Psychology is the study of people’s behaviour. This includes our thoughts, feelings and actions. Psychology includes the study of mental operations and processes. Psychology now includes the application of human knowledge into various aspects for incorporation into various aspects such as education, work and employment, business and finance, politics and relationships. This enables a study of the intersection of our lives with human development.
“The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.” C. G. Jung
Scholers have studied how the mind and behaviour since the days of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. At first, psychology was a part of philosophy until it developed into a science with a focus on the mind and human behaviour. Subsequently, psychology is rooted in experimental research and Wilhelm Wundt opened the world’s first psychology laboratory in 1879.
“Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.” Ivan Pavlov
At present, psychologists deal with mental health and disorders as well as the recommended options for the treatment. This is because it is estimated that one in four people have a mental disorder. There are several mental disorders and these tend to have a debilitating effect on people’s lives. Fortunately, various psychological treatments have been developed for several mental issues. Best practices have been noted as well as the outlining of various methods of treatment and diagnosis protocols. There are several separate disciplines that include business, education, media, sports and human development. Psychology involves several areas of study, including psychiatry and clinical psychology.
Psychology in our lives
“We all make use of some psychological knowledge on a daily basis. This includes language and communication, business, relationships and career.”
George Harrison said, ‘It’s all in the mind.’ Primarily, psychology studies people. This comprises our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Personality studies includes our personality, who and what we are, how we can describe various people including ourselves and how we develop into who we are. Additionally, psychology looks into why people act (and hence think and behave) the way they do.
Psychology enables us to understand more about the human mind, particularly the relationship between the body and mind. This knowledge enables us to understand people including children, young people and adolescents and adults. This can help with decision-making and avoiding stressful situations. It also assists us with various aspects of our lives such as stress and time management, career and healthy living. Psychological studies also aid in various facets such as drug abuse, addiction and rehabilitation counselling, and the ability to diagnose various human conditions.
We all make use of some knowledge of psychology on a daily basis. This includes language and communication, business, relationships and career. This is because we need to comprehend how our mind works. This in turn helps in everyday life by enabling us build strong relationships. A major contribution of psychology is enabling us to understanding of how humans think and behave, thus leading to greater understanding of ourselves and others. This in turn help people communicate better. They will be more effective in understanding what a person really means by use of certain words and not others (choice of words, a cognitive process), as well as additional communication strategies such as eye contact (including avoidance), pitch and tone, and gestures. These are also related to our feelings and emotions including love and happiness, frustration and disappointment, hurts and anger. We learn to build confidence, express ourselves as well as understanding more about ourself and your personality, as well as others.
In the end, psychology enables us to understand who we are as well as look at various events on a more positive aspect. There are several careers in psychology including counselling, social, clinical and community psychologists, social workers, educational and industrial psychologists, forensics, psychiatrists and others. They work in various environments including hospitals, schools, rehabilitation centres, business, organisations and with the general public.
Psychology is scientific hence it involves a lot of research to obtain knowledge and ascertain the authenticity of various claims of knowledge. Thus, psychology adopts a critical perspective to knowledge and human experience. This includes how to resolve various issues in our lives and the decision-making process.
