Definition Essay On Insanity

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What is insanity? Insanity can mean many different things determining on the person or group of people you are talking to. To one it may mean an excuse to get out of trouble in many cases of law, to another it may mean something irrational, and to one more it may mean a psychological problem. But the most well-known definition is one that it originally did not mean. Insanity has changed from being a word that meant someone was mentally ill to becoming known as a word that someone can say instead of facing a challenge because they fear failure or being hurt. Insanity has moved from being a term that was once primarily psychological to one that is more legal. Even in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders there is no evidence of the documentation of the term insane.

There are three literal denotations of the word insanity. The first definition is “something utterly foolish or unreasonable.” The second one is found in law and consists of being known as an “unsoundness of mind or lack of the ability to understand that prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or that releases one from criminal or civil responsibility.” The third and final …show more content…

Although many excellent and brilliant scholars, scientists, and people in general have said this trivial saying it is stealing the spotlight from the real term. The problem with people holding this as the actual definition is that people become biased and apathetic. They forget that people are out there that struggle with insanity and it is not just something that is foolish or that they are doing the same things over and over merely to get a different