Anyone else annoyed by always being surrounded by clinicians??

[Wildcat06]

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So after 3 years of RA/clinical work and 2 months of grad school, I'm realizing that nearly all my friends are psychology and/or social work oriented. And I'm slowly beginning to realize that every behavior and comment of mine is being analyzed and that the smallest things become catastrophized.

Case in point: Since moving to the South for graduate school I keep joking with my friends back home about the abundance of fried food and told my friend that I was going to have to wear a maternity dress to her wedding because of it (CLEARLY a joke). So this weekend at said wedding, everyone commented on how good I looked and that they were surprised. And after the wedding one of my friends took me aside to give me a lecture on self-care because "word on the street" was that I was eating nothing but fast food and no fruits and vegetables. This was incredibly insulting given that it could not be further from the truth and given that I weigh 125 flippin pounds!!

Has anyone else had experiences like this? How do we as clinicians learn to keep things in perspective and not analyze or pathologize our loved ones?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

- I have very few close friends who are clinicians. Very diverse range of people.

- hobbies have nothing to do with psychology.

+1

I enjoyed having friends in med, law, nursing, business, etc...because none of us really wanted to talk shop outside of our work, and if we suddenly had an urge to do so, we wouldn't really understand what the other was talking about. 😀

Golfing, photography, and working out were my outlets. I spent so much time inside, that I made sure that most of my "off time" was spent out enjoying the weather (I lived in S. FL, so I could be outside all year).

 

[JockNerd]

Has anyone else had experiences like this? How do we as clinicians learn to keep things in perspective and not analyze or pathologize our loved ones?

Yup, mind-blowingly annoying. They're the professional-level equivalent of the psych undergrads who go around diagnosing every person they know (and then themselves). I swear my self-deprecating humor made some of my prac supervisors concerned about my mental health.

 

[KillerDiller]

+ another 1 from me. Although I don't feel pathologized by my cohort, I still very much miss hanging out with friends in different disciplines and/or those in non-clinical areas of psychology. It's a treat when I get to catch up with those colleagues.

 

[psychmama]

I think I'm lucky, being older and coming from another career. Most of my friends and family are in other lines of work. Heck, many of my female friends are SAHmoms and haven't worked a serious job in 10 yrs. The good thing is that these people keep me from getting too mired in psychology. The bad news: few people really understand what I'm going through (except other psychologists, that is).

 

[Ollie123]

I'm trying to decide if I'm dangerously oblivious to my surroundings or just happen to be at a school with relatively well-balanced individuals, because I just haven't seen this much from the grad students here. Though I do think the faculty are often too nice and not as critical as they should be...I'm not sure how much of that is driven by being a psychologist.

I do enjoy catching up with my friends from home about non-psychology things. Though I admit I am as bad as anyone when it comes to discussing research paradigms and statistical techniques in social settings when I'm around my fellow psych nerds. I think it means I picked the right career😉

 

[Cosmo75]

I think I'm lucky, being older and coming from another career. Most of my friends and family are in other lines of work. Heck, many of my female friends are SAHmoms and haven't worked a serious job in 10 yrs. The good thing is that these people keep me from getting too mired in psychology. The bad news: few people really understand what I'm going through (except other psychologists, that is).

Same here. I have very few close friends in the field. I tend to run around with engineers, IT people, artists, etc. I periodically hang out with some people from my internship class and those in my cohort at school.

Unfortunately some people do act differently around me now that I'm in psych and assume I'm analyzing them. I try to tell myself it's their own personal hang-ups, but it does bother me. I definitely don't go around in analysis mode 24/7. Imagine how exhausted you'd be.

 

[psychmama]

Same here. I have very few close friends in the field. I tend to run around with engineers, IT people, artists, etc. I periodically hang out with some people from my internship class and those in my cohort at school.

Unfortunately some people do act differently around me now that I'm in psych and assume I'm analyzing them. I try to tell myself it's their own personal hang-ups, but it does bother me. I definitely don't go around in analysis mode 24/7. Imagine how exhausted you'd be.

I like Nancy McWilliams' response to "are you analyzing me?":

"I never work when I'm not getting paid."😉

 

[Wildcat06]

I usually respond with, "I'm not a very good psychologist. Don't worry."

haha, spectacular. My response is generally, "I'm a researcher."

I'm lucky that the people in my program don't generally seem to analyze but if I do talk to them about any problems I'm having, they do seem to immediately go into the therapist "tell me about your feelings" thing. But I've pretty quickly figured out who does and does not do that. 🙂

 

[Shatani]

i make it a point to have a variety of different friends....in fact the one i spend the most time with is a software engineer, and it is refreshing after a week of work and classes with clinicians! lol...he keeps me sane, although i think i drive him insane 😀

 

[Shatani]

I like Nancy McWilliams' response to "are you analyzing me?":

"I never work when I'm not getting paid."😉

she says that?? i love her! i always tell people, "im off the clock" or "you couldnt afford me"....when im in more of a mood, i have much less nice responses!

 

[Cosmo75]

I like Nancy McWilliams' response to "are you analyzing me?":

"I never work when I'm not getting paid."😉

I've used a variation of that 😀

Also have used "you're not that interesting...and that's a good thing" and "I wasn't until you said that."

 

[PrisonPsych]

I usually respond with, "I'm not a very good psychologist. Don't worry."

My version is "I'll be glad to analyze you. Just go out, get convicted of a crime, get sentenced, and get assigned to my facility." Funny, but most of them decline...

 

[twilson]

My version is "I'll be glad to analyze you. Just go out, get convicted of a crime, get sentenced, and get assigned to my facility." Funny, but most of them decline...

only most? lol