but one thing may be generalized: that women must be allowed the opportunity to consider what things will make them happy. An environment which conditions women to think of themselves only as beings of reproduction will, in the long run, stifle their personalities and lead to a crisis of their identities.
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DEPRESSION
Depression has become a common disorder. It is estimated that more women than men suffer this malady. Depression is considered a dangerous disorder because 50% of depressed people tend to commit suicide. Is not human life valuable? Thus shouldn’t we help these innocent victims?
Even a common sense idea of depression can help you to help others.
What are the symptoms of Depression?
There are several kinds of depressions. Thus some common symptoms are given here.
Many depressed people suffer all or some of the following.
1. Persistent sad mood
2. Difficulty in concentration
3. Unusual forgetfulness
4. Slowness in actions
5. Slowness in thinking
6. Extreme pessimism
7. Feeling of worthlessness
8. Recurrent suicidal thoughts
9. Feeling of not being loved by anybody
10. Feeling that one cannot love anybody
11. Feeling that life has no meaning
12. Low drive or motivation
13. Unexplained feeling of fatigue
14. Rapid gain or loss of body weight
15. Inability to experience appetite
16. Sleep disturbances (especially during early morning hours)
17. Thumping of the heart (Palpitation)
18. Disturbances in the stomach (gas trouble, loose motion, constipation)
19. Intolerance to sound
20. Startle reaction
21. Crying spells
22. Increased sensitivity
23. Unexplained feelings of guilt
If anybody around you shows at least a few of the symptoms, persuade the person to see a Psychiatrist or a Clinical Psychologist. This is especially necessary if the person directly or indirectly talks to you about suicide or gives you the impression that life has no meaning. It has been observed that many patients have intentionally or casually mentioned to their friends or relatives their intention to commit suicide. Many have taken it lightly only to pay a big price later. Thus if you feel that somebody is depressed and talks of suicide, do not take it lightly. However, you should not panic and become upset in the presence of the patient. Take the message coolly and act rationally. Do not elicit a promise. Instead persuade the patient to consult a Psychiatrist with the assurance that things will get better from day one onwards. The worst thing you can do to a depressed person is to offer advice like "These days every body is depressed and that it is all your own making…"etc.
What Is The Best Treatment?
There is no single method of treatment for depression as its causes are biological, psychological and socio-cultural in nature. The first line of treatment should be biological. This means the patient should consult a Psychiatrist and get appropriate drugs prescribed. These drugs will bring immediate relief to some problems like ‘early morning sleep disturbances’, lack of appetite, and ‘fatigue’. These improvements will instill in the patient a feeling that he is not totally helpless and that some thing can be done about the problem. Paradoxically, this is also the most critical period in the depressive phase. A deeply depressed patient is almost incapable of committing suicide as he is ‘mentally paralyzed’. Drugs remove this incapacity and facilitate the act of suicide. It is during this critical phase that a Clinical Psychologist could be of great help. At this stage a Psychologist might be in a position to instill hope and minimize guilt.
It has been found that social support from the family, counseling by a Clinical Psychologist and drug treatment by a Psychiatrist together work better than any single treatment.
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DENTAL PHOBIA
In modern times no body can avoid a visit to a Dentist. However, many fear a visit to Dentists as all kinds of pain and uncomfortable experiences are anticipated. Some people have intense fear and avoid going to a Dentist until emergency forces them to go. These people, who out of fear cannot even entertain the thought of visiting a Dentist, are suffering from ‘Dental phobia’. A phobia is an intense irrational fear of normal or innocent situation, object or person.
People who have ‘Dental phobia’ cannot visit a Dentist. This then becomes a serious health problem of the oral cavity.
It is estimated that children and women are the worst hit by Dental Phobia. It has been found that at least 25% of people of all civilized countries are highly tensed up about visiting a Dentist. They do risk their oral hygiene.
In India, a study by Rao, Sequeire and Peter (1997) tried to determine the prevalence and characteristics of dental fear among 304 college students. They found that feeling tense was the most frequently reported difficulty. Among the dental situations, the needle and the drill were the most fear-provoking agents. About 51% of the students reported some fear of dentistry with females more fearful than males and dental students more fearful than medical students. This study also suggested that family and friends could influence dental fear.
Among the rural people the percentage may be certainly less than 51%, as they may not know the complications. Nevertheless, it is likely to be around 25%, which is also a sizable number.
As oral hygiene is important it is necessary that fear of dentistry be dispelled with. People should visit a Dentist if oral condition demands a visit.
Psychologists could be of great help in this context as they treat fear, anxiety and phobia successfully. Psychologists have a number of techniques with which they can reduce fear and anxiety of any nature. It has been found that training in Relaxation followed by graded visualization of the dreaded situation under relaxation (Systematic Desensitization) has been of invaluable help to people with phobias.
People who suffer from Dental Phobia can be helped in big way by training them to undergo ‘Relaxation and Visualization's of the Dentist’s chair and the medical activities that follow.
Thus if you are afraid of visiting a Dentist, why don’t you undergo a Relaxation training by Psychologists? It has been observed that patients who undergo training by Psychologists have less bleeding, need less anesthesia, less medication and are more cooperative and happier with Dentists.
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EATING DISORDERS
Department of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Public awareness of what are commonly called 'eating disorders' has increased immensely in the past decade or so. Anorexia nervosa (or the 'hunger disease') and bulimia nervosa (or the 'binge and purge disease') are among the more widely known. Part of the reason for its acceptance as a genuine problem to be dealt with has been the growing number of celebrities the world over who have admitted to having, at some point in their lives, been a victim of an eating disorder. The Princess of Wales, the late Diana Spencer, was among its sufferers - her biographer wrote poignantly of her tendency to binge eat and then vomit out repeatedly as a way to deal with the unhappiness in her life. Karen Carpenter, the talented singer of the 1970s singing duo, The Carpenters, died of anorexia nervosa in the early eighties. We are yet to ascertain the extent to which these diseases are prevalent in Indian society.
It is commonly accepted that women - particularly adolescent girls - are among its main sufferers. In fact, these eating disorders have been labelled 'maiden diseases'. It is estimated that one in hundred girls and women suffer from bulimia whereas anorexics are a little less common at one in around a thousand girls. Interestingly, some studies indicate that it is primarily middle-class women who are most likely to manifest these symptoms rather than the working or labouring class. The main symptoms of bulimia are (a) recurring episodes of binge eating (that is, rapidly consuming food in short periods of time) (b) attempts to purge oneself of the food that has been consumed, usually by induced vomiting, (c ) feelings of depression and low self-esteem, and (d) an inability to control the dysfunctional eating even though the person is aware that it is abnormal. Anorexic sufferers, on the other hand, avoid eating altogether. A common symptom in both disorders is the acute feeling that the person is 'fat'. Either by purging or by starving, the victims attempt to control their weight.
There are several theories that have been advanced to understand the causes for eating disorders. The various theories can broadly be classified as: bio-medical, psychological and socio-cultural. Bio-medical explanations tend to assert that eating disorders are caused by biological factors; these may range from imbalance of hormones to malfunctioning of serotonin in the brain. Some researchers also point to a possibility of a genetic origin. Bio-medical theorists suggest a combination of drugs and psychotherapy as treatment.
Psychological explanations view the disorders as a form of identity crisis, a sign that the sufferer is blocking emotions, and that there are repressed emotions in the unconscious which are expressed through abnormal relationships with food. The emotional crisis may arise from strained relationships with members of the family - such as mother-daughter, father-daughter and so on. For theorists who draw on psychological explanations, the disorder becomes a way that young girls protest, or blackmail the situations they are in at home.
Socio-cultural theories highlight the role that society plays in laying expectations on girls and women, particularly, on the way they should look. These explanations focus on western culture's overemphasis on body shape that is 'thin'. It is said that in western societies, over the last few decades, the 'ideal' female body shape has been getting thinner and thinner. Models in advertisements and on the catwalk in the 1990s are at least 10 kilos lighter (for the same height) than they were in the 1950s and 1960s. Young girls, in particular, are likely to see themselves as unattractive unless they are able to have the popular 'ideal' figure. Their struggle with food is an attempt to overcome feelings of low self-esteem that society sub-consciously induces, and to attain a sense of popularity.
A fourth and interesting analysis of these eating disorders has been put forward by feminist researchers. Their argument does not focus on the young girls and their symptoms as much as the medical profession and its attitude to the 'maiden diseases'. These researchers argue, for instance, that eating disorders are not a modern disease at all but has existed under various names for centuries. Moreover, eating disorders affect not just young girls, but older men and women as well. However, doctors and counselors have tended to focus attention primarily on young girls and their bodies. Further, this interest is focused at specific moments in history -- in fact, medical history shows 'waves' of interest and analysis on the condition of young women's health by doctors. The first such 'wave' was evident in the sixteenth century when doctors identified a malady that affected only young girls called furor uterinus and 'love sickness'. Doctors related symptoms of loss of appetite and weakness to malfunctioning of the sexual fluids in women. There was also a lot of medical writing on young women's ailments in the eighteenth and nineteenth century - 'chlorosis' or 'green sickness' (the symptoms again were a paleness of complexion, and disinterest in food) was intensely studied. In the twentieth century there are two periods when doctors start talking and writing about young women's diseases. Anorexia nervosa was 'discovered' in the 1970s and Bulimia in the 1990s. Why does the medical profession have these moments of interest in young women and their health?
These feminist researchers argue that the 'discovery' of maiden diseases is linked to the prominence in public life that young girls have been having. In the nineteenth century, for instance, women were entering universities and the work force in a big way. Post-World War 2 was again a time that women were very visible in society. By drawing attention to eating disorders as a malady of young women, doctors (and in a broader sense, society itself) are, in fact, labeling young girls as 'nervous', 'neurotic' and 'overemotional' -- almost as a reason to deny them a place in public life. One researcher asks if girls in puberty and adolescence are really biologically, psychologically and sexually so imbalanced, unstable and fragile (compared to boys) that they cope less with the pressure of society and the family? Or, do physicians, psychologists, counselors, and parents try to make some reactions of young girls seem particularly unnatural? Is our understanding of 'eating disorders' a reflection of young girls' unease with society, or society's unease with young girls? This last perspective highlights the 'creation' by society of girlhood and a specific class of 'girlhood diseases'. The description of girls as highly prone to vulnerability is, in a sense, a means to confine young girls to specific roles that are approved of by western, patriarchal societies where gender inequality still prevails. Disease creation, therefore, becomes a way of gender control.
