Psychologist Class Guide
Psychologist is powerful but risky: positive and negative sanity effects are doubled.
Quick Answer
Psychologist is a high-risk sanity specialist. It can gain strong sanity value, but the same double-effect rule can also make bad sanity events more punishing.
Try Psychologist after you understand which actions affect sanity and can avoid avoidable sanity losses.
Psychologist Stats
| Field | Confirmed details |
|---|---|
| Cost | 500 Animal Coins |
| Perk | Lv. 1: All sanity effects are doubled, both negative and positive. Lv. 2: All sanity effects doubled, 7.5% chance to ignore sanity loss. Lv. 3: All sanity effects doubled, 15% chance to ignore sanity loss. |
| Sanity | Starts with 100% sanity plus the level-based perk behavior. |
| Utility | Gains passive sanity from checked-in patients, treated patients, and coffee; sanity effects are doubled. |
| Starter Cash | No starter cash. |
Description
Psychologist is a high-risk sanity specialist. It can gain strong sanity value, but the same double-effect rule can also make bad sanity events more punishing.
Use Psychologist when you can control your sanity inputs and want a class that can turn good play into a very stable long run.
Appearance
Psychologist is a green, bunny-like class with upturned ears. It wears a dark green shirt, brown pants, a black tie, brown shoes, oversized round glasses, and a large black moustache.
How to use Psychologist
Do not make Psychologist absorb avoidable sanity hits for the team. Let it benefit from clean check-ins, clean treatment, and planned coffee use.
Build the rest of the setup around the class's actual lane. Check the Items guide for inventory priorities, use the shift guide to match the pick to upcoming pressure, and complete the anomaly checks before relying on any perk or special technique.
The doubled-sanity class is a risk multiplier
Psychologist doubles sanity effects in both directions. It gains passive sanity from checked-in patients, treated patients and coffee, but it also takes double the sanity loss from anything that drains it. The class is not simply stronger than its neighbours — it is more volatile, in both directions, on every sanity interaction in the shift.
That makes Psychologist a class for players who can control their inputs. If your runs are clean and your sanity drain is low, doubling the gains produces a very stable long run. If your runs involve taking avoidable hits, the class doubles those too and converts a manageable shift into a short one.
Playing around the doubling
The practical discipline is to stop absorb-the-hit habits entirely. Do not send a Psychologist to take a sanity drain for the team, do not let it walk into an event that costs sanity, and do plan coffee use rather than drinking it reactively. Every one of those decisions is worth twice what it would be on any other class.
The ignore-chance upgrades the class gains at higher levels soften this somewhat, but they do not change the shape of the class: Psychologist rewards deliberate play and punishes improvisation.
When to pick Psychologist over a safer sanity class
Compare it directly against Secretary, which recovers sanity from admissions without doubling any losses. Secretary is the safe purchase; Psychologist is the higher-ceiling one. If your sanity is already under control and you want the ceiling, Psychologist at 500 Animal Coins is the pick. If you are still dying to sanity, doubling your losses is the last thing you need.
Skins
- Classic
- Psycho
- Disco
Trivia
- Psychologist is considered one of the highest-risk classes because both positive and negative sanity effects are doubled.
- Psychologist uses the same moustache asset as Barney.
- Job-stress sanity loss is partly offset by sanity recovery behavior, keeping that specific pressure closer to normal.
Known Bugs
No confirmed known bugs listed.
Related Guides
All Classes
Compare costs, tiers, perks, and practical team roles.
Items & Shop
Match this class to recovery, treatment, and defense tools.
Shift Progression
Choose the class around the pressure of your next shift.
Special Technique
Read the confirmed utility interaction when relevant.
Anomaly List
Remember that class perks do not replace anomaly checks.
Psychologist FAQ
Does Psychologist double sanity loss as well as gain?
Yes. The class doubles sanity effects, and that applies in both directions. You gain more from clean check-ins, treated patients and coffee, and you lose more from anything that drains sanity.
How do I get sanity as Psychologist?
Through passive effects tied to checked-in patients, treated patients and coffee, all at doubled value. The class does not add inventory capacity or starter cash, so the sanity loop is the entire kit.
Is Psychologist good for beginners?
No. A class that doubles your sanity losses amplifies mistakes, and beginners make more of them. Learn the check order on Intern first, then consider Psychologist once your shifts are already clean.
Should a team assign sanity hits to the Psychologist?
No — the opposite. Never make a Psychologist absorb avoidable sanity drain for the team, because every hit it takes is doubled. Let it benefit from clean check-ins and planned coffee instead.
What skins does Psychologist have?
Classic, Psycho and Disco. They are cosmetic and do not affect the doubled sanity behaviour.