Humanities desk
< October 1	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	October 3 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

October 2

Psychological self-treatment

Suppose a psychiatrist/psychologist has, say, bulimia. Would they be able to treat themself, or would they have to see another mental-health specialist? I know a psychiatrist could write for his own medication, I suppose, but as far as psychotherapy, can it be performed successfully on oneself? Thanks!--El aprendelenguas (talk) 05:12, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Treating yourself for something psychological would pretty much defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? Grsz ^X 05:55, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of people talk to themselves. I's very soothing :) Why do you think such self help would not work? Most people give up cigarettes by themselves whatever the advertisers say. Dmcq (talk) 07:34, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would suspect that if you have got to the point of requiring to see a pyschiatrist (as a trained professional pyschiatrist yourself) then you would be having trouble dealing with your problem on your own. An example from tv (not ideal but shows it happens) is in The Sopranos where Tony Soprano's pyschiatrist regularly goes to see a pyschiatrist herself. Often from being removed from the situation you can better judge a remedy. If you 'live' the experience then it will be harder to remove yourself from your thoughts/feelings and make an accurate diagnosis.194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:00, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

~~If it were something minor, like biting one's fingernails, then self-treatment would probably be okay. But~~ for something as serious as bulimia, a psychiatrist who treats him or herself has a fool for a client. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:17, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

While we're on the topic, can dentists fix their own teeth? --124.254.77.148 (talk) 11:32, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This thread reminds me of a dialogue from [http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/b/barton-fink-script-screenplay.html Barton Fink]:

DEUTSCH: He's a little funny in the head.

BARTON: What did . . . What did he -

MASTRIONOTTI: Funny. As in, he likes to ventilate people with a shotgun and then cut their heads off.

DEUTSCH: Yeah, he's funny that way.

BARTON: I ...

MASTRIONOTTI: Started in Kansas City. Couple of housewives.

DEUTSCH: Couple of days ago we see the same M.O. out in Los Feliz.

MASTRIONOTTI: Doctor. Ear, nose and throat man.

DEUTSCH: All of which he's now missin'.

MASTRIONOTTI: Well, some of his throat was there.

DEUTSCH: Physician, heal thyself.

MASTRIONOTTI: Good luck with no fuckin' head.

194.171.56.13 (talk) 11:54, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My understanding of psychology is far from complete, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is, for serious mental disorders that require clinical psychologically attention (e.g. anorexia, bulimia, schizophrenia), could a psychiatrist/psychologist treat himself/herself? Or is it something about the nature of the mind and mental disorders that requires an external perspective to treat? Or does the knowledge they have of psychology make them "immune" to such diseases? That's my basic question. On a side note, what about less serious disorders like phobias? And can a psychologist perform cognitive behavioral therapy on himself/herself? Thanks!--El aprendelenguas (talk) 19:42, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

They could certainly self-prescribe medication to some degree (though I don't know about the legality of that). Whether they'd be able to rationally recognize and diagnose their own schizophrenia, for example, would depend on the degree to which they could be really rational about it. Certainly an education in psychology does not make one "immune" to diseases which are strongly biochemical and potentially genetic in origin. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 22:23, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It depends, it is possible to do some things on your own. You can, for example, hypnotize yourself to a certain extent. However, a lot of therapy methods see talking about the problem with others as an important part of the process. Wrad (talk) 00:37, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Psychological self-treatment might be like "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." Or, self hypnosis. DOR (HK) (talk) 01:50, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see any problem about a psychologist treating his winter depression. In the case of schizophrenia, however, perhaps he is so dysfunctional that he is not even able to have coherent thoughts. Mr.K. (talk) 09:49, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

They could have a go at various purely psychological treatments (how successfully would depend on a lot of variables), but no doctor is allowed to prescribe their own medication (at least, not in any country I'm aware of). --Tango (talk) 16:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are a lot of things a shrink could do for himself that wouldn't necessarily require actual therapy -- supposing, of course, that the problem in question isn't one that makes it too difficult to evaluate his own condition in a realistic manner. For example, many conditions can be improved or avoided simply by avoiding problem behavior and situations: if you are prone to debilitating social anxiety in certain circumstances, for example, you can make sure you avoid the kind of situations that are likely to trigger those events and monitor your own emotional state so you can spot the warning signs. This kind of thing can often have a kind of a self-perpetuating effect, as learning to read your own mental state can bestow a feeling of control, which in turn makes it easier to function without triggering the condition, which increases your feeling of control... That kind of thing doesn't necessarily require any help from anyone, if you're familiar with the techniques. A lot of the help you get for mental conditions isn't necessarily so much about curing the condition as it is about learning to live with it and control it by various means. But that certainly wouldn't work for every condition (schizophrenia, for example, would most likely be extremely difficult, if not impossible to self-treat), and not everyone would have the willpower or even the awareness to do this, even if their condition was one that could be self-treated. The original poster's example was bulimia. I'm sure that would be a really tough nut to crack, but there are people who have beaten eating disorders on their own, and having an in-depth understanding of the illness and the way the human mind tends to work would surely be an asset. I wouldn't recommend that anyone go it alone, you understand, but I don't think it'd be impossible. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 01:29, 5 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nigerian press

what role Nigerian press and media played over Bakassi issue —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.166.237.254 (talk) 14:50, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Our Bakassi article says the decision to transfer sovereignty of the region to Cameroon aroused anger in the Nigerian media. --Sean 20:29, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dass local government

Moved from Entertainment ref desk Astronaut (talk) 18:15, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

what is the history of Dass local government area of Bauchi state,Nigeria.195.166.237.254 (talk) 16:07, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Open meeting vs closed meeting

If a meeting is open as opposed to closed, does that generally mean that non-committee members are allowed to attend only or also allowed to participate? --Seans Potato Business 18:21, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That would probably be at the discretion of the chair. They wouldn't usually be able to vote, but they could speak if the chair invites them to. --Tango (talk) 18:27, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In an open meeting, the proceedings are conducted in the open, i.e., they can be observed by non-committee members or non-committee members may be invited to participate (though, who can observe or participate may be controlled). Closed meetings are conducted out of the scrutiny of outsiders with only committee members allowed to observe/participate (the minutes may be made available later though). --Regents Park (sniff out my socks) 20:14, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In Ireland, "open meeting" often means a public meeting which anyone can attend, or a sporting event which all comers can enter, but I think some organizations use it to mean a meeting that all members can attend and not just the members of the board or committee. Even at a public meeting, the rules will vary on who is allowed to participate - that is, to speak, vote, etc. So you need to find out what rules there are for the meetings you have in mind, or at least what usually happens. Strawless (talk) 23:38, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

¿ Is “ textual ” copy of the Bible ?

See this text, which is the correct translation? ( or From where was there extracted ? ):

May energy be in your spirit, strength in your resolution, gentleness in your heart, tenderness in your touch, respect on your lips, clarity in your mind and God in your soul And God said unto him, "Daniel, do you love Me or love My gifts?"

200.40.134.194 (talk) 22:14, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That doesn't sound to me like anything in the Book of Daniel, which is the obvious place to look for it. Indeed, I don't believe Daniel is recorded anywhere as speaking with God: that is one of the reasons why the Jewish religion disputes whether he is one of the prophets or not. Strawless (talk) 23:24, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A google search for that quote yields zero hits, and I also don't think it sounds like the Bible; I've read it several times, but this has a distinctly modern-ish feel to my ear. Where did you get it? -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 23:26, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That is not in the Bible as used in mainstream Christianity. It may be in a Bible customized for an offshoot of Christianity or a Bible for another religion all together. -- kainaw ™ 01:55, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I like that word customized. Can I get one with Wifi and a roof-rack? —Tamfang (talk) 09:16, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, there's the Aquarian Gospel to start with... AnonMoos (talk) 16:16, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]