are mad people really mad, or do they just know something we don't?

Question

maybe they're just in a dimension that we haven't found yet.

Answer 1

I believe there are different "madness" level. Some of the people we now call geniuses were in their time called mad - eg: Einstein; Darwin, Galileo; John the baptist etc
Here the masses did not understand what they were trying to tell them - now with hindsight we accept most of the theories and are even taking them a step further.
Then there is mental instability and dementia - taking the form of being forget full , repeating things over an over or becoming psychotic and animalistic - back to our violent roots.
So madness could also be in the eyes of the beholder - someone might think me mad and another calls me a wise one

Answer 2

I used to read Thomas Sazs, et al, and think that schizophrenia was some kind of elegant, existential trip.

Then I met people who were actually mad, and I realized how devastating a disease it is, and what a disservice was done in the 60's when it was glamorized with movies like "Last Year At Marienbad" and similar films and books.

While it is an "existential experience" for all who suffer from madness, the vast majority would give their soul just to be normal, even if it meant being dull.

Not only are they socially disenfranchised, but the very nature of their illness often causes them pain and suffering, as well as brushes with the law, etc.

They do know something a lot of Americans don't know, though. They know what it's like to be disenfranchised, to be outside, looking in. The sting of knowing you'll never be taken seriously, that sort of thing.

Answer 3

i thought the way people talk now, "mad people" would mean
"a lot of people"

But on a more serious note, this person I know that is mad all the time, from when she wakes up til when she goes to sleep all she does is yell at the top of her lungs at her kids. She'll give you a headache the first second you wake up. Also she's got some serious issues with not knowing how far to go before abuse. So I would say

some mad people are manaic depressant and just plain crazy. avoid them or they'll drive you crazy too

Answer 4

We're all mad, and we can all get to that other dimension. All that differs is how well we conceal the madness. Some are more clever than others at moving about incognito. You can reach other dimensions through meditation, while others choose to use narcotics. Either way, you get there, it just depends on how/if you can get back to reality.

Answer 5

A one track mind as they say. But really people who are crazy or mad as you call it are disillusioned and I have seen it where they really think about something so much that they believe it is happening. Drugs and depression plays along with their disillusions. I really don't know how to help them other than trying to talk and distract them but the one I knew got mad when you took her away from her madness.

Answer 6

Anger comes from within, you have to be happy with yourself first. And people who stay mad have some kind of personal problem. It has nothing to do with others.

Answer 7

The "mad" people are the ones whose defenses against the constant bombardment of war, murder, rape, robbery, anger, depression, hunger and homelessness have ceased to function. They see the world as it really is, incapable of shutting it out like the "normal" people.

Answer 8

Good point.
Maybe they think normal people are mad!!
We call them mad just because they don't behave like most people do. But who knows? Maybe they are living in a happier world than we do.

Answer 9

I know I'm mad, I've always been mad.

Trouble is you have to explain why you are mad even when you are not mad.

Answer 10

Mad is not a term used by the social sciences any more. If you mean delusional, then by definition it is a delusion and not real.