THE MENTALLY ILL AMONG US
Here's the latest national news item about a mentally unbalanced person who is obsessed with another person.
The individual in this article is a Catholic priest and a graduate of Harvard.
If he lived near you or if you saw him on the street would you guess he is insane? Probably not. That's the way it with many of those who have this type of mental illness.
The way these people are identified is when they begin acting out their obsessions. And, in severe cases, they must act them out. They are compelled to do so. They can't help themselves. Their obsession with another individual is as compelling to them as alcohol is to an alcoholic or drugs are to an addict.
Mentally unbalanced people who have such obsessions exist in just about every city.
You can know such people by their almost total obsession with some other person. They'll stalk them, write about them, talk about them and do little else but think about them.
Last month, there was a mentally unbalanced woman from Huntington Beach who was arrested after stalking Sandra Bullock.
People with this mental disorder usually fixate on some other person who has some celebrity status, no matter how minor.
Oftentimes, they'll fixate on actors, performers or authors and sometimes on politicians. The key is that the fixation usually is upon someone in the public eye and it is usually a specific person.
Depending on the details of the mental illness, the mentally unbalanced person will think the person they are obsessed with has somehow harmed them or intends to harm them or is in love with them or is sending them secret, sometimes coded, messages or may even be a space alien or a demon or....
The insane person often thinks that he or she is somehow special or has been called to do something regarding the person they are obsessed with.
Once they begin acting out their obsessive compulsions, these mentally ill people tend to increase the frequency of their actions and they become more and more overt.
With the advent of inexpensive computers, the Internet and blogs, it's just a matter of time before we start seeing serious studies about how these things factor into how these obsessions play out.
Those with such mental disorders no longer have to use pen and paper to scrawl their messages. Will their acting out impulses be satisfied by being able to stalk over the Internet or will they be increased? As a result of their blogs, will they be more easily identified by police and mental care professionals for intervention strategies? These and many other questions are yet to be answered.
If you suspect anyone of having such a mental illness, you might want to let the police know about it.
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Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
