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Re: Accountability » octopusprime

Posted by Angel Girl on June 16, 2004, at 5:02:43

In reply to Re: Accountability » Angel Girl, posted by octopusprime on June 15, 2004, at 10:03:06

> > I totally agree with those statements. However, if we can not think properly, can we still be held accountable for what we do?
>
> disclaimer: i am not a lawyer, nothing i say constitutes legal advice, everything i say will be held against you ...
>
> that said, most people that are depressed are still accountable for their actions.
>
> one must be found be a court of law to be "insane" before one is no longer accountable for her actions.
>
> from nolo.com(*):
> "Various definitions of insanity are in use because neither the legal system nor psychiatrists can agree on a single meaning of insanity in the criminal law context. The most popular definition is the "McNaghten rule," which defines insanity as "the inability to distinguish right from wrong." Another common test is known as "irresistible impulse": a person may know that an act is wrong, but because of mental illness he cannot control his actions (he's described as acting out of an "irresistible impulse")."
>
> it seems to me that the "irrationality" of depression is most frequently negative distorted thinking, not a fundamental alteration of the understanding of right and wrong. there are cases of depressed people that would be insane by most tests; however i think these people are the minority.
>
> (*) http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/ObjectID/F7D2015C-DDD4-494B-B7B9D6D6D9FAC218/catID/9084D9CE-7259-4AC7-ABAC23333466322C


octopusprime

Thanks for taking the time to provide that link. I guess I was more so thinking in regards to relationships, etc.

ie: If I'm depressed, which of course I am, and somebody says something to me that I misinterpret, as I often do, and react in a very irrational way, as I always do, can a rational reaction from me be too high of expectations from the other person. Have I confused you? lol!!!

I guess what I'm trying so clumsily to say is that if somebody says something to me that I totally misinterpret and I react in a bad way, therefore the other person gets mad at me and tells me that I can't blame everything on my illness.

If I react with irrational thinking then how can somebody expect me to react rationally, when in fact, due to depression and my brain chemistry, is impossible for me to do right now.


I guess bottom line is, can a *normal* person who thinks rationally to everything, expect a mentally ill person, who does not think rationally, to react in a rational manner when it clearly is not within their brain chemistry at this point to do so?


Ok, now I feel like I'm just going in circles and probably not saying what I'd like to very well at all. I hope you can make some heads and tails out of this bunch of jumbled words.

AG


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poster:Angel Girl thread:356808
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