Reasons to keep your psych degree a secret:

1) people will always ask/wonder if you are analysing them.

2) people will ask you to analyse their *whomever*, whom you have never met.
for example:

lady: hey, since I have you here do you mind answering a question for me?

You: uh…no. shoot.

Lady: my ex-boyfriend has some serious mental problems, I think he has NPD or maybe ADD. What do you think?

You: I don’t know your boyfriend so I can’t say. Even if I did know him I’m not a licensed practitioner I’m not qualified to make any kind of diagnoses.

Lady: but you do have a psych degree don’t you?

You: yes…but it’s just a BA that doesn’t really mean much.

Lady: I think I must have an inborn psych degree.

You: even if you did, if it was just a BA it wouldn’t mean much.

Lady: but really, he has so many issues. I don’t think he knows how to love. Like seriously, he is incapable of loving and I was looking online and that is totally how they describe someone with NPD.

You: NPD eh?

Lady: you know, Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

You: Yes, I know what it means.

Lady: Then you know what I’m talking about.

You: Honestly Lady, I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Lady: Well, I’m sure he has NPD and maybe ADD. I’m not really sure what that is…but I’m sure he has it. And you know those defence mechanisms people use? Well he’s totally a projector.

You: is that so?

Lady: Totally. He was always projecting things on me.

You (to self): to bad it wasn’t a very heavy object, ‘cause then I wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Lady: Yeah, and whenever he talks to his sister he always asks her if she’s talked to “her” parents. Why does he do that? I think it’s because of the fact that he can’t love. His kids were always telling me that he was incapable of loving. That’s why I left him…that and because he was violent. He always used to throw things. He was always breaking my stuff. When I left him he tailgated me the entire time I was driving down the highway until I got to my friends house then he stood outside yelling at me to come back for an hour. I think that’s because he has ADD

You: yeah…I wouldn’t blame that on attention deficit disorder. Don’t get excited by the terminology but that behaviour is more characteristic of someone with an anti-social or even psychopathic personality…but since I’ve never met him this is based on your very biased observations.

Lady: Psychopathic..? yeah that sounds right.

You (to self): if I had a bio degree I’d diagnose you as clinically deaf.

Lady: My boss has NPD too. I swear she is totally borderline…and she’s a Jew!...

This was a real (abridged) conversation I had with a neighbour it continued for another 20 minutes wherein she proceeded to diagnose every other person in her life. Too bad she didn’t take the time to diagnose herself in the process.

So if you have a psych degree I suggest keeping it to yourself for the sake of your own sanity.