Definitions HQ

Insanity (n.) begins ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only when the contents of the unconscious take the place of conscious reality — believed in without reserve.

Insanity (n.) shows ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠brutally what neurosis keeps in the background; the pathology lies not in the images but in a consciousness that can no longer control them.

Insanity (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠literally and not as metaphor, a dream that has become real and replaced waking consciousness; the dreamer is normally insane, and the phenomenology of dream and schizophrenia is almost identical.

Insanity (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠possession by an unconscious content that is not, and cannot be, assimilated to consciousness because its existence is denied; such narrowness of consciousness is the shortest way to the asylum.

Insanity (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠often just our name for what we don't understand; the mad speak of mysteries our dense, lethargic minds cannot yet grasp.