Insanity Plea (an argument on the definition of insanity)

[ElataDiscordia]

Insanity Plea
English 102
March 25, 2010

Mentally unstable, “leaky in the brainpan”, bleeding, crazy, lunatic, nuts. These are all different ways of saying that a person has the trait or disorder of insanity. Most of these are even used to describe someone who is merely stressed or odd. Everyone is insane—yes, every single person alive in this world today and every person that's ever died in this world has been insane. Most times the insanity merely goes unnoticed, even by its possessor. It can even be said that insanity is a prerequisite for survival in most places.

Clinical insanity is simply what a doctor says is crazy. It can be treated and rehabilitated, medicated and given a pretty room made of pillows. Clinical insanity is not the type that everyone has. The clinical side of crazy is well-explored and for the most part, charted. Each disorder and mental disease has some way of control, be it learning coping skills or medication. The real insanity of the every day is far more interesting.

Harmless forms of insanity abound in far greater numbers than their more extreme counterparts. From the girl who meows on the playground in elementary school while every day wearing a dress despite it being fashionable to wear pants, to the adult who only acts mature when it is required, often chasing friends and tackling them for fun—disregarding his own age for the sake of fun. Another young girl could attack the vacuum cleaner with much ferocity because it makes a sound that hurts her ears, only moments after she is seen cuddling her big brother while he watches television. These harmless psychotics roam everywhere, often unnoticed in the chaos of life. When they do become noticed, they are often harassed by others who show their insanity in a more socially acceptable way, or by harassing those unfortunates who they discover, until they learn to act as though they are normal.

Sometimes, this stress from harassment causes worse behaviors. This is where we encounter the reactive type of insanity that is often mistaken for harmful insanity. People experiencing this can go berserk and either harm themselves or others depending on their mental state and the situation. For instance, my mother finally throwing a half-eaten bag of chips at me after dealing with a horrible child for months on end and working for no pay. It is also seen with the teenager who has had only strife at home, and when another student jokingly punches his arm, he lashes out violently, bruising his friend and earning himself a suspension from school.

Often viewed as something massive in effect, insanity is seen in cases where a man would kill his wife over buying the wrong brand of bread, or even just wheat instead of white in an attempt to be healthier. Other times, it could be a young teen who stimulates himself in class using toys that run on batteries and a camera phone while looking at a torture image in his textbook. Even a woman throwing a fit in the mall while surrounded by her seven womb-givings (children) because she is at her mental and emotional limit is considered crazy. These people often earn their way into the loving embrace of either a straight jacket or a pair of handcuffs.

Despite the number of people negatively impacted by insanity, there are still those ever-important points of light in the spectru. For instance, many people thought Albert Einstein needed a nice, long stay in an insane asylum. Other crazy people are merely tolerated, such as those who seem to be lacking intelligence. One possible cause for this is simple—the threat level of an idiot with insane qualities is lower to most who know the person. The intelligent nutters are those that people around them come to worry for. What will this intelligent, insane person do next? None of those near will ever truly know the answer.

The insanity most often overlooked is the type seen everywhere but never thought about. Some people chew their nails every day, reducing them to almost nothing. This can be harmful and make life difficult. Without nails, it is difficult to open cans of soda, or to open any ready-to-eat food such as pudding or Jell-O cups. Another behavior often overlooked but still insane is gossiping. Gossip tends to spread, and nearly always ends badly—destroying friendships and relationships, and causing much stress for the victim. The infamous nervous foot-tapper at many occasions is unknowingly disturbing many people with the sound of shoe tapping the floor repeatedly. Even the “normal” people in the world are insane, especially if they believe they are normal and sane. There is a river in Egypt that those people are floating in.

Insanity is not always a trait to be punished or stigmatized. Insanity is the seasonings in the popcorn of life—good in some quantities and combinations, but horrible in others. It shows in both small manners and large—from girls biting nails to a man stabbing his wife over bread. So long as a person brings no harm to self or others, their insanity should be tolerated in the very least, since everyone has it. The phrase “I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!” is very much a truism for many people with non-clinical crazy in their systems.

[ElataDiscordia]

Feel free to post comments! =)

[Chu]

I told you I'd get to it. XD

It's quite interesting. What's odd is that a story that I recently re-started (it began in ninth grade, but I'm re-writing it as my skills have grown a lot since then) covers the concept of "insanity" as one of its main themes. The protagonist hears a voice which opens his mind up to many revelations and theories. He even calls the voice his "epiphany" and discusses philosophy with it. I still need to do a lot of research on the institute of psychology to get anywhere, but he's basically marked as insane until he breaks out and the real story begins.

[ElataDiscordia]

XD Glad you got around to it!

Also... That sounds really cool. 8D I might enjoy reading it.

[Chu]

It really deviates from the insanity topic, though. It involves an alternate universe, a totally reversed and fucked up society, and the concepts of innocence, monsters, and perception. All stemming from the philosophies of an insane man.

[ElataDiscordia]

Oh wow... That does sound crazy. Really crazy. o.o

[Chu]

Haha, yeah, it does get pretty complex. xP I can't help it though - it's just how I think.

[ElataDiscordia]

True enough. =)

... How the? How'd I get 5K? Oo;

[Chu]

Wasn't me. XD


I've derailed this topic enough. See ya. xP

[ElataDiscordia]

XD Haha, ok, see ya.