Why You Should Study Psychology: The Benefits For Your Own Wellbeing

By George Cooley

Wondering if you could benefit from studying Psychology. The beautiful thing about psychology is that absolutely anyone can benefit from learning more about the way the human mind works. You’ll be able to understand why certain people do the things they do, and you can also gain skills to help you process things better. But is it worth committing to? 

Here are a few good reasons why you should further your studies and take a course in psychology. 

1. It may enhance your interpersonal skills

Through exploring the subject that studies the mind, many students foster growth in their interpersonal skills and allow them to better relate to those around them. Not only do you study different and challenging cases, but you’ll have to know how to deal with people in these vulnerable states. In turn, this will help you to strengthen your compassion, empathy and communication. 

2. It can improve your critical thinking skills

Psychology in itself is a science grounded in reasoning, and a few key components of this subject include analysing qualitative and quantitative data, as well as using procedures to make observations. These skills are not isolated and are just used in psychology; they can be applied to many other career fields and everyday life. So, through studying psychology, you’ll gain invaluable skills that benefit every facet of your life as you can analyse, process and present information in a way that will be received well by others. 

3. It  can help you understand human behaviour better

Another way that studying psychology can benefit you and your mental well-being is that you’ll have a better understanding of human behaviour. Some of the topics you’ll cover in a psychology course include sensation and perception, human development, therapy, psychological disorders, and behavioural neuroscience, to name a few. 

Through these topics, you’ll gain a rich understanding of what factors impact human behaviour, and in doing so, you won’t just understand why the people around you behave the way they do, but you’ll also start to understand why you do the things you do, too.

4. It will help you with personal growth 

Studying psychology, whether it’s an undergrad degree, a graduate certificate, or your master’s, may open doors for job opportunities, but the effect it has on your personal growth is more impactful. By exploring subjects like cognitive psychology, you will learn concepts that you can apply to improve your life. When you commit yourself to taking what you’ve learned in psychology and applying it to yourself, you naturally build a deeper awareness of how you see yourself, what you think and believe, and how these cognitions influence your daily life. 

5. You will improve your conflict resolution skills

No matter how nice or professional a person you are, there will always be conflict in life. Dealing with conflict causes a lot of people to feel a bit anxious. Studying psychology gives you an understanding of why conflict arises and enables you to deal with it better and find a resolution. How? 

Well, as a student you’ll be challenged to understand different situations from various perspectives – this will allow you to try and get an idea of how different people would approach the situation. This will allow you to approach conflict with more than just your understanding, but you can try understand what others may be thinking – a valuable skill that can help you resolve issues instead of just reacting.

6. It can give you a sense of enjoyment and fulfilment

Those who enjoy learning will find a lot of enjoyment in psychology courses. From the case studies to the experiments, there are so many interesting areas in this field. Learning so much about the way people think and what causes them to do what they do is also a very fulfilling topic as you’ll pick up on different things that you’ve studied in the people around you, which you can then use to impact them positively. 

Final Thoughts

Studying psychology won’t improve your well-being any more than studying medicine will make you healthier. What it does is give you insight as to what causes you to do things the way you do, and it also lets you know when you need to work on yourself and speak to a psychologist yourself. So, you might not instantly be cured of social anxiety or depression when studying psychology, but you will definitely be more self-aware if you truly dedicate yourself to your studies. 

About the author
George Cooley