07-27-2012, 01:38 PM
(07-25-2012, 06:42 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Yes, there were alarms bells if only people knew what to look for -- but not many people can recognize mental illness. The odd thing about psychotics is that they can hold it together and appear pretty normal, until they snap. Even with the risks of mental illness we err of the side of freedom. I sometimes think some genius is just a controlled mental illness -- directing mental faculties in a positive direction ala. John Nash.
Resounding agreement on the point that mental illness is not something most people can recognize, and it makes matters worse that we make colloquial use of mental health terms. "OCD" is just being particular, "bipolar" is just mood swings, "depression" is just being sad, and "schizophrenic" is just a catch-all crazy grab-bag. There are a ton of awful and terrifying mental health conditions, and having a broad understanding of them is incredibly useful.
That being said, John Nash was schizophrenic. I don't get the impression that schizophrenia gives the brain any useful special powers. It's not his hallucinations were imparting knowledge to him. From what I understand, they just put a lot of pressure on him, and that served as motivation to work hard. But that's saying he already had the potential. I wouldn't want to call that a controlled mental illness so much as a mental illness with a positive externality. "The bad news is you're schizophrenic. The good news is you're REALLY industrious!" I wouldn't be surprised if this was common with schizophrenia, but most of the time the results aren't useful to anyone.
-Lemming