It is a rare day when a blog post riles me up enough to consume my thoughts all day. However, today is one of those days. I am a big fan of the Brazen Careerist Network and enjoy reading the perspectives of other 20-somethings. I enjoy well explained argument and opposing viewpoint. I also enjoy healthy banter about politics, social and workplace issues.
Today, though, one Brazen Careerist writer’s post was appalling. Katie Monaghan wrote a post entitled “How My Psych Major Tells Me Just How Crazy Everyone Else Is At Work.”
You really need to read the post in order to understand why I am so bothered by her statements.
I have an undergraduate and Master’s degree in Psychology (focused on Industrial/Organizational Psychology) and would NEVER use the word “crazy” about someone I felt had a genuine psychological disorder. It’s not funny. It’s not just insensitive- it’s downright offensive.
As an undergrad, I had a phenomenal Abnormal Psychology professor (Dr. David Holmes) who regularly asked his patients to come in and explain what it is like to have their particular disease. The entire 2,000 person auditorium would be silent and respectful as the individual shared their challenges and how difficult/hurtful it is to interact with insensitive others. That experience honestly changed me as a person.
Thanks to Dr. Holmes, I met a schizophrenic who smelled rotting flesh all of the time, and believed blood was running down the faces of every student in the auditorium. As she spoke, she kept her hand on her forehead because she believed that there was a ticker tape running across her forehead sharing all of her innermost thoughts. She even had difficulty concentrating because the monks that constantly follow her were chanting in the background. She was fully aware that none of these things were “real” to others, but they were VERY real to her. Dr. Holmes introduced us to people with bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, etc.
On a personal level, I struggle with both depression and anxiety, as does my father. I have close family and friends that experience Bipolar disorder, ADHD, and OCD. These are real diseases that affect real people. To use the word “crazy” in reference to real psychological disorders is absolutely sickening.
Additionally, Katie berates all of her colleagues calling them crazy and implies that they need straight jackets. Amazingly, she has diagnosed all of her colleagues with only a bachelor’s degree. I wonder if Katie’s coworkers and boss know about her blog. I wonder if her psychology professors are proud that they taught her so much in her undergrad, that she feels qualified to clinically diagnose others. I also wonder how Katie’s coworkers/boss perceive her personality quirks (because we all have them).
Moving away from the issues of real mental disorders, something I noticed in the post is how Katie believes everyone else is “crazy” except for her. What would Carl Jung say about that?
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
or….
If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool.
or…
I have never encountered a difficulty that was not truly the difficulty of myself.
or…
If people can be educated to see the lowly side of their own natures, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and to love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures.
From what I see in this post is a clear lack of respect and understanding of others. I would suggest to Katie that a better use of her psychology degree would be to use her “people skills” to build bridges of understanding- not create walls of prejudice.
I would ask her to think about whether the things that bother her about others can tell her something about herself. Are the “personality quirks” she perceived in others just different ways of approaching things? Would the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator help lend insight into the motivations and preferences of herself and others? It is always better to look inward first, then outward second.
Katie, on a personal level, I am more than willing to help if you are open to learning more about yourself and others through the MBTI.
Finally, this Carl Jung quote exemplifies how I feel about what I learned from Dr. Holmes:
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
11 Comments on “The Danger of Ignorance When Psychology is Involved”
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Posted on 27. August 2008 at 22:20
Bre – I saw your comments on Katie’s post at the BC site and I’m glad to see you exploring & explaining your feelings further through this blog post.
I didn’t leave a comment on Katie’s post because I felt I couldn’t do so without making it look like this: !@#$%^&*. I feel a little calmer now. Perhaps I will post my own reaction on my blog, or maybe not. I’m still debating with myself.
Posted on 27. August 2008 at 22:36
Hey HR Wench! Thanks for the support. I came under fire in the comments section on my blog. I did my best to be open minded and apoligize if I was too strong in my opposition, but after stewing about her comment response all night, I still have more to say. I’m letting it go for now.
You probably have a whole different perspective from the HR world. There are some pretty serious HR implications to her words. The danger of blogging, I suppose.
Posted on 28. August 2008 at 07:25
Truly ignorant people fail to see their own failings as much as they are blind to others strengths. That thought kept coming back to me about Katie’s post. Great response Breanne.
Posted on 28. August 2008 at 07:44
Breanne,
I think this post is levelheaded and fair. Your passion resonates in your ‘writing voice’ and we love you for it.
This post reminds us why your blog is so important in the HR & business communities. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, and Katie is an example of how an otherwise intelligent woman with a point of view and a platform can get it so wrong.
Keep writing, don’t stop, and continue to use your critical eye to dissect through the nonsense out there.
- Laurie
Posted on 1. September 2008 at 07:58
Profound post. Apparently, Katie has removed the posting. Doesn’t matter. Your words have caused me to think about – and change – my behavior. How many times during the day do I casually, jokingly, refer to someone as crazy. I know all to well that mental illness isn’t a joke. I know better. I am sure I have unwittingly caused pain to co-workers and will be more thoughtful in the future. Thank you for speaking your mind.
Carmen
Posted on 1. September 2008 at 08:34
Seriously?! I removed the post because it shouldn’t have been published on Brazen in the first place. And Brazen made it so I looked like a complete ass by making the title say I was a psychology major…which I’m not. That post was for my own burning off steam than for any advice. In fact, it wasn’t meant for advice at all. I actually DO understand mental illness and have all the respect in the world for people who have any form of it. I personally think we all have a little bit of it.
But this is just ridiculous that my post venting about how stressful work is is now becoming another person’s platform on “what’s wrong with the world today”…which apparently is me.
@ Laurie: I don’t have a platform. I don’t take blogging seriously, and I do not take myself seriously. So it’s just ridiculous that anyone else would take me seriously.
I deleted the post because it was never meant to be taken as a professional opinion.
Posted on 1. September 2008 at 19:59
Too bad I missed the post. i didn’t get the chance to appreciate it. This is just my opinion. I thought you shouldn’t delete a post simply because you think people “misunderstood” it or took it in a different context. You could always explain your view or edit it to qualify what it is all about. People call each other crazy all the time, lunatic, mad etc. We use these as hyperbole for emphasis or effect. If I say, my bag weighs a ton, a measurement expert who takes that statement from another point of view will probably say that I’m gravely mistaken. All I have to say is “relax, I don’t mean it literally!” I won’t say, forget I ever said it. I hope I’m making some sense. I can be a little bit crazy too! lol!
Posted on 4. September 2008 at 08:36
@ ed: I agree…and I thought about it a lot before I deleted it, but I deleted it more for the fact that it might be incriminating for me if my boss ever found it…or a future boss ever found it. When it was just posted on my blog, it was semi-anonymous, but when Brazen published it & now Breanne associating my name with it…it’s a little less anonymous. But if you ever want to see the original, I can e-mail it on request or something. It was originally titled “diagnosing you co-workers” and it’s basically me telling everyone to exagerate all your co-workers’ issues to become huge psychological issues that you can analyze at work when bored to make work life more interesting. I was just being silly/sarcastic. Oh well.
Posted on 9. September 2008 at 22:34
My two cents:
Mental health is not a joke. Millions of people are afflicted with serious illnesses and stories like yours, Breanne, truly are sobering. As someone with mental health issues myself, it can often get tiresome to see and hear people continually misunderstand how truly miserable life is and how helpless you feel when you are suffering. Close-minded, ignorant people drive me crazy.
Katie is not one of those people. I know Katie, and she is one of the smartest, funniest, down-to-earth people I know. She is not ignorant or cruel. Making Katie out to be some villian who hates those suffering from mental illness is taking a glib, sarcastic post and warping it unrecognizable.
Sometimes not everyone gets humor and satire. I had a teacher who told me, “it’s not really satire unless half the people don’t understand it.” Think “A Modest Proposal” by Swift– tons of people were horrified that a man of the church was advocating eating babies (but I think he might have been joking in his essay– call it a hunch).
To be fair, in your post you appear to be psycho-analyzing and diagnosing Katie, a girl you have never met and only read one post of, hinting that things she sees in others are flaws about herself. But wait– am I wrong, or was your post was critical of misusing psychology?
We live in a world today where mental health issues are disturbingly prevalent. It is a tragedy. But Breanne, haven’t you ever called someone “crazy” and not meant it as an attack on all those suffering from mental health issues? It’s easy to get worked up when you yourself have suffered (trust me, I have been there many a time), but don’t you think it’s possible that this talented writer possibly had a bad day and vented, and some found it not in good taste? I urge you to look at other her other posts, where you will see Katie is a talented, articulate, smart girl who is offering her observations and thoughts into the eworld with only the best of intentions.
The last thought I had: I feel that it was inappopriate of you, Breanne, to mention Katie by first and last name when she does not post it on her blog. You know the life of things on the internet. I can’t see why you felt that was necessary — in fact, it seems like a deliberately cruel trick to needle a young writer who made a mistake. Shame on you.
Posted on 9. September 2008 at 22:40
OK, I found Katie’s name on the brazen careerist. I retract my last comment.
Posted on 9. September 2008 at 23:17
First things first, I have said over and over again (in the comments on my blog, and on BC, I believe) that I do NOT believe Katie is a bad person. I believe her actions (words) were inappropriate…but that is one instance in the “lifetime” that I have been reading her posts.
Yes, I’ve read her other posts and I have enjoyed many of them. Good lord this thing has taken on a drama of epic proportions!!!!
This is not an attack on Katie. This is a point-counterpoint on an issue that I feel is important and needed to be shared with others to avoid offending others UNINTENTIONALLY. Yes, I absolutely believe Katie did not INTEND to offend, hurt, or be cruel in any way. I get it. It was satire, that IN MY OPINION crossed a line (which is why I responded to it!!!).
Please help me understand how I warped any of the words written in the original post. Let’s put this in context too…Katie was also put in an unfair position as a writer by having her title changed. That’s not right, and honestly, that’s what started 90% of this. The post said she had a degree in Psychology and the content of the post was making fun of her coworkers and suggesting (jokingly..I get it) that they use the DSM-IV (the manual for diagnosing mental illness) to diagnose them. I equate that to someone who provides therapy to mentally handicapped people and using the r*$tard word. In the context of the title, that is how I viewed the post.
A good friend of mine made a great comment recently and I believe it applies here: Intention is the reality to the person giving the information; perception is the reality to the person receiving the information.
I’m glad you saw that I did not purposely put Katie’s name out there to hurt her. If I had to do it all over, I would have 1) contacted Katie personally first to explain my thoughts/get her reaction, 2)not posted her name even though it was posted under BC already, and 3) made perfectly clear that I do not know Katie well enough to make a character judgment…and that I was only referring to the impact of this one post.
With regard to you saying I was analyzing Katie…I don’t believe I did…I asked a rhetorical question “What would Jung say about that?” I was asking additional questions not to diagnose…but to stimulate reflection.
If I really had no respect for Katie do you think I would have offered my help with assessments and trying to bridge the communication gap she was experiencing with her coworkers?
Finally, No…I have never used the word “crazy” when I was referring to someone with a true (or perceived mental illness) or in the same paragraph as the DSM-IV. Yes, I have used the word “crazy” (though I prefer Bonkers) in a neutral way about things. For example, I am crazy tired right now…and my dog is crazy about Dingo bones. See the difference?
Katie- I am personally apologizing to you for this whole thing getting out of hand. I get your original post when I imagine your intent. I don’t have to like what you wrote, but I believe you are a good person trying to entertain your friends/readers. Can we bury the hatchet on this thing and agree that we both miscommunicated our intentions?