Dismissing "Crazy": Part Two

In part one of this series on the label "crazy," Jessica investigates this word, what it means and why we use it. She left us in a difficult spot. "According to google, someone who is crazy is stupid and therefore won’t listen to reason, is erratic and therefore careless, and is quite possibly dangerous in some way. Right?" Here is part two of "Dismissing 'Crazy.'"

By Jessica Kell

So, I confront myself specifically with this, perhaps, harsh rhetoric because the reality is that even in my complex clinical world, contact with legitimate hostility, psychosis, euphoria, or severe cognitive impairment is not the norm and I struggle. In my heart, I can find that place where my own excuses lie. I might label a little more professionally than “crazy,” but I still dismiss people nonetheless - in my pride, in my worry about my image, in my annoyance or boredom, or in my entertaining of hopelessness. My haste to fix things and my impatience to see growth or change (in others) are also top contenders - especially when I recognize how lenient I am when I catch myself doing something “crazy.”

Here’s the truth. Taking someone’s behaviors, needs, or any of their life-stuff and stamping a word like “crazy” on them is a simple way for me to dismiss them and myself and hide the fact that I’m dismissing. I issue myself a pass to skip out on investing, caring, helping, loving, confessing, and forgiving because… the other person is foolish. Wrong. Sinning. Unbelieving. Stubborn. Careless or… crazy. There are some things and some people I would like to avoid.

Having said all this right here in the open, I’m feeling a creeping desire to want to say something pretty and shiny. To offer a solution and wrap things up nicely. For myself, and maybe for you too. But here is another counselor creed that was thankfully never challenged or shot full of holes – don’t fix. Wrestling is good. It builds strength. I want to sit with this truth. I want to take responsibility for it - for what I do and therefore, end up not doing. Acknowledging the shadows can be… well, a little dark sometimes. But perhaps I can offer a beacon that I am determined to also keep my eyes on. For those who know me, it will come as no surprise that I’ve found this ray of light in a thought by C.S. Lewis. It’s what I will hold on to as I work through the layers of myself.

In an essay titled “The Weight of Glory,” Lewis wrote, “it is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, [or royal priests and saints of the household of God] and to remember that even the most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship (….) [so] …it is with awe and proper circumspection that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – and thus we must realize that our engagement with them contributes either immortal horror or everlasting splendor.” 

Jessica  Kell completed  her bachelor’s degree at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and has a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from Trinity International University. She is a Licensed Behavioral Health Counselor in four states, including Washington, and is a certified Designated Mental Health Examiner and Chemical Dependency Counselor. Currently, she works at a community health clinic in Dutch Harbor, Alaska serving individuals, families, and children and specializing in trauma and grief recovery, substance abuse, and managing severe mental illness. 

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