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|headerbgcolor = #8cbcd6
Prometheans (''Macrolimus artificialis'') are a species of artificially-created gelatinous humanoids, chiefly characterized by their primarily liquid bodies and ability to change their bodily shape and color in order to mimic many forms of life. Derived from the Aetolian giant slime (''Macrolimus vulgaris'') inhabiting the warm, tropical planet of [[Aetolus]], they are a relatively newly lab-created sapient species, and as such many things about them have yet to be comprehensively studied.
|headerfontcolor = black
|stafftype = MEDICAL
|imagebgcolor = #c8deea
|img = Psychologist.png
|jobtitle = Psychologist, Psychiatrist
|access = ETC, Psych Room, Maintenance
|difficulty = Mind Bending
|superior = [[Chief Medical Officer]]
|duties = Assist the crew in overcoming their mental shortcomings <s>despite having untreated PTSD yourself</s>
|guides = [[Guide to Medicine]], The guide you're reading, [http://baystation12.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10392 Curien's Psychology 101]
}}


==Mechanics==
As the '''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 [[Traitor|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 [[Colony Director|might've had.]] Ultimately, you are responsible for the mental health and well being of the crew. The Psychologist isn't expected to know how to (or required to) perform the vast majority of medical tasks or duties and lacks access to most of Medical. While you're expected to '''know''' resleeving and how to set cryos, you will only be required to resleeve the dead if you are the only Medical personnel online ([[Guide to Vore|or the other medical doctors mysteriously died]]).
*Can change their physical shape and color at will, to (crudely) imitate other humanoids.
*Devoid of nearly all internal organs found in other humanoids, including traditional bones.
*Can consume almost any organic matter that will fit within their bodies (such as dust, dirt, blood, mice, and regular food products) to gain nutrition.
*Capable of rapid regeneration from damage assuming their nutrition is high, and can spend nutrition to regenerate lost limbs.
*Permeable dermal layer and decentralized internal structure renders them resistant to physical attacks, but very vulnerable to burn damage.
*Mostly unaffected by radiation.
*Limbs do not break as other species’ do, instead the limb severs much more easily, and becomes a splattered mess.
*More susceptible to temperature extremes than most other humanoids.


=Overview=
== Psychology and You ==
*Can change their physical shape and color at will, to (crudely) imitate other humanoids.
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.
*Devoid of nearly all internal organs found in other humanoids, including traditional bones.
*Capable of rapid regeneration from damage assuming their nutrition is high, and can spend nutrition to regenerate lost limbs.
**This ability is disabled if a Promethean is covered in water.
*Permeable dermal layer and decentralized internal structure renders them resistant to physical attacks, but very vulnerable to burn damage.
*Mostly unaffected by radiation.
*Limbs do not break as other species’ do, instead the limb severs much more easily, and becomes a splattered mess.
*More susceptible to temperature extremes than most other humanoids.


==Biology==
'''Keep in mind the majority of this guide consists of suggestions.''' While you can't really go wrong with them, you are not required to follow any treatment practices here. You'll also find it's fairly common for psychologists to practice [[Guide to Vore|alternative medicine]] to treat patient drama <s>assuming you ever see a psychologist online since they're fairly rare.</s>
[[File:Promethean.png|left]]
Much like their slime predecessors, all prometheans have been observed to possess a core (or nucleus) that contains a substantial electrical charge at all times. Prometheans appear to have slight variations in their cores from individual to individual, similar to variations complicit in the cores of their slime brethren, however, the physiological significance of such variations is not currently understood. What is understood is that this core serves as the primary storage for the Promethean’s genetic information, and if removed, will cause immediate and irreparable disintegration of the surrounding body.


The epidermis is comprised of a semipermeable membrane that allows absorption of desirable materials (namely food) while keeping unwanted and/or potentially harmful elements outside of the body. Promethean “skin” is not as strong as that of other humanoids, and therefore are quite sensitive to substantial air pressure or lack thereof (in other words, they cannot survive in space).
=== Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ===
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy centers around identifying a problem and setting up a plan to fix it step by step.  
It focuses on developing coping strategies that can help with the current problems with cognitions, behavior and emotional regulation.
For roleplay purposes BCBT, or Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used following a step by step plan.  


Their “skeleton” is actually a pliable, relatively dense fluid structure (referred to as a macro-cytoskeleton) that supports their body, yet is able to be reshaped at will (the process of doing so is relatively slow and laborious, however). This structure is not as resistant to sudden shock or impact as the rest of their bodily mass, and any such impact can and will cause substantial damage.
'''Orientation'''
* Have the patient declare a commitment to their treatment
* Plan for crisis response and safety.
* Restrict the patient's access to problematic objects, such as substances in case of addiction.
* Put together a little survival kit of items that can help your patient through episodes.
* Establish a reminder, like a card or a piece of paper with their motivation or reason to live on it.
* Set up a treatment journal.
* Make note of any lessons the patient has learned.


Outside of these organs, the majority of a Promethean’s body mass is not well understood. Many different cells within their body appear to be capable of repurposing themselves as-needed, and this behavior is believed to be strongly correlated to their physical regenerative capabilities. Confoundingly to xenobiologists, prometheans do not show strong evidence of possessing organs or organ systems (such as a discrete nervous, vascular, respiratory, or muscular system) retained almost universally among other humanoid species, thus throwing their classification as ‘humanoids’ at all into question by the greater scientific community.
'''Skill Focus'''
* Make a worksheet about how the patient is going to develop their skill to cope with their problem.
* Give the patient reminders of how they are going to solve their problems. Like a sheet of paper or cards with suggestions printed on them.
* Demonstrate how they'd use them.
* Practice their usage with the patient
* Refine their skill at solving their own problems.  


==Life Cycle==
'''Preventing relapses'''
Prometheans are artificially generated lifeforms, only publicly known to have been created in Xenobiology labs using highly sophisticated gene-splicing and cloning techniques. While the exact process is not a matter of public record, the process is known to involve the synthesis of terrestrial primate DNA, or the genetic material of other non-terrestrial similarly intelligent species (such as stok, neaera, or farwa DNA) with that of the Aetolian giant slime or its genetically-modified cousins.
* Have your patient apply the solution frequently to themselves once they are good enough at it to do it on their own
* Have your patient find ways in which the solutions you've reached would work even better.


A freshly created promethean begins life as a core surrounded by a thin layer of amniotic fluid. At this stage, there are no observable distinctions from a typical gray slime core. Almost immediately, the core will begin to rapidly absorb adjacent organic material and metabolize it. Depending on the quantity of food available, gestation into a fully-formed adult can take only a few minutes to complete.
'''Treatable afflictions'''
Lesser forms of depression and anxiety, PTSD, tics, substance abuse, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, OCD, major depressive disorder and psychosis. It may also help with conduct disorders.


While physical and rudimentary cognitive development is extremely rapid compared to most other sapient species, more advanced behaviors such as speech and complex problem solving must be learned, typically through observation and mimicry. Depending on the seed DNA used in their creation, adolescent prometheans may adopt differing techniques to learning about their environment, but all young prometheans display a strong affinity for mimicry as a means of learning and retaining information. Repetition and the development of consistent behavioral routines appear to be very important to Promethean development. This can unfortunately lead to strongly antisocial behaviors becoming “imprinted” on an individual, which then take substantial effort to unlearn.
===EMDR===
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a therapy that helps relieve emotion from memories, reprocessing them and thus aiding with solving trauma. It is a psychotherapy used to help with symptoms of PTSD and helps threat memories that override normal coping mechanisms.  


==Diet==
'''Asking questions'''
Prometheans are filter feeders, subsisting on a diet of just about any organic matter available. Probably due to their unique chemical composition, they are extremely tolerant of many substances that would be harmful or downright lethal to many other humanoids, including most alkaloid toxins. Their digestive system is exceptionally efficient, and as such are not observed to excrete waste matter.
EMDR treatment consists of a series of five questions, two of which are visualization exercises, the rest measure the patient's condition. During the second time the patient visualizes their negative memories, the therapist either distracts their eyes with a finger or uses headphones with an alternating click on the left and right side to distract the patient.


=Behavior=
* Ask the patient about their traumatic experience, including associated thoughts, images and feelings.
Early on in their development, prometheans may exhibit a preference for a specific body color, or “resting color”, usually heavily influenced by the color of their parent species. Prometheans are believed to possess emotional capacity roughly equivalent to other humanoids, and will often display their emotional state via their present body color. As with their physical shape, they are able to change their hue at will, although generally maintaining a color aside from one in line with their current emotional state or resting color requires continuous conscious effort.
* Ask them to think of it again while distracting them with
* Ask the patient how they feel.
* Ask the patient how their body feels.  
* Ask the patient on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does their memory bother them?


Prometheans are a nearly universally inquisitive race, often inspired by their scientist creators to learn as much as they can about their environment. They tend to have trouble grasping abstract and non-binary concepts such as philosophy; preferring to focus on the physical and practical sciences.
If you get an answer of 6 or lower to the last question, you've got your patient to the safe zone.
Doing this constitutes a set, it is advised to take a break after a set. Up to three sets can safely be done, after that side effects of headaches will show up. It will sometimes occur that during a set another memory surfaces, pick up on it and process it like you did the first.  


Otherwise, an individual’s personality may be derived from the species of their “parent” slime. For example, prometheans created using DNA from red or orange slimes (''M. v. rubicundus and M. v. luteus, respectively'') may be more prone to anger than those developed from pink or cyan species, whereas one generated from a black slime (''M. v. ater'') may tend toward a timid or reserved personality.
'''Other applications'''  


==Relations==
EMDR may also help with borderline personality disorder and phantom limb pain.
As an artificially-created (or, as some might say, ‘uplifted’) species, formal relations with other species has not yet been established, though the general attitude given toward prometheans is not often charitable.
*'''[[Human|Humanity]]''' - The [[United Systems of Sol Central]] has officially warned against the “mass production” of prometheans, but their fundamental right to exist is protected by legislation from the early Positronic Era. They tend to be viewed with more sympathy in the technophilic Almach Rim, where several (often positronic-majority) states have offered personhood and citizenship.
*'''[[Skrell]]''' - Skrell typically view prometheans as another extension of humanity’s tendency to create sapient species out of alien technology with little regard for the consequences. Like advanced drones, they’re viewed with suspicion and not found in skrell space.
*'''[[Teshari]]''' - Similarly lacking a unified central government, teshari have no official political stance as regards prometheans as a species. Reactions and opinions would generally be on a pack-by-pack basis.
*'''[[Tajaran]]''' - Due to a lack of any form of ‘faction’ or governmental base, tajaran governments often lack bias in either direction for prometheans. Individuals may however have such a bias.
*'''[[Diona]]''' - The dionaea view prometheans with the same sort of detached curiosity they view most species with.
*'''[[Vox]]''' - Vox tend to find prometheans confounding and difficult to work with. They also find them to be delicious.


=Background=
=== Pharmaceuticals ===
Promethean Xenosociology is a nascent field currently dominated by speculation and controversy. Being an artificially-created species so new to the universe, prometheans lack a unified, documented culture. Most prometheans are isolated from their kin due to the vastness of space and scattered origins, though some (relatively small) population centers do exist — such as on their origin world of Aetolus, where roughly 1,000 individuals reside.
If you prefer to play the psychiatrist, 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#Medicine|guide to chemistry]] although you'll need a [[chemist]] to synthesize them as you lack access to chemistry. Please note though for roleplay purposes that a psychologist is not actually a medical doctor, a psychiatrist is.


Being able mimics, prometheans will enthusiastically adapt aspects of other societies culture to their own purposes, and naming conventions are no exception. Prometheans are most commonly named by those involved in their creation, although the more independently-minded among them will choose a name that speaks to them on a more personal level. As a result, prometheans do not seem to have any real consistency to their naming conventions, and as such may be found possessing very normal or very strange names indeed.
=== 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.


Due to existing USDF regulations, prometheans are not currently allowed to live completely independently. As such, all prometheans must be assigned a legal guardian — typically a Xenobiologist or other trained caretaker who is responsible for the Promethean and their actions.
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.


==Technology==
You will also deal with severe mental illness, including everything from the effects of having found out that one has just been resleeved 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.
While being fairly quick studies and highly enthusiastic about technology in general, there is yet to be any new or unique technology to be directly attributed to Promethean ingenuity. Due to the malleable nature of their physical bodies, prometheans are easily able to adapt other species technology not intended for their use, such as space suits. As such, prometheans will be able to make prodigious use of whatever technology they can get their pseudopods on.


==Genetic Experimentation==
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.
While comprehensive documentation on such actions has not been released to the general public by any major scientific body or interstellar government, there have been persistent rumors regarding the fringe/pseudoscience of Therianthropy, or the process of mutating a mature (read: non-embryonic) lifeform into another species. This procedure has been deemed both extraordinarily dangerous to the subject and highly illegal under USDF law and others. In a majority of cases, the subject will simply meet an excruciating death, and those that survive the metamorphosis will be irrevocably changed, often experiencing a range of mental complications including the perception of ‘headaches’, exaggerated emotional shifts and psychosis, and periodic bouts of short term and long term memory loss. Furthermore, the subject will face a daily struggle to simply retain their former personality and sense of selfness against a torrent of alien instincts and impulses fighting for dominance in whatever remains of their consciousness.
 
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 <s>or they like being in one for some reason</s>.
* 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 <s>overpowered and didn't need another buff</s> a very strong sedative that causes overdose starting at only 5 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 sugar to convert it into soporific and dylovene to treat the soporific.
 
==== 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.
* Keep in mind your position comes with the highest level of confidentiality out of all of medical. Unless your patient confesses something dangerous (such as a plan to murder the [[Colony Director]]) or suffers from a condition related to a threat (e.g. they're waving a gun around due to hallucinations), not even Code Red or a warrant grants access to psychological records (excluding an evaluation determining mental fitness for a job promotion, for example). Only the [[Chief Medical Officer]] may override this.
* 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.
 
==='''Confidentiality and why it is important'''===
As the psychologist you will likely get to know very private and very sensitive information about people, it is of the utmost importance that you keep what is discussed between you and the patient. If you start to talk and gossip about all the intimate details of what is wrong with your patients, people will no longer trust you and them no longer trusting you leads to them not telling you the important details you need to do your job. Keep that zipper shut, buddy. Medical confidentiality is no joke.
 
== Antag Encounter ==
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.
 
== Tips ==
* As a roleplay job, this position is very commonly used for [[Guide to Vore|ERP]]. Don't be surprised if somebody asking for an appointment is doing so just for a scene.
* Keep in mind not everybody wants an appointment for ERP and you may be contacted for a more traditional psychologist appointment. If you '''only''' want ERP sessions and you're going to disregard anybody coming in for a traditional appointment, you're better off playing [[Intern|Visitor]].
* Don't be intimidated if you don't think you're capable of playing a professional psychologist. Often just listening to a patient's difficulties and letting them know they can trust you is enough for an enjoyable roleplay.
* Seriously, even if you do just want ERP it's not rare to get this from a traditional appointment. Many players prefer getting to know your character before easing into kinkier things, so it may be a good way to get a scene later.
* You could consider calling crew in for routine evaluations but should keep in mind they're not required to. Be aware some may come even if OOC notes don't match and they don't to roleplay an evaluation, so it never hurts to ask in LOOC if they don't mind roleplaying an evaluation.
* Feel free to be creative with your treatments. If you see something in a patient's OOC notes, you may be able nudge into to make a treatment based on it.
* This is one of the worst jobs to play a jaded, asshole-ish character with. You really shouldn't.
 
{{Jobs}}

Latest revision as of 01:00, 11 November 2019

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MEDICAL STAFF
File:Psychologist.png
Psychologist, Psychiatrist 		Access: ETC, Psych Room, Maintenance
Difficulty: Mind Bending
Supervisors: Chief Medical Officer
Duties: Assist the crew in overcoming their mental shortcomings despite having untreated PTSD yourself
Guides: Guide to Medicine, The guide you're reading, Curien's Psychology 101


As the 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. The Psychologist isn't expected to know how to (or required to) perform the vast majority of medical tasks or duties and lacks access to most of Medical. While you're expected to know resleeving and how to set cryos, you will only be required to resleeve the dead if you are the only Medical personnel online (or the other medical doctors mysteriously died).

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.

Keep in mind the majority of this guide consists of suggestions. While you can't really go wrong with them, you are not required to follow any treatment practices here. You'll also find it's fairly common for psychologists to practice alternative medicine to treat patient drama assuming you ever see a psychologist online since they're fairly rare.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy centers around identifying a problem and setting up a plan to fix it step by step. It focuses on developing coping strategies that can help with the current problems with cognitions, behavior and emotional regulation. For roleplay purposes BCBT, or Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used following a step by step plan.

Orientation

  • Have the patient declare a commitment to their treatment
  • Plan for crisis response and safety.
  • Restrict the patient's access to problematic objects, such as substances in case of addiction.
  • Put together a little survival kit of items that can help your patient through episodes.
  • Establish a reminder, like a card or a piece of paper with their motivation or reason to live on it.
  • Set up a treatment journal.
  • Make note of any lessons the patient has learned.

Skill Focus

  • Make a worksheet about how the patient is going to develop their skill to cope with their problem.
  • Give the patient reminders of how they are going to solve their problems. Like a sheet of paper or cards with suggestions printed on them.
  • Demonstrate how they'd use them.
  • Practice their usage with the patient
  • Refine their skill at solving their own problems.

Preventing relapses

  • Have your patient apply the solution frequently to themselves once they are good enough at it to do it on their own
  • Have your patient find ways in which the solutions you've reached would work even better.

Treatable afflictions Lesser forms of depression and anxiety, PTSD, tics, substance abuse, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, OCD, major depressive disorder and psychosis. It may also help with conduct disorders.

EMDR

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a therapy that helps relieve emotion from memories, reprocessing them and thus aiding with solving trauma. It is a psychotherapy used to help with symptoms of PTSD and helps threat memories that override normal coping mechanisms.

Asking questions EMDR treatment consists of a series of five questions, two of which are visualization exercises, the rest measure the patient's condition. During the second time the patient visualizes their negative memories, the therapist either distracts their eyes with a finger or uses headphones with an alternating click on the left and right side to distract the patient.

  • Ask the patient about their traumatic experience, including associated thoughts, images and feelings.
  • Ask them to think of it again while distracting them with
  • Ask the patient how they feel.
  • Ask the patient how their body feels.
  • Ask the patient on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does their memory bother them?

If you get an answer of 6 or lower to the last question, you've got your patient to the safe zone. Doing this constitutes a set, it is advised to take a break after a set. Up to three sets can safely be done, after that side effects of headaches will show up. It will sometimes occur that during a set another memory surfaces, pick up on it and process it like you did the first.

Other applications

EMDR may also help with borderline personality disorder and phantom limb pain.

Pharmaceuticals

If you prefer to play the psychiatrist, 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 although you'll need a chemist to synthesize them as you lack access to chemistry. Please note though for roleplay purposes that a psychologist is not actually a medical doctor, a psychiatrist is.

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 resleeved 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.

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 or they like being in one for some reason.
  • 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 overpowered and didn't need another buff a very strong sedative that causes overdose starting at only 5 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 sugar to convert it into soporific and dylovene to treat the soporific.

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.
  • Keep in mind your position comes with the highest level of confidentiality out of all of medical. Unless your patient confesses something dangerous (such as a plan to murder the Colony Director) or suffers from a condition related to a threat (e.g. they're waving a gun around due to hallucinations), not even Code Red or a warrant grants access to psychological records (excluding an evaluation determining mental fitness for a job promotion, for example). Only the Chief Medical Officer may override this.
  • 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.

Confidentiality and why it is important

As the psychologist you will likely get to know very private and very sensitive information about people, it is of the utmost importance that you keep what is discussed between you and the patient. If you start to talk and gossip about all the intimate details of what is wrong with your patients, people will no longer trust you and them no longer trusting you leads to them not telling you the important details you need to do your job. Keep that zipper shut, buddy. Medical confidentiality is no joke.

Antag Encounter

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.

Tips

  • As a roleplay job, this position is very commonly used for ERP. Don't be surprised if somebody asking for an appointment is doing so just for a scene.
  • Keep in mind not everybody wants an appointment for ERP and you may be contacted for a more traditional psychologist appointment. If you only want ERP sessions and you're going to disregard anybody coming in for a traditional appointment, you're better off playing Visitor.
  • Don't be intimidated if you don't think you're capable of playing a professional psychologist. Often just listening to a patient's difficulties and letting them know they can trust you is enough for an enjoyable roleplay.
  • Seriously, even if you do just want ERP it's not rare to get this from a traditional appointment. Many players prefer getting to know your character before easing into kinkier things, so it may be a good way to get a scene later.
  • You could consider calling crew in for routine evaluations but should keep in mind they're not required to. Be aware some may come even if OOC notes don't match and they don't to roleplay an evaluation, so it never hurts to ask in LOOC if they don't mind roleplaying an evaluation.
  • Feel free to be creative with your treatments. If you see something in a patient's OOC notes, you may be able nudge into to make a treatment based on it.
  • This is one of the worst jobs to play a jaded, asshole-ish character with. You really shouldn't.
Jobs on CHOMPstation

Command Colony Director, Head of Personnel, Head of Security, Chief Engineer, Research Director, Chief Medical Officer
Security Head of Security, Security Officer, Warden, Detective
Engineering Chief Engineer, Station Engineer, Atmospheric Technician
Cargo Quartermaster, Cargo Technician, Shaft Miner
Medical Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Paramedic, Psychologist, Chemist, Geneticist
Science Research Director, Scientist, Roboticist, Xenobiologist, Xenobotanist
Exploration Pathfinder, Explorer, Field Medic, Pilot
Service & Civilian Intern, Visitor, Bartender, Botanist, Chef, Chaplain, Command Secretary, Janitor, Librarian, Entrepreneur, Clown, Mime
Station-Bound AI, Cyborg, Maintenance Drone, Personal AI, Ghost, Mouse
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