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One could make the same exact argument about romantic love. Until it becomes a problem, be it love, religion, or mental illness, in that it hurts the person involved, it is not a problem that needs to be treated.
For the record, and I am not joking, I actually had a counselor in highschool who was concerned that I had no intrest in sports. Granted, some times I feel like I am indeed the only heterosexual man who is not intrested in sports, but I sincerely doubt that that is a sign of mental illness.
Too much of today's mental health industry is dedicating not to making people healthy and/or happy, but is dedicated to making people conform. I have heard allot of people say the same thing: Mental health professionals do not know how to tell an eccentric, harmless weirdo from someone who is truly suffering...did I mention that, a part of may therapy for clinical depression in Junior High was to promise to no longer wear my combat boots? What the heck does wearing knee high black Tanker Boots have to do with depression, I don't know.
Yeah some of that occurs. It amazes me how many things really seem to promote the idea that one should want to be normal and if you don't that's a sign of mental illness. Mental illness is really more about behaviors that are harmful or impairing and at least somewhat out-of-your-control.
When I use a term like "mental illness" I don't mean like the things I did before or after that period of my life. Before I ever experienced mental illness I was odd, particularly for a man. I did not drink alcohol, date, or like team sports. (Olympic sports were okay by me as they were fast, but I don't have any type of desire to watch hours of men chasing inanimate objects. Not even if the men are really attractive) However in my Freshman/Sophomore years of college I did sing in the rain, play with stuffed toys, and read science fiction.
Each story in either WTC tower had a floor slab and a ceiling slab. These slabs were 207 feet wide, 207 feet deep and 4 (in parts 5) inches thick and were constructed from lightweight concrete. So each slab contained 207 x 207 x 1/3 = 14,283 cubic feet of concrete. Now a cubic foot of lightweight concrete weighs about 50kg, hence each slab weighed 714,150 ≈ 700,000 kgs. Together, the floor and ceiling slabs weighed some 1,400,000 kgs.
1 kilogram = 2.20462262 pounds
I know, I worked there for 19 years right up until the morning somebody slammed an airliner into us.
I was thinking of the exterior, sorry. Some people don't know. I've seen too many people comparing the 1940's small-plane crash into the ESB with the events of 9/11 at the WTC.
My main problem, now that I think about it is...WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH MENTAL ILLNESS ANYWAY?! I mean, if it doesn't hurt anyone, and people enjoy it, so what? Not too long ago, men and women of science considered being a homosexual to be a mental illness...
As long as people are cool with being nuts, and are not hurting anyone, let them stay nuts. I can't help but think of two T-shirts that said it best:
And,
That is a very good point. Creativity may well reqire that sort of thinking outside of the mental box.
I am constantly hammering on about teaching logic and critical thinking because I now see that the whole world from politics down to grass-roots is conducted without these disciplines.
Well, to cut a lecture, illogic can lead to conflict and lack of critical thinking to self - delusion. and I have seen what damge that can cause.
I have seen it come about as mental illness coming from physical illness. It is a distress to see it adopted by those who are not ill.
But I do take the point that mental aberration may be neccessary for creativity. It was well said that logic, reason and the scientific method can't explain art or music. But at least logic, reason and the scientific method can recognize that there are some things that it can't explain.
Of course that is not a good reason for them to stop trying to.
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 10-19-2009 at 09:11 AM..
Mental illness has nothing to do with religion or non-religion. It may happen to anyone with any doctrine: atheism, idolatry and any of various religions.
As a former mental health professional, and one who has worked with seriously ill people, I beg to differ -- sort of. Before I continue I want to be quite clear. I am NOT saying that all religious people are mentally ill, or that all mentally ill people are religious. Nothing of the kind.
What I am saying, and what the research and professional journals clearly show, is that something called "religiosity" can be a significant part of a number of major mental illnesses. I will not bore you, nor take up valuable space, by launching into a detailed description of religiosity. Suffice it to say that religious ideation, rituals and so forth become intricately intertwined with the disease process.
I must also say this. The symptoms, thoughts and behaviors of a mentally ill person are best understood as his or her attempt to cope with reality as he or she perceives it. No one should mess with another's perception of reality without first developing a clear understanding of said perception and how it relates to the person him/herself, and then only V E R Y carefully...
Regards,
-- Nighteyes
Last edited by Nighteyes; 11-24-2010 at 04:42 PM..
As a former mental health professional, and one who has worked with seriously ill people, I beg to differ -- sort of. Before I continue I want to be quite clear. I am NOT saying that all religious people are mentally ill, or that all mentally ill people are religious. Nothing of the kind.
What I am saying, and what the research and professional journals clearly show, is that something called "religiosity" can be a significant part of a number of major mental illnesses. I will not bore you, nor take up valuable space, by launching into a detailed description of religiosity. Suffice it to say that religious ideation, rituals and so forth become intricately intertwined with the disease process.
This is either poorly written or misunderstood. The relationships of the complex construct "religiosity" (multi-factor . . . not simple) have been found to be associated with reduced risk of both internalized and externalized mental illness. I have no idea what your training or profession in mental health was . . . but this is either very sloppy writing or uninformed.
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Granted, some times I feel like I am indeed the only heterosexual man who is not intrested in sports, but I sincerely doubt that that is a sign of mental illness. 
What the heck does wearing knee high black Tanker Boots have to do with depression, I don't know.
