Armchair psychology is abuse and its disgusting how society normalises it

[FireFox]

The problem with society today is we have unqualifed people who think they are experts on mental illness or mental health just because they have watched some espisodes of Dr Phil or TV shows or movie shows about mental health or read an article on Psychology today or some mental health magazine or blog.

The amount of times I have had unqualified people on reddit and discord give out armchair diagnoses that I suffer from "trauma", PSTD and even autism. These people tell me i need therapy to fix my life. These armchair psychologists without actaully taking time to read why I am upset over my problems just want to diagonse me.

Armchair psychology is a form of bullying and abuse because its a putting a person down rather than trying to listen with compassion or help them. There is a reason why psychologists and therapists train for many years. Qualified medical professionals know how to spot patterns in mental illness whereas social media armchair psychologists do not and never will. Its disgusting how society tolerates it.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

I wouldn't really say that armchair psychology is in of itself a form of abuse or bully. While it can be used for those purposes, such as with Victoria Spry's mother using it to diagnose her with autism (for context, she was one of three victims of one of the worst cases of child abuse in the UK), it's usually just done by people who either mean well or who think they know more than they do.

I'm saying this as someone who has been "diagnosed" by armchair psychologists before. They were trying to claim that I had PTSD despite me making it clear that I have never experienced any trauma before and that I don't even display any of the symptoms of said disorder. As incredibly annoying as they were, they weren't bullying me. They were just being annoying.

Even psychiatrists and psychologists are guilty of that "armchair psychology" crap, both towards their patients and others. Psychologists/therapists (who are not medical profressionals, that would be psychiatrists) and psychiatrists actually do this same bullshit all the time, despite knowing better.

It's sadly very normalized and with the rise of tiktok diagnoses, it's only going to get worse.

 

[ceilng_tile]

The problem with society today is we have unqualifed people who think they are experts on mental illness or mental health just because they have watched some espisodes of Dr Phil or TV shows or movie shows about mental health or read an article on Psychology today or some mental health magazine or blog.

The amount of times I have had unqualified people on reddit and discord give out armchair diagnoses that I suffer from "trauma", PSTD and even autism. These people tell me i need therapy to fix my life. These armchair psychologists without actaully taking time to read why I am upset over my problems just want to diagonse me.

Armchair psychology is a form of bullying and abuse because its a putting a person down rather than trying to listen with compassion or help them. There is a reason why psychologists and therapists train for many years. Qualified medical professionals know how to spot patterns in mental illness whereas social media armchair psychologists do not and never will. Its disgusting how society tolerates it.

To be fair, there are plenty of board-certified psychiatrists who are like this as well. I had one who didn't believe my autism diagnosis (which was the result of an extensive evaluation process by an academic neuropsychologist who specializes in autism) because I'm married and his "real autistic patients don't care about forming emotional relationships."

Definitely agree with you about the "read one article on Psychology Today and consider themselves an expert" comment though. y anti-vaxxer brother once posted an article from Psychology Today about "Why the French don't have ADHD" -- to which I responded with ANOTHER article from the same magazine titled "Actually, the French do have ADHD."

 

[FujoshiNeet]

I hate how the lingo is used to really look down on you sometimes.
Also, people generally using the terms wrong is annoying af.

 

[Kit1]

I think a lot of people genuinely want to help, but not sure what to say or do and end up making people feel worse. I spoke to two mental health nursing staff yesterday - both aware that I have suicidal ideation. The first one helpfully told me that I should stay alive to see my grandchildren - I am struggling to keep myself alive and not even sure whether I will be alive the next day.., The next nurse said something similar and told me to try and stay alive (or something to that effect) and one of them even suggested that I start a support group for people like myself as the NHS is having problems providing the support needed! I asked both of them if they would expect a person without legs to walk up 15 flights of wide stairs without a walking stick etc, stop the treatment of a cancer patient half way through and ask the patient to try and get better etc.., But they both meant well - both were qualified mental health nurses..,