The reason you can't use a computer is often because an individual won't judge themselves correctly. I.e. thinking about yourself is generally not an emotionless matter, emotions and your own feelings get in the way unlike a professional who should remained detached. For example, a paranoid schitzophrenic person experiencing hallucinations may not view them as such because, for them, they may almost seem more real than reality itself. More so if the illness is severe enough because then wouldn't even be capable of entering their own symptoms into a computer. They would need to be judged by a psychologist.
Also, I'd like to see some evidence for this statement you're throwing out that it'll "never be the same". In clear cut cases, that's certainly untrue. Results will only differ when the individual's illness isn't very severe or is mixed in with another illness/extraneous variables which may've influenced the difference. Often patients may tell another psychologist something they didn't tell another which leads to a different diagnosis (e.g. certain illnesses are more common because of poor parenting so if a patient only expressed this to a partial extent to one psychologist but a full extent to another, it may lead to changes in their diagnosis).
But I do agree with you on sessions. Symptoms can change depending on how much stress someone is undergoing at the time of the session (which often makes the illness worse ten fold) which can affect what the thought diagnosis was.
IIN I hate when people say something is subjective like psychology?
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The reason you can't use a computer is often because an individual won't judge themselves correctly. I.e. thinking about yourself is generally not an emotionless matter, emotions and your own feelings get in the way unlike a professional who should remained detached. For example, a paranoid schitzophrenic person experiencing hallucinations may not view them as such because, for them, they may almost seem more real than reality itself. More so if the illness is severe enough because then wouldn't even be capable of entering their own symptoms into a computer. They would need to be judged by a psychologist.
Also, I'd like to see some evidence for this statement you're throwing out that it'll "never be the same". In clear cut cases, that's certainly untrue. Results will only differ when the individual's illness isn't very severe or is mixed in with another illness/extraneous variables which may've influenced the difference. Often patients may tell another psychologist something they didn't tell another which leads to a different diagnosis (e.g. certain illnesses are more common because of poor parenting so if a patient only expressed this to a partial extent to one psychologist but a full extent to another, it may lead to changes in their diagnosis).
But I do agree with you on sessions. Symptoms can change depending on how much stress someone is undergoing at the time of the session (which often makes the illness worse ten fold) which can affect what the thought diagnosis was.