9 Myths Of Psychology That Harm Your Mental Health
Do you think psychology consists of guessing what other people think? Don’t you believe in psychologists? Discover the most common psychology myths within society and their reality.
In my daily life there are some people who, when they talk to me and the topic of psychology comes up, ask me a series of questions that I feel obliged to answer. I think it is important to clear people of these doubts so that the clinical or health psychologist can do their job correctly and so that people can be well informed about what a psychologist really is and what their role is and ultimately go to them when they believe it is necessary. I will speak from my daily experience.
There are a series of psychology myths that are constantly repeated in most people’s conversations. To put aside these types of errors, we clarify the most common ones.
1. I don’t believe in psychologists
Well, whether we believe in psychologists or not, the truth is that they exist. A psychologist is a professional who has studied psychology for 5 or more years. Psychology is defined as the science that studies the behavior of animals (including humans) and its relationship with processes such as thinking, learning and emotions. The psychologist, like any other scientist, uses the scientific method to study behavior. One of these psychology myths does a lot of damage to the profession and the actions that psychologists take day after day to promote mental and emotional well-being.
Many people think that the psychologist is able to guess what is happening to them simply by observing them for a few minutes. Nothing else far from reality When we have a problem and we go to the psychologist, he or she has to carry out a procedure to evaluate what is happening to the patient. The evaluation procedure is carried out through interviews, tests and questionnaires. In this way, we obtain the necessary information to understand in depth the problem for which our patient visits us. This myth of psychology is harmful since it can make us believe that it is not a science, but rather a series of unproven gossip.
3. The psychologist will never have a psychological problem
I think it is vitally important to touch on this point, because I have met many people, some friends and other acquaintances, who when they see you in the doldrums tell you: but if you are a psychologist, how can you be sad? Well, first of all, psychologists are also people, and as such from time to time we are have problems Secondly, both joy and sadness are part of the life of every human being. Logically, the psychologist knows coping strategies that ordinary people do not normally know and this can be a point in their favor when it comes to solving the problem, but this does not mean that because you are a psychologist you cannot be sad or have a bad streak I always give the example of doctors. Does a doctor never get sick? Well, the same thing happens with the psychologist, we also get sad and we also suffer problems.
This is one of the psychology myths more widespread. Some people believe that once they go to the psychologist and talk to him, their problem will be solved instantly. This is not like this. As we have said, when you go to the psychologist you go through several phases. First, an interview is carried out to evaluate the problem, once the problem is determined, the intervention is planned and this is when the therapy properly begins. In the therapy phase, the patient and psychologist jointly perform a series of exercises in order to treat the problem presented. This takes time. And something very important is that the patient must be active, he must want to get well to be able to work together with the psychologist. The psychologist does not solve your problem, he helps you and teaches you strategies so that you are able to solve it yourself. At the end of the day it is a learning process for the patient.
5. Time heals everything
It is true that sometimes the passage of time makes us see things from another perspective , but other times time only contributes to making the problem chronic. That is why it is important to intervene in the problem as soon as possible and not let it get bigger.
6. Friends are the best psychologists
A friend is that, a friend. The network of support It is very important when it comes to overcoming problems, but it never replaces a professional. In fact, sometimes, our friends can give us advice that relieves us but that in the long run is harmful.
7. Drugs are the only remedy for psychological problems
Medication (anxiolytics, antidepressants, etc.) can help some people relieve symptoms , but in reality when the problem we have is psychological, the drugs work like a band-aid on a wound, as soon as we remove the band-aid it stays that way. This means that as soon as we stop taking the medication the symptoms will reappear and in many cases with more force. Drugs can complement therapy but never replace it.
This is one of the most harmful psychology myths for our mental well-being. This is an excuse that we sometimes use to get out of a jam. The truth is that people are constantly changing, we evolve And if we want and make the effort we can change our behavior. In fact, the psychologist is in charge of analyzing and modifying the patient’s behavior.
9. Those who go to the psychologist are crazy
Nothing is further from reality You can go for a consultation because you have a problem and you do not have the necessary tools to solve it, or you can go simply because you want to improve some aspect of your life. In short, going to a psychologist means being responsible. There is a quote, which I now don’t remember from who it is, that goes like this: We all have problems, the difference between the person who goes to the psychologist and the one who doesn’t, is that the former wants to solve them.
There are many myths about psychology that harm not only the profession but everything that approaching a professional psychologist can give us. For this reason, it is essential that you discard all these erroneous approaches and begin to see psychology as a tool that can help you be the best version of yourself.
