Here are some helpful tip I’ve learnt from my past experience.
Basically, the “Crazy Man trap” is when a shrink (psychologist) traps you and try to classify you as having a mental disorder. A lot of things you say, as well as your body language will help the shrink determine what problem you have. It is only fair that you know how to avoid falling into their trap.
1. The first thing they’ll say is, “Are you depressed?”
Ok. Even if you are NOT, don’t say so. An instant, firm and aggressive “NO!” reply is not exactly an ideal answer. He will interprete it as “Denial”, which is… yupp, you’ve guessed it, “the FIRST sign” of depression, mania, bipolar, ADD or whatever BS they come up with.
How to approach? Change topic. Tell them about your day. Tell them the bad things that happen in the week. Acknowledge that the past few days haven’t been exactly great. Then move on from there.
2. Provocation
During the course of the Interview / Interrogation, the shrink will try to evoke your emotions and gauge for a response.You HAVE to show anger, but make sure its controlled. Like, if your girlfriend left you, you must pretend to cry. No tears also must cry. If you show no emotion, they will interprete it as…. ok, I’m not so clear, but its BAD if you don’t show emotion.
3. Speech
Talk slowly. A simple rule-of-thumb I use is, that once the question is asked, I count one-missisipi-two-m-3 until 5, then I think. Then only I talk. If you try to pre-empt the shrink, not only will he find out you’re too sexcited, he will think you have symtoms of mania, by which you can’t control the energy inside you. Mania is a serious problem because too much energy makes you think of crazy shit, then you think you’re on top of the world, everything also can do, etc. etc.
4. Back to denial.
Do not deny. Do not try to lie to them. Trust me, you WILL phail.
Be honest, and if its too personal, just tell them so.
5. Future appointments
Don’t be shy to approach a shrink. They’re very knowledgable people who knows shitloads about life, how to handle emotions and much much more. Set an appointment for 2 weeks time, then come back, and gauge your mental state of mind. It would be great to keep track of your progress.
An alternative to psychological visits, you can go for Counselling at the hospital. There are many helpful people there who can talk to, and have ALMOST THE WHOLE DAY just talking to you.
Ok, the above tips are just guides, and by no means complete or accurate. Use at your own discretion. If you still don’t feel easy at heart, think GOD is talking to you, hear voices, see visions… its GOOD to double-check with your psychologists first, then your pastors. Just my 2 sen lah :)
;)
