Category: World events, a psychological view

YOU’RE CRAZY MAN! by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Psychiatry, Self Examination, World events, a psychological view, Writing

What does crazy really mean? Dying your hair green? Spending thousands when you don’t have it? Dropping out of school to become a rock star?

Nope. Any of the above may be construed to be poor judgment, an adventuresome spirit or just silly, but not specifically crazy. In psychiatry, we define crazy in 2 ways — the existence of delusions and/or hallucinations.

A delusion is a fixed, false belief that is unshakeable by logic and not shared by most of society. “An alien is my best friend,” might fit into this category. BUT, in ET, Elliott, the meek little boy-hero, was contacted by a cute friendly, extraterrestrial who did become his best friend. Setting that example aside, if you believe you’re being contacted and possibly controlled by aliens, YOU are delusional, have lost touch with reality, and should seek treatment.

A hallucination, most commonly auditory, but also visual or tactile, is perceiving something that doesn’t really exist, except in your own mind. In the old testament, god commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. All 3 religions, Jewish, Christian and Muslim agree that this really happened, but disagree whether the son was Isaac or Ishmael. So when Abraham heard god speak to him, was this an auditory hallucination? Not in this world. Too many religious scholars and believers are in agreement that it actually happened. But, if YOU believe that god’s voice is directing you to kill your son, you are hallucinating and should get immediate help.

Any thought or ideas about being crazy?

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WHY IS A STONE KILLER SO INTERESTING? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Psychiatry, World events, a psychological view, Writing

I’m talking about the one with dead eyes who blows someone’s head off, then opens the fridge, finishes off the last piece of apple pie, and carefully brushes away the crumbs with a clean hanky.

How can someone do that? Wouldn’t he be shaking or vomiting, filled with guilt and anguish at the fact he’s taken another’s life? That would be nice, but then that would make him human. A stone killer has no conscience. If you have no conscience you can strangle puppies to death, steal from elderly women, or torture innocent people. Having a reasonable discussion with this type of pseudo-human sociopath is a waste of time. Spending thousands to rehab him is also a waste of resources.

So why do we find him so interesting? Because he does exactly what he wants. We struggle with right or wrong, whether we’ll hurt someone’s feelings, or whether what we’re doing is honorable. Our code of ethics runs deep. His only code is to not get caught.

On the good side, stone killers can be fun. It’s fun to get revenge without guilt or remorse, to read a murder mystery and give our overactive consciences a rest. Crawl into bed, relax into a comfortable state of anxiety, because in the end, the good guy will get the bad guy and we’ll all be saved.

Any thoughts on good versus evil?

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