Philosophy, Psychology, Human Behavior, and Mental Health
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
-Albert Camus
“You have power over your mind-not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strenght.”
-Marcus Aurelius
An important truth
Positive psychology reveals that happiness isn’t what most people think; it’s about building deep relationships and meaningful engagement.
The 8 stages of life
About a week ago, I watched the animated film “Everybody Rides the Carousel” by John Hubley. This movie explores Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial development through the carousel metaphor. This theory states that social development is split into 8 stages, which build on each other throughout a lifetime. The stages of life are on the carousel, shown as different stops throughout the film. Stages have positive and negative sides to them. If you can master a stage and claim its positive benefits, you will be set up for success in later stages and lead a productive and healthy life.
The stages are:
Trust vs. Mistrust in infancy
Autonomy vs. Shame as a Toddler
Initiative vs. Guilt during Preschool ages
Industry vs. Inferiority during elementary school ages (industry as in fitting into a system of work/being productive, inferiority as in feeling inferior to those around you)
Identity vs. Role Confusion during teenage years
Intimacy vs. Isolation in young adulthood
Generativity vs. Stagnation in middle adulthood (This is by far the longest stage, and represents maintenance in adult life)
Integrity vs. Despair at the end of life (looking back on life and becoming ready to die)
The movie is structured by a narrator explaining a stage on the carousel and then showing an anthological scene with a person going through that stage of life.
For example, the movie begins by explaining a newborn’s concept of trust vs. mistrust, the first stage of life a person must pass through. A baby learns to trust his mother, benefiting from her for warmth and comfort. The movie illustrates this trust as a warm and cuddly cat. This theme of illustrating the different stages is present throughout the film. Later, when the child meets his grandma, a sense of mistrust forms. This mistrust manifests itself as a scaredy cat.
I most enjoyed this movie’s raw emotional feel. The director’s style makes the dialogue feel like it was recorded during an actual person’s life. The drawings were added later to retell the scene.
The movie was an extremely effective, emotional, and creative way to express Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of life. It gave me deep, reflective insights into life and myself.
The importance of individuality
Too often, I have found myself sitting in a highly educated therapist or psychiatrist’s room and felt no progress had been made. These people who had spent thousands of hours studying the human mind and how to help with mental health issues never aided mine. This wasn’t due to a lack of participation on my or their end. I tried to open up and listen to their advice. I am confident they were equipped with the right information to help guide me along a healthier path.
However, no matter how hard I tried or how knowledgeable they were, there were some therapists I didn’t click with therapeutically.
The thing I felt was missing from those interactions, and an important aspect of therapy that has often been overlooked in my experience, is being heard as an individual rather than a statistic. Psychology involves a lot of crucial study and research, but implementing any of it in therapy or counseling is nearly impossible without a human connection. Each data point in a survey, each case study, and each person participating in an experiment is a life just as deep and unique as anyone else’s.
When a therapist attempts to apply a formula rather than experience their patient as an individual, it doesn’t work. It’s like what Robin Williams’ character said in Good Will Hunting:
“If I asked you about art, you would probably tell me about every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him… but you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling.”
-Robin Williams (Playing Sean Maguire) in good will hunting
You cannot know everything about a person through research; you must treat them as individuals and be vulnerable yourself. Only then can you apply research and truly reach them.
This is where psychology and philosophy intersect. Philosophy can bring out individuality in therapeutic spaces. Philosophy has no solution, no formula; it is up to the individual to interpret the information and gain meaning from it. Discussing philosophy is a great way to get to know someone. It allows for exploring a person’s mind in a way no scientific measure can.
