When someone tells a person to “go see a shrink,” it’s usually in jest. The phrase holds a mockery of not only the receiver, but also of the professionals being referred to. “Shrink” is a derogatory label for psychiatrists and, since people fail to distinguish them from psychologists even in snide comments, has evolved to include the latter as well. In a study by Gadon & Johnson (2009), they found that hearing the word “shrink” undermines people’s attitudes toward mental health professionals.
In Abnormal Psychology, we discussed the stigma that people with mental illnesses face. How do we start tackling this stigma when those who can help them are battling one of their own? The label “shrink” alone contributes to people’s negative views.
Psychiatrists and psychologists are not seen as professionals. They are seen as armchair philosophers, quack doctors and mind readers—certainly not as people who can help more than those who are “crazy” and “psychotic.” People brush these doctors and therapists off because of the pervading notion that they are passive receivers who do nothing more than sit in leather chairs and ask, “So, how do you feel about that?”
As a consequence of not recognizing the legitimacy of these professions—of psychology as a field, even—we are quick to negate the psychological traumas of people. When someone tells us he or she is sick, we immediately grow concerned. We see how they are doing, we offer them medicine and we ask if they have gone to see a doctor. However, when someone says they are scared of meeting new people, or that they feel hopeless, or that their parents are fighting, we dismiss it with a pat on the back and a condescending “Okay lang ‘yan.”
Of course we should not equate sadness to depression, being neat to obsessive-compulsive. We do not just cry wolf and sign everyone up for a therapy session. What we need is to be more mindful. We need to acknowledge that psychological scars are as valid as physical ones; that people on the proverbial couch need as much care as those on hospital beds.
A few months back, the first licensure examinations for psychiatrists and psychologists in the Philippines were held. The examinations are now required to practice psychometrics and psychology in the country. Apart from seemingly “legitimizing” the professions, and consequently reducing stigma, the licensure also ensures the standard of psychological services being offered. I would like to believe that people will be more comforted to seek psychological help when they see it in action.
Something more pressing than our lack of concern for the psychological well-being of others, however, is our own hesitation to admit that we might need help. It is one thing to encourage someone to go see a psychiatrist or a psychologist; it is another to willingly subject oneself to the label of being a mental health patient. We are afraid of saying that we need to talk to someone or that we need to take medication. Maybe you do need to “go see a shrink”—better yet, go see a psychiatrist or a psychologist. Because there is nothing absolutely wrong with that.
‘Shrink’ is a slang term for psychologist/therapist. It is not inherently negative or positive in connotation. Some therapists actually think it’s a term of endearment.