I Am a Little Bit Crazy

Twiddler: I know of some examples in which schools are very relevant. In our current society most people have to be able to sit still and work with abstract problems. For a rather large group of children this can be very difficult and they are therefore considered to have a disorder: the AD(H)D.

Evolutionarily it is quite possible that what is now thought of as a disorder was actually an adaptation, moving around a lot and taking risks make good foragers and hunters but unfortunately not successful office workers.

Similarly it seems that the people who have dyslexia have trouble reading, but even just using a different kind of alphabet might relieve this difficulty. Such as learning the japanese way of writing instead of the latin alphabet. Interestingly enough it seems like there are groups using both that have trouble because of the alphabet, but if they were allowed to switch to the other alphabet they might not have any trouble at all.

In my own case I also have had a lot of trouble because of the way schools are. The affective part of schizoaffective is that you get mood episodes. This means that from about the age of twelve I got depressive episodes when I could not really do much and then from the age of 15 I started getting hypomanic episodes in which I would be extremely active. This meant that in a very short amount of time I would excel at everything and sleep very little which meant I had lots of time to be with friends, take a lot of extra classes and so on but after a year I would crash into a depressive episode.

I have spent a lot of time catching up because the model student in a school develops in a linear way. You start out with being pretty bad at something and then you learn more and more and the more you learn the easier it gets to study. Then you move to a more advanced course and the cycle begins again.

Having hypomanic and depressive episodes makes you very non-linear. I would start a course when I was in a up-state or normal and quickly advance through course after course until I crashed and then I would be completely stagnant because depression makes you stupid and unmotivated and really tired. On top of that, the schizo-part, depression makes me psychotic.

So schools, and society and their focus on what is considered normal has a lot of consequences for a lot of people who might have been a huge resource if society and the schooling system would have been more flexible.

@Twiddler I'm concerned with the way we've been taught and what the curriculum is in schools today. We don't have control as a child and what is taught or done to us but with a little help from 'real friends' we learn we do not have to live in our past and the torture from it, but find ways to deal with it. Once that's done we can move on to who we are as people who have feelings, wants and desires... :) I have heard and know people that have chemical imbalances that can be treated...

Ha! I've been there my friend loads of times and I finally decided-who the hell decides what is crazy and what is sanity?? A form of Mental illness is one thing but that can usually be treated. I no longer worry..

Yeah my current solution is that I think most people are a little bit crazy, it's just that some peoples craziness aligns with society so that they can remain functional in a way other crazies can't.

Haha well the problem is I actually have schizoaffective disorder so sometimes this can be very relevant ;)

Well at least you can blame the paranoia on your disorder..what excuse have the rest of us got?!!

@Twiddler It's probably not just the curriculum in the schools. This conversation can go on forever. I guess it starts with what's being taught at home but if you really think about it, what we're taught at home was taught at schools and just being past down from generation to generation. There's probably much I don't know or understand. I'm not a professional anything and don't care to be. Can't have this kind of a conversation by text. At least I can't.

But if you are crazy, they can't drive you crazy, you're already there.

@justpeacelover I do not disagree with you at all, though I am having a hard time connecting the concern for what is being taught in schools with the rest of what you've said. What is it in regards to our own personal perceptions and fleecing them out by getting to know how others live their lives related to school curriculum?

Simplicity: believe me, there are a lot of varying degrees of craziness :P

Lemonysnicket: Haha touche! But I think there's plenty of reasons to be paranoid even if you don't have an illness. In the age of information, information itself is a most effective and brutal weapon.

Lots of times people who are truly crazy are aware that something is a little bit off or different with them. How or if they choose to acknowledge this openly is another matter.

@Ond They can't or they won't... My thoughts say that we can do and think whatever we want... For me, it's my choice to stay free from their bullshit... :D And my own as well... Lol

If "they" are calling you crazy, I think you have to look at them and see if maybe they are. :)

The thing is....how do we know that what's perceived as crazy isn't really sanity and perceived sanity isn't actually crazy? Are the lunatics running the asylum and that's why the world is so fucked up?