<p>how do you feel about the courses? I am taking this biopsychology course, and it is honestly making me feel like I am in the "slow course." honestly, thinking I should just do chemistry or biology.</p>
<p>I liked most of the classes I’ve had in psych so far, except the one I’m in now, experimental psychology. It’s five credits and gives enough work for an entire semester. I hate it beyond belief, but it’s the hardest class in the department (weedout class, essentially) so it’s all downhill from here, thankfully.</p>
<p>Other than that I think if you aren’t really interested in psychology, you shouldn’t do it. Also understand that in any major there are going to be classes that suck, or that are too easy or too hard, but it’s silly to change majors just because of that.</p>
<p>I’m a psych major and am currently taking a research methods class and a developmental psych class. I absolutely love psych. I can’t imagine not loving what I study. I understand that there will be psych courses in the future that I don’t like as much, but knowing how much I love the subject now I know I’ll be able to get through it.
That being said, I don’t believe anybody should study something that they’re not interested in. If I wasn’t in love with my subject, I would be absolutely miserable. Do something you love. Happiness is key.</p>
<p>you don’t think psychology is the major for drunk frat students? i have a passion for psychology, but it seems most people at my school are chemistry or biology majors and premed.</p>
<p>psychology = slacker degree.</p>
<p>i was thinking just study neuroscience; they only have 1 neurobiology course, though.</p>
<p>I’m sure not everyone at your school is a chem/bio major and premed, lol. Maybe everyone you know is (a LOT of my friends are), but no school is all premed STEM majors.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do anything except psychology because that’s what I love. Call me a slacker, I don’t care. I don’t love anything else. Plus, psych is acceptable to join the workforce…you can go into business or whatever with it, or do really anything. It’s a good general degree. Or you can go on to grad school in psych, which is what I’d like to do someday. It’s possible (and probable) you won’t make millions (though plenty of former psych majors do, like any other major), but it’s not like the majority of people with psych degrees are unemployed or working dead-end jobs. </p>
<p>I don’t label people based on their major. I would rather spend my time in college studying something I love than something just for the money. Plus I do an awful lot of work, so I don’t consider it a slacker degree. I’m happy with my potential post-grad options. Psychology programs do vary from school to school, however, so maybe it’s more of a “slacker” degree where you are.</p>
<p>i’m at unc chapel hill. thus, i thought the program would be pretty strong here.</p>
<p>I don’t understand. If you don’t like it, switch to chem or bio. Why would you want to be in a major with a bunch of people you perceive to be “slackers” anyway?</p>
<p>well one may have a passion for the subject despite such ^^.</p>
<p>UNC @ Chapel Hill has some top-notch research faculty in psychology, but that does not mean they are the best teachers. </p>
<p>The things you learn in some of your psychology classes are very useful, as well. I specialized in social psychology, and I now work as a human resources manager (applying to doctorate programs next year). The things I learned are very useful in my job, even if they weren’t overly challenging to learn. I read people extremely well, and can predict outcomes to certain situations that others can’t seem to comprehend. </p>
<p>And slacker degree? Sure, if you sit back and do nothing with it. I was involved in research (I love statistics and research methods), and have publications that kept me pretty busy most of the time. I would LOVE to work with some of the faculty at UNC…of course, research isn’t for everyone, either. </p>
<p>I think the problem is that psych is such a huge field, you can only get little samplers in each course (counseling, abnormal, developmental, social, cognitive, etc.) that each one seems more like a freshman “Intro to…” course. But it is in graduate school where you narrow down and specialize.</p>
<p>So what has psychology done? What contributions has the field made to humanity? How does it result in a job and an increased bottom line for a company? </p>
<p>Sorry but like Karl Popper said in Conjectures and Refutations, most of psychology seems like unsubstantiated conjecture, unfalsifiable claims that don’t really mean anything. </p>
<p>The epistemologically relativistic paradigms erode the scientific status of psychology. The only parts of psychology that lead it to be a “real” field of study are the falsifiable theories they present, because they can be evaluated against real world phenomena to see if they are true or false. </p>
<p>Does anyone else question if psychology is a real field of study? I’ve seen a lot of cultural marxist propaganda in journals; where leftist crackpot conspiracy theorists and communists congregate to pass off their unsubstantiated conjectures as “science” to brainwash the population and poison America’s youth with their debunked ideology that has killed over 100 million people and reduced the quality of life of at least 1/6 of the world population, over 1 billion. </p>
<p>What accomplishments have psychologists given to the world?</p>
<p>What exactly can psychologists do that a psychiatrist would not be infinitely more qualified in doing?</p>
<p>Psychiatry is a real field of study.</p>
<p>^So, what, should we abolish therapy and put everyone with psychological disorders exclusively on drugs, no matter the degree of disorder? Psychiatrists do not provide therapy. They note your symptoms, make a diagnosis, and prescribe drugs. They send you to a psychologist if they think you need therapy. Psychiatrists are doctors. </p>
<p>I am studying psychology because I want to be a psychologist. People need therapy, whether you accept that or not. I am against many antidepressants and similar psychiatric drugs for most of the population, so I don’t want to be a psychiatrist. Therapy has saved my own life and can save countless, countless lives. I want to study psychology because I want to understand how people think and use that information to help them. I don’t care if it’s not a “real” field of study in your eyes. You can definitely learn a lot from a psych class, those things you learn aren’t false. But I’m in it to help people, plus it’s one of the few professions you can really help people but still make a solid amount of money.</p>
<p>In my experience, psychiatrists also heavily recommend psychological treatment to accompany any psychiatric treatment.</p>
<p>But I don’t really know why I’m feeding a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>what would one study to go into psychiatry? a typical premed major such as biology or chemistry? i have person on my hall that is premed psychology major. i just don’t see how they can in anyway be as prepared and on the same level as a biology or chemistry major.</p>
<p>side note: i knew a psychiatrist that was an english major undergrad, and went to a rather prestigious medical school.</p>
<p>see I am very interested in how different drugs affect chemicals in the brain, which is why biopsychology is actually an interesting course, but it just seems more like a seminar than anything else.</p>
<p>also, how about neuroscience? unc has one “intro to neurbiology,” course which is actually a biology course. i suspect for one to study a neuroscience field as an undergraduate, they would have to be at a highly respected research institution, and be absolutely positive that they want to go into research / labs.</p>
<p>whereas, psychology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, etc. - still leave opportunities for different graduate programs and the business world.</p>
<p>i just don’t see how realistic it is to do this, yet it feels so much more legitimate than abnormal, social, and clinical psychology courses.</p>
<p>unc has a very popular chemistry major (biochemistry track). this would probably be a great fit for a premed (psychiatry) student.</p>
<p>That’s like arguing whether it’s worth being an English major (how do you define good literature?), or an artist (who defines “art,” or what makes art valuable), or music (why string together notes into a melody), etc. etc. Different people have different interests. </p>
<p>Legitimate or not, people are paying for these talents and services. </p>
<p>From my experience psychiatrists do not understand the underlying causes for many disorders. Many disorders can be treated without drugs, depending on the severity and the individual’s desire to work towards better health. But psychiatrists do not understand this, and so they prescribe drugs like they are candy. My mom is a charge nurse and sees many of her patients become incoherent due to increased psychotic medication that they did not need. One was in pain for some health issue (I forget her details) but the psychiatrist said the woman just <em>thought</em> she was in pain or was demented (these were elderly patients), and prescribed anti-psychotics in place of checking on her actual complaints of pain! Turns out the woman /did/ have a serious problem that was later treated, after taking unnecessary drugs. </p>
<p>This is why I also hate to hear family doctors prescribe anti-depressants and other similar drugs…they are NOT trained as clinicians to diagnose disorders, and they certainly cannot get enough information from their patients in the time slots the appointments are usually given in. So many people end up on drugs that do more harm than good. </p>
<p>Not that I am saying psychiatry is a bad profession. There /are/ some good, qualified, and caring psychiatrists out there who recognize these issues and try not to over prescribe. But far too many are trained heavily in psycho-pharmacology and too little in the actual disorders they are trying to “cure” through drugs.</p>
<p>Psychiatrists and psychologists focus on two different aspect of the same, or similar problems. </p>
<p>The problem with the modern sick care system is that it’s focused on just doping people up. We’re just starting to get back to holistic medicine- treating illnesses and disorders from a biopsychosocial approach. Simple as this, there are MANY things that psychiatrists can’t treat because they’re not biologically based and there are MANY things that psychologists can’t treat because they are biologically based problems. Any good psychiatrist and psychologists will admit that there are things that the other is better at. If they don’t, they’re not worth going to because they’re just full of themselves.</p>
<p>Personal example: After my rape, I was treated by both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist was better at helping the immediate problems (panic attacks, insomnia, etc) whereas the psychologist was better at helping me work through the issues. If I had just been doped up, I would still be on the meds. If I had just had talk therapy my progress would have been severely delayed because I needed the meds to help me sleep and function for a little while.</p>
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<p>“what would one study to go into psychiatry? a typical premed major such as biology or chemistry? i have person on my hall that is premed psychology major. i just don’t see how they can in anyway be as prepared and on the same level as a biology or chemistry major.”</p>
<p>“this would probably be a great fit for a premed (psychiatry) student.”</p>
<p><em>SIGH</em> you don’t have to major in biology or chemistry if you want to go to medical school. You can major in anything you want as long as you take the basic intro classes (gen chem, organic chem, bio, physics), and doing this is actually recommended (helps you stand out). These people that major in something else actually have a decent chance of getting into a prestigious medical school since they’re doing what they’re passionate about instead of what supposedly “looks good” on their application. Also, anyone who says that they want to be a psychiatrist right now probably will end up changing their minds in a few years. Because it happens with almost all medical students. And even if they were to be psychiatrists, almost all the useful information they need for psychiatry is learned during medical school or after, not in undergrad.</p>
<p>Also, majoring in psychology is a really good way to understand people and their emotions as well as how they think. And considering that, as a doctor, you have to deal with other people (and especially their emotions), a psychology degree would be really helpful.</p>
<p>but of course, whatlifeforme seems ignorant and has no idea what he’s talking about, so he might not understand any of that</p>