Do crazy people make you uncomfortable?

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No, normal people do.

*goes and sits close to Who_Am_I*..............I think I really like you!

*focuses intently on book*

I guess it depends what you mean by crazy.

If you mean apparently irrational and unpredictable actions, that could pose a threat to me or those I am with, then yes. But I perceive irrationality and unpredictability in many people.

I spend quite a lot of time with people with diagnoses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and personality disorders, and they're not the ones that make me feel uncomfortable.

It's the people on the street who shout and swear at each other, the kids and teenagers who stand around in packs on street corners, the blokes (and women) that get into fights on a Saturday night. Those are the scary folk, to me.

Maybe it's because I identify more with the outsider in society than with those who say they are normal and rational, yet seem to do the most bizarre things.

If you mean someone in the middle of a paranoid psychotic episode, then yes, otherwise no. I worked for many years in a diner near an urban campus that was also near many half way houses and many of our customers were people that had been de-institutionalized. As long as they weren't hugely disruptive (as if sane people weren't ever disruptive) it was cool. Jeff, a homeless, mentally ill man would come in and borrow $5 from me sometimes and always paid it back. He gave me a beautiful brass flower vase once. Nathan, who has schizophrenia is a FB friend (his birthday today) and is an artist. Thorne and Mike fought the good fight for many many years and sadly ended their own lives, but they were valued friends. I could be honest with them when I couldn't listen to their ramblings anymore. They'd just say OK and we'd change the subject.
Anyway, my point is that crazy people are people, people.

Crazy people are actually sort of entertaining to me.

There is also that element of "There, but by the grace of God....."

Crazy people hate me, we're not comfortable around each other at all. But when I say crazy I think I mean in the Buddhist sense, what most of you are calling 'normal' people, those who have comfortably bedded into their delusions.

Yep, same here. One of the sole people in this world I can have an intelligent conversation with is a member of my family that has un-diagnosed and un-treated Schizophrenia. He sees things that don't exist and clearly hears things I don't hear. Thinks the government is after him all the time, listening to his calls... But beneath all that is a man who has an opinion on everything that is unique to him, not influenced by societal norms. Plus, he is a freaking genius, something he doesn't know himself. He's the guy who taught me the basics of General Relativity when I was only 10 or so, amongst other things, and I give him a lot of credit for shaping my brain at a young age and making me the seeker of knowledge that I am now.

Normal folks on the other hand, apart from mental health professionals (Most of those I met were extremely competent, so grateful.) , have seldom taught me anything. Their heads look empty to me. THAT makes me uncomfortable.

That is certainly part of the reason why I don't feel quite as anxious and self-conscious around (fellow) oddballs as I do around well-adjusted and socially capable people.

Edited to add: That goes both ways btw. People who talk to themselves in the streets and shout insults at passing cars also don't seem to feel threatend or upset by me, probably because I usually don't stare at others and never make eye contact. And if I do take a quick glance at them, I show my usual blank expression and don't frown or look disturbed like most other people would do.

Last edited by CrazyCatLord on 18 Jan 2012, 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

To me, it's more like a morbid interest. I want to see for myself how bad it can actually get, so that I feel much better about myself. I don't make fun of them or anything, it just makes me feel better about myself. Kind of like how messy people sometimes like to watch that show "Hoarders" to see that their mess is nothing compared to some peoples.

That too. I hate to admit it, but I also feel better about myself after such an encounter because it makes me realize that I haven't quite hit rock bottom yet. It's a relief that compared to them, I'm perfectly normal. But mainly I feel relieved to meet a person who won't judge me or regard me as a weirdo.

I'm more scared of normal people than I am crazy people.

hmm seeing someone worse off then myself does not usually make me feel good about myself...

There's just something about a "crazy" person that triggers my fight-or-flight instincts.

It makes me realize how much worse things could be for me and it helps me to remember to appreciate what I do have. I may be depressed but I don't think the government is after me, I may be having marriage problems but I have a roof over my head and I'm not sleeping in an alley, etc. That kind of thing.

It's like the saying "I was sad because I had no shoes then I met a man with no feet"

I can't stand a lot of people, whether they are crazy, AS or NT. I really have a problem with it if, for example, their craziness is the main part of their personality. If their craziness doesn't define them and it's just something which is personal to them, then whatever.