Have you noticed how rare it is to hear directly from the identified patient, what his/her experience of reality actually is? Do you notice it is almost always other people acting as ‘interpreters’ for us as if we were incapable of human speech? Do you know why? Because the ‘strong’ like to dictate to the ‘weak’ what it is that is the nature of reality itself. It is who is whom that gives us the biggest problem. Do you really think the need to dominate and control others is a sign of moral strength Rob? I don’t. I think that hidden agendas of domination and submission indicate a profound and very basic weakness based on fear. Would you still define it as ‘strength’ if it was me doing it? Or would your definition then change to suit your judgments about who is who?
Interesting too isn’t it that one nation (or time period’s) prophets and holy ones are another nations’ (or time period’s) ‘schizophrenics?” What do you think that signifies? As for dealing with the issue like India where I would be called “holy”…hmmmm…well if I was thought of as ‘holy’ I may get harassed a lot less by the public so it might work better for ME, even if it offends you.
I wish I could get more ‘alms’ here to make me go away. Maybe I am not being given money because I am not annoying enough and some people still WANT me around. Could THAT be the problem?
As a ‘crazy’ I just want to mention that I don’t smoke anything at all. Nor do I take any drugs. How about you Rob? Do you smoke anything or swallow anything to make yourself feel more normal? Are you in the same ‘subgroup’ as the crazies of India ? Does that mean you are crazy too or is there some magic formula you have that separates some smokers and swallowers from the others?
So if there are fewer mental hospitals in India then maybe that means they are less crazy over there or America is more crazy, or it just seems that way. Lots of possible answers aren’t there Rob?
Thank you Rob, for taking the time to remind that I am just plain crazy and offensive to people. It must be nice to be as inoffensive as you. (I am laughing for no reason right now) I will try to stay away from all the workplaces and parties where I am not wanted. I now understand that I am just an idiot who does not understand as much as you. Thanks for ‘enlightening’ me.
Do any of you who work within the ‘system’ (thanks for acknowledging that you see one) ever think you might be selling your souls for money and inclusion, or have you pretty much given up the idea of having souls? I guess it probably will work pretty good for you, as is, at least as long as you manage to get yourself psychiatrized. Better be careful what you smoke at those parties that still want you there!
Even though I don’t have anything of real value to tell humanity, I intend to keep on talking; but then Rob, what can you expect from one of us fame seeking, annoying crazies huh?
It is unjust to compare to Jesus and Gandhi? Really?
Jesus was someone who ‘thought’ he was the son of God. He talked to angels and he believed he was here to save the world. He talked to voices that no one else understood. He believed he could come back from the dead. He had problems with ‘authority.’ He had the nerve to tell his superiors they were wrong about their beliefs even though they were experts. He worked as a carpenter when he worked at all, and didn’t seem to have any goals that met with the approval of those around him. He had a fit, at least once, yelling at strangers inside in a temple, while claiming it was his father’s house. He claimed he was mocked and ridiculed by others. He felt threatened and claimed he was being persecuted by others for no reason. He even asked some people, "Why are you persecuting me?" He thought people were after him. He thought they wanted to do him harm. He was sometimes disrespectful and insulting to his own mother telling her not to 'tell' him 'what to do ‘woman!'” He received death threats and eventually he was attacked by a mob and tortured to death because he was so annoying.
If this man was on the streets here today, what do you think the most common reaction would be to him? What would yours be Rob?
Take another look at Gandhi the anorectic, who rebelled against authority too Rob. Just put all the truth you find into a psychiatrized framework and you may well see something you have never seen before.
It is pretty hard to be ‘an active man or woman plotting rebellion’ (your words) after you have been locked up as crazy 'for actively plotting rebellion.' Guess why the one defined as ‘crazy’ is ‘ineffective.’ Go ahead; guess.
Do you really believe that everyone who is not really ‘crazy’ overcomes the stigma and proves his or her own case? Do you actually believe that people who were never ‘crazy’ in the first place can just get out of the system that rarely admits its own error? How naïve is that? It is interesting though that even those who manage to prove it cannot make you question the validity of the claims of those who CAN'T prove it. I dare say that most of us cannot 'prove' we are having the experience we are having, and that we never could. We rarely get listened to for more than a few minutes and no one investigates what we say concretely. It is really not like a court of law you know.
The first psychiatrist I talked to about my REAL problem told me it was 'not his job to be an investigator.' To me this is a justification you are using as a means of supporting the status quo and looking no further. Again Rob, I get that certain smugness from you. I hope you never have to learn what the ‘system’ is really like from the inside of it as the identified patient. You are in for one hell of a shock.
Interesting too that you think a few ‘poor and average children getting rich’ is proof of a well working system. Again, I see your own values (money) trumping all the losses created for others. Mel Gibson is ‘crazy’ to you also? (I may have my own view on that too but that is not the point I am making here) Is he on ‘medication’ for that then? SHOULD he be? Do you have any difficulty deciding who should, or should not, be defined as ‘crazy’ and therefore be on medication against his or her own will if necessary?
It seems to be a matter of ‘butt kissing’ to you. “Success’ seems to be defined by you as being in a position to degrade and humiliate ‘others’ rather than being degraded and humiliated BY ‘others.’
You see Rob, many of us ‘crazies’ don’t think like many of you ‘normals’ and, shocking as this may be to you, we DON’T WANT TO think like you! We believe you are blind to both yourself and us. (Imagine that.)
You say, “This is how humanity is.”
This is the type of comment that we hear a lot from the complacent. It is used as an excuse not to try to change anything. It is often presented as if some sort of plan floating down intact from ‘above’ which was applied directly to our genes. It is an idea used to say, “this is all beyond our control.’ Humanity is like it is because humanity has MADE it this way, and much of what has been made is supported with mind numbing platitudes just like these.
In previous times I would have called it a ‘cop out.’ Anything that a group of people do in agreement or decide to try to cover up can be defined as a conspiracy. Normals like yourself like to pretend that groups of people do not do this despite all kind of evidence that it is done all the time and has been for centuries. How do you manage to blind yourself to it so effectively Rob? I do believe we can do much better than this and I intend to keep pushing in that direction.
Isn’t it fascinating that between you and I, you, the presumed ‘normal’ are the defeatist and I the presumed ‘crazy’ am the optimistic one? Pretty weird when you think about it a minute isn’t it? Perhaps YOU need some medication?
I am actually happy you are not ‘in charge’ Rob and I hope that you never are unless you first open up that closed mind of yours to some peoples’ reality. We do agree on that one point though that neither of us wants to spend this kind of money on the current mental illness system. (Which you call the mental health care system) That is the point of division between us though. I would be focused on re-educating the normals and not assuming that anyone is ‘confused’ because they are defective as opposed to ‘confused’ because they are confused BY ‘defectives. I would even suggest you take your own advice and really look hard at accurate history, math and physics and a number of other scientific points of view as well. You just may be surprised at what you find out. They may even help you with your own sanity.
I will just hope for the best Rob and with luck and prayer perhaps we can keep you, and those who think like you, out of the mental ‘health’ business before you assign me to my suggested new home in a forced labour camp. Or perhaps you have a trip to India in mind for me where I can ‘wander around in the muck’ if only those ‘Hindus’ don’t stop you from sending me there. But then as you tell me, they are ‘all ‘crazy too’ just like me.
Did you know Rob that the word ‘asylum’ actually means a place of peace, and protection? Strange how humanity can take words and make them mean something totally different then they were intended to mean isn’t it? In fact, it really seems quite crazy doesn’t it?
One last thing here. As I wait for you or someone much like you to pick me up and haul me off to a forced labour camp or perhaps this decade’s version of the concentration camp for me and other genetic defectives like myself, please accept my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your ‘help.’ Many try to ‘straighten me out’ on my perception of, and reactions to, my own reality but I found your attempt particularly representational, which is why I chose to publish it. I really mean that. It is a great example of just the sort of opinions and assessments all the ‘mentally ill’ people like me tend to get daily from a lot of really normal people.
They tell us of course, that it is really inappropriate of us to react to this sort of thing with fear, anger or resentment. In light of that knowledge Rob just let me say, ‘cheers!’ right back at you and thanks for showing the world what it is like to get so nicely and generously corrected by others as seen from my point of view. I could not have done this without you.
End of series on my Answer to Rob H. from the USA
I hope this selected (long) response helps all others who send me ‘comments’ like this to understand me and the other ‘crazies’ a little bit better. If not, perhaps it will give some of the less vocal readers some idea of what we are getting for our efforts and help them understand some of the normal people better than they did before. As I once said while inside the psychiatric hospital of my own experience, “It is hard to separate the ‘crazies’ from the ‘normals’ (Including many of the staff there) without a program.' It is also that same point where one is either lost or found. When I thought to myself, of the presumed to be ‘normal’ all around me, “They all look insane,’ I passed the point of being lost and started back on the return trip to reconnect with my own sanity. To do that, I had to fully see the ‘normal’ as they really are and it was quite the shock at first, but I got over it.I knew then. 'That’s it,' I said to myself, ‘they look crazy because they are. I am the sanest member of this group.’
I didn’t tell them that then of course, as I knew that if I did, that too would be heard only as a ‘symptom’ of mine since they all believed that ‘reality’ was defined by a combination of ‘authority’ and ‘group consensus’ which was exactly what my own protagonist was counting on. He and I knew that the reality of the situation was the exact opposite and he also knew that the punch line of his ‘joke’ was this: “Reality is NOT that which is defined by authority or group consensus but is that which you experience."
In 1999, I also knew the punch line of his joke.Of course I also know that people like Rob here won’t get that joke since he cannot really see what is happening here in the same way that I see it. Anyone who really wanted to see it could if they just talked directly to me, but of course, they don’t and they won’t.Now ‘the joke’ is going to be on my protagonist and on a lot of other people who think just like him. How do I know this? I am what some people like to call ‘psychic.’ In other words, I can ‘see things’ that a lot of people who define themselves as ‘normal’ cannot see. And THAT last statement is the nexus or ‘crux’ of the whole matter.
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