
Insanity (sometimes, madness) is a semi-permanent severe disorder of the mind, typically as a result of mental illness. In criminal law, it is the assessment that the disorder is severe enough as to relieve an accused of legal responsibility for their actions. An insanity defense is based on claiming this is the case, and that a sentence should involve treatment rather than imprisonment (or, in the case of ''temporary insanity'', that no sentence should be applied at all). In civil law, insanity renders a person unfit for entering contracts or other legal obligations. In some judicial systems, it may allow for someone to be involuntary commitment. In popular culture, something "insane" is something extremely foolish, while persons may be deemed "insane" if their behaviour strongly deviates from accepted social norms. The term is typically negative, but departure from established norms may also be seen as a positive quality; in this case, being "insane" is being daringly unconventional or individualistic. This use of ''insane'' is illustrated by the following quote from Henry David Thoreau's ''A Plea for Captain John Brown'':
''A recent discovery of "Indigo Children" has given another context to the term "insane", redeclaring the long-thought ideology that the ones deemed insane by society are truly gifted by God, and misunderstood among the unbelieving masses.'' . . . Huh? What is this supposed to mean? User:65.116.19.243 19:53, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) ::Nonsense, I assume. I deleted it. User:Sietse Snel 19:56, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::I've put it back (slighly modified) because someone objected to its deletion. User:Sietse Snel 15:57, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) I think people who believe in indigo people should have to take care of these gifted people and be responsible for their actions and wellbeing. If the "insane" or the "gifted" person commits a crime under the believer's care, then the believer is liable to receive the same punishment as the offender. == insanity == jesus christ. use any bigger words and you'll make me feel even more intellectually inferior. although mental health is a fascinating subject. == cleanup == Hey folks, I "object" to the "multiple uses" of "quotes" in this article, and also to the use of the pronoun "you", so I've slapped the article with a cleanup. --User:Neschek — User:Neschek | User talk: Neschek 21:31, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Hum. I object to that cleanup tag for something so minor, so I sort of went crazy (har har) and rewrote the entire thing. Notes: :*I've removed the reference to indigo children. This theory is not based on a rejection of modern ideas about insanity, but on the rejection of what mainstream theory calls Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A single mental disorder is not the same thing as insanity; even if the theory is broader, the discussion arguably belongs at mental illness. :*I've removed this: "some such as Aldous Huxley commented that some kinds of "insanity" are possibly alternative modes of awareness which were commonplace and respected in other times and cultures, and have a place in human nature." This should be sourced, because I can't take it on faith, and neither should the reader. Huxley certainly commented on the relativity of sanity and insanity in general (''Brave New World'' being the defining example), but something as specific as this deserves a reference. I'm no Huxley scholar, and I'm not saying it's false, but there's no good reason to believe it's true either, so I'd like one. :This better? If not (I may have gone a little overboard), I can only say: . Cleanup tag removed. User:JRM · User talk:JRM 00:31, 2005 Apr 28 (UTC) == Excuse me == maybe I missed it, but does it actually have what insanity is? the definition seemed to be pretty vague (first line) -User:Vellocet Malchickawick :"Insanity" is such an insanely broad and nontechnical term that it's very hard to give a definition that's not "pretty vague". Compare [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=insanity], that starts "a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia)". The rest of the article tries to establish what insanity is by describing how it is perceived and reacted to, which I think is pretty much all you can hope for. I'd love to be proven wrong, of course. User:JRM · User talk:JRM 21:00, 2005 Jun 2 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Insanity:
Insanity
Insanity
Insanity1234
Insanityeverywhere
InsanityTeam
Insanity_defence
Insanity_defense
Insanity_defense
Insanity_of_primitives
Insanity_plea
Insanity_Test
Insanity
Insanity (sometimes, madness) is a semi-permanent severe disorder of the mind, typically as a result of mental illness. In criminal law, it is the assessment that the disorder is severe enough as to relieve an accused of legal responsibility for their actions. An insanity defense is based on claiming this is the case, and that a sentence should involve treatment rather than imprisonment (or, in the case of ''temporary insanity'', that no sentence should be applied at all). In civil law, insanity renders a person unfit for entering contracts or other legal obligations. In some judicial systems, it may allow for someone to be involuntary commitment. In popular culture, something "insane" is something extremely foolish, while persons may be deemed "insane" if their behaviour strongly deviates from accepted social norms. The term is typically negative, but departure from established norms may also be seen as a positive quality; in this case, being "insane" is being daringly unconventional or individualistic. This use of ''insane'' is illustrated by the following quote from Henry David Thoreau's ''A Plea for Captain John Brown'':
Many, no doubt, are well disposed, but sluggish by constitution and by habit, and they cannot conceive of a man who is actuated by higher motives than they are. Accordingly they pronounce this man insane, for they know that they could never act as he does, as long as they are themselves.In this sense, "insanity" is not implied to be an actual disorder, let alone severe. In some views, what is insane by mainstream definitions is not necessarily a disorder of the mind, but may simply be a different way of being that is judged as unacceptable on social or cultural grounds. This is stronger than the meaning discussed above—in this case, it is implied that what is seen as actual insanity by others is not (and by extension, that there is no mental illness). Since great legal and social consequences are attached to being declared insane (ranging from possibly having one's freedom curtailed by involuntary commitment to escaping punishment by falsely convincing others of insanity), these matters are a source of considerable controversy. As a state of mental disorder, insanity has historically been attributed to supernatural or divine causes where theories of mental illnesses were not developed. Aberrant or destructive behaviour from an individual has been explained as another entity taking over their body (demonic possession) or as a mental unhinging inflicted by the gods, as punishment for wrongdoing. In these theories, insanity is an external condition overriding an otherwise sane mind (which may not ever manifest itself). That demonic possession occurs and can be a valid explanation for insanity in some cases is still asserted by some, but this view holds no more than minority acceptance. ==External links== * [http://web.cocc.edu/lminorevans/on_being_sane_in_insane_places.htm] Research: ''On being sane in insane places'' Abnormal psychology Mental health law Psychiatry
Insanity
''A recent discovery of "Indigo Children" has given another context to the term "insane", redeclaring the long-thought ideology that the ones deemed insane by society are truly gifted by God, and misunderstood among the unbelieving masses.'' . . . Huh? What is this supposed to mean? User:65.116.19.243 19:53, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) ::Nonsense, I assume. I deleted it. User:Sietse Snel 19:56, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::I've put it back (slighly modified) because someone objected to its deletion. User:Sietse Snel 15:57, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) I think people who believe in indigo people should have to take care of these gifted people and be responsible for their actions and wellbeing. If the "insane" or the "gifted" person commits a crime under the believer's care, then the believer is liable to receive the same punishment as the offender. == insanity == jesus christ. use any bigger words and you'll make me feel even more intellectually inferior. although mental health is a fascinating subject. == cleanup == Hey folks, I "object" to the "multiple uses" of "quotes" in this article, and also to the use of the pronoun "you", so I've slapped the article with a cleanup. --User:Neschek — User:Neschek | User talk: Neschek 21:31, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Hum. I object to that cleanup tag for something so minor, so I sort of went crazy (har har) and rewrote the entire thing. Notes: :*I've removed the reference to indigo children. This theory is not based on a rejection of modern ideas about insanity, but on the rejection of what mainstream theory calls Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A single mental disorder is not the same thing as insanity; even if the theory is broader, the discussion arguably belongs at mental illness. :*I've removed this: "some such as Aldous Huxley commented that some kinds of "insanity" are possibly alternative modes of awareness which were commonplace and respected in other times and cultures, and have a place in human nature." This should be sourced, because I can't take it on faith, and neither should the reader. Huxley certainly commented on the relativity of sanity and insanity in general (''Brave New World'' being the defining example), but something as specific as this deserves a reference. I'm no Huxley scholar, and I'm not saying it's false, but there's no good reason to believe it's true either, so I'd like one. :This better? If not (I may have gone a little overboard), I can only say: . Cleanup tag removed. User:JRM · User talk:JRM 00:31, 2005 Apr 28 (UTC) == Excuse me == maybe I missed it, but does it actually have what insanity is? the definition seemed to be pretty vague (first line) -User:Vellocet Malchickawick :"Insanity" is such an insanely broad and nontechnical term that it's very hard to give a definition that's not "pretty vague". Compare [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=insanity], that starts "a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia)". The rest of the article tries to establish what insanity is by describing how it is perceived and reacted to, which I think is pretty much all you can hope for. I'd love to be proven wrong, of course. User:JRM · User talk:JRM 21:00, 2005 Jun 2 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
I
IA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Insanity:
Insanity
Insanity
Insanity1234
Insanityeverywhere
InsanityTeam
Insanity_defence
Insanity_defense
Insanity_defense
Insanity_of_primitives
Insanity_plea
Insanity_Test
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