Extended Research
In the process of collecting different people's secrets, I found that many secrets I have heard more or less imply to varying degrees of mental problems. Therefore, I decided to further examine those secrets from the psychology perspective. With this purpose and to take my next project forward, I interviewed Qianli Wu, a PhD candidate in psychology in the University College London, for getting his understanding about the relationship between secrets and mental health problems.
Before we met, I briefed him on the phone about the purpose of my work and background. He told me that the research area that I need involves clinical psychology. Therefore, our first step was to go to the UCL Science Library to find the relevant books.
In this book, Clinical Psychology An introduction, Qianli uses Cognitive-behavioural theories to explain to me that the underlying psychological mechanisms of confiding secrets to other people tend to be associated with anonymity. It is a decision made sub-consciously for protecting self. On the other hand, therapists use Behavioural approaches and Cognitive approaches to help patient stay in a relaxed mental status and face their hiding secrets as a way to alleviate mental difficulties.
So I realised that most of the people I interviewed who offered me secrets were actually revealing their psychological problems.
In this book Extreme Fear, Shyness, and Social Phobia, the individual differences in fear, shyness, emotional circuits and behavioural inhibition are largely due to childhood experiences and the influences from family members, which are divided into Temperament Terminology, Hemispheric Asymmetry, Stability, Shyness and Self-Consciousness.
People who prefer to confide their secrets to strangers (or a clinical profession), but not with a closed family member or friend tend to experience some degree of anxiety. Those people are the ones whom I am looking for in my project.
Interview
I conducted a short interview with Qianli Wu with the questions I encountered in my work.
The following is the content of the interview.
Jingyu：
(Introduction to the background of my work)
So in your opinion, why is it that some people, who want to talk about something unspeakable or secret, prefer to tell a stranger rather than someone close to them?
On the other hand, from a clinical psychology perspective, what do you think are some of the reasons for people's desire to confide?
Me and Qianli at UCL
Qianli Wu：
There are many factors contributing to our willingness to talkness. Biology is one key factor determining our temperament (shyness) strongly associated with our desire for talkness. Another critical factor is the environment (family) we grow up in. When talking about secrets or psychological problems, another critical factor is whether the problem has been aware. This is the central idea of using CBT (Cognitive- behavioural theories) in a clinical psychology treatment where psychologists use feedback to help patients rethink their secrets and give more information about them.
Jingyu:
One last question, after you mentioned earlier that these people who are willing to confide their secrets actually want professional feedback, how do you think I can explore or develop an interdisciplinary study with your field later on in my research?
Qianli Wu：
The most considerable difficulty for people to talk about their problems is not how to make them talk but to make them aware that they have the problem and that it is better to talk about it. There are many ways we can do it, including using the arts. For example, we may use paintings, music, or any other form of art to help people become aware of the development of psychological problems or difficulties.
