Tuesday, July 25, 2006

You're Nuts

So we got this email at work from someone seeking legal aid. We often get some real characters emailing us, some of whom clearly have mental issues. Here's an exerpt:

"I've been murdered at least twice (possible more) - it was covered up and I was criminally drugged to memory loss about it (the fences behind the house disappeared, trees that were cut down were put back, the county paved new roads and then the new roads disappeared and the old roads were put back) - no one tells me about this - I have to get my memory back to know - I was murdered at my brother's house..." Etc, etc for three pages.

The thing about insanity that always strikes me is that it isn't a line you cross one day. It's a gradual progression - there are people who have traits of psychosis who can still function socially. Take OCD for example: when I leave my apartment, I have to touch my keys, to make sure I don't lock myself out. Even when I put the keys into my pocket moments before I step out, I still have to touch them before I shut the door behind me. If I had to touch them multiple times, if I couldn't leave my apartment without touching them ten times, it would be OCD. People with these psychoses aren't in a different realm, I don't think. They just have the same tendencies as 'normal' people, but they take them to the extreme. And at some point society says, 'You're nuts."

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