Is there a fine line between these two states of mind? How does one cross over? From a person with family who commits suicide, to the institutionalized schizophrenic who needs to be saved from self-inflicting harm but still can carry on an intelligent conversation. Where do we draw the line?
How is insanity diagnosed, measured and dealt with? The maturity of a society is defined by how civilized the society is in their treatment of the insane. According to some psychiatric studies, we all suffer from mental anguish, psychiatric deficit or psychological conditioning. Do we all deserve imprisonment isolation or containment? In the frenzy modern life, we continue to undermine the social and psychological cushioning that was provided for us by immediate and extended families, close circle of friends, and a caring connected culture.
Now we live in a digitized and segmented society, ingrained with a concept of divisible lives through work, home and relationships. For example, the young go to day care. The elderly go to nursing homes, and the adults go to work. The future [the young] is disconnected to the past [the elderly] while the present [the adults] floats to the whims of popular culture. Who we are, what we ought to be, and our self-worth is no longer an internal decision. It is instead defined by an industry. To bring sanity back into our lives we must critically look at the insanity of our lifestyle. Unless we change the manner of our behavior; more importantly the way we think, we will not be able to overturn the institutionalized endorsement of the incarceration of the mentally ill.