Psychology

Some people know how to manipulate others, that's not psychology, that is manipulation. Psychology is the science of studying how we react to events and stimulation in our environment. Some of us have triggers, or things that make us sad or upset and - it's important to recognize them because we don't just want to avoid them, we want to learn how to deal with them.

I have experienced triggers in the form of smells, sightings and verbal queues that tell me I have to get out, even if I am in an open space. And getting out means grounding myself, sometimes grounding ourselves is simply returning to the basic things that make us human, like looking at the mirror and recalling that childhood experience we had when we forgot we would become adults eventually and forget we were ever children.

Many psychologists believe in detractors, or steps which enable us to make choices that are appropriate for the situation we encounter ourselves in. But detractors are not enough sometimes. I will use the example of children in a war, let's use Palestine, where women and children starve to death every day. Children who are born in the war don't have the ability to learn how to detract themselves from the situation they live in and if they are able to grow up and flourish, they could become addicted to chaos and violence. Who can blame them? They were raised in an unforgiving and violent environment. 

Going back to psychology, just like in many other cases, manipulation is different from science because there are specific phenomena psychologists are able to study and learn from, with the ability to repetitively study, analyze and eventually come to an agreement or disagreement as to what is and what is not. Psychologists take into account things suitable and unsuitable to a patient or client, whatever way they see them as.

Sciences like psychology are important to everyone because we all have a brain and most of us make good use of it. The brain is an important part of our daily lives as it can be detrimental or beneficial based on choices we make, and those choices are based on the events we have witnessed, experiences we had in our lives and stimulants we use or not use. The brain is a very delicate part of the human body and it should be treated as such.

A couple of years ago I was skating with a group of friends when I tried to turn fast; I fell on the ground very quickly and bumped my head with the hard concrete. I was terrified at that moment and laid down until I made sure my eyes could see properly. At the time, I was working in bookkeeping and it was necessary for me to be detailed and use the spreadsheets in the company’s system carefully and with detail. Thankfully, I was okay to return to work the next day, but the experience got my attention as to how risky it can be to have a fall and bump my head against something like concrete or asphalt.

The great psychologist Sigmund Freud had great ideas for the period of his time but some were unusual and unordinary. Some of his elements for curing ills was the use of cocaine, which at the time, was something quite strange to people. However, to Freud’s detriment, he became addicted to the chemical and he had a difficult time leaving it and withdrawing from it. Psychology has had a few hard encounters with the reality of its field as we consider procedures based in research which may not be the best decision made for some; nonetheless, it is a reaction to the environment where psychologists operate and develop.

I was recently confronted with a hard decision, one which I was distraught about, someone mentioned their position on a lobotomy, which is a surgery to cure mental illnesses. I was confused and petrified at the thought of anything going into my brain and recalled the story of the daughter of a famous politician who was crippled for life after such surgery. So, we have grown very much in science, being able to make decisions on our own psychology and treatment and not letting others invest their efforts in procedures that don’t work.

My position in the definition of illnesses of the brain and psychology is that, depending on how much we are exposed to life events which are tragic and violent, the more violent we can become. The more love and care we get from people, and the more love and care to give others, the less psychology we need. And in a world which turns and twists with the need for more, we could focus on giving more love and peace, as opposed to the contrary.

Psychology and psychiatry are sciences which may not encounter rivals until now, because they are based on the study of events that are horrific, like the loss of life. The loss of a relative can bring hardship to our lives, just the same as sickness and war. War is a situation we experience in a daily basis while watching the news, we see what happens to others and we choose a side, but there is no side to choose when the reality of life strikes and we recognize that the things we do for others remain in our minds, forever. I heard a statement once which in summary went like this: we live on earth once and the only things we take with us to the grave is what we experience and that we have given to others. Take it or leave it but I believe it today and hopefully the future will continue to show me it’s true.