Every society has madness. Sometimes its celebrated, other times punished. In the USA, it seems that individual experiences of madness--both the acute problems and the life in the patient role, more or less--vary wildly.

What if the whole thing is just that the mind breaks? And the DSM isn't spotting actual "diseases," just ways in which the mind breaks?

I'm thinking now that madness is very real, but I don't know about mental illness. The mind breaks, that's fairly obvious. Diagnosis doesn't even seem to matter. The bipolar people are on antipsychotics, the schizophrenic people are on mood stabilizers. Why even bother with the DSM speak?

What if its just about getting space? 21st century culture is so fast and furious and cut throat. Maybe a label is the only way left to get a touch of compassion, maybe even mercy, definitely some space in which to make mistakes and build a life?