Your Mental Illness is a Superpower
Pick Your Poison
Anxiety, Depression, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress, ADHD, Schizophrenia, etc…
The DSM has done a great job at labeling our disorders— but, what exactly does it mean for how we exist in our day to day?
The fact is that 1 in 8 kids today suffer from at least one of the aforementioned illnesses, and the rate is increasing. Yet, we fail to address it, saddling the coming generations with generational trauma and band aid solutions while refusing to acknowledge the root cause of the issue;
We live in a society that places profit over personhood.
Where money and power is more valuable than human life.
Really it’s that simple.
Okay.. and?
A mental illness is like a defense mechanism we adopt to shield us from reality. The world is scary, and at times our only protection against the injustices we’re exposed to is to internalize them.
In a sense, we accept the lie.
But in so doing — we also end up adopting a false mask in order to cope.
Personality is a variant of this same phenomena, only “normalized”.
The behaviors described within your standard Meyers-Briggs profile are considered socially acceptable, and in some cases admirable.
Mental illnesses on the other hand, fall outside of the spectrum of social actions deemed controllable.
Essentially, they represent a statistical anomaly.
And what do you usually do with anomalies?
Toss em out.
We often use with those whom we disagree… “crazy”. Even if untrue, it’s the quickest way to discount an anomalous perspective.
So, what if you are crazy?
I say, embrace it.
Recognize your irregularity, and unlock your potential.
See — In my experience, it’s only the powerful that need to be tamed. Everyone else is relatively predictable, or easy to influence.
We’ll call them normies.
Normies are willing to ingest the poison of popular culture, no questions asked. They are also considered ‘healthy’ for doing so.
But…
“Do not conform to the ways of this world, instead be transformed through the renewal of your mind”
Romans 12:2
So, New Normal
To be well adjusted to any society implies a tacit approval of said culture. Thus, to be normal today is not really something to be proud of.
If you are adjusted to a sick society, it means you’re sick.
Being maladjusted though, means to be yourself.
*And to be yourself means to live authentically, despite social norms.
“Name one genius that ain’t crazy”
Kanye West
Psychology and Power
I talked about power in another post, touching on how the definition has more to do with the ability to create than it does with a propensity to destroy.
But, what does this have to do with mental health?
Mental Illness is defined as “a disorder in one’s manner, thought or action”
Dis-order.
Except in order to have a disorder, there must be some overarching order that everyone is being measured against.
This order is what we’ll call the illusion of normalcy.
Because normalcy is a façade.
Every being on this planet is uniquely able and identifiable from every other individual.
To deny this is to deny your sanity, but somehow we do it everyday.
(Our psychologists manage to as well.)
The DSM is fundamentally flawed, and hinges on the assumption that people must achieve a baseline of ‘normalcy’ in order to take part in the wider society.
But remember, there is no such thing as “normal” — only socially acceptable.
And what is deemed acceptable changes with time.
Psychology, try as it might, simply doesn’t have the breadth of research or literature backing it to claim expertise over the domain of the human psyche.
We still don’t even agree on what consciousness is.
Fact remains that it is a relatively new field of inquiry, and our overreliance on their practitioners has led us down a path from which will be difficult to backtrack.
Hard sciences like biology are in a constant state of revision, this is due to the very nature of science. So what about “soft” ones? Is there no wiggle room?
For to proceed with a codified index of mental states is good and well…
But to diagnose patients at any degree of certainty based on what little we currently know constitutes a dangerous display of institutional hubris.
Why do you think they still call a doctor’s office, a “practice?”
Doctors are effectively biological scientists. They are still practicing.
This in a field which has been accruing data about the physical body for thousands of years.
So when psychologists claim to “know” something, really what they mean to say is;
“I’m making an educated guess based on about a centuries worth of research.”
If we’re brainstorming guidelines to facilitate further research, cool.
But if we’re determining the remaining trajectory of a persons life… not cool.
Here’s what I’m getting at.
The DSM has been amended 5 times since its introduction in the 1900s. Meaning, ‘experts’ can rewrite the rule book at will.
What if a decade from now some researchers decide that we were completely wrong about schizophrenia, and creates a whole new framework with which to analyze the next generation of madmen?
That sounds pretty crazy to me.
Back to power —
Defined by me as the ability to shift reality.
To create order from chaos.
A person who thinks differently has a leg up on the competition here. Free thinkers create from a color palate most can’t even see.
And unfortunately — that scares some.
No matter.
Want to know who else sees the world differently?
Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Leonardo DaVinci, Albert Einstein, Kanye West..
I’m not saying these are ideal role models, in fact, I’m saying the opposite.
They are all “crazy” to some degree or another.
Why?
Because they are originals (and not copies)
They are trailblazers. Changemakers who remodel the world we live in and the ways in which we interact with it.
Rebels that can extract value from places unseen.
In war, those first to the battlefield usually gets wounded.
Despite this, they are the most necessary, as they relay back important information while proceeding to exploit valuable terrain.
They become powerful simply by virtue of their risk appetite.
By willing to separate from the group, they can discover new things.
It doesn’t always work out well…
…We all handle disparities between our inner and outer worlds differently.
For those whose inner worlds have become wildly divergent from social norms, mere existence can begin to feel restrictive..
You simply are not allowed to be yourself.
(Sounds like slavery to me.)
One’s power is directly proportionate their creative capacity, so it’s no wonder that most use it for personal gain.
But… in a world that is becoming increasingly connected — the way forward is not to fight your way to the top, or to wallow in apathy at the bottom.
The goal is to engage those around you.
This is the real superpower of those with different perspectives.
Sure, we can use this level of exceptional understanding to “win” at a temporal game, or…
We can successfully deploy our ‘illness’ upon those around us — giving the normies a chance to see the world in new ways.
And maybe even waking some up in the process.
Still ill
Changing the world is a nice sentiment — but, depression is still a b*tch.
I understand.
Because our social constructs, rather than consider your perspective, have decided to deny your humanity.
If this is the case for you, turning to destructive ends may seem the only remaining motive for living.
A nihilism that can pervade your entire worldview is lurking around the corner, and if you’re uncareful, it’ll catch you in it’s web of deceit.
I’m not a natural optimist.
In fact I still fall victim to bouts of pessimism daily.
I detest ignorance, and so am well aware of the injustices that plague our world. But, I believe that there is meaning to be extracted from the suffering.
I think people can be good, and powerful at the same time.
All you have to do, is…
Unshackle yourself from expectations, and live life on your terms.
Not moms, or dads, or your friends, or your bosses.
Yours.
To cede autonomy is to relinquish freedom.
To relinquish freedom is to refuse responsibility.
And today, we tacitly endorse a system of mass insanity — where individuals actively score licks off of each other, all in the name of normalcy.
“Everybody is doing it.”
We can’t seem to comprehend that we are fully capable of stopping the madness at any moment; our resources are abundant, we no longer exist in scarcity.
The future is as bright as we decide it to be.
You know this… but for some reason, you don’t trust yourself.
Why?
People Power
Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία, dēmokratiā, from dēmos ‘people’ and kratos ‘rule’) means that the power rests with the people.
It means we are supposed to claim autonomy over our own lives.
We are supposed to ascend to a place of self-rule.
We don’t need to live in fear of our overlords.
And still, despite what founding documents clearly state of our birthrights as human beings, our limbic brains continue telling us to remain in fear.
Millions of years of evolution compounded with a bit of 21st century marketing has proven a difficult egg to crack.
So if you aren’t comfortable, good.
Build something better.
Mental illness implies that you are not well adjusted to the current world order.
Take that as a compliment.
Your anomaly of a life is evidence that something isn’t right… a clue from your real self to your fake self, begging for truth to be revealed.
Many have yet to reach their personal breaking points, so they continue living as if nothing is wrong. Or “capping” as the kids say.
Honestly, I feel for such folks.
We “wierdos” on the other hand, have no excuse.
We already know much of this world is a lie… which means we have the opportunity to be different, and to recreate one that is rooted in Truth.
Of course, we still have to exist in the world as is for now…
A world where everyone is telling you to discount your experiences and live life according to theirs.
A world bent on turning you into a robot, or a zombie.
Really anything other than yourself.
Some acquiesce out of fear, becoming semi functional parts of a machine bent on their destruction in the process.
But, I understand.
It’s the easy way out.
What I’m asking you to do is difficult.
I’m asking you to have faith in what you already know deep down to be true.
That God is real, and that Truth is worth pursuing.
There’s only one answer.
Only one way to break free from this archaic human experience.
And that is, to be reborn.
(Or however your tradition decides to put it.)
Whether you just “go with the vibes” or follow a strict religion, you are being called to something greater than a normal life.
You are being called to transcend the lower self and upgrade your soul to something more eternal.
Faith is like the key that unlocks the door.
Our ancestors knew.
Unfortunately, faith doesn’t come easily in this age of misinformation.
It requires a suspension of control, an admission that we might not know everything. It requires that we submit to the process.
“There’s nothing more sad to see than a young cynic, for it means they’ve gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing”
Maya Angelou
We are physical creatures filled with doubts, which is why nihilism tends to accompany much modern thought.
To have faith in something requires work.
Cynicism requires… nothing.
Like being in a cave your entire life, eyes get adjusted to the dark, and stepping in the light can become an act of rebellion.
That’s the whole point of following Jesus.
To become a beam of light in a world ruled by darkness.
Look, I don’t want to be that guy… but it’s true.
There is only one way to God, and it’s through submission to Jesus Christ.
If you figure out another way, please let me know.
Sure, you can try to follow all the rules…
But you will fail — because you are not perfect.
Far from it to be sure.
Your experiences are narrow, your abilities are shallow.
But, I know a guy…
(John 3:16)
So maybe, you’re weird. Fine.
Being normal is overrated, anyway.
