What Does a Whole Bubble Off Level Look Like? Part Two

Bubble Trivia Question # 3:  When did the first psychology experiment take place?

            “A Half Bubble Off-Level” is a phrase we can chuckle at because, quite frankly, we see it a lot in others.  Sometimes we even see it in ourselves, particularly if our friends and acquaintances keep pointing it out to us.  We think of the behaviors as differences in personality that maybe got a little quirky.  For example, a man who lines his books up on the shelves by height might get teased for being a little bit “OCD” (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).  A man who can’t get his books up on the shelves in any order might get teased about being “ADD” (Attention Deficit Disorder).

            We can laugh at quirks of personality.  There is nothing funny, however, about being A Whole Bubble-Off Level.  To be in that category means that the person is mentally ill.  Mentally ill people suffer.  The people around them suffer.  It is a very bad place to be in life.  Later I want to look at seeing the early warning signs for mental illness because, as a culture, we are not very good at doing that.  We are better at seeing the early signs of physical illness.  When we do, we will go to the doctor and get help because we want to be cured.  If a cure is not possible, we hope the doctor can do something to alleviate the suffering.

Because we either don’t pick up on the symptoms of mental illness early in its onset, or we are ashamed to admit that the symptoms are there in ourselves or the people we care about, we do not go for help.  With mental illness, as with physical illness, there are times when a spontaneous cure does occur, but, we can’t count on that.  Untreated mental illnesses, just like untreated physical illnesses, tend to get worse over time. 

If we think of mental illness as being on a scale of 1 to 10, we would start out with “1” being Mentally Healthy (Level) and “10” being Mentally Ill (A Whole Bubble Off-Level).  The numbers in between represent the various other levels of “Off-Level” with “5” being a Half Bubble Off.  So, a person who is a Half Bubble Off is not totally mentally healthy.  Neither is he or she totally mentally ill.  One of the terms we use for this state is Neurotic. 

Before we return to the descriptions of Mental Illness there is one other concept we need to hold in our minds.  That is that “Level” and “Normal” are not synonyms.  Normal is a word that describes whether or not a behavior is acceptable in a certain social setting.  Level is a word that describes a mentally healthy person, regardless of the social setting.

            To be a Whole Bubble Off-level means that the person has lost touch with the expectations of the social setting. 

            Let’s look at another of the Personality Disorders.  This one is called Antisocial Personality Disorder.  It is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others.(a lack of conscience).  It can be diagnosed beginning by age 15, but its roots begin at a much younger age.  This is why we need to recognize the symptoms early on and intervene before the person becomes a full blown “sociopath/psychopath.”  By that time there is little we can do to help them.  Worse yet, this is a group of people who bring a lot of pain and suffering into the lives of others. 

            Next time, we will continue to explore the world of mental illness, so that we can recognize the symptoms earlier.

Answer to Bubble Trivia Question # 3:  In the 6^th century AD, Lin Xie carried out an early experiment in China.  He asked people to draw a square with one hand and draw a circle with the other hand at the same time (ostensibly to test people’s vulnerability to distraction).  This may have been the beginning of psychology as an experimental science.