How does a person know if they are sane ?

Question

How does a person know if their behavior or thought patterns are w/ in "normal" brain functions ?

Answer 1

Well, I'm not sure, so I'd rather quote a whole bunch of smart people. Here you go:



In a mad world only the mad are sane.
Akira Kurosawa (1910 - 1998)

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), (attributed)

Sometimes the mind, for reasons we don't necessarily understand, just decides to go to the store for a quart of milk.
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Three Doctors, 1993

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), "On Reading and Writing"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer?
George Price

Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid.
Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
Henrik Tikkanen

When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.
Janet Long

Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.
John Russell

A neurosis is a secret that you don't know you are keeping.
Kenneth Tynan

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Krishnamurti

I don't really trust a sane person.
Lyle Alzado (1949 - 1992)

There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.
Oscar Levant (1906 - 1972)

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.
Rita Mae Brown

You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.
Robin Williams (1951 - )

There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.
Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989)

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD), Epistles

Howard Hughes was able to afford the luxury of madness, like a man who not only thinks he is Napoleon but hires an army to prove it.
Ted Morgan

Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
William Dement, in Newsweek, 1959


http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/sanity

Answer 2

I don't think anyone is completely sane. Seriously. I know I can act a little obsessive-compulsive, occasionally paranoid (doesn't mean they're not out to get me!), and some times even depressed. Too many cloudy days in a row get me down, too. Yet by both legal and mental health definitions, I am a healthy individual, I am "normal".

How do I know? My sister has a doctorate in psychology, and I asked her. Of course, maybe she's lying to me... (ha ha)

Answer 3

I would say that a truly insane person would not even have the ability to ask the question or even think to ask the question. I don't think insanity is easy to measure. If there was an instrument that could level a person's level of sanity then it would used in court maybe to see if someone that pleads "insanity" as a form of defense was actually insane. Although, I did read that an underdeveloped frontal lobe or frontal lobe injury can be correlated with alot of different problems.

Answer 4

If your behavior and thought patterns are to survive and live by your own rules that harm no one, and help those in need, and to make things work doing what you know is right in your heart, then you are sane.

Answer 5

Well more than likely if you are asking some one else or especially your self your are more than likely not (if u are asking ur self questions u are certainly not sane) and ne way who is sane and who defines it i think we are all crazy in our own little ways some people are just soo obnoxious that they let the whole world know in very annoying ways such as talkin REALLY loud on their cell phones in public places, any way if you concentrate on trying to be sane for the rest of your life it will drive you insane!!! just relax and live life to its fulles and every thing else will fall in place

Answer 6

Freud defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
Perhaps others like me have anxiety attacks whenever we question the idea of normal and look at the greed and brokenness in our cities..no normal creature seeing these symptoms could think other than they must be sick. And perhaps we all are a Little eccentric anyway.

Answer 7

What is considered "normal" is not one thing. It is a variation and a standard average to state 'what is normal'

In Africa it is normal to put giant plates in their lips-here in LA it would be considered "not normal"

In LA women have toxic silicon put into their bodies-in tribal Africa it would be considered bizarre.

Eating bugs in Cambodia is normal-here in USA it is odd or eccentric and some think gross.

Time changes

50 years ago gayness was considered to be a mental health disorder now it is promoted as an alternative lifestyle-

which is it or is it both???

Many people can think strange things-most do not act them out

Those that think crazy and act it out are likely 'crazy' but the standard for that changes and psychology is a SOFT science compared to calculus.

Answer 8

if you dont know go see a shrink. More commonly people in todays society, i mean millions of people each year are diagnosed as being depressed, or having some sort of anxiety problem, if that is not sane, then who is really? To know for sure, go to a doctor, or a psychiatrist.

Answer 9

If you are feeling different than what is normal for you, then it is a good time to see your family Dr. Tell them how you are feeling etc...and they will direct you to the right course of action, Mental illness has many levels.You don't just wake up one day insane.Chances are that if you are asking this-then maybe you should see a qualified person to discuss this with.

Answer 10

Just asking the question shows pretty much you are OK.
I believe people who are not sane or have "not normal" behavior,usually would not agree with you; they need help and someone usually has to intervene to get them the help.