Do crazy people know they are crazy?

Question

My question is... when someone admits they are crazy.. is that a sign that they truly are not crazy?

John Locke said it on an episode of Lost season 1

Answer 1

It all depends on WHICH of the voices in their head (or their personalities) is doing the talking - just because ONE of them is crazy doesn't mean that the rest of them are ;);););)

Seriously though - those that are seeking help for their insanity have taken that first important step... REALIZING that they have a problem!!

Answer 2

Catch 22 by Jospeh Heller is about this. During WWII the story indicated that a soldier who becomes crazy and needing to be discharged from duty must indicate that he is crazy and seek an evaluation. The protocal of the evaluation is written that anyone who knows he is crazy in effect is not crazy enough to be discharged.

I feel dangerous people are mentally disabled and cannot feel compassion for others and therefore should not be entitled to all rights of freedom.

Often people told they have a mental disorder are as sane as most others and maybe more so, they may have an over developed conscience that makes them feel too much emotional turmoil- since they willingly take treatment, they may suffer side effects from harsh drugs prescribed to control their emotions.

I suppose some people feel crazy and accept a diagnosis of being so. Others are in denial, and some are truely unstable and when managed correctly they are aware of it because that is why they following a regimine of treatment.

Answer 3

Yes! The universe (and its properties) is truly amazing. I bet if you repost your question on the Physics forum, you might get answers that put your questions more into perspective. I think the physicists have actual theories to answer questions such as "when the dust and planets and all that ends does the universe? or does the blackness just keep goin on and on?" As for, "Why is there a Universe?" you'll need to adjust this question a bit; otherwise, the physics people will explain the "Big Bang Theory," which, I'm assuming (bad bad bad), isn't the answer you want. So, you might ask, "Is there limit to the universe? And if it extends infinitely, is there a point where atomic matter/energy ceases to exist? or something to that effect. As for G/god, there is no necessity for G/god to exist and for there to be a Universe. G/god, according to some, created the universe. But this belief is only sufficient for the answer 'Why is there a Universe?'--not necessary; yet, no one, as of present, has given a necessary answer to the question 'Why is there a Universe?' Maybe one day you will give us this answer.

Answer 4

It depends on the kind of "crazy" you're talking about. Someone with severe schizophrenia for example wouldn't know that they were crazy, but people with milder mental health problems can be made aware that something isn't right in their minds if they don't figure it out on their own. They may not be able to do anything about it, admitting you have a psychological problem doesn't make it disappear. If someone tells you they are crazy, they may well be.

Answer 5

It is very rare for a crazy person to have insight into their own mental illness and this is because the part of the brain that is used for self awareness is often the same lobe affected in cases of serious, chronic mental illness (such as schizonphrenics). In a state of psychosis the person does NOT have any idea that what they are seeing or hearing is NOT real. The problem is that for them to analyze themself would require they use a maladaptive brain to analyze their maladaptive brain. This doesn't work for obvious reasons.

Many who have been in counseling and taken medication do come to recognize a pattern of delusions. For example, there are different types of delusions. There are religious delusions where we find the folks who believe they are here on the planet and are Jesus Christ or just employed by him. As one client I had had. He ended up attacking children on a playground to slit thier throats, but in his mind he was doing them a favor of sending them to heaven before they reached puberty and were damned to eternal hell by sexual desires and carnal knowledge.

Another common type is believing one is some kind of double agent. Or malefic delusions were they "see" or believe that something awful is going to happen to them or their family. One client had horrific visions of seeing his children beat to death. He thought it was very real. He was 17 years old and had no children. He didn't believe anyone when they told him this. It is IMPOSSIBLE to talk a person out of their delusions.

One thing that can keep you in check if you ever question your sanity is this: If you ask yourself if you are crazy you are most likely not. A crazy person believes what they believe, it is their reality and they don't think to question it just as you would not question that grass is green and the sky is blue.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

As a mental health professional with 20+ years experience, now retired, I can tell you that I worked with plenty of people who were "crazy", who very well knew they were "crazy" and that that's why they took their medicine. We didn't call them "crazy" however. Interestingly though, it wasn't the "crazy" ones that were so difficult to work with, and so scarey. The scarey ones were those who were not diagnosably crazy, rather, character disordered, that were the scarey ones. And even those who received diagnoses that were not "crazy" ones or character disordered ones, but were situationally specific, that were the scarey ones. They were the ones who wouldn't admit their problems, and usually were court ordered to my clinic or a spouse threatened divorce unless they came to my clinic. Those people kept going out in public acting "normal", and no one knew just how dangerously crazy they were, and there was no medicine for them, even if we wanted there to be. God Bless you.

Answer 7

Well if John Locke said it , then it must be true.

Seriously, in my dealings with mentally unstable people, most are fully aware that they are crazy.

Answer 8

I sure hope so lol, I guess to say the least the people who say they're crazy are willing to work on it!

Answer 9

I make it a rule to never argue with somebody who claims to be crazy. I just move on quickly.

Answer 10

I think depending on the type of mental disorder and the degree some people can tell...people can usually diagnose their own depression or anxiety.