mental illness

character

• you're either crazy or you're not
• mental illness is usually a sign of a weak character

health

• our fear of insanity causes us to
  • label people
  • think of people with mental illness as different from "the rest of us"
• mental illness is a coping mechanism; we are all doing the best we can
• e.g., some psychologists believe multiple personality disorder
  • is not craziness
  • it's a sophisticated coping mechanism