When asked in 1987 if he was crazy, late “Helter Skelter” mass murderer Charles Manson issued a memorable response. “Sure, I’m as mad as a hatter,” he said. “You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody’s crazy.”
Manson wasn’t kidding. I’ve heard it said by certain psychologists that “everyone has a mental disorder.” In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the Bible of faithless head shrinkers) has been criticized for having “something for everyone.” Of course, this makes sense if you’re in the psychiatric field and aim to broaden your market, and earning potential, as much as possible. It also makes sense if one’s worldview states that everything we formerly called a “sin” should be diagnosed as a disease or condition of the brain. “Everyone is a sinner” becomes “Everyone has a mental disorder.”
(The exception is when your “disorder” becomes a favored political cause — such as “transgenderism.” Then it becomes a lifestyle choice, and the only disorder, perhaps, is your oppression-induced discomfort over being “trans.”)
The problem, though, is that if everyone is “crazy,” the word loses its meaning. And then, perhaps, tolerance for having the truly crazy walk unfettered among us may increase. A case in point is today’s rampant mental-illness-related vagrancy, normally euphemized as “homelessness.” Another is the disturbed “trans” individuals. Their problems are encouraged by the establishment, and, just sometimes, as with killer Robert Westman, one commits a heinous crime.
This is a timely topic with President Donald Trump having recently floated the idea of reopening long-shuttered psychiatric institutions. This may be prudent, too, says one commentator. Do also remember, however, she adds, that too many kids are diagnosed today with “mental” problems. Yet most aren’t actually crazy — they’ve just been raised in a crazy time.
Is the Whole World a Mental Institution?
As many know, numerous psychiatric facilities were closed decades ago during the “deinstitutionalization” process. (What many don’t know is that, contrary to myth, this wasn’t all “President Ronald Reagan’s fault.” The process actually began in the mid-1950s and continued well beyond Reagan’s tenures as California governor and then president.) But while many more disturbed people are outside such institutions, many more people outside them are treated as if they belong within. The aforementioned commentator, the Daily Caller’s Amber Duke (no relation), addressed this Tuesday. After mentioning the Minneapolis killer Westman, she wrote about our “mental health crisis” that
America has fundamentally transformed how we address mental health over the past several decades.
In: Talking about your feelings incessantly, seeing a therapist that says you have generational trauma, blaming your parents, taking SSRIs and anxiety meds to numb uncomfortable feelings, and collecting diagnoses (self- or otherwise) to explain poor behavior
Out: Powering through tough times, exercising regularly, amending your diet, going to church
Despite the increased medicalization of mental health — antidepressant use among people ages 12 to 25 has increased by 64% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — young people are struggling. In 2023, nearly one in three adolescents in the U.S. received mental health treatment.
Let’s be honest, a lot of these kids are not actually crazy. Big Pharma and medical associations have convinced parents and doctors that the big feelings of adolescence: sadness, loneliness, anger, insecurity and anxiety are pathological disorders rather than normal parts of life.
At the same time, our loss of community ties, a rise in social media use, and lingering societal effects from the pandemic have driven some young people totally insane. RFK Jr.’s HHS is now investigating SSRI use and potential links to school shootings. Good on him.