Creating Insanity: A How-To Guide
Somebody once said that insanity is doing the same thing over
and over while expecting a different result. Optimal mental
health, then, may include adapting your approach if you don't
get the result you want. (NOTE: Seek help if you need it - this
is just a general discussion of how to stay mentally healthy.)
There is a problem solving technique that involves finding all
the ways to cause a problem in oreder to solve it. Here then is
a list of ways to become insane, so we can see what we can learn
about mental health.
To Become Insane...
Leave a hundred decisions unmade, hanging there in your mind.
Try to fit way too much into your days.
Take on too many unnecessary responsibilities.
Damage your brain with too many drugs and alcohol.
Isolate yourself from the world.
Dwell on the horrible aspects of your life or of the world.
Eat poorly and stay up all night.
Refuse to accept the things you cannot change.
Hang onto the past too tightly.
Let fear make your important decisions for you.
Good mental health is very much a natural state. Sometimes we
lose that and feel like we're "going crazy." We want to "do
something" about it, but looking at ways to become insane shows
us that unlike other goals, optimal mental health is not so much
about doing things right - it's more about not doing the wrong
things.