How Can We Be Sure?

Being a psychologist partially requires being a researcher, which means that we always have to come up with new ideas. The interesting thing about studying psychology is that the new questions never end, since we study the behaviour of individuals and there are many factors that change it.

Background is a basic factor that modifies behaviour. Even if we try to get results that describe the average, every person is different because of the experiences they’ve had and the cultural differences. Religion, gender, status and educational level are also closely connected to the way someone behaves.

Mental disorders can influence the validity of the results of a study. What if some of the participants are compulsive liars? The possibility of lying when it comes to their answers is pretty high, so the researcher can’t be actually sure if every single answer is the one it is supposed to be. On the other hand, it is impossible to test every single participant. It would be time consuming and would certainly cost lots of money, as well.

Motives can also be triggering. For instance, if the study includes giving money to the participants, they might go for the results they think are more likely to be the “correct” ones. Under these circumstances, the least a researcher can do is modifying the questions in a way that no motives are shown, unless it’s part of the study.

As I’ve said before, we work with human beings, so how sure can we be about them? We can’t predict, nor guarantee for the outcomes of our studies.

Media And Suicide

“Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10-24 years age group; these figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide.” [http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/]  As I went through this line, I couldn’t help but let myself think: do the media affect suicide after all?

                Back in 1774 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote “The Sorrows of Young Man Werther”, a novel where the protagonist dies because of a failed romance; it was banned in many places in Europe, since it was thought to be responsible for suicides in Italy, Leipzig and Copenhagen. During the month of Marilyn Monroe’s suicide (August 1962) a 12% suicide rate increase was indicated, in the US alone. Generally popular publicized suicide stories tend to increase the rate by 2.5% in the month of media coverage in the US.

                In most cases copy cat suicide evidence is very indirect and usually weak. However, in the book Final Exit (1993) asphyxiation is a means recommended as a suicide method for ill people; in the year it was published suicides by asphyxiation rose by 313%. A copy of Final Exit was found in 27% of these cases.

                Why do the media affect suicide though? One possible explanation is the imitation one; simply, someone believes that the person that committed suicide has “solved” their problems through it. People who suffer from mental disorders or illnesses copy the behaviour of the other people that killed themselves. Even if the content or background may differ, the general idea that problems are solved seems to be ruling.

                Another possible explanation is the identification one. Since people can identify with a story, there’s more impact in it. Last but not least, it just might have to do with the mood; the stories that appear prone to suicide are common in society (e.g. high unemployment rate) have more copycat effect, since people are on the verge of suicide, so stories that appear when not only related to suicide conditions, but moods are low will have less impact on society.

                All in all, the media seem to have an impact on suicides, but isn’t it really related to the person? After all, studying psychology teaches us that every individual is different, thus, there must be different stories that affect each person separately.

                

How Ethical Is To Label Mental Disorders?

Considering the latest meeting with my Scientific Writing and Communication group and the essay we have to write on labels, I thought of connecting them to Research Methods in terms of how important they can be, and how ethical labelling a patient actually is.

                On the one hand, as a psychology student, I recognise and appreciate labelling and categorizing mental disorders and their importance when it comes to my studies and my job as a psychologist later in life (since I partially have to be a researcher as well). Without labelling, chaos would occur and trying to figure out what a patient might suffer from would be impossible.

                On the other hand, as a person that suffers from a mental disorder, I can tell that living with a label does not only change your personal life, but it also changes the way others treat you. In my opinion, sufficient education is needed, so that labels should not be confused nor connected to stereotypes (think of the connection of the words schizophrenia and madness) and that patients understand that realising their condition is already part of accepting it and dealing with it.

                As psychology students, what are your opinions on this matter? Do you think that labels should be used or not?