If you don't tell anyone, you don't act on it and you recognize it as crazy, how is that crazy?
Question:
I told my husband about the answer I got to my last question, to seek help and I said to him, "If you don't tell anyone and don't act on it, you're not crazy!" He laughs and says, "That's interesting logic you've got there." But why not?
Isn't a mental illness something that significantly impairs ones daily life? If one doesn't obsess, doesn't talk about it (as that leads to impairment through stigma) and does not act on it, how can that be mental illness?
Answers:
G.I. Joe would say "Knowing is half the battle..." If you recognize oddities in yourself, then you are much better off than most people walking the streets. You're right...if you know the problems, can name them, then you are not ill...probably just normal.
everyone gets these thoughts the only problem is when you suffer from a mental illness you r more then likely to act on your thoughts!!
mental illness comes in many forms... and is not necessarily life impairing.
not to sound dramatic but most serial killers have great jobs and are sometimes pillars of the community.
you may not be acting on these strange ideas but it sure sounds like you are expending quite a bit of energy on them.
while it's great that you recognize these thoughts for what they are you may not be in the clear...
of course that totally depends on the severity of these "delusions"
Jeez, you ask a hard question. First of all, by one definition, to be crazy can be defined as losing touch with all reality, so by that definition, you aren't crazy - BUT - by having "irrational thoughts and ideas bordering (on) delusions" - your words, not mine - indicate that you do have an illness and it must be treated. Now let me tell you why.
What you're experiencing is the beginning stage of an illness. The fact that you're not worst is merely a fact of you haven't gotten that bad - yet. But to continue down this path you're on WILL affect your moods and, ultimately, your life. It's like someone saying that they are thinking of suicide, but they're not going to act on it because they're not suicidal. What? All that means is that the person who's thinking about suicide hasn't committed it yet. Do they need help? I would certainly hope so before their depression gets worst. It's like your irrational thoughts and borderline delusional ideas. Start getting them treated now and they will have less of an impact on your life. But wait until later to get them treated when they are impacting your life and it will be that much harder to recover.
I get those type of thoughts a lot of the time, I don't act on them though. If I did, the president would be assisanated, Australia and America would have withdrawn from Iraq, I would've been charged with drug-dealing and would have a million dollar condo down the gold coast.
"If one doesn't obsess, doesn't talk about it (as that leads to impairment through stigma) and does not act on it, how can that be mental illness?"
I'm not sure which meaning of the word "stigma" your intent is in the above quote from your question.
From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2003:
"stig-ma (noun) circa 1593 ... 1 a. (archaic) a scar left by a hot iron BRAND b. a mark of shame or discredit STAIN <bore the stigma of cowardice> c: an identifying mark or characteristic; specifically, a specific diagnositc sign of a disease."
If you mean "b.", the stigma comes after the impairment. If you mean "c.", it's an uncommon usage, but technically correct in it being a diagnostic sign of an illness. However, it doesn't "appear" because it's been diagnosed. It is either present or is not.
If you REALLY want an honest answer to your question, I would challenge you to pick out 3 mental health professionals and ask them to do an evaluation. The reason for that is so that they must give you the results, and with 3 of them, you have a better chance of seeing a percentage of professional opinion on whether or not your "craziness" is truly a mental illness or just the normal ramblings that people have going through their mind.
I wish you the best of luck with this!
Just because you don't' act on your thoughts does not mean that you don't have mental illness. You can have a rash that does not bother you it doesn't itch or burn it's just there, does that mean that you don't' have a rash?? Of course not. The fact that it bothers you enough to expend time thinking about it and to wonder means that on some level you aren't sure your self. In that case why don't' you run it by someone that has psychological experience as a professional and see what they say? Or at least run it by your doctor and see if they feel the need to referee you to someone.I think that that would be the best way of determine if you should be worried or not.
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