Why Do Psychologists Try to Imply That People Are Powerless to Their Emotions?

Question by Jamie: Why do psychologists try to imply that people are powerless to their emotions?
Like telling a person they have “anxiety” or “depression” and need medication, but all they have to to is stop and look at the world in a better way? They find physical evidence of depression in a depressed persons brain, but how do they know than the abnormalities are causing the emotions, instead of the other way around? If they can’t fully understand how the brain works, how do they know that there isn’t something in there that makes them rewrite everything?

Best answer:

Answer by Pipsy
Well this is not accurate what your seeing is pharmaceutical advertising that suggests that pills are the solution when they are not and many health experts that I have met also agree with this. Furthermore, changing behavior (especially if it is a anxiety problem) is something not done so easily and people are looking for the quick and cheap way to solve their problems. To be honest when it comes to situations where emotions could be affecting the abnormalities or the other way around I see as something that is interdependent on each other. For example depression is marked by a decrease of activity in the brain the individual shows these symptoms slow locomotion, gloomy emotions, increased amount of sleeping. If one to changes their behaviors you wakes up, meets new people exercises then the brain activity will increase thus removing the depressive state. However, if the individual is given a anti-depressant which increases the brain activity then individual may feel less inclined to participate in behaviors that may cause the reduction of brain activity thus solving the depression. It is a tough things to look especially one looks at the deeper question of this question which is human mind/behavior deterministic or is it free will and if psychology is to be a science it needs to have that deterministic quality or otherwise it might as well be a humanity. Hope that helps. sorry for the bad grammar

Answer by Cognitive Biases
A psychiatrist might say that if he/she wants to make money off their client staying powerless & submitting to drug taking, but a psychologist that bases their suggestions on science might suggest that we actually have enormous power over our lives (lots more that we may have thought) & thoz who believe that they are in control of their lives are generally better off…
So if you are the client & you have come to seek help of your learned helplessness, then your therapist would be wise to help you unlearn that attitude of helplessness & take back control of your life.
Yeah you make a good point….how Would they know which is causing which?!!
Yeah- the brain is hella complicated & even if we understood it we could only understand the physical basis of our underlying emotions & how we exist…i think there is probably a non physical part of our existence that we might never be able to understand, & as always, that is ok. We as humans can understand lots of things but we dont always understand everything

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