Amazing Web Feats
Do psychologists have a sense of humor? Can professionals who work in the behavioral health and addiction treatment fields balance poking fun at the absurdities and ironies of their profession with the need to be sensitive to others’ feelings? A little casual research indicates that the answers are “yes” and “yes.”
The Internet can be a wonderful source of information as well as dangerous cyber-garbage. That being said, there are a number of sites containing humor related to the mental health industry ranging from innocuous to mildly provocative to tasteless. Attempting to avoid the later category, here are a few we’ve visited:
Paradigm readers will probably be familiar with Mark Gorkin, the “Stress Doc,” who regularly writes for this column. His humor is sprinkled with practical advice on the application of humor to clinical practice and anecdotes from his own experience as a counselor and consultant. Visit his website at www.stressdoc.com for the latest from the leading Psychohumorist.
Managed care (or “managed scare” as Gorkin refers to it) might seem like no laughing matter. On the contrary, there are sites devoted exclusively to managed care humor. Some of the jokes and stories get circulated so much that no one knows where they started. One of these is the well-known “symphony” joke. The following is a reprint for those of you who don’t own a computer or know anyone who does.
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A managed care company president was given a ticket for a performance of Schubert’s
Unfinished Symphony. Since she was unable to go, she gave the ticket to one of her managed
care reviewers. |
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1. For a considerable period, the oboe players had nothing to do. Their number should be reduced, and their work spread over the whole orchestra, avoiding peaks of inactivity. 2. All 12 violins were playing identical notes. This seems an unneeded duplication, and the staff of this section should be cut. If a volume of sound is really required, this could be accomplished with the use of an amplifier. 3. Much effort was involved in playing the 16th notes. This appears to be an excessive refinement, and it is recommended that all notes be rounded up to the nearest 8th note. If this were done it would be possible to use para-professionals instead of experienced musicians. 4. No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage that has already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated then the concert could be reduced from two hours to twenty minutes. 5. The symphony had two movements. If Mr. Schubert didn’t achieve his musical goals by the end of the first movement, then he should have stopped there. The second movement is unnecessary and should be cut. In light of the above, one can only conclude that had Mr. Schubert given attention to these matters, he probably would have had time to finish the symphony. |
Jokes in the same vein as this one can be found at www.ncpamd.com/mcjokes.htm and www.harp.org/joke.htm. You may also want to check out “Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Blues Band” at www.managedmusic.com .
Another oft-repeated piece is “Managed Caring” by Richard Liebmann-Smith, an editor of American Health Magazine. You can find the full text of this wicked parody at www.cs.virginia.edu/~bah6f/funnies/FriendNet.html .
Aside from managed care, there are several sites with humor related to psychology and counseling. For example, the following story appears on “Charlotte’s Web,” an award-winning site with a plethora of psychological humor at www.erols.com/geary/psychology/
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After just a few years of marriage, filled with constant arguments, a young man and his wife decided the only way to save their marriage was to try therapy. They had been at each others throats for some time and felt that this was their last straw. When they arrived at the therapist’s office, the therapist jumped right in and opened the floor for discussion. “What seems to be the problem?” Immediately, the husband held his long face down without anything to say. On the other hand, the wife began talking 90 miles and hour describing all the wrongs within their marriage. After 5 — 10 — 15 minutes of listening to the wife, the therapist went over to her, picked her up by her shoulders, kissed her passionately for several minutes, and sat her back down. Afterwards, the wife sat there - speechless. He looked over at the husband who was staring in disbelief at what had happened. The therapist spoke to the husband, “Your wife NEEDS that at least twice a week!” The husband scratched his head and replied, “I can have her here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” |
Humor from a nurse’s point of view can be found at www.neta.com/~laffinrn/4star-hs.html, the site known as Journal of Nursing Jocularity. In addition, all the sites listed in this article contain links to other related humor sites such as the Annals of Improbable Research www.improb.com and academic sites like www.psych.upenn.edu/humor.html. I’ll leave you with an example from the Penn website:
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1-800-PSYCH |
Till next time ... keep smiling; it will gratify your friends and drive your enemies crazy.