Making Changes vs. The Definition of Crazy

I work as a social worker in a psychiatric prison, and frequently discuss, with my patients, that we do not consider them "crazy."  I explain that they have an illness due to changed brain chemistry, and the medications they are provided with help to modulate that change. 

Additionally, I explain that this can be compared to a person with diabetes, who has changed pancreatic chemistry, which is modulated by medications.  Looking at a person who is diabetic, we can not identify them by their presentation.  With a person with mental illness, if their illness is being managed, we can not identify them by their presentation, either. 

I compare treatment:  people with diabetes manage their illness by medication, testing, diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and awareness of their illness and how they are uniquely affected by their body chemistry changes.

So, I tell my patients that treatment for their mental illness involves medication, testing, diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and awareness of their illness and how they are uniquely affected by their body chemistry changes.  This frequently makes a major impact on my patients...Because even before they have heard this comparison, they have heard about the ways to work on their illness.

So, we go on to talk about the definition of Crazy:  Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.  Pure and simple.  If there is something in your life that you do not like, then the only way you can change/improve/prevent this is to change what you do.  You do not control others; they are in charge of their own choices and behaviors.  YOU are in charge of your choices and behaviors. 

We also discuss the fact that if we change, the world around us, the people around us, may change their response to us.  But we are not in charge of the change, either. We know things will be different, but we can not predict how things will be different!

Most of us do not like change: it unsettles us, upsets our routine, takes us out of our comfort zone, and makes us work harder. It also makes it more difficult for us to predict outcomes.  So, it is predictable that most of us do not like change.

Sometimes, though, change can be healthy. If there is a purpose and positive outcome. Something that needs fixing. 

But, why fix it if it is not broken.  You would be crazy to change something if you like the current outcomes. Because if the definition of crazy is "Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results" making changes and expecting the same results is also a definition of crazy!