it’s a struggle that people don’t talk about openly enough.

One's mental health is very important!

Mental illness has been around since the beginning of time. An important factor in the decline of Jewish Kingship was because of political schizophrenia, their dual nature. In fact schizophrenia is an explanation used to explain the psychotic episodes of many King’s bloodline.
From what I've observed with family members mental health, They seem to become irrational after losing sleep for long periods of time. I once wanted to become a doctor because of my mother's condition.

It’s not wise to use the word crazy around those who have serious mental problems. Most people won’t mettle with the mentally ill because they are sometimes gifted. They have delusions of grandeur, a false belief that one possesses superior qualities such as genius, fame, omnipotence, or wealth. It is most often a symptom of schizophrenia, but can also be a symptom found in psychotic or bipolar disorders, as well as dementia (such as Alzheimer's).

@ Helen,

That sounds like a certain someone on BIA we all know! I do agree with you that its not good to call people out of their names. We can use their given names instead to call them out so they can get the proper help they need.

I'm so fascinated with mental health... Did you know that we all are born with a form of mental instability? Of course, Freud talked about the Id and the Ego... But do you know that it takes a traumatic experience to bring out the instabilities... Faith... Family... Finances.. fun...future... If anyone of these needs are experienced.. can trigger the beginnings of mental illness.

I have tried to explain to my adult children that I seen how a person slowly become mentally ill. It's such a gradual process sometimes a person doesn't even know it's happening. They tell me not to worry about them because we living in a different times now. They are the unteachables!
An altered state of awareness produces altered state of consciousness
A brain state wherein one loses the sense of identity with one's body or with one's normal sense perceptions. One may achieve an altered state by chanting, meditating, entering a trance state, or ingesting psychedelic drugs. Daydreaming is induced by boredom, social isolation, or sensory deprivation. Within the course of a single day an individual may flicker in and out of several states of consciousness. Sleep is an altered state of consciousness the person is aware mostly of internal mental events and unaware of the external world, we generally experience sleep every day, where we aren’t able to perceive the world around us accurately.
http://www.viewzone.com/doyle.html

Helen excellence synopsis... Sleep is my mode of escape to mentally process brain overload. I deal with mentally challenged individuals and even though resources are available.. we still have a lot to learn. Especially in the wake of violence spawned by the mentally ill.

@ Cynthia,

..."Sleep is my mode of escape to mentally process brain overload."...

But what does a person do when sleep escapes them in cases of insomnia or where the mind won't slow down like in Michael Jackson's case?

@ Cynthia
Sleep deprivation leads to hallucinations, starting to see things that aren’t there. People with schizophrenia sometimes have auditory hallucinations, hearing things that aren’t there. Violence occurs when they perceive danger that isn’t there. A person that perceives danger will have an even harder time sleeping because the voices(intruder) is speaking negative words to their mind.