I seem to remember hearing somewhere that “You’re not crazy if you think you are.” Also, that many insane people don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the way they see the world, and may in fact wonder what is wrong with others that don’t share their view. Are these statements true?
Bear in mind that my knowledge of psychology is very limited, and that I am using “insane” and “crazy” to refer to people with obvious and severe mental problems.
You can be acutely aware that you’re schizophrenic or have debilitating OCD, or you can be completely unaware that you’re delusional, or many complex combinations thereof. Mental illness runs a pretty wide gamut.
Just for the record, “insanity” is more properly a legal term than a medical one. It can (and usually does) involve mental illness, but doesn’t necessarily have to.
I’m sure that some mental illnesses (schizophrenia, etc.) show enough obvious symptoms that the person would know there’s something wrong. (Demons telling you to eat more spam and such). Different types of clinical psychoses change a persons perception of reality, so I could see where the person so afflicted wouldn’t know that they’re sick.
By the way, I am not a psychologist. You can regard or disregard my comment as desired. 
I did my internship in a psychiatric hospital . Although I didn’t speak to all of them , most of the schitzophrenia patients were ,indeed, aware of their schitzophrenia . That didn’t help their situation . Fortunately the newer drugs on the market do help them a great deal. However, the case with PARANOID schitzophrenia is a little different. These are the people who go around thinking they’re God or Napoleon ,or who think that their neighbor has a hidden device broadcasting “evil” radiation aimed at only them, etc. It’s almost impossible to argue with them : If you tell them they are not God ,they may tell you and everybody else that you are correct .Secretely,however, they are firmly convinced that they are,indeed,God , and are planning new ways to announce their divinity !
“insanity” technically means inability to tell the difference between right and wrong. If you cut off someone’s head and put it in the oven with the understanding that it’s pumpernickel dough, you would probably be found not guilty by reason of insanity. It really has to be that extreme. The insanity plea virtually never works for this reason.
If you want to know whether you are mentally ill, you should see a professional. But you could ask yourself some questions. Do you see or hear things other people don’t? Are there times in your life when you suddenly realize that you’re a terrible person with no right to live? Do you sometimes go on spending/drinking/sex sprees that you regret afterward? Do you think you have been singled out for persecution by the government or other group? Those are the most dramatic symptoms of the most debilitating mental illnesses.
If you have a less debilitating mental illness, the more common way to determine your status is to count your friends. Do you have any friends? Would your friends loan you a small amount of money, have you stay for a week on their living room couch or come and pick you up at the airport? If you don’t have close friends, it’s possible that you have a personality disorder–something shy of a mental illness, but still very debilitating. Do you feel guilt when you do something wrong? Do you have some ex-friends who suddenly revealed themselves to be enemies? Lack of guilt and sudden loss of friends are indicators of two of the most difficult personality disorders–psychopathic and borderline.
You can find out all about these in a book titled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV published by the American Psychological Association. It should be in most college libraries. And as I recall, it isn’t an expensive book, if you want to order it from Amazon.
An important note: never try to argue a schiz. out of their dellusions, for one thing it just will not work and for another many of the dellusions are very dearly held and arguing is likely to do nothing more than seriously upset them.
For example (I’m pretty sure this is a true story, but if it isn’t it’s still a good illustration of schiz. behaviour): A man walked into a doctors and said “Doctor, I think I’m dead.” the doctor then asked him “Do you think dead people bleed?” the man replied “No, I don’t think they do.”. So the doctor got out a pin and pricked him to draw blood. Upon seeing the blood the man exclaimed “Well what do you know, I guess they do!”.
It is clear that Virginia Woolf knew that she was nuts (since insane is a legal term, I will avoid it). That’s why she committed suicide since she couldn’t face it or maybe the treatment. I have a friend who is paranoid and often starts a conversation about one of his fears with, “I know I am probably being paranoid, but…” and I tell him quite honestly if, in my opinion, he is being paranoid (which is not always the case; sometimes what he fears is real enough). The odd thing about him is that he has much more than his share of misfortunes, often brought about by his trying too hard to avoid them. For example, he is terrified of losing his part-time teaching job (he is in his 70s and long retired) so he bugs his boss about it almost beyond endurance. Although he is a wonderful teacher, he is likely to lose the job because he is such a pain. (Although in my opinion he has many compensating virtues, but sometimes I wonder.)
No, they’re not.
–Psychologist
On the other hand, if you believe you have mental illness, and you actually don’t, then you have a false belief, and you’re delusional. So you are mentally ill, which means you don’t have a false belief, which means you aren’t, etc. Thinking about that too much could drive you crazy.
It’s also a bit surprising how willing to fight someone who’s schizophrenic / delusional can be – and how strong they are. Of course, if you actually thought that your family was refusing to let your starving friend in the house, despite her cries for mercy, you might put a bit more into it too.
Just out of curiousity, is it the spending/drinking/sex sprees that indicates the problem or is it the regret part?
Either way…uh oh.
I think I need a sex spree. Guilt be damned.
I don’t know if these are very good indicators of mental illness:
Do imaginary friends count?
Airport? I don’t know anyone who would pick up ANYONE at the airport. (Well, unless I was there specifically to visit them). Picking someone up at the airport is like asking someone to help you move. After age 24 or so, pretty much expect to have to hire a mover or a cab.
Or it could be something shy of being shy…which could be a personality disorder I suppose. Either way…if you don’t have any close friends, you might need to work on something.
“Wrong” is such a gray area:)
Well, I had this partner who I was really good friends. I thought he had gotten killed on our last mission 10 years ago…turns out that he staged his death, had become an evil mastermind and now was trying to kill me!
It’s also a symptom of being a jerk.
I thought the “psychopathic” part only applied if the loss of friends was due to cutting off their heads while dressing like a schoolgirl and storing the bodies in the fridge.
Here are some better indicators you might be crazy:
-You talk to people that aren’t there
-Things talk to you that normally shouldn’t (dogs, toasters, etc)
-You have a collection of things that used to be attached to people
-You make less than $200,000 or worth less than $1 MM in assets - Only poor people are crazy, rich people are “eccentric”.
-You find yourself saying “but it was right here last night!!!” a lot. (it refereing to an appartment, nightclub, or secret fortress, not your car keys)
-People tell you “no we don’t think you are crazy” but refuse to look you in the eye
-You wake up places and don’t know how you got there (may indicate a drug problem)
-People call you by a name that you don’t think is yours (especially if you think you were named “Jesus” or “Napolean”)
-You think immitating every aspect of your roomates style is a good idea.
-You believe that persistance will make her/him like you (especially if that person is Britney Spears, David Letterman or some other celebrity).
-You believe strongly in any scenario that includes someone “having to die” or involves fire.
Most other behaviors will only seat you in either the “weird but harmless” (ie masterbating too much or taking long walks at 4:00am) or “asshole” (ie acting like an asshole) sections.
Whats wrong with taking long walks at 4Am?
And how can there be a thing as too much masturbation?