Insanity is relative.
We use the term to describe someone who does not function according to normal psychological assumptions.
Medically, there are a number of diagnoses in the DSM that can place you anywhere on a range from slightly abnormal to drastically different from the rest of society.
Every society is a system of human beings that biologically reproduce to the same average or mean.
When someone is born with fur, we don’t say “Wow, that’s wacky.” We say “What a freak!” Our first response is to compare how different they are to us.
But let’s be honest. Some forms of mental illness are really self-defeating, or put you in a position where you are constantly butting heads with life and can’t figure out why.
This is not a “mental illness is okay” post.
I firmly believe that most mental illness is exacerbated by not seeking help. Many mental health professionals are doing their best to diagnose, understand, and assist their patients in living their lives with mental illness.
This is a “society can make you feel mentally ill, even though you aren’t post.”
I cannot count how many times people have told me that they’re going through a serious issue, that they feel alone, wrong for feeling the way they do, and that they may be going a bit crazy.
My usual response?
That’s normal!
People go through some really complex emotions, have ambitions or desires that just feel wrong, or are at points in their life where they feel they are not supposed to be.
They feel ostracized for being a failure, or ostracized for thinking the wrong thing.
Often that position gets over-analyzed and those people conclude that there must be something wrong with them. They start to search WebMD for the mental illness that must be causing their systemic failure to integrate with society.
That too is normal.
You may or may not have some disorder. That’s not for me, or WebMD, to say. Thanks to socialized healthcare, you can probably see an actual doctor to figure it out.
But the perfectionist streak that American society (and others possibly,) impress upon us is an accentuated form of the human condition.
Being perfect is safe.
If you can plan for perfection, then you can plan for a safe life.
So everyone plans for perfection, for themselves, for their children, spouses, parents.
If only X person changed Y behavior or pursued Z goal, they would be set.
But that’s not life.
It is also the human condition to get bored, dissatisfied, and/or find new problems.
Problems are an irremovable part of life and therefore you can never plan for perfection.
Therefore you are measuring yourself to a standard that is a mass hallucination.
Therefore when you decide that saying/doing/thinking the “wrong” thing is okay, other people may look at you funny.
They may do it a lot.
It might make you feel crazy.
And you might be.
Or you might not be.
But chances are, a therapist is going to give you a better diagnosis than someone who is worrying about how they will be perceived but everyone else in the room.
So if you really think you’re crazy. Go get help. Seriously.
And if that help doesn’t come back to you with some serious diagnosis about a personality disorder or mental issue you may be having…
Stop and consider that you may just feel crazy because you disagree with what you see around you.
