Am I mentally ill, could that be the question? Every healthy person learns to ask that question, as does the paradox of health and ill health.
Now, let’s be very clear about what this paradox is about. Let me use myself as an example. The times that I have been more mentally, emotionally and spiritually ill, I have been missing something very important, something critical to health. I lacked the ability to watch that I was not healthy, and perhaps others knew. I’m sure they did. You may have suspected something was wrong, but at the time you couldn’t identify it. Eventually he could, and when he did, he would be on the cusp of recovery.
What is the clearest sign of mental health?
Knowledge.
It is like being in a mental health hospital. The main indicator that psychiatrists look for. Can the person perceive reality? Are they delusional? Is there greatness? Of course, the purpose of admitting people to these hospitals is to give them time and treatment to come back to reality, to receive information.
He is a terrifying individual who has no perception. However, the narcissist is someone who seems fine, until you get close to him, but has a great lack of understanding. They cannot see a single fault within themselves. And they may ultimately agree that they have something to change when they see that they have an advantage by appearing humble.
Now this is dangerous; seeing yourself as unequivocally superior to others is bad for everyone. You cannot be corrected when you should be, and others are not recognized for the goodness and attributes they have.
The person who has insight, however, sees the flaws within himself, and has a lot of humility to be able to see the evil, the error, the mistakes that he commits; that we all do from time to time. They are not afraid of exposure because they see what is wrong and see that it is easy to attend to and solve it.
Therein lies the paradox in all its glory: he who thinks he is perfect is unimaginably dangerously imperfect, because he cannot see his flaws, but he who sees his imperfections could also be perfect, for human intentions and purposes.
If you want to know if you are healthy, do you have the ability to be honest?
Can you see what you need to be able to see? Not only for you, but also for others.
Now, we can see that there are anxiety and depression diseases that are expressed in many ways, but they do not manifest in a lack of honesty. Comparatively, mental health is less of an issue, even if there is a lot of pain that the person must deal with. This is not to say that your poor mental health is less important. In fact, many times people can suffer from mental health problems because someone close to them has had a narcissistic impact on them.
People with depression and anxiety can often continue to have good relationships. Even with comparative poor mental health, they can often operate in such a way that others are relationally benefactors. They can often find ways to love well despite what they suffer, which is an incredibly inspiring reality.
We see here that good mental health is not just about the struggles we have as we live our lives; it is also the way we treat other people. Mental health that negatively impacts other people is of great concern, due to the way in which people can be harmed. Of course, there is also the question of how suicide harms those left behind. That can never be underestimated.
Or maybe we can look at it this way: The person who may not be in pain but has troubled relationships, and may actually appear happy, even powerful, may be more mentally ill than the person who endures a lot of pain but serves and loves. others until the end of good relationships.
The person who consistently puts others first has, ultimately, better mental health than the person who has no interest or capacity for others.
