Two Lessons I Learned from Studying Psychology

By Mona Ayoub

We live in a culture of “labeling” as one professor once beautifully put it. As we interact daily with people, we (consciously or unconsciously) busy ourselves with forming (many times) distorted mental images of them. Any mistake (whether major or minor) is the so-awaited opportunity for us to grant them one of our “labels”.”Criminal”. “Sinner”. You name it.

Clinical psychologists are carefully trained how to make a psychological diagnosis. Identifying the “trigger” of the disorder is usually a key step. For them, a “dysfunctioning” does not come from “nowhere”: there should be a reason for it. Sometimes they put tremendous efforts to discover it: Could it be a broken home, ignorance, a traumatizing event, an excess or lack of some brain chemicals…? What could it be??

Prisons are full with criminals who are offered no rehabilitation opportunities. “Sinners” are rarely guided the right way.

Lesson 1: NEVER JUDGE

Materialistic societies are “brains hungry”. A high IQ or an outstanding talent can be a key to success, fame, money, and respect. There’s no place for “average”.

Studying psychology helped me become more aware of “individual differences”. It opened my eyes to the countless hidden treasures in many people around me.

There’s more in human beings than high IQs and outstanding talents.

The ability to smile in times of hardship is exceptional. Keeping a “soft-heart” in a jungle world is incomparable. Having a peaceful soul amidst craziness is extraordinary.

Lesson 2: EVERYONE IS SPECIAL.

                        LOOK FOR THEIR TREASURE.