Is It Sane To Be Insane?
So my friend and I were talking about mental illness last night. We both have Bipolar Disorder. We talked about the fact that isn’t a normal response to become crazy when you live in an abnormal world? Life and people are so messed up, that it seems more normal to react emotionally to that then to just be OK with it.
The thing is, people who become mentally ill because of circumstances are often labeled. However, what about the abusers and horrid people that put them in this situation? Shouldn’t they be the ones that are ostracized?
Shouldn’t bad people be considered the ‘crazy’ ones, not the people who are affected by the horrible things those people do? Why is our definition of ‘crazy’ those people who are usually emotionally crippled by life, rather than those who cripple them?
The idea that I’m considered abnormal sometimes bothers me. If you look closely at most people, they are ‘crazy’ in some way or another. Often times ‘normal’ people are just better at hiding it. Maybe the only difference between you and me is that I know I’m crazy.
When you think about life on earth, you realize that it is very difficult for most people. In fact, I would go so far as to say that life is crazy. The rational response to a crazy world may be going crazy. Maybe people with a mental illness are simply having a normal reaction to an abnormal world.
When I look around at what is going on in the world and in people’s individual lives, it occurs to me that there is much heartache and chaos. Most people who go ‘crazy’ are reacting in some way to this hardship.
However, there are instances where mental illness is simply and only a chemical imbalance. I guess in these cases it is simply biology that is causing the ‘crazy.’ No one knows the true cause of mental illness, is it nature or nurture, or a combination of both. I think both aspects are at play.
Society often looks down on mentally ill people. Obviously it is a mistake to look down on any group of people, but I think it is interesting that so many people in this country are on anti-depressants but still look down on those with more severe disorders. In the Indian community, the stigma is even worse.
I fear sometimes what the Indian community thinks of my Bipolar Disorder. I am one of the few people who are out about it. I believe I truly have nothing to be ashamed of, but I am also aware of the terrible things that people must think and say about it.
But my aim in life is not to cater to public opinion, it is simply to speak my truth. I think all of us share a little emotional and mental hardship. In order to live fully and completely, we must accept our emotional scars and not judge others because of their's either.
Let’s face it, the world is insane. If someone becomes insane because of it, whose fault is that really?
It takes a village to raise a child.
nina