(A hole tears in space and time, projecting a SHIP into Aboard this ship, CAPTAIN STAGFREID sits on the bridge, absently fiddling with a bit of cotton he found in one of his pockets. Present also are his second in command, the pointy-eared SCIENCE OFFICER, the ship's PILOT, and two SUBORDINATE PEONS.)
Science Officer: "Captain, I am detecting the anomaly in this sector. Upon closer examination, it appears to be a probe of some kind."
Captain Stagfreid: "Scan it more, Mr. Officer."
(A beam of blue light fires from the probe, striking the SHIP in its SHIP face. Lights flicker and the bridge shakes. Several panels explode randomly, killing one of the PEONS.)
Captain Stagfreid: "Report!"
Mysterious Voice: "I AM GRZ'NK, HIGH EMISSARY OF THE PLANET PR'PL'CHKNZ. ANSWER MY QUESTIONS OR FACE DEATH."
Captain Stagfreid: "Zounds!"
Science Officer: "Captain, the probe is projecting a beam of concentrated kinetikrons, causing an overflow of whatsit particles in our primary conduction manifold. Ingenious really. Also the ship is melting."
Captain Stagfreid: "Such hostility can only be met with overkill."
Subordinate Peon: "Captain! You can't mean..."
Captain Stagfreid: "Silence, fool. Launch...THE WALL OF TEXT!"
What follows is my personal opinion on the subject. If you make it to the end of this post, congratulations. You deserve a gold star.
I believe mental illnesses are...well...that's like asking "what are movies?": a lot of different answers are all equally true. I believe
some mental illnesses have "Hollywood" components to them, i.e. full blown hallucinations and psychotic breakdowns, but that they are generally more subtle than that, and thus more difficult to separate from extreme personality traits. In other words, there is no definitive line between "crazy" and "not crazy". For the purposes of this post, I will be treating the term "mental illness" and it's synonyms as descriptive of psychological traits that do more harm than good.
what do you think causes them?
I think outside stimuli plays a big hand in it, but ultimately is overruled by internal construction. In another of your threads you talked about a study done linking "selfies" to suicide. Same deal. The availability of a project to obsess over, namely the perfect selfie, clearly didn't
help that kid's mental state, but neither do I believe it caused it. The potential for obsession was already there. I start a tangent a few sections down about how advertising works, playing on base instinctual drives to convince an audience they need a certain product. Drawing all of this together into some semblance of a point, a lot of mental illnesses seem to stem from the self, but only hit the danger zone through exposure to the outside world.
are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
Depends. Regardless of how off the rocker they are, they are still irrevocably human (*cough* Architect *cough*), and thus can be physically fought and overpowered like humans. Mentally they are a bit more worrisome, as psychotics by definition do not behave in the way typical people do, and thus are more difficult to predict. There is also the matter of what illness in question said people have. Mental illnesses like, say, schizophrenia would be potentially as much a disadvantage as an advantage, while mental illnesses like narcissism would be more dangerous.
do you know anyone who is?
Me.
what do you think impact on society is?
The impact on society of the more dangerously ill is obvious in the shootings, bombings, serial killers, and whatever else have you that we all hear about. Ultimately, though, as I have mentioned and will continue to mention throughout this post, it depends on the illness, and even one's definition of what an illness
is. Back to the selfies from earlier, I would consider obsession with one's appearance an "illness", but our understanding of human psychology says it's completely natural to worry about how others see you. I would consider obsession with food an "illness", but that drive to seek it, hoard it, and consume it is the same one that let early humans survive on a sporadic feeding schedule, where having dinner that night was dependent on whether you managed to catch anything during the day. I would consider obsession with sex an "illness", but...well...do I need to explain that one?
All these things have obsession in common, which I would define as a state of desire so strong it becomes a weakness. Interestingly, in all three cases, that obsession stems from completely normal and useful instinctual drives. Perhaps the better question is what effect
society has on
them, being that vanity, hunger, and sex all have strong roles in the field of advertising.
That kind of went off-topic. I just hate the media and like to blame them for things. Back to the point, proper psychopaths have very obvious effects on the rest of society, but I believe the quieter of the mentally twisted are just that: quieter. The depressed certainly don't shout it from the rooftops. The obsessed obsess, but quietly, unless you make the mistake of, how shall I put it, "intruding on the focus of their obsession".
what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
I think a great deal of mental "illnesses" can be solved through personal struggle, potentially most effectively, though what other answer would you expect from an introvert? Again, it depends on the illness, and the person with the illness. I personally favor the above, as the amount of introspection I do makes me more familiar with my inner self than I imagine most outsiders would be. However, for the majority of patients and the majority of illnesses, I imagine support on a social front can go a long way. People spend a lot of energy trying to fit in. If you show a mental patient they're accepted no matter what, and they believe it, they can stop spending energy on appearing "normal" and concentrate simply on getting better.
do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
If you're lucky. A narcissistic personality, or at least the potential for one, could be suggested by something as simple as a child burning ants on the sidewalk. Schizophrenia could be hinted at in a response to a question you never asked. Obsession could reveal itself in someone spending a lot more energy than they should writing a post on a forum.
I am not going to share mine, nor give you my reasoning for creating this thread. I'm just curious to see how you perceive it.
Aw. Will you change your mind if I ask nicely?