Mental Health?

Hopefully the above mental health joke picture made you laugh. However, there is a story behind the picture. The slogan was originally devised by Ann Lander to gain the attention of her audience.

'One out of four people in this country is Mentally Unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends... if they seem okay, then you're The One.'

"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. "

~Jane Wagner

If you think about the mental health topic more carefully, all sorts of demons crawl out of the woodwork. In my case it made me think, 'who are the sane?' I also remember the case of a psychiatrist who treated a woman who was insane, but harmless. She thought that the 5 dolls she tended were her actual children, the reality was she was unmarried and had no children. The psychiatrist said that he would not cure her even if he could because she was enjoying her fantasies so much.

Dr. Marley, the head psychiatrist at Front Lawn Asylum, is examining patients to see if they're recovered and ready to re-enter society.

'So, Mr Lewis,' the doctor says to one of his patients, 'I see from your chart that you've been recommended for discharge. Do you have any idea what you might do once you leave here?'

Henry Lewis thinks for a moment, then replies, 'Well, I went to a college for telecommunications. That's still a good field, good money there. But on the other hand, I thought I might write a book about my experience here in the hospital, what it's like to be a patient here. People might be interested in reading a book like that. In addition, I thought I might go to evening school and study art history, which I've grown interested in lately.'

Dr. Marley nods, looks pleased and says, 'Yes, those all sound like intriguing possibilities.'

So Henry Lewis replies, 'And the best part is, in my spare time, I can go on being a coffee pot.'

Mental health humour is a difficult topic, here is what the best brains say about madness:

Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.

Robertson Davies

There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

Oscar Levant

Reality is something you rise above.

Liza Minnelli

People often write me and ask how I keep my wood floors so clean when I live with a child and a dog, and my answer is that I use a technique called Suffering From a Mental Illness.

Heather Armstrong

I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it.

Mary Chase

Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.

Henrik Tikkanen

People often write me and ask how I keep my wood floors so clean when I live with a child and a dog, and my answer is that I use a technique called Suffering From a Mental Illness.

Heather Armstrong

Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined.

Samuel Goldwyn

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.

Jimmy Buffett

Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad.

Diogenes the Cynic

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.'

Umberto Eco

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

Unknown

One out of four people in this country is Mentally Unbalanced.

Ann Lander

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.

Mark Twain

Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy. Nora Ephron

Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes. Edgard Varese

I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back. Richard Lewis

When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane. Hermann Hesse

Research indicates that Genius cannot exist without mental disorder, George Orwell and Lewis Carroll suffered autism. While Mozart, Hans Christian Andersen and Mozart almost certainly suffered from Asperger's syndrome. Those suffering from Asperger's syndrome often have artistic creativity, as well as mathematical genius.

None of the above mental health quotes are completely, true. What is disturbing, is that each has a grain of truth.

During a visit to a mental institution the visitor asked the Director:

'How do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized?'

'Well,' said the Director, 'we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.'

'Oh, I understand,' said the visitor. 'A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.'

'No.' said the Director, 'A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?'