Do you think there are psychologists/therapists as we know them in the GFFA? I’m personally leaning towards no, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter.
That’s something
I have been asking myself for a long time. I’ve been researching this for a
while now and so far I only found this:
Mentops
(GAR’s psychiatrists):
The
brown-robed ones glanced at each other in amusement. “Who are you? Are you
medics or mentops or something?” “No, not exactly,” Fate said. “It’s a little
hard to explain.” Although he declined further explanation, Jangotat felt no
harm from the X’Ting, and managed to relax. [The Cestus Deception by Steven
Barnes]
Psychiatrists
Looking down, Annileen quickly unwound the fabric from her reddened palm. “You’re the range psychiatrist now?” “No, but I’ve got five children of my own. And I know if you keep staring at Kallie and those animals, she’s just gonna try to ride the crazy one.” [John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi]
“What?” Hotise said. “You seem to think that I personally run this war, Doctor. Believe me, if I did, it’d be run a sight better. As it is, there are things that are simply in short supply. Medical doctors, not to mention psychiatrists, are hard to come by, even here with the big green light. It won’t kill you to step into the breach now and then. You did rotations in both disciplines during your residency. [Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry,
]
“The med droid’s got full psychiatric programming, too, Bob’ika,” Beviin said quietly. [Legacy of the Force: Revelation by Karen Traviss]
Psychologists
I couldn’t find
evidence there were psychologist workings during the PT years but they seem to
exist during the Empire years.
Psychological Science
According to wookieepedia the Empire had a Institute of Imperial Psychological Studies;
The GFFA had a Journal of Personality and Galactic Psychology;
They had enough understanding of trauma and its consequences to have a Anti-trauma de-programming solution to help survivors to deal with the aftermath of their ordeal.
There are
many mentions of psychology throughout the EU but most of references comes from
old (pre-PT) and/or “obscure” sources. Regardless, psychology does seem to
exist in the GFFA. Wookieepedia even has a list dedicated to its known mental
illness (pyromania, psychopathy, agoraphobia, etc).
Honestly, I
don’t know what to think of it. The fact psychological research exists in the
GFFA makes the situation even more aggravating and tragic. It makes everything
sounds even more avoidable and everyone even more callous for not noticing anything
wrong with how the Jedi Order operated or with Anakin.
In many
ways, imo, it would’ve been better if no one in the GFFA knew about mental
health because at least it could be used as an excuse for their behavior. In a
world where
psychology
exists and there are professionals dedicated to helping
citizens how can you excuse no one noticing how unwell Anakin (and pretty much
everyone else) was? It’s so frustrating.
Personally,
I like to pretend none of this exist because then I don’t get frustrating thinking
about how everything could’ve been better if everyone had just visited a
freaking therapist.
Raf's rants 