POP PSYCHOLOGY AND ITS DANGERS

I hate pop psychology. I will not give here an account of the rise of it, but it seems to be everywhere now and has been for a long time. I find that it can be quite dangerous and can lead very readily to victim blaming.

The whole premise of pop psychology is that you are doing it wrong if you are suffering or struggling. It promotes ways of dealing with these things and the problem is that if you do not do this, you are not trying, or you are failing or you are to blame in some way.

Pop psychology gives out the message that if you try hard enough everything can be alright. We are encouraged to smile when the more human response is to cry or rage or scream. It attempts to make you push down our normal human responses. This can be exceedingly dangerous. It can also lead to suicide.

During my academic life I have learned a lot and seen a lot and experienced a lot. Personally I will never give in to the demands of pop psychology. It does not make me or other people like me weak, but just the opposite. The world interprets strength in some very strange ways. I cannot accept these ways. I am a strong minded individual and refuse to be as any pop psycholgist wants me to be. Anyone can judge me how they will, but I will say again what I have said before, walk a mile in my shoes before making any assessment or judgement of me. I would dare to say that the ideas of pop psychology are really there to make the proponents of them feel superior or better than those who are suffering or struggling. Nuff said.