The Null Device

Shamelessly plagiarised from Mind Hacks:

A list of delusions taken from the psychiatric literature that don't seem that delusional when you think about them:

• "The earth is doomed"
  - Patient with Alzheimer's reported by Sultzer et al. (2003)
• "Bill Gates is destroying my files and spying on me"
  - 32 year old patient reported by Podoll et al. (2000)
• "A local gang is going to mug me"
  - South London patient reported by Freeman et al. (2001)
• "I drove two people mad when I was 11 to 14 years old"
  - Patient from a study by Rhodes and Jakes (2000)
• "My thoughts are being controlled by TV newscasters"
  - Inpatient reported by Noffsinger and Saleh (2000)

To quote Salvador Dalí, "The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad".

(via Mind Hacks) ¶ beliefs fnord mind paranoia sanity 0

What happens when a Something Awful goon gets sent to several mental institutions? He writes an article about it, describing the unique sorts of characters most normal people rarely get the chance to observe and interact with to this extent, the camaraderie that forms in that environment, and why it's a bad idea to date chicks you meet in mental hospitals: (via MeFi)

The worst person on the ward though was a small little guy named Rafael. Rafael demanded to be called Obie, and would randomly scream out things like "I did not take her panties off!" Rafael also had the bad habit of hiding in the women's shower room, trying to catch a peek at various butter-troll patients.

The story of Ricky and Lisa started well before I arrived in Summit. Lisa was a 22 year old married mother of two, in the ward for yet another suicide attempt. Ricky was your typical fat, greasy fucked up looking mama's boy: 40, living at home, no job, no chance in life. He was discharged 3 days before I was brought in. He apparently fell in love with Lisa. I'm guessing she was the first girl who ever was nice to him, because once he was discharged, he spent literally ALL DAY calling the payphones asking for her. From the time the phones were turned on after breakfast to the time they were turned off for lights out, like clockwork almost every call would be Ricky asking for Lisa.

Ross was easily the worst roommate I ever had. He was loud, hyper and just downright annoying as hell. He decided that I would be his new best friend, even though it was painfully clear I couldn't stand him. Everywhere I went on the wing, Ross would follow me. If I got up and moved, Ross would be about 3 steps behind me. He was like a bloodhound, no matter where I was, he'd find me. Soon my hatred for Ross knew no bounds. Ross was also the biggest wigger I've ever seen in my life. Think of that piece of shit movie Malibu's Most Wanted. He was that guy. He also had the rather unfortunate habit of calling everyone "nigga". The staff, patients, even the servers upstairs in the dining hall. Since many of the staff was black, this was not taken kindly.

¶ mental illness sanity sarcasm something awful 0