insanity

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1. Mental illness or derangement. No longer in scientific use.
2. Law.
   1. Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility.
   2. In most criminal jurisdictions, a degree of mental malfunctioning sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act committed.
3. 1. Extreme foolishness; folly.
   2. Something that is extremely foolish.

SYNONYMS  insanity, lunacy, madness, mania, dementia. These nouns denote conditions of serious mental disability. Insanity is a grave, often prolonged condition that prevents a person from being held legally responsible for his or her actions: was judged not guilty for reasons of insanity. Lunacy often denotes derangement relieved intermittently by periods of clear-mindedness: yelled wildly in a moment of utter lunacy. Madness often stresses the violent aspect of mental illness: a story about obsession and madness. Mania refers principally to the excited, or manic, phase of bipolar disorder: prescribed drugs to control the patient's periods of mania. Dementia implies mental deterioration brought on by an organic brain disorder: underwent progressive stages of dementia.

noun

1. Serious mental illness or disorder impairing a person's capacity to function normally and safely: brainsickness, craziness, dementia, derangement, disturbance, insaneness, lunacy, madness, mental illness, psychopathy, unbalance. Psychiatry mania. Psychology aberration, alienation. See sane/insane.
2. Foolish behavior: absurdity, folly, foolery, foolishness, idiocy, imbecility, lunacy, madness, nonsense, preposterousness, senselessness, silliness, tomfoolery, zaniness. Informal craziness. See ability/inability.

Definition: mental illness; foolishness
Antonyms: balance, sanity, sense, soundness, wellness

For more information on insanity, visit Britannica.com.

The Talmud enumerates as symptoms of a person's mental incompetence: going out alone at night; remaining overnight in a cemetery; tearing one's garment (provided there is no rational explanation for such acts; Ḥag. 3b). Maimonides adds: "A shoteh is not only one who walks about naked or breaks vessels or throws stones, but also one whose mind is deranged and is always confused about matters; even though he speaks and asks pertinent questions, he is included among the mentally incompetent" (Hilkhot Edut 9:9).

Some persons are subject to temporary spells of insanity; when sane they are regarded as normal in all respects and when insane they are regarded as insane in all respects (RH 28a; Ket. 20a). See also ḥeresh, Shoteh Ve-Katan.

Not mentally responsible, to some degree (the degree depending on the legal transaction in relation to which it is employed). 232 F. Supp. 255, 257. The term may be used to signify lack of criminal responsibility, need for commitment to a mental institution, inability to transact business, inability to stand trial (i.e., unable to assist in one's own defense). See 214 A. 2d 393, 405. "In criminal law, ‘insanity,' by whatever test it may be ascertained, may be said to be that degree or quantity of mental disorder which relieves one of the criminal responsibility for his actions." 316 P. 2d 917, 919. It is a legal, not medical, standard. Compare incompetence. See also diminished capacity; non compos mentis; not guilty [not guilty by reason of insanity].

There are three main tests governing insanity defenses:

The m'naghten rule was the common law test of criminal responsibility. 8 Eng. Rep. 718. A person was not responsible for criminal acts if as a result of a mental disease or defect he or she did not understand what he or she did or that it was wrong, or was under a delusion (but not otherwise insane) which, if true, would have provided a good defense. The person is unable to distinguish right from wrong. See M'Naghten rule.

The first major modification of the M'Naghten Rule was the durham rule which states that "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect." 214 F. 2d 862, 874-75. See Durham rule.

Some jurisdictions employ an irresistible impulse test, sometimes referred to as an uncontrollable impulse test or emotional insanity. It applies when a defendant understands the nature and consequences of his or her act and understands that it is wrong but is unable to resist the impulse to commit the act because of mental disease or defect.

Most federal courts and many state courts and legislatures have adopted the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code §4.01(1) (1962) test which combines many of the elements of the M'Naghten and Durham tests. The ali test (which is synonymous with the model penal code test or the substantial capacity test) states that "A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [or alternatively, wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law." The ali test further provides that the "terms ‘mental disease or defect' do not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise anti-social conduct." Id. At §4.01(2). This language is designed to exclude the sociopathic or psychopathic criminal.

Since a person found to be insane at the time of the commission of the criminal act could not have the necessary mental state to commit a crime, the finding of insanity is a complete acquittal to the charge. Moreover, since such a finding is based on the defendant's state at the time of the crime, the finding does not necessarily relate to the defendant's mental state at the time of trial and therefore does not logically lead to the conclusion that the defendant is sufficiently incompetent to be involuntarily committed in a mental institution.

Further, insanity provides a ground for rescinding a contract or will when it is shown that the contracting party did not understand the nature of his or her act or the extent of his or her property.

The insanity defense must be distinguished from the concept of "capacity to stand trial," which is based on the defendant's ability to assist in his defense and his understanding of the charges against him. See Beran & Toomey, Mentally Ill Offenders and the Criminal Justice System 11 (1979). While the insanity defense affects a person's culpability, lack of capacity to stand trial does not bar a subsequent trial for the charges against him when and if the condition ceases. See capacity, competent.

Quotes:

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked." - Allen Ginsberg

"Man disavows, and Deity disowns me: hell might afford my miseries a shelter; therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all bolted against me." - William Cowper

"I teach that all men are mad." - Horace

"Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and obscurities now." - Mark Twain

"Insanity destroys reason, but not wit." - Nathaniel Emmons

"Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

See more famous quotes about Insanity

Engraving of the eighth print of William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress depicting Inmates at Bedlam Asylum

Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity. In modern usage insanity is most commonly encountered as an informal unscientific term denoting mental instability, or in the narrow legal context of the insanity defense. In the medical profession the term is now avoided in favor of diagnoses of specific mental illness such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.^[1] When discussing mental illness in general terms, "psychopathology" is considered a preferred descriptor.^[2]

In English, the word "sane" derives from the Latin adjective sanus meaning healthy. The phrase "mens sana in corpore sano" is often translated to mean a "healthy mind in a healthy body". From this perspective, insanity can be considered as poor health of the mind, not necessarily of the brain as an organ (although that can affect mental health), but rather refers to defective function of mental processes such as reasoning. A Latin phrase for "sane" is "compos mentis" (lit. "of composed mind"), and a euphemistic term for insanity is "non compos mentis". In law, mens rea means having had criminal intent, or a guilty mind, when the act (actus reus) was committed.

Contents 1 In medicine 2 Historical treatment 3 Legal use of the term 4 Feigned insanity 5 References 6 External links

In medicine

Wikinews has related news: Dr. Joseph Merlino on sexuality, insanity, Freud, fetishes and apathy

Insanity is no longer considered a medical diagnosis but is a legal term in the United States, stemming from its original use in common law.^[3] The disorders formerly encompassed by the term covered a wide range of mental disorders now diagnosed as organic brain syndromes, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychotic disorders.^[1]

Historical treatment

During the 18th century, the French and the British introduced humane treatment of the clinically insane, though the criteria for diagnosis and placement in an asylum were considerably looser than today, often including such conditions as Speech disorder [speech impediments], epilepsy and depression.

Europe's oldest asylum is the Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, also known as Bedlam, which began admitting the mentally ill in 1403. The first American asylum was built in Williamsburg, Virginia, circa 1773. Before the 19th century these hospitals were used to isolate the mentally ill or the socially ostracized from society rather than cure them or maintain their health. Pictures from this era portrayed patients bound with rope or chains, often to beds or walls, or restrained in straitjackets.

Legal use of the term

Main article: Insanity defense

In United States criminal law, insanity may serve as an affirmative defense to criminal acts and thus does not need to negate an element of the prosecution's case such as general or specific intent.^[4] The states differ somewhat in their definition of insanity but most follow the guidelines of the Model Penal Code. All jurisdictions require a sanity evaluation to address the question first of whether or not the defendant has a mental illness. Most courts accept a major mental illness such as psychosis but will not accept the diagnosis of a personality disorder for the purposes of an insanity defense. The second question is whether the mental illness interfered with the defendant's ability to distinguish right from wrong. That is, did the defendant know that the alleged behavior was against the law at the time the offense was committed. Additionally, some jurisdictions add the question of whether or not the defendant was in control of their behavior at the time of the offense. For example, if the defendant was compelled by some aspect of their mental illness to commit the illegal act, the defendant could be evaluated as not in control of their behavior at the time of the offense. The forensic mental health specialists submit their evaluations to the court. Since the question of sanity or insanity is a legal question and not a medical one, the judge and or jury will make the final decision regarding the defendant's status regarding an insanity defense.^[5][6]

In most jurisdictions within the United States, if the insanity plea is accepted, the defendant is committed to a psychiatric institution for at least 60 days for further evaluation, and then reevaluated at least yearly after that.

Insanity is generally no defense in a civil lawsuit. However, in civil cases, the insanity of the plaintiff can toll the statute of limitations for filing a suit until the plaintiff has recovered from this condition, or until a statute of repose has run.

Feigned insanity

Feigned insanity is the simulation of mental illness in order to avoid or lessen the consequences of a confrontation or conviction for an alleged crime. A number of treatises on medical jurisprudence were written during the nineteenth century, the most famous of which was Isaac Ray in 1838 (fifth edition 1871); others include Ryan (1832), Taylor (1845), Wharton and Stille (1855), Ordronaux (1869), Meymott (1882). The typical techniques as outlined in these works are the background for Dr. Neil S. Kaye's widely recognized guidelines that indicate an attempt to feign insanity.^[7]

Today feigned insanity is considered malingering. In a 2005 court case, United States v. Binion, the defendant was prosecuted and convicted for obstruction of justice (adding to his original sentence) because he feigned insanity in a Competency to Stand Trial evaluation.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} L M Tierney, S J McPhee, M A Papadakis (2002). Current medical Diagnosis & Treatment. International edition. New York: Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill. pp. 1078–1086. ISBN 0-07-137688-7. 
2. ^ An interview with Dr. Joseph Merlino, David Shankbone, Wikinews, October 5, 2007.
3. ^ ""What’s in a Name?": A Brief Foray into the History of Insanity in England and the United States". Journal of the Academy of American Psychiatry and the Law. 2005. http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/33/2/252?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=40&minscore=5000&resourcetype=HWCIT. Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
4. ^ "Criminal Responsibility and Intent -- Poortinga and Guyer 35 (1): 124 -- Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online". www.jaapl.org. http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/35/1/124?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&minscore=5000&resourcetype=HWCITCriminal. Retrieved on 2008-02-22. 
5. ^ Shapiro, David L. (1991). Forensic Psychological Assessment: An Integrative Approach. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-205-12521-2. 
6. ^ Gary, Melton (1997). Psychological Evaluations for the Courts: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press. pp. 186–248. ISBN 1-57230-236-4. 
7. ^ Neil S. Kaye M.D.. "Feigned Insanity in Nineteenth Century America Legal Cases" (PDF). http://courtpsychiatrist.com/pdf/Feigned%20Insanity%20in%20Nineteenth.pdf. 

External links

Look up insanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Insanity

• Rosenhan, David L. "On Being Sane in Insane Places."

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