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by otisfunkmeyer 4431 days ago
My main question is: why is there an insanity checklist?

In the same way that many people experience a "white light" during near-death experiences, why do so many people:

-think they're jesus

-think aliens communicate through radio stations

-think everyone around them are "agents"

It's a very SPECIFIC checklist. To me at this point, this is the most interesting part of this phenomenon.
2 comments
marvin 4431 days ago
It's not an insanity checklist. It's a list of symptoms to determine if a person is experiencing psychotic episodes and needs medication, supervision or therapy in order to not present a danger to her/himself or others. The list is necessary because these symptoms can only partially be determined through physical measurements (MRI, to a certain degree). There are similar checklists for all psychological conditions, such as anxiety, depression or related disorders such as OCD, addiction, sociopathy etc.

Different cultures will have slightly different questions for these checklists. They are not universal, but there are some underlying themes. Where I'm from, for instance (Norway), the "Jesus", "aliens" or "agents" questions aren't there. However, there are similar questions about believing you're an important histogical figure, seeing ghosts or believing that others can control your thoughts.

Psychosis is a universal human phenomenon, but its specific manifistation is to some degree culturally dependent.

Just as a side note, I object to the use of the word "insane" to describe people with psychiatric conditions. It creates an unnatural "us vs. them" divide. Many seemingly normal people have some degree of symptoms of mental illness while functioning well in society. It only becomes a problem if one is unable to function somehow, or becomes a danger to oneself or others.

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bobsgame 4431 days ago
They are easy rationalizations or conclusions to jump to when they begin to experience spiritual phenomenon for the first time. Unfortunately, this also makes it very easy to assassinate their character from a social/political standpoint.
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