insane

"insane" is also a: user

created by WhizzKidd

(idea) by 876 (1.1 wk) (print) ? (I like it!) 1 C! Sat Dec 01 2001 at 15:34:21

When the human brain is placed under considerable duress, it uses the body housing it for the sole purpose of removing the negative stimulus. This may result in actions such as cutting or suicide. Some of the aforementioned stimulus may go along the lines of schizophrenia or self-inflicted guilt (these are very limited examples); these stimuli aren't necessarily easy for others to detect. They see the effect (i.e. the subject's actions) but not the cause. The subject is deemed to be acting irrationally; to not have full control over their own mental faculties (which is, in some cases, quite true).

It could be said that, in an insane person, the conscious mind has been restrained by some other aspect of the human brain. The subject can no longer make logical connections between aspects of the real world and suitable reactions, as their focus has been skewed towards the aforementioned stimulus. Someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example, may experience acute paranoia that something really bad will happen if they aren't performing a certain task. During periods of insanity, the conscious mind is flooded by urges to perform that task and disregard all other tasks. This may be something as simple as washing one's hands, picking up the phone or saying/screaming "NO" to no-one in particular; there may well be another level to the person rambling incoherently while standing in a crowded mall.

The latter idea is the one I prefer to use with regards to insanity, as insanity is an intangible construct which is best not explored through true experience. Once this conscious side of the mind has been lost to insanity, it may not come back.

(definition) by Webster 1913 (print) 1 C! Wed Dec 22 1999 at 0:27:20

In*sane" (?), a. [L. insanus. See In- not, and Sane.]

Exhibiting unsoundness or disorded of mind; not sane; mad; deranged in mind; delirious; distracted. See Insanity, 2.

Used by, or appropriated to, insane persons; as, an insane hospital.

Causing insanity or madness.

[R.]

Or have we eaten on the insaneroot That takes the reason prisoner ? Shak.

Characterized by insanity or the utmost folly; chimerical; unpractical; as, an insane plan, attempt, etc.

I know not which was the insane measure. Southey.

printable version
chaos

Would you know if you were insane?	Christian	insanity	Why I sometimes think I must be insane
religion	Pinky and the Brain	In loco parentis	What would aliens think of us if Everything was all they had?
Rambling incoherently while standing in a crowded mall	HAL 9000	delusion	Proof of the divine authorship of the Ten Commandments
Hitler as a great man	mental health	Burned Furs	Can my nodes be used against me in a court of law?
Chronicles of Narnia	the omelette of insanity	Reefer Madness	Latin
Politics	I found $100 today	A Swiftly Tilting Planet	In the Mouth of Madness

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