The Rational Insane

Insane. The word itself, literally, means one who is not sane -- implying that the person's basic mental processes have been compromised. Conventional thought is that an insane person is a person of lesser mental ability. This fact is self evident when observing the paranoid-schizophrenic skulking from place to place attempting to avoid the CIA, the delusional man walking down the street talking to his 'invisible' friend, or the lady who shrieks in terror and attempts to flee the non-existent monster. Society labels these actions as irrational and the person suffering from them to be insane.

The question is, how irrational are the actions of the 'insane'? If the CIA were actually chasing you, intent on doing you harm, would it not be logical -- necessary even -- to go into hiding in order to avoid this terrible fate? How irrational is it to talk to your friend as you walk down the street? Especially in an age of technology that produces many people who are similarly walking down the street talking to their friend via cell phone. If a great, blood-thirsty fiend were attacking you, would not the logical and rational response be to shriek in terror and attempt to flee? Apparently the producers of any number of horror movies think this is so.

The 'insane' person often is not compromised in the basic ability to rationally think. Rather, the insane person often suffers from some form of hallucination. The brain receives visual, auditory, or even tactile information that does not conform with the reality of the situation. Having this faulty information, the 'insane' person then goes on to make rational decisions based upon the sensory input received.

The brain is an amazing organ. As the 'seat of reason' it can maintain all of the complex functions of the body and, at the same time, provide for object recognition, language, creative thought, etc. But, like any other organ, it is susceptible to chemical imbalances and manipulations. An otherwise 'sane' person can experience hallucinations by altering the chemistry of the brain with substances such as LSD. Others choose to override the brain's current, logical level of pleasure-producing chemicals through the use of substances such as alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines. While under the influence of these substances it is not uncommon for an individual to engage in poor actions.

Society has a tendency to tolerate, or even forgive, the actions of a person under the voluntary influence of mind-altering substances. He or she was only "high" or "drunk" -- it is not like they were crazy. Should not the inverse be true? The 'insane' person has made no choice to have a brain with altered chemistry, whereas the sane person under the influence of voluntarily taken chemicals has made the conscious choice to have an altered brain chemistry.

Society has misplaced its priorities. More effort should be made to rehabilitate the insane person, who is arguably an otherwise rational person suffering from incorrect sensory inputs, and less effort in rehabilitation of individuals who have proven their intent to consciously and voluntarily alter their brain chemistry in an attempt to flee the very reality that the insane person longs to find.