I'm guessing that depends upon the malady. I am acquainted with a schizophrenic who, in the past, was incarcerated in an institution for the criminally insane. He said he knew that he was becoming "sick" but was in denial for several months, until he attacked a military police officer while stationed in Viet Nam. He knew he was compelled to do the wrong thing, but also knew he was powerless to prevent his crime. He told me that while he was hospitalized, he was under constant chemical restraint. He claims that he felt like he was simultaneously another person inside his head and that his skull was going to explode. He was fully cognizant of this condition. Even now he is under orders to take medication to control his condition. (This occurs once per week.) He can tell the difference when his meds start fading. I only speak to him over the phone. For obvious reasons, I have no desire to meet him in person. swabby

i have problems with anxiety and it is a common worry that people with anxiety have. i have often read that if you were going ''insane'' you wouldnt even know you were, you would just carry on as normal thinking everything was ok. it would be the people around you that noticed you were acting different not you yourself

Going "insane" is a pretty broad term. But... Generally speaking those who are psychotic and who have the most severe mental illnesses (which would be more likely legally considered "insane" by todays legal standards anyway) would NOT know they were "going insane." They might feel agitated or manic or depressed or very angry etc., but they would not tie it into a severe mental illness.

well, i know that i'm going insane from boredom. i currently live in the south when i was born in MD and lived in MD until i was 12

GW Bush seems perfectly rational to me, is that an indication?

You wont, because you will still feel normal.

The only way to fin out if you are insane is by conducting an experiment upon the things that you are hallucinating or believe. By doing so you will be able to find any flaws in your beliefs. For example, if you believe that purple men are following you then you do something to test that theory. You could go through a corridor and close the set of doors behind you at one end and stand at the other. If the doors do not open then no-one is following you. If the doors are opened by a purple man and you have a witness or footage of it happening then they are real and they are following you. If they pass through the door without opening it then they are not real because matter cannot pass through matter on the macroscopic level (things we can see). The main problem with this is that the things created by our unconscious that are fed into the conscious thought are usually complex enough for the conscious mind to believe. Perhaps the purple men are able to shapeshift and fit under the door? So if you allow yourself to get detatched from reality by isolating yourself from people who actually exist and stop forming emotional bonds with them then it would be extremely difficult to re-attatch yourself with reality! In conclusion, if you are insane then you probably won't realize it.

Maybe if you think spongebob squarepants is your father

Someone would tell me.

You think that *everybody* else is insane. If you are out of step with everybody, then you are probably wrong. The problem comes that if you are really original, you can be out of step with nearly everybody and still not be insane.

The voices in my head would tell me.

I do know that I am becoming insane. I have dramatic ups and downs and constant feelings of suicide, accompanied by always being easily irritated to the breaking point, sometimes lashing out on those that I love and bringing it within two weeks of horrible emotions. I can feel my blood in my veins and I can tell that there is a big lump in my head that is controlling all my actions. I think insanity is the full realization of that which is compelling all things that live around you and the world itself. I don't want it anymore, the cow has to be occupied.... No more vacant cows PLEASE PLEASE STOP IT NOW OMG I WANT TO KILL YOU TEARS TEARS TEARS TEARS TEARS TEARS TEARS.. Anyway, yeah I'm pretty sure that I am going insane because as I write this my eyes are closed, yet I can see what I am typing through my eyelids and brain hole speculum master licking poogie!

TERRYTUKER