how you can tell if someone is crazy?

Those are the appropriate and exact definitions of those terms, I agree with you! We however do use the word crazy when someone is overacting over reacting in some circumstances although they are not really mentally ill. We also do use the word crazy to describe intense emotion such as falling in love we we do say "I'm crazy over you!" I know a lot of people who are suffering form mental illness though. One of them is caused by a traumatic incident in her life. It all started when their house was burned! Nothing was left but ashes. Since then she behaved strangely and now she is in a mental hospital and is now being treated.

some people so sth seems to lose their mind , maybe caused by the heavy pressure , they need some space to adjustment but some are not , the maybe .... just so crazy i think there may a real medical personne to decide that`s the push of the morden society , everyone should be take care of thenselves ``

i know of people who are suffering from mental illness,thankfully they are undergoing treatment.i call my husband crazy at times ,as he is so stubborn in some of his views(that he wont give others a chance)

I lived in a rehab or crisis centre for three months once and let me tell you there were plenty of people there that thought they were crazy. Troubled minds is what they actually were and they needed some guidance to help them out in therapy. Most of these people seemed quite normal once the doctors had found the right sort of medication for them. I don't really think any of them were actually crazy although I don't see any of them any more. Crocket.

I have a hard time believing someone is crazy for a number of reasons. One, the definition of crazy as defined by the courts/laws are subject to change on a daily basis at the whims of those in charge. Same goes for knowing what's right or wrong. What I personally believe is right to me, but may be wrong according to the law one day, then right the next. For example, someone in this day and age says they've talked to God/the Goddess/Allah/etc etc is cast aside as crazy, or a lunatic, or mentally unstable. How do we know they haven't in fact talked to a diety of some form? Yet back when all the holy books were written, very few thought otherwise if someone claimed to have had contact with a diety of some form. Then there's the supernatural/paranormal. Unless you've experienced it firsthand, you either believe it or deny it. If you deny it, most find those who believe it/claim to have witnessed it to be crazy/insane/paranoid/and so on. I personally believe, due to experience with it. Does that make me crazy? I joke about being nuts, but I think I'm pretty sane, and I take everything I hear with a dose of skepticism, as blind faith in anything is asinine in my opinion (in the case of religion, aka zealotry/fanaticism, leads to wars and violence and is the worst form of blind faith). I think crazy is another one of those terms made up by society/civilization which can be shifted at will so that those in power can further stay in power by eliminating anyone with new ideas/visions/beliefs. There is indeed mental illness, which is something altogether different from "crazy".

As you said, 'crazy' may have various meanings. In my opinions, a person who goes on talking nonsense for hours and hours could be deemed crazy. By the way, craziness is not mental illness. That is a different phenomenon. Such people need treatment. Regarding craziness, crazy people do it on purpose for the sake of fun or to catch others attention or only to make a nuisance of themselves.

being insane means totally out of touch with reality, mentally ill is means having a illness that can affect the way you think or behave, there are many more mental illnesses than the ones you have mentioned, schizophrenia, (psychosis the term for being out of touch with reality) depression (clinical depression) phobias many personality disorders - borderline personality disorder is the most severe of these disorders all these are in axis I or II of the DSM IV then there are things like learning disabiities social phobias etc that are on the other access they are troubling but not anything that would render a person to be considered "crazy" but they are examples of brain functioning that is not at the average functioning, some of these illnesses occurred because of malfunctioning of the chemical transmiters in the brain, some have been caused by accidents and trauma, and a bunch of other reasons. as a person trained in this area I do not use the term crazy I will use insane if the person is actually insane, and that is it.

That is a loaded question!. When I lived in Tenn. I met many people that fit this discription

It is a fact that a social stigma around mental illness. Everybody may suffer from such an illness. Some of us suffer from mild depression and is able to cope with life and normal duties. Sometimes it is prolonged and we have to be helped with anti depressants. © ronaldinu 2008

there is plenty people around here talking to themself can,t keep a home because of there mental condition of the person

if he is a psycho...

If a person is crazy for roaming with his bike, he can do anything for that.... and thats it.....

I think that mental patients are poor