These types of comments are annoying

[psych84]

I like this guy, watch his show regularly, but he thinks he's an expert in Psychology because he took courses in it for couple years in undergrad. But this was the type of ignorance I was talking about in previous threads.

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[erg923]

Who the hell is this?

 

[wesleysmith]

Not sure, but he has a "background" in psychology and says the word science a lot, so I'm sold.

 

[psych84]

Who the hell is this?

He does a progressive radio show and he's also somewhat popular online. He's part of the TYT network (The Young Turks, who have the biggest online news/political show)

 

[erg923]

This is not a "progressive" approach to MH treatment.

 

[smalltownpsych]

"I couldn't understand statistics so I studied political science" and "psychology is not a science" I translate that as "I am not smart enough to understand abstract concepts."

He uses Penn and Teller as a primary source, but he qualified it with he doesn't agree with them all the time. I didn't know they were psychologists.

Man! F**ing psychology is so lame man, look at celebrity rehab

I couldn't listen to any more of it. I am afraid that it could cause neuronal decay. We should probably have this removed to save the next generation of psychologists on this board. For the love of God!

 

[463951]

Wait, who is this *****?? Do people actually listen to this idiot?? I think my IQ just dropped a few points after a few minutes of that...he's like talking about what his various majors were or some crap, rehab, SSRIs, and saying he's a "hard science" guy. And something about a snake.

Edit: I listened a little bit longer. This dude is advocating for "a couple of bumps" of cocaine daily to treat depression, lol.

 

[haRtwin]

I got a good laugh from that video. Too rich

Edit: And I forgot to add that we don't have any empirical research, guys. Come on! But seriously, I took a course called statistics as an undergrad and dropped it

 

[psych84]

He is not usually this dumb. Def not for everyone the way he goes about presenting himself, but def not that idiotic on a regular basis. He is pretty good at discussing political topics, but once he strays, he makes really ignorant comments like the above.

But I posted this because I think it is a fairly good illustration of how a lot of people view Psychology. I do realize though that in another thread someone posted how some studies have shown that most people respect the field.

 

[chartero]

From about 6:25 to 6:57 he critiques armchair-pontificating "idiots" offering poorly-supported opinions in the place of science. "You're just an a------ with an opinion." Perhaps that's his subject and the other 17 minutes is a dramatic illustration of the type.

Or not. (There's only one Colbert…)

Then, after over 15 minutes attacking psychology and talk therapy as unsupported and suggesting we should do more with scheduled narcotics, his kicker is a clip he endorses fully of Robin Williams saying something. It's Williams as a therapist saying something therapeutic, but this isn't mentioned.

 

[haRtwin]

From about 6:25 to 6:57 he critiques armchair-pontificating "idiots" offering poorly-supported opinions in the place of science. "You're just an a------ with an opinion." Perhaps that's his subject and the other 17 minutes is a dramatic illustration of the type.

Or not. (There's only one Colbert…)

Then, after over 15 minutes attacking psychology and talk therapy as unsupported and suggesting we should do more with scheduled narcotics, his kicker is a clip he endorses fully of Robin Williams saying something. It's Williams as a therapist saying something therapeutic, but this isn't mentioned.

When I got to the end of the video, I thought that, for a second, maybe he was being ironic and the joke was on people like us. Nah.

 

[PsychBiker]

As is typical, someone dies and the idiots come out.

By the way, this guy is surprised that a comedian often seems happy-go-lucky?

 

[erg923]

This also speaks to the trend of politically oriented pundit types forming and subsequently expressing opinions on every subject imaginable, rather than just sticking to politics. Of course, often times these opinions are shaped by, and congruent with, political stereotypes. I mean, a "progressive" pundit espousing the "sadness and tradedgy" of the suicide of a famous person (as if his life mattered more than others and is somehow extra sad) and then advocating further empirical research with psychedelic agents. Typical.

In reality of course, thinking that there is a majic pill that will manufacture epiphanies is simply concrete, mainstream (westernized) thinking about mental health problems. There is nothing progressive there at all. Now, if he had come on his hip little podcast with that super cool mic headset talking about seamless integration of behavioral health into the primary care setting from childhood on, I might view that as somewhat "progressive."

 

[CheetahGirl]

I refuse to watch this video. I love Mork from Ork too much to pollute my brain with some random evaluation of his passing.

RIP Robin Williams. I can only wish/dream about you meeting Philip Bromberg (who is alive & well in NYC) for treatment....perhaps things would've turned out differently, but most of us know long-term clinical depression can be ruthless, and should be considered a disease. Oh well. Such a private matter for Mr. Williams and his family so I'm opting out of this discussion. I do like that most articles I initially read ended with short paragraphs about calling Samaritans followed by 1-800-273-TALK and 1-800-SUICIDE.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I particularly appreciate his amazing epiphany (and the ensuing ground-breaking discussion about research) that the brain is an ORGAN. Wow, all of us mental health professionals from the past couple hundred years must've somehow missed that point! I mean, holy crap, this changes everything; neuroscience will never be the same!

I also enjoyed his comments on "positive psychology." I don't know about you folks, but I always go into sessions with patients dealing with depression and start off with, "well, why aren't you just thinking happy thoughts?! You know that would fix you, right?! I just don't understand why you can't figure this out!"

This would basically be equivalent to me putting up a political science-oriented video and starting off with, "hey everyone, so like, you know the United States isn't really a true democracy, right? I know, I just blew your minds; all that stuff you people have been writing for the past 100 years, it's all wrong now. You're welcome."

 

[psych84]

One time he said something like "We are really behind in terms of mental health, for our physical health, in cases of emergency we go to the emergency room to get fixed up, why not have an emergency for mental health?"

 

[erg923]

Suicidal patients are like 50% of this VA ERs workload.

And again, reactive ideas such as "more ERs for psych stuff" is the opposite of progressive/liberal thought on this issue. How bout, gasp....proactive/prophylatic suicide prevention programs.

 

[psych84]

It just seemed he wasn't even aware that at a regular hospital there are Psychiatrists in the emergency room to see mental health patients.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Suicidal patients are like 50% of this VA ERs workload.

And again, reactive ideas such as "more ERs for psych stuff" is the opposite of progressive/liberal thought on this issue. How bout, gasp....proactive/prophylatic suicide prevention programs.

I think he is being progressive in his shoot from the hip throw more money at it and build more programs approach. Not sure how that fits with this case since Robin Williams had the resources and some of the best treatment options available and was using them from all reports.

 

[PsychBoxe]

I actually agree with his basic (yes, very basic) crituque of the DSM. Other than that, saying "science" a bunch of times and using jargon without correct definitions was bad form.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I actually agree with his basic (yes, very basic) crituque of the DSM. Other than that, saying "science" a bunch of times and using jargon without correct definitions was bad form.

It's easy to critique the DSM, I do it all day long, but we have to be careful in how that is presented to the public since mental illness does exist and needs to be categorized to be studied. Our critics can too easily throw out the baby with the bathwater and attempt to discredit our entire field because of difficulties with our diagnostic system.

 

[PsychBiker]

http://popchassid.com/robin-williams-didnt-kill/