psycho pathology

is the scientific study of mental disorders.
this is where the sciencey part of my degree comes into play. i don't want to bore you laypeople with the details, but i'll just say that it is very, very interesting.
it's an interesting respite from all of the psychodynamic existential relational psychology that we are usually doing. not that i don't love psychoanalysis, but it's interesting to see it from a diagnostic perspective.
there is a fine line, however, when i comes to treating people it is essential that you don't see/treat just a disorder, but that you treat the person who happens to have a particular disorder.
the people i see every day are severely sick. most of them are on the acute side of the mental disorder scale and it is a sad/hard thing to witness. there are definitely moments where i catch myself writing people off as 'bipolar', 'psychotic', 'borderline', etc. but i have to realize that there is a person in front of me. not only that but this person is in a hospital, and their lives are being affected by this disorder.
i also catch myself wanting to blame something for the disorders. whether it's drugs or parents or trauma, i want it to be some body's fault. if someone is to blame then it's easier for me to accept the people as they are. then you don't have to process why things like this happen.