Want to study psychology because im undecided is this a good subject to take up

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by augiedogie

On top of what I already mentioned, there's another sad fact. All the psych treatment in the world isn't necessarily going to benefit anyone. They did a study, and tested two groups. One got all kinds of professional psychiatric care, and the second group got none. The recovery rates were the same. Who wants to spent their life doing something that in the long run might be accomplishing nothing but earning a paycheck?

The funny part was, I learned this from one of the psych profs, not a critic of psychiatric care.

Ummmmm...questions about your "fact..."

Who are "they?"

What was the "study?"

What treatment groups were tested?

Do you have information on the theories of counseling implemented, the types of treatment, the specifics of the treatment, WHAT was even being treated?

What are the specifics of the study? Who was involved? How many participants? Who were the participants? What kind of variability within the sample? How were participants selected? Is it randomized? How long were the subjects studied? Did they all have a comparable degree of severity of symptoms? Who designed the study? Was it peer-reviewed? What about other studies that either support or refute these findings?

I'm sorry, but what you wrote simply looks foolish..."See, there was this study I hear about, and people didn't respond in any meaningful way to the treatment...ergo, psychology doesn't work!" Uh...yeah. Need a little more info than that to properly analyze any experiment.

At any rate, mental health is like any other health field - different illnesses respond differently to different types of treatment. Some treatments that are effective in some, aren't effective in others. Because psych treatment also involves a significant investment on the part of the person being treated, the role the patient plays in their treatment is also a variable that comes into play (kind of like how a physically ill person won't get better if they don't follow their doctor's orders and follow the prescribed treatment plan, the same is true of a person with a mental health disorder, if that person won't or can't follow the prescribed treatment plan).

And it's not auto mechanics, where you go in, tweak some things, and "fix" the problem. Some mental health disorders DON'T respond well to any kind of treatment (kind of like a variety of medical conditions), so you aren't going in with the expectation of "fixing the problem." There are plenty of conditions where there IS no fix. The goal of treatment in those cases is to work on the management of symptoms to the greatest extent possible so that a person's quality of life, health, and safety can be attained to the highest measure possible. The goal is that the person can live as independently as possible and learn how to manage his or her own illness, symptoms, triggers, etc. The goal may simply be to educate the patient/client and counsel him or her to better understand the illness.

Doctors treat patients who aren't going to be "cured" all the time. People have terminal cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, any number of illnesses that aren't "fixable." The goal of treating people's disorders isn't always to cure. It isn't always possible. It's to help people in whatever way IS possible. IF you go into any type of health care, mental health or otherwise, with the mindset that you're there to cure everyone, you're going to be demoralized in short order.

[tht1guy]

Originally Posted by Wannabeliber

Yes

My advice?
If you want to get ahead in this world, find out who the rich people are and offer one-of-a-kind services they'll support and provide funds for -- don't be a peasant with an Associates/Bachelors/Masters

And don't use credit cards / apply for loans either

You said you'd like to get into magazines/print
That might be good however take the transition to web into consideration
Be a messenger of rich peoples' messages to the masses

and furthermore don't be nervous about going international, having no fixed home
"Go wherever you're treated best"

Don't be afraid to make friends with despicable people if they are rich and have connections/networking (that cliche)
You only live once

I DONT want to go that route. one thing ive learned is that those types of jobs are always replaceable getting a degree helps get a more stable job. Without one ill be moving from job to job for my whole life!!

[Den0190]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

It's pretty well already established, though, that to work within the mental health field (versus some other application of psych in a non-mental health-related field), the bachelor's is simply not seen as the terminal degree. Get a graduate degree, and you're not necessarily going to be on the front lines getting stabbed by pens in inpatient treatment facilities, unless you choose to work in that type of setting in particular roles.

Honestly, people who do aspire to work in mh treatment need to be realistic about the fact that graduate school and additional training will be essentially required. It would be like doing a pre-med undergrad and being disgusted that you can't do any higher level medical careers without continued study. You do pre-med knowing you're looking at more schooling in order to practice, obviously. You should do a psych bachelor's with the knowledge that you're looking at more schooling in order to practice, with that, too.

This info may be well-known to you, but it isn't to OP.

The period between the Bachelor's and graduate degree is when OP would have to support himself with just a Bachelor's. He will likely end up on the front lines during that period, as many of my coworkers who were studying to be psychiatrists did. At any rate, it's pretty unrealistic that someone working in the psych field wouldn't have to deal with the psych community at some point, and he needs to know what working with them is like.

[tht1guy]

Originally Posted by Den0190

This info may be well-known to you, but it isn't to OP.

The period between the Bachelor's and graduate degree is when OP would have to support himself with just a Bachelor's. He will likely end up on the front lines during that period, as many of my coworkers who were studying to be psychiatrists did. At any rate, it's pretty unrealistic that someone working in the psych field wouldn't have to deal with the psych community at some point, and he needs to know what working with them is like.

BUT looking up the different career paths I can take not all of them are crazies!

[Den0190]

Originally Posted by tht1guy

BUT looking up the different career paths I can take not all of them are crazies!

Good luck to you then. Hopefully you will never have to deal with psych patients while working in psych.

[augiedogie]

I'd have to really do some digging to find the source of that study. My BS is over 40 years old. Little details from that long ago are forgotten. If I get ambitious, maybe I'll see if I can find some current research.

I just took a quick look and found this article. It basically admits that shrinks can't cure people. They get them medications or counseling to help them with manage their disorder, but that's about it. Cure is not really discussed.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...ental-illness/