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Mental illness
#1
Mental illness
How should mental illness be defined? How do you decide when somebody's abnormal behavior is an illness that needs to be cured or just an interesting personality trait? Is a trait something to be corrected when it causes "harm"? How do you define "harm" then?
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"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
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#2
RE: Mental illness
An excellent question....perhaps best said as:

Everyone’s Crazy But Me ‘n Thee (& I’m not too sure ’bout Thee)
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#3
RE: Mental illness
Oh god, not this shit again.
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#4
RE: Mental illness
I swear I'm perfectly sane! Panic
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#5
RE: Mental illness
(December 23, 2013 at 1:47 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote: How should mental illness be defined? How do you decide when somebody's abnormal behavior is an illness that needs to be cured or just an interesting personality trait? Is a trait something to be corrected when it causes "harm"? How do you define "harm" then?

IIRC, it is considered a disorder when it causes "distress or disability" - in other words, "harm" would be when the person who is experiencing it finds it distressing or disabling.

That works for me.
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#6
RE: Mental illness
I have no idea how to define a mental illness. at least we're calling it a mental thing nowadays, instead of demonic possession. Some of us, anyways. Transgenderism sounds like a mental illness to some. Someone thinking they're a different gender because their brain processes things differently. Yet many say it isn't.

I guess it may just boil down to "As long as they aren't hurting themselves or others". That's a pretty good bar, right?
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http://listverse.com/2009/04/13/10-chris...ate-jesus/

Good video to watch, if you want to know how common the Jesus story really is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88GTUXvp-50

A list of biblical contradictions from the infallible word of Yahweh.
http://infidels.org/library/modern/jim_m...tions.html

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#7
RE: Mental illness
Generally it is seen as an illness if it adversely affects the person's ability to function day-to-day. Its one of the reasons why homosexuality was proven not be a mental illness in the 1970s and stuck off from the DSM.

From a person with depression it does affect me day-to-day sometimes I have to be forced to get up by my boyfriend since I don't feel like its worth it, sometimes I can't go through the day without needing to cry and hurt myself over nothing, I am irritable, don't eat well etc. thats an illness.
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#8
RE: Mental illness
Mental, illness = Hypochondriasis
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#9
RE: Mental illness
My 17yr old daughter who runs a local campaign for mental health in the area (https://www.facebook.com/t4lkpreston?fref=ts) says an illness is something where the symptoms can be treated, whereas a trait is just who you are.
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#10
RE: Mental illness
(December 23, 2013 at 2:05 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:
(December 23, 2013 at 1:47 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote: How should mental illness be defined? How do you decide when somebody's abnormal behavior is an illness that needs to be cured or just an interesting personality trait? Is a trait something to be corrected when it causes "harm"? How do you define "harm" then?

IIRC, it is considered a disorder when it causes "distress or disability" - in other words, "harm" would be when the person who is experiencing it finds it distressing or disabling.

That works for me.

I'm glad to hear that I can finally refer to my job as a mental illness.
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