Software To Provide Astronaut Counseling

Currently, whenever an astronaut needs to talk to someone, a counselor is only a radio call away. Unfortunately, for voyages further out, this contact time starts to increase quite a bit, so researchers have started to look for alternative methods of counseling. I just hope the new counseling software has the Dr. Sbaitso voice. "Instead of asking astronauts to reflect on their feelings, Mark Hegel of Dartmouth Medical School has them create lists of concrete things that are bothering them and brainstorm about practical ways to solve them. At the end of the exercise, users fill out a form used to diagnose depression. Clinical tests of this approach, which has never been tried in a multimedia self-help format, will start in a few months, using subjects recruited from the biomedical and engineering community in Boston."

Comments

Gender difference?

[Naughty Bob]

I hope female and male astronauts are separately catered for.

It is my hard-earned experience that when women begin to complain, the last thing they want is to-

create lists of concrete things that are bothering them and brainstorm about practical ways to solve them.

Generally, that is a man's solution. Women just want someone to nod, agree and sympathise.

I now await my groupthink punishment, but for those for whom this is news, and who have access to females, try it. You'll be amazed, and will be lauded as 'a great listener'.

Re:Gender difference?

[pak9rabid]

You'll be amazed, and will be lauded as 'a great listener'.

And shortly after inserted into the dreaded 'just friends' category.

Human Interaction

[rotide]

I'm pretty sure half of the benefit of counseling is to have another humans opinion, a professional one at that. Thinking I wouldn't care to talk to a robot about my issues, regardless of how far away from humans I am.