Insanity

From ArticleWorld

A synonym for insanity is madness but the definition of what constitutes it is quite subjective. What is insane for one person may seem quite sane to another depending on social and cultural perspectives. The term is not so much a medical one as a legal one and it is wrong to equate insanity with mental illness as it is possible to suffer from one without necessarily suffering from the other.

In the past, insanity was often thought to be caused by the supernatural or by divine causes. Demonic possession or a punishment by the gods was considered to be just punishment for any wrongdoing and the premise is that the mind is healthy enough and insanity is inflicted by an external source. There are some who believe in such theories today but are considered to be in the monority.

In a legal sense

It is the job of forensic psychiatrists to assess whether a defendant is insane or not. In a court of law, insanity is taken to mean the defendant was not able to differentiate between right and wrong at the time the crime was committed and so cannot be held legally responsible for the crime. The psychiatrist gives an opinion based on expertise, and this may be accepted by the judge and jury or it may not. If it is deemed valid, then the defendant is sentenced to treatment and not to prison. In the case where the insanity is judged to have been temporary, then there may be no sentence at all.