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Anyone Interested in Psychology?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Dingdang, Mar 30, 2016.

?

LGBT people, are you interested in psychology?

  1. Yes.

    65.0%
  2. Kind of.

    30.0%
  3. No opinion.

    0.8%
  4. No.

    4.2%
  1. Dingdang

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    It seems that many LGBT people say that they're interested in psychology. This has been the case for me, too, and I wonder if being LGBT has a correlation with interest in psychology.

    Therefore, I ask you to vote in the poll and explain why you chose the answer you chose.

    I did not originate associate being LGBT with liking psychology, but as I've seen this trend on EC, I now begin to wonder if my liking of psychology is related to my being transgender and lesbian.

    Please keep in mind that I do not know the answer to this question and only put up this poll for the benefit of our eventual collective understanding. Also, correlation does not imply causation, so I wouldn't want you to believe that being LGBT causes liking psychology (or vice versa). There could be a third factor correlated with both. Who knows?
     
  2. Daydreamer1

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    I considered going to college to get a degree in psychology and criminology before dropping the idea in exchange for being a self-taught filmmaker. I like seeing how the mind works, and beyond that, I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to the subject.
     
  3. Kodo

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    Intensely. In fact I intend to pursue a career in a field of psychology. Though, I wouldn't say my interest is exclusively linked to the fact that I'm trans. Since age twelve I became hooked on studies of the brain/mind, because we had covered it briefly in my high school anatomy class.
     
  4. killswitch0029

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    I think it's interesting not necessarily because I'm gay, I just enjoy learning about how the mind works and how it can be affected by things like mental disorders. Then again I like learning in general so that could be a reason too I guess :slight_smile:
     
  5. Canterpiece

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    I put "kind of".

    I don't think it's because of my orientation, but I tend to find it an interesting thing to learn about.

    I've always been stirred away from it by others (my parents, my teachers ect.) because apparently I'm "not social enough" to do psychology, also my parents don't understand why anyone would want to do such a subject in the first place. I prefer IT, but I have some interest in psychology. It's cringey whenever someone is so off the mark when coming up with theories. I remember watching a video done by a psychology student about sexual orientation, and it was incredibly cringey with how ignorant and off the mark it was.

    I guess what sparked my interest was when I had to go to counselling sessions at Primary school. It just left me with a lot of questions like: Why did my first counsellor run away? Why was I in counselling in the first place? (I was told that I was being sent there to help me think "inside the box" more, but after I finished my sessions we had an assembly on thinking "outside the box". I guess they hadn't intended to have the sessions go on for so long and that it would've been easier to teach me if I'd been in the way of thinking they wanted me to be in during the younger years, but by the time it was over it was no longer something that was desired of me. I feel quite cheated of my time.).

    The main thing I hated about being in those sessions was the fact that you're not allowed to see the notes. (I can't be the only one who's tried to peak right? I often tried to when school inspectors wrote notes as well when they happened to be close enough for me to see). The two counsellors I had (the main one and then the replacement after the first one ran away) always asked me weird questions which often got me wondering "why? Why are they asking this?" and get me to balance on each leg.

    That and the teacher who "could see dead people" (no joke, we had an assembly about this, and for some reason she always met these people on a hill for some reason) got me wondering how some people's minds work sometimes.

    I like to watch character studies on cartoons, they're usually interesting to watch. And I also tend to find it interesting how certain animals interact with each other.
     
    #5 Canterpiece, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
  6. Aberrance

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    Well I've taken psychology both at AS and A level and have applied to do a psych and cognitive neuroscience BSci degree in September. So you might say I'm a little interested.

    I'm very indecisive about where I want my life to go career wise and throughout my life psych is the only subject that has ever really fascinated me to the extent where I'd consider doing it my entire life. However at A-level its intensely boring as its just a memory test, I'm hoping that the degree will have more application and actually first hand learning. The main subjects that captured my interest as a kid were serial killers and their mental patterns/upbringing/what leads them to commit crime (yeah maybe I was a messed up 12 year old), dissociative identity disorder and other mental illnesses and things like the nature-nurture debate. The only thing that is really stopping me from delving right into psych is that it's not often considered a 'real science' and I don't know whether I'd just be getting myself a dud degree.
     
    #6 Aberrance, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
  7. Aspen

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    Very. I took AP Psych in high school and majored in psychology in college. I'm thinking about going onto grad school. But my interest started long before I realized I'm bisexual.
     
  8. HuskyPup

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    Yep, majored in English and Psychology. More interested in the theoretical aspects, so I never really followed it past a BA...but I have pondered going back to study it further.

    Very much enjoyed reading Freud, whom I thought was very non-dogmatic in his presentations of his ideas, and had curious, groundbreaking insights, which are of great interest for the time in which they are written, even if I don't 'agree' with everything, still, a brilliant mind. And I enjoyed Jung even more so, and later, Erikson, Adler, Horney.

    And then, the Humanists, especially Carl Rogers.

    I had a big interest in transactional analysis, and the writings of Eric Berne (games People Play), and also, the Gestalt School.

    I was never the biggest fan of Skinner and the cognitive school; always seemed rather detached and dry, but also not without tremendous insight. Ellis could certainly be entertaining on the cognitive side of things, and seemed very practical, much like Berne, but in a different way.

    I wonder, now, who would be considered some of the great theorists in the field, in later times, say from the 1980s to present? Who, in this day, is looked at as a leading mind, so to speak?

    It's still a topic I read, and I'm quite curious about those who felt Schizophrenia is a disorder brought about as much by an adaptation to a bizarre, horrible, dysfunctional environment, as much as something merely genetic. I had a brilliant professor at Michigan State University, Bertram P. Karen, a wonderful lecturer, who had written a book called Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia (1977) in which he posited that in many cases, the backgrounds of those with the disease had a direct relation with its development. In one case, there was a man with paranoid symptoms centered around the idea he was always being punished, and felt like he was literally being burned by the fire and flames of Hell: And, in his childhood, his parents had held his hands on the glowing coils of an eclectic stove as a punishment, and burnt him with cigarettes and cigars, over years of time. So that, this became internalized early on as his 'reality', a world he had trouble ever escaping.

    A similar book from the late 1960s of case studies by Lang and Esterson was also of great interest: Lang, R.D. and Esterson, A. (1964) Sanity, Madness and the Family. London: Penguin Books. It reads almost as a collection of short stories, and had a deep impact.

    As a literature/writing student, of course, there was a definite overlap; it could even be said that literature explored in depth what psychology would later probe, though much earlier, and to this day.

    For me, because emotional and psychic states are highly subjective, and can never be wholly objectively measured, I feel the field would benefit from exploring the line between being a 'hard', and a more theoretical or 'soft' science. Even today, in this era of the SSRI and the much advertised (and pharmaceutically profitable) idea of chemical imbalance, there is no way to even measure these imbalances, and adjust them accordingly.

    Thus, I feel it is a field which merits much exploration, such that people can lead fuller, more fulfilling lives, and not simply via medication alone, a model, which, though cheaper to execute, has indeed shown very limited results.
     
    #8 HuskyPup, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
  9. RainbowGreen

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    I have an interest in psychology, but I wouldn't study it in university or make it my job.

    Finding out how the mind works is super interesting. This is why Freud is probably one of my favorite philosophers I studied to date. While his theory about child development is not something I agree with or find realistic, his theories about dreams and how the subconscious mind works is something I already hypothesized about. It is quite strange to see so many people disregarding dreams as just nonsense when they were created by the same thing that allows them to express their opinion.

    Well, I think I'm getting a bit off track here. All in all, it does interest me, but I have so many other interests other than that.
     
  10. Andrew99

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    No I'm taking one right now. It's easy but it's kinda boring.
     
  11. Alder

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    Yes I am, I'm studying it right now. I've always loved psychology though I'm not sure if I will take it into further education or as a career. But will probably always read about it in my free time anyways :slight_smile:
     
  12. 1412

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    If it wasn't for another job opportunity coming up and being a lot of fun I would have studied criminology and gone into police work. Psychology as a whole is a fascinating field though and I still like to keep up on it. I really don't think that it has anything to do with sexual orientation most people in general find psychology interesting.
     
  13. HerrinDesFeuers

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    If you're growing up as a psychologist's child who sees every issue, every argument just in a psychological way and talks about it as if he wasn't a part of the family but some kind of external advisor, it gets really annoying.
    Some aspects of psychology may be interesting, but in general I'm not really interested.
     
  14. QueerChair

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    I love psychology so much. I own two books about, I'm writing a report in science about it, mostly abnormal and cyber-psychology. I'm also hoping to sneak some psychology into a piece of formal writing about LGBT+ rights.

    Psychology is one of the few things I enjoy learning about. I especially love learning about abnormal psychology(the only one I can remember the name of besides cognitive), mental disorders, emotions, personalities, things like that. But despite my love for it I probably wouldn't have a career related to psychology, maybe something more graphic design or video game designer/programmer based.

    Anyway, I love psychology and I love learning about it.
     
    #14 QueerChair, Mar 31, 2016
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  15. Lee15

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    I've always found psychology really interesting, since long before I figured out I was LGBT.

    I tend to have a lot of the same interests as my mum, so that might be one reason. Also I like learning in general, and while psychology is fascinating in itself I think it crosses over into so many other fields.

    Although I don't think they're directly related, I can see why there might be a correlation between liking psychology and being LGBT. I think for most LGBT people, there's a lot of self-reflection and self-discovery involved, and since I started questioning and working out why I think and feel the way I do, my interest in the subject has definitely grown.
     
  16. Radioactive Bi

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    Although not really my field (which is physics), I still find psychology academically facinating along which philosophy and the humanities.

    Happy days :slight_smile:
     
  17. lawlight

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    I love psychology, mainly because I wanted to figure out how humans work. Empirically.

    Not sure if my being trans is related in any way though, but looking forward to seeing what results this gets. :astonished:)
     
    #17 lawlight, Mar 31, 2016
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  18. I'm_Danni_x

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    Yeah, I love psychology and i am intending to become a psychologist of some sort.
     
  19. CJliving

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    I'm pursuing a Masters in Counselling so... yes. Not sure that being queer has anything to do with it.
     
  20. Nikky DoUrden

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    Im a scientist but I find the human brain interesting thus the interest in psychology 0=)