Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

[Asclepius]

I don't agree with that assumption, and I do believe that altruistic sentiments are possible. And if ya don't like that...prove me wrong hehe.
They are possible. Reciprocal altruism is favoured by natural selection. True altruism isn't - but it is possible.
Originally posted by Catch-22:
I'm still waiting on somebody to give an example of a purely altruistic act.
To do something beneficial for someone you don't know (without letting them know), and choosing them at random, and telling no-one about it. A concrete example is therefore impossible. My arguments for this being a truely altruistic act are in the thread "Where does morality come from ?".
My reaction to the original list is that 5 should be mixed up with the first 2, and eventually 3 (of which 6 is involved) all while deveoping 4 in parallel (5 is needed here too), with 7 and 8 working with a large overlap (reciprocal altruism). Actually you need 5 everywhere.
Yuk. It's a terrible serial list but an somewhat interesting parallel one.

...if nobody tells anyone about it, how would anyone know? ...how could it ('true altruism' )be studied/researched?
Perhaps it's just lived and everyone goes to college studying about how everyone in the world is a cunt?

 

[tryptakid]

Psychology is a science rooted in subjectivity - there is no correct paradigm, only lenses through which we can try to understand the abstract phenomena we seek to quantify and qualify. My influences as a psychotherapist include Maslow, R.D. Laing, and Jung. Most of my models of therapy are rooted in the Skinnerian derivatives found in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as there are practical models to follow which allow for patient assignments and straightforward activities.

My overall biggest influence is what's called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - a model that draws from CBT and Humanism as well as from things like recovery and person first models. I consider myself a humanist through and through, and I find Jung's intuition and pattern analysis to be the schema through which I try and practice and contemplate.

 

[tryptakid]

...if nobody tells anyone about it, how would anyone know? ...how could it ('true altruism' )be studied/researched?
Perhaps it's just lived and everyone goes to college studying about how everyone in the world is a cunt?

True altruism is impossible to demonstrate - it requires someone knowing the intention behind the action which means that the actor told someone what it was. That said, I do believe altruism can occur, but when it does it can't be acknowledged as doing so would eliminate the action from qualifying.

 

[Babygirl25]

CBT works wonderfully well for some people with certain mental issues. But you tell a therapist that you've been diagnosed with a personality disorder and they look at you despairingly. Not sure if the despair is for themselves or their client. I don't think anyone who is trained to deal with psychological problems knows enough, even in this day and age when the analysis of a person is still very hit and miss. The mind and the way it operates is so complex it's still very early days yet as far as understanding a person's psyche, one that's been damaged for whatever reason by whoever, and come up with anything resembling any kind of solution, or anything to give the client some respite from the way they feel. That's why I've taken substances most of my life. I just want to feel better than I do most of the time. That's it, in a nutshell.

Babygirl. X

 

[paranoid android]

Altruism is not enough to lift us out of poverty. A few acts of charity does nothing to change how capitalism works.

 

[4DQSAR]

People are aware that therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists all undertake different levels of training. At least in the UK. A psuchiatrist must first train and attain the right to practice as an MD before going on to specialize in psychiatry. Psychology is a seperate pathway although generally requires an MSc so a foundational undergraduate degree in a related subject and therapists if it's similiar to how the term councellor is used in the UK doesn't require as much academic attainment but still requires a lot of more practical training.

At the end of the day, only psychiatrists are qualified to prescribe medication where necessary.

A 6 x 1 hour CBT course with a councellor is obviously a lot cheaper than 52 x 1 hour sessions with a senior consultant psychiatrist. But the latter are a lot better. I mean night and day better. If you need more, you get more. It's costly but it's your LIFE.

 

[M1sterEd]

First and foremost I am about me. I have to be about me, knowing who I am, knowing self, in order to extend my abilities to serve others if I so desire.
If you believe in putting others before yourself you are mistaken. You cannot benefit other causes without knowledge of self and that means putting yourself first.

 

[M1sterEd]

CBT works wonderfully well for some people with certain mental issues. But you tell a therapist that you've been diagnosed with a personality disorder and they look at you despairingly. Not sure if the despair is for themselves or their client. I don't think anyone who is trained to deal with psychological problems knows enough, even in this day and age when the analysis of a person is still very hit and miss. The mind and the way it operates is so complex it's still very early days yet as far as understanding a person's psyche, one that's been damaged for whatever reason by whoever, and come up with anything resembling any kind of solution, or anything to give the client some respite from the way they feel. That's why I've taken substances most of my life. I just want to feel better than I do most of the time. That's it, in a nutshell.

Babygirl. X

There is no solution for mental health. Life is movement and change so it is with our health. The objective is having more good days than bad, but ultimately life still sucks. It is hard to live without mental illness for those of us who cannot rely on a steady course because our minds are constantly in a static state of reason, the best we can do is the best we can do.