Psychologist

MEDICAL STAFF
Station Psychologist	Access: Medbay, Morgue, Psychiatrist's Office, Medbay Storage Qualifications: Not defined Employers: Not defined Supervisors: Chief Medical Officer Duties: Solve everybody's problems, go insane yourself. Guides: Guide to Medicine, The guide you're reading, Curien's Psychology 101

As the Station Psychologist, you are tasked with identifying (and solving) personal and mental issues within the station's crew. This is a job that you may or may not be able to accomplish successfully. If need be, you have the power to deem someone mentally unstable and, with the approval of the Chief Medical Officer, strip them of any authority they might've had. Ultimately, you are responsible for the mental health and well being of the crew.

Psychology and You

This job is very roleplay-oriented, and it can be very boring if not played correctly. More often than not, you will be spending your time listening to your patients and then talking to them. Most of the players who will approach you already have something in mind, and because there is no easy, straightforward way to treat psychological issues, it falls to you to make your patient's roleplay experience an enjoyable one.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

A very well-written in-character outline of this common psychology technique written by forum user Curien can be found here.

Pharmaceuticals

As the station psychologist, you can prescribe a number of anti-depressants, sedatives, painkillers, and other pharmaceutical drugs in order to help your patient to recover. A list of all of the possible drugs that may be prescribed can be found in the guide to chemistry.

Psychosis & Violent Patients

So let's face it... not every patient you treat is going to be coming into your office ready to talk politely about their problems. Sometimes, you're going to be dealing with people who simply aren't thinking straight, or who are even outright violent.

Hallucinations can be caused by drugs, poisons, and radiation. You'll see them on a large scale if the supermatter goes critical, and on a small scale if the botanist or chemist has been producing recreational substances. One type of antidepressant you can prescribe, paroxetine, also has the risk of causing hallucinations, meaning that it should be prescribed under your supervision or that of a member of the medical staff. People who are hallucinating will see things, hear things, and sometimes believe things that aren't actually there.

You will also deal with severe mental illness, including everything from the effects of having found out that one has just been cloned to the garden-variety schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety every psychologist encounters. Most of the time, people who are mentally ill are not violent. Some people who are hallucinating due to drugs or radiation--especially if they've experienced it before--will know that they're hallucinating and try to stay safe. But it's entirely possible that a patient with psychosis will throw a punch at you, believing you are trying to harm them. Your main goal when dealing with a hallucinating patient is to keep them safe until the hallucinations wear off, or the doctors can treat them for whatever is causing the hallucinations.

Occasionally you will deal with a patient who is homicidal or suicidal. Depending on how bad it is and how clearly they are thinking, you may be able to simply talk them down, which is the preferred option, or you may have to restrain them in some way. If the worst happens and your patient commits suicide, remember that cloning is not an option for those who died by suicide.

In order of increasing urgency, treatments for psychiatric emergency can include:

• Antidepressants. These work slowly and are of the most help to people who are already somewhat rational. If a person is just barely in control, this can help.
• Soporific pill or injection. A sedative will make your patient sleepy and help them calm down.
• Straight jacket. This keeps your patient from hurting themselves, but it is uncomfortable and can even be traumatic. Only use it if your patient is in immediate danger.
• Muzzle. This keeps your patient from speaking or biting--only really useful if they are desperate enough to try to chew their own hands off. Like the straitjacket, a last resort.
• Chloral hydrate. This is a very strong sedative that causes overdose starting at only 15 units, but its strength means it can be put into an autoinjector and be effective at stopping anyone without armor on (ask the chemist to make you one). Once the chloral hydrate has taken effect, the patient can be more easily restrained, and its effects can be reversed with Dylovene.

Working with Security

• Some of your patients will be criminals who happen to also have a mental illness. Others will be people who have come to Security's attention because of their erratic behavior. Either way, you may need to coordinate with Security to get these people treated.
• Remember that the people you see as patients, Security may very well see as criminals. Advise Security as to the nature of the crisis and stress that your patient is hallucinating, depressed, confused, etc. Explain to them any particular triggers your patient may have.
• Ensure that any physical injuries your patient has are taken care of first.
• If Security has been unnecessarily rough with your patient, do not hesitate to make complaints. In many cases, you will be the only one speaking out on behalf of your patient's welfare.
• Handcuffs are an effective way of restraining a patient while you speak to them, but just like a straitjacket, they are uncomfortable and can cause a patient to panic. If they're necessary for your safety, use them, but don't just slap them on your patients willy-nilly.
• Don't be afraid to ask for a guard on a particularly violent patient. Letting your patient beat you up is not approved clinical practice.

You may also encounter insanity in the form of a cult. As a psychologist, you don't know anything about the cult itself, but you will probably come to realize that they are suffering from mental impairment unlike any you've seen before--personalities altered, motives changed, and morals turned upside down to the point that a pacifist may become a killer and a usually joyful person may become a near-suicidal nihilist. How you respond to this strange new type of psychosis is up to you--remember who your character is. But your duty as a psychologist remains the same: Criminal or not, violent or not, you treat mental illness and aid those who suffer from it. Until you see obvious evidence of the supernatural (and perhaps not even then), a cult member may seem like just another patient to you. Of course, since cults are often violent, you will likely be working with Security and using restraints. Remember to stay safe, because if you're dead, you can't do your job.