[Viper-Inc]

ok well as the title suggests,

I am looking to start studying psychology as i have found to be very intrigued with human responses within certain situations, counseling, etc etc etc..

Having had and been through depression myself i feel i want to study psychology to help others.

But enough of the rambling and onto my point of posting. I am looking for some e-books or good information online in which i can start. Say a range of chapters covering most if not all of the basics of psychology so that when i start to undertake my course i will already be ahead and have a basic understanding and knowledge on the subject.

Any help is appreciated,

Cheers,
Josh

[Christina86]

Hello Josh!

Welcome to PsychCentral.

Just so you're aware, there is another forum where you may have more luck in discussing psychology class issues - it's called the Student-Doctor Network: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=57

A lot of us here are also psychology students, but this is primarily a support website for those dealing with mental illness and life difficulties.

As for e-books, these all look good. I'm receiving my BA in under a week and am astounded how much stuff is online nowadays. Any general psychology textbook for a first year university student would be a good place to start.

http://www.all-about-psychology.com/...ogy-ebook.html
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Psychology
http://www.intropsychology.com/

For actual physical books, I actually recommend any textbooks you can get your hands on - as well as the "Complete Idiots Guide to Psychology" and "Psychology for Dummies". You can actually learn a lot from those two books.

[Rose3]

My reply here might not be quite what you were asking for, but I wanted to say
that I find Martin Seligman's ideas useful (about optimism, positive psychology).
He might be one who writes about happiness. You can google Seligman.
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.up.../seligman.aspx
It's useful to understand the defense mechanisms (denial, projection, rationalization,
etc.).
All the best in your studies.

[Rmdctc]

Thats great that you want to help people. Just thought I would say that.

[Herman1]

the APA webiste is full of information

[carpenoctem06]

someone on an other forum told me about this site:

http://www.studytemple.com/forum/

i havent tried it yet, so i dont know if its good or not

[Aishu]

if thats your choice,here's a pretty big compendium of psychology.

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/

they go over a lot of stuff, the mentality of a pshycologist, the steps to becoming one e.t.c....

wish you the best of luck.you're gonna make the world a better place.^^

[Jill326]

I am taking Intro to Psych and here is a link to the textbook I'm using.

http://college.cengage.com/psycholog.../ace/ace1.html

You can navigate by chapter. Within each chapter you can study online flashcards then test your vocabulary. Also, you can take online tests. Each chapter has a conceptual and factual test.

I think it's sort of nifty. Hope it helps!

[embracinglife]

Originally Posted by Viper-Inc

ok well as the title suggests,

I am looking to start studying psychology as i have found to be very intrigued with human responses within certain situations, counseling, etc etc etc..

Having had and been through depression myself i feel i want to study psychology to help others.

But enough of the rambling and onto my point of posting. I am looking for some e-books or good information online in which i can start. Say a range of chapters covering most if not all of the basics of psychology so that when i start to undertake my course i will already be ahead and have a basic understanding and knowledge on the subject.

Any help is appreciated,

Cheers,
Josh

What kind of studies will you be undertaking. I would reccommend going to a school and just delving into the textbooks there so you have other people in your classes to talk about it with. I'm studying psychology as well and got interested in it from having had to go to counselors myself. I'm in my senior year of undergrad, and believe me, there is A LOT to the field. If you get involved in a school, take as many classes as you want and the ones you are especially interested. Even the ones I didn't want to take at first like Behavior Disorders really opened my eyes to issues that people were struggling with. Positive Psychology is a great subject to if you ever get a chance, I thinnk someone on here did recommend Seligman, he's great. Follow your interests.

Some other great things to do might be to just read novels or true stories about people with various issues going on in their life. We read the novel "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb in my Behavior Disorders class, and it weaves in different issues, with their actual life, and doesn't tell you the name of the disorder or anything, so you see how psychological issues affect real peoples lives, not just something from the textbook.

Good Luck!

[SilverNeurotic]

Actually all of Wally Lamb's books deal with issues. Depression, PTSD, addiction...etc.