Do any psychology people know what lasting effects this could have on him. After watching the third episode, it seemed to me that the game had gone far enough. Even those who were acting were getting emotional. It's getting to the point where they can't act. How does this go along with the so-called psychological code of ethics??

• RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,Jpod5, 07:16 PM, 09-17-03
  • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,holli105, 07:18 PM, 09-17-03
  • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,pnoeric, 10:36 PM, 09-17-03
• RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,Guppin1234, 09:55 PM, 09-17-03
  • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,Neffer, 12:48 PM, 09-18-03
    • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,Guppin1234, 01:39 PM, 09-18-03
      • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,holli105, 01:43 PM, 09-18-03
        • RE: Psychological Effects on Matt??,Guppin1234, 01:59 PM, 09-18-03

I’m only answering as one interested in psychology. I’ve enjoyed books that would put most people into a coma.

My very un-qualified opinion is that it won’t have a serious long-term effect on him, for a few reasons:
1- The ‘shock’ will be traumatic enough to cause psychological damage. That said, depending on the person, he could take it as heavily as one would getting dumped, or as something much more. I don’t think anyone can speak to that for him. If he has some underlying insecurity and fear of humiliation (which his performance doesn’t really indicate, but it could be there), then he could have a very bad reaction to it all and 'snap' to use a non-technical term.
2- After the show runs its course, he’ll be bombarded with positive response from anyone who watched. While he may currently be mired in embarrassment, I would imagine he’ll feel quite appreciated when and if fans of the show ever get to show him how they feel. The level of acceptance will overcome a lot of the pain.
3- He may have a lot of stress, anxiety, etc, but that isn't necessarily going to lead to long-term effects. I’m not saying he won’t need a good therapist for a while, which I think can be said for most of us, Matt might just need a few extra sessions.

As far as a code of ethics, I can't speak to that. Show business only seems to care about ethics in regard to potential law suits, and it’s pretty clear that Matt has little recourse. I would hope they put some sort of psychological test into the casting process...but who knows, maybe they did and actually used it to choose someone they thought might be vulnerable.

jlm

My guess is that at the end Matt will get the $100,000.. which could help any pizza delivery guy deal with the psychological trauma.

And he's such a lovable guy on the show - he'll come out looking great. I've already wondered why there aren't more single guys like him in my town!

didn't we just hear on bravo's "Reality of Reality" series that on Survivor, the moment they get booted at the tribal council, they go right into the waiting psych who checks to be sure they're ok?

on big brother, there's a staff psych around all the time, and the hamsters, excuse me, houseguests talk to him alllll the time. it just doesn't make it into the show...

...so who's to say joe schmoe doesn't have a staff shrink for them to work through the stress of being a reality tv star?

at the end of the day, it's STILL a reality show, and they're still only showing us what they want

p.s. speaking of shrinks, Dr. Pat's doll routine was the funniest thing I have ever seen on any reality show. just the reactions of everyone in the audience... priceless. I love these in-jokes...

--
Eric, former reality TV crewmember

http://ericmueller.org

I'm not a doctor, but his first demon to deal with will be his own feelings of humiliation and anger whether he wins some money or not. Then he will first face his family and friends who will either be supportive or critical. The support will make him feel better, and the criticism will make him feel bad again (rollercoaster - somewhat like manic depression) and that's just at home.

Then he will feel like going out into the world, and he'll get the rollercoaster all over again only in massive doses on a daily basis for quite a while. Even if people don't say anything, they will look at you funny, avoid you, cut you off in traffic, after a while, it all adds up.

So he'll probably want to hibernate for a while, sulk a little and try to figure out how to get on with his life. Perhaps seek counseling if it gets really bad and the outside world gives him agoraphobia.

The counselor would probably suggest that he join some social groups and get out more, and the whole cycle will start all over again. So whether they are supportive or critical it wont matter at this point, just the mention of the show will cause all those rollercoaster feelings to surface again, and he will have to learn how to act, how to put on a false face, how to suppress his anger and how to put on a happy face while hearing for the 1000th time "Hey, you're Joe Schmo".

I hope they do a 20/20 or Dateline etc. on the after effects of these shows and the true reality of it. I would love to see some of these producers brought to their knees. As that poster said, they could care less about psychological effects, only openings for possible law suits.

That all seems really heavy. I hope it's not really that bad.

Hope so. I suppose that was the worst case scenario, and I forgot to mention the secondary physical ailments that could be caused from all that suppressed emotion (bleeding ulcer, hair loss, shingles, eating disorders, GI distress etc).

Even though Matt is a bit of a schmo, last I heard having personality deficits isn't a crime, and it just makes you wonder if the punishment (all the after effects) fits the crime (being on the show).

I think that's a little dramatic!! After all, regardless of it being a joke - he knew going into it that everything he did would be broadcast on television.

Yeah, but they dramatically changed the premise of the show once he was in, and nobody ever warns the contestants how it's going to change their lives. The kids from LA know, but they found a new cash cow in normal every-day people, you think they are gonna do right by people? Nah, too boring as another poster put it.

They say what doesn't kill you <limbo> will make you stronger, but what if you're caught in the <middle>?