To be fair, Shutter Island has been out for a year now. If you really cared that much you would have watched it.

Well, that depends on the individual cases. Some respond well to treatment and are aware that there is an issue and that they must complete treatment in order to get better. Some are aware they are in a mental hospital and don't think they belong there, and resist treatment that could make them well. Some are so mentally ill that they have no idea what the hell is going on.
My brother in law is currently committed, and is completely incompetent mentally. He has absolutely no sense of reality.


Hollywood and the film industry have a habit of completely aggrandizing one aspect of an issue. Mental illness is so varied in scope that you can't lump all people with mental illness in the category "insane".

This. Very much this.

As others have stated, there is a huge range of mental disorders that people can suffer from - for example, someone could voluntarily commit themselves to an institution (which, given how difficult it is to involuntarily commit someone to a mental hospital, is more common then one might think) for suffering from clinical depression. Obviously depression is a mental disorder that (typically) does not alter one's perception of reality to such an extent that they are no longer aware of their surroundings. Likewise there are other mental disorders (such as PTSD) where an individual may, under certain circumstances, be out of touch with immediate reality, but much of the time will be lucid and fully aware of their surroundings of being in a mental hospital. Then there are mental disorders that alter one's way of how they perceive the world, such as paranoid schizophrenia or paranoid personality disorder.

Sometimes you just dont come around to it or forget about it..

Holy [censored] I did the exact same thing. Creepy...

It depends on how bad the illness is. My mum visited a friend of the family, and there was a patient in the same room strapped to the bed, asking for help so he can escape the police. :laugh:

Read The Bell Jar and watch A Beautiful Mind. That wont even begin to cover the range of things which can and have been called "mental illness". There's no one answer to your question, because there's no one reason you can be committed to an institution. In fact there are probably as many reasons as there are patients.

This is congruent with my understanding of things. And since Reneer has studied psychology at a tertiary level, I recommend paying attention to his post .

This.

+ The fact that even a single patient's lucidity can vary from day to day. My schizophrenic friend was in a closed ward at one time, and I went to see her about once a week. Sometimes she'd know who I was and where she was and why she was there, and sometimes she wouldn't even recognize me.

This. I read an article some months ago about sub-types of "schizophrenia" and the exponential growth the number of identified and possibly completely new ones psychology has seen since the 70s. And that is only one among hundreds of broad categories for mental illnesses.

I suggest you watch "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(film)".
It's about a guy in prison that decides to pretend to be insane so they will commit him to a mental hospital, and get himself out of prison.
It's classic Jack Nicholson. I have heard, although it could be urban legend, that Nicholson actually committed himself in to a mental hospital when he got this role, so that he could learn how to act crazy for the part.
The plot is a really in depth portrayal of a sane man getting treated as if he were insane.

If you don't have time to watch a movie, just listen to Queensryche's "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation:_Mindcrime" album.
It's a concept album, the story told from the perspective of a double crossed assassin, who is now committed to a mental hospital for his crimes.

(edit: added a link)

Even for Bipolar Affective Disorder*, which has only two or three subtypes, there are plenty of variations between individual patients. Not just differences between the subtypes, but between each person. Not everyone has every possible symptom, not every person with a certain symptom has it to the same severity. Its still clearly the same illness, but each case is at least slightly different. Bit like humans in general, for some reason :whistling:.

*I like using the longer name, because B.A.D. makes a way cooler acronym than 'BP' .

I'm diagnosed with type II Bipolar disorder. It's a difficult disease to manage, because most of the time, I feel great, sometimes even euphoric, to the point that I feel stupid for being on my meds. But every couple months, I crash into a manic depressive episode that I try to just sedate myself mentally numb and sleep through. The trick is, scheduling my appointments with my therapist to coincide with my manic episodes... usually they are times that I feel fine, and can't describe what it is that I go through during a manic episode. She always asks me to try to identify a trigger... :rolleyes:

Reason for this post:
Here is "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcUjrXWX10E&feature=related" off of "Operation:Mindcrime", my favorite track off that album.

Uh, thanks for that. Now I'll always proclaim that indeed, I am B.A.D.! ^_^

Congratulations. You've just made suffering from Bipolar Affective Disorder "the hip" and "cools."

Trying to trick your therapist / psych them out (Ha! Get it? A clinical psychology joke!) isn't usually the best idea. They are trying to help you deal with your mental disorder - trying to mask some of the symptoms of said disorder A ) probably won't work, especially if you've already been diagnosed and B ) is counterproductive to your treatment. You're already spending the money to see the psychologist - why not get the most out of your (well-spent, I hope) money?

Actually, sometimes when I look around me I feel like beeing in a mental hospital already.

My older brother was Paranoid Schizophrenic and spent some time in the Ypsilanti State Mental Institution in the 1970's. (Reneer should be aware of this facility's long history in our area). He is deceased now but later in life, he became very high functioning, independent, and was extremely intelligent, and well read....living in the center of Ann Arbor. He was my best friend for many years, and I learned a lot about many subjects hanging out with him. I'm glad times have changed since the days of the asylums. My wife works as a job coach for high functioning people with different problems in Washtenaw County, and we have become close with many of them.

I cannot render an opinion on the OP premise, because I don't know.

Here is a video someone did exploring the ruins of the old Ypsi State facility....you probably won't watch it all but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB6_xxOJMM4 gives you the idea of what the place was like.

That's a very interesting and informative video. Though I was just waiting for a security guard to pop around the corner.

It's amazing what stuff was left behind (especially the doctor's notes).

Yes I get the idea that they might have qualified for, Oh lets say, trespassing....such are the dangers of those who do "documentaries". :hubbahubba:

Indeed. The worst part was how bad their cinematography was... I mean, the jerkiness I could understand, but did they really have to cut out to another scene every five seconds?

I agree....but somewhat interesting nonetheless....low budget and all. (should read NO budget). hmy:

Now we can finally hang out with the Seasonal Affective Disorder chicks!