Three or more of the following for antisocial personality disorder.
1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest 2. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure 3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead 4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults 5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others 6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations 7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
B. The individual is at least age 18 years.
C. There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.
D. The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.
You count them. :)) Note D. Antisocial personality disorder and bipolar can be part of the pathology within one individual.
Huckelberry said: I see the order and harmony to be the very image of God which smiles upon us each morning as we awake.
Simon Belmont wrote: One of my best friends suffers from rapid Bi-Polar with schizophrenic tendencies. I have been dealing with him for ten years now, moving from hospital to hospital, from homeless shelter to homeless shelter... watching him destroy his life over and over, each time a manic stage hits. It isn't his fault, but it has pained me for many years.
The funny thing about this is this just adds a bit more evidence to beastie's theory. Like beastie, I acknowledge that it's impossible to do a post mortem analysis of a mental disorder, evidence can only be suggestive in these cases, never conclusive.
In Joseph Smith's life you see him moving around from place to place as he wore out his welcome in each and every location. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and finally Illinois. In each case the work done in each of those locations was destroyed, only to be followed up with even more creative work in the next location. New York Mormonism is easily the most boring form of Mormonism, Nauvoo Mormonism easily the most frenetic and exciting.
A believer will see this as revelations piling up and the work of God going forward, only to be thwarted by an increase in Satanic opposition. New York Mormonism is boring because Joseph was just getting started in his prophetship. Nauvoo is the most exciting because the heavens had fully opened and the fullness of the gospel had been restored by that point.
However a non-believer can use beastie's theory to explain this stuff in a different way. In each location the manic phase was stronger which resulted in more wild doctrines and organizational patterns. Yet, in each case the prophet would eventually lose his mojo as the the latest creation came crumbling down, maybe as a result of depressive episodes rendering him unable to keep it going. But in every case the pattern is the same, rapid and wild creation of doctrine and organization, followed by a downfall and skipping town to avoid the aftermath.
By the way, diagnosing Joseph Smith with mental disorders post mortem is a minor cottage industry. Here's just one example of a psychiatic post mortem analysis of Joseph Smith on Google books.
And, if you want a summary, Shawn McCraney (the formerly "Born Again Mormon", he's no longer Mormon so just born again now I guess), dedicated a few episodes on his show to summarizing this book. The first one is here (he starts at around the 15 minute mark)
McCraney spends about a minute explaining that the whole enterprise is totally speculative, but still interesting.
And that's the biggest problem for a non-believer putting forward a mental illness as an explanation for Joseph Smith. They are attempting to explain away the unbelievable by appealing to the unknowable. I'm not letting believers off the hook here, I'm just explaining that both sides have problems in this debate.
While we might look back and see Joseph Smith as having had anti-social personality disorder, in today's world, because of the negative social consequences of such a label, the first course of action would be to treat the bipolar disorder, and then see what happens. The bi-polar, plus the social circumstances would make it very difficult to accurately diagnose other pathologies.
Just because it looks like, does not necessarily mean it is.
Huckelberry said: I see the order and harmony to be the very image of God which smiles upon us each morning as we awake.
As you can see simon, this part of the post was ignored by the critics. They really have no explanation for you. Sad but true. I also see him in this light. But for the critics he must have been insane even though emma never claimed such. And she lived with him. And that is most striking in regards to critics' claims about mental illness.
And then we still have the 11 witnesses being fooled by a mentally ill person with plates and visions for them to see and experience. Hard to figure that one out.
How could Joseph Smith have produced the Book of Mormon,
There are a number of theories out there other than the accounts of supernatural intervention. There is the Spalding Theory of course and it has plausibility. Joseph Smith could have been highly creative, assisted by others such as Cowdry or even Emma. There are other theories that are plausible as well.
become a philosopher,
I am not sure divine intervention is necessary to be a philosopher. And one can argue how profound his philosophical ideas were. Was Aquinas, Augustine, Aristotle a prophet?
a military leader,
His success here is certainly debatable. What great military campaigns or battles did Joseph Smith even lead?
a social reformer
Ok to a certain extent.
an economist,
Most of his economic plans failed.
a city planner,
I will grant Nauvoo was for a time quite a success. That does not make someone a prophet.
an architect,
????
a newspaper editor, a health advisor, an educator, an athlete, a theologian, begin what would become a world religion, and above all be a family man and a man of God.
His time as en editor was limited. He was not a health advisor. Whom did he educate? His religion has grown but much of the credit for that goes to BY and others who succeeded him as well.
Even taken all these as a whole there are other men of great accomplishment that are not prophets. How about Thomas Jefferson. His resume is equally impressive if not more so. Is he a prophet?
First, when it comes to diagnosing mental health issues, I think there is so much symptomatology overlap and the DSM changes every few years so any diagnosis is really about how various symptoms fit into the current criteria at any given time. Still, Joseph Smith clearly has some issues and most certainly had mental illness. There is really no question about this.
Beastie makes an excellent case for bipolar disorder but I still go with delusion disorder, grandiosity type; the reason being Joseph Smith’s, (what I consider extreme), non-bizarre delusions.
My strongest reason for believing Joseph Smith suffered, (I use this word intentionally), from DD Grandiosity type, is because I have worked closely with three women over many years who also live with this disorder. They each seem to experience life as did Joseph Smith. One woman in particular has extreme mood swings, serious paranoia, and all sorts of additional mental health challenges but underlying all of it is the extraordinary belief that she is chosen of God who gave her powers and abilities that she alone possesses. She believes she is in constant communion with God who gives her all sorts of information through signs, numbers, and images. When she predicts the future and the prediction does not happen, she has perfect reasons (in her mind at least), as to why it did not happen. Of course, she is never wrong. She comes up with all sorts of stories regarding various people, claiming her information was from God or angels, or spirits, or some otherworldly beings. She is literally obsessed with her communication with God and when anyone tries to help her understand her delusions are not real, she is certain they are trying to harm her, are spiritually thwarted, or attempting to take her powers away. While she is not as dynamic and charismatic as was Joseph Smith, she seems to have come from the same mold. ;-)
The three women I mentioned all function fairly well in society, can hold down jobs at times, and can manage relationships to some degree, (although in each case, there are some challenges similar to Joseph Smith). What separates the life experiences of these three women from most people is that in a very bizarre way, they truly believe their delusions. The delusions are not fleeting but a very foundational part of their sense of self. In other words, it is not like they have a delusion now and then, or they have an experience periodically that is odd, it is their very life is such that they believe they are special, chosen, or given some divine powers and abilities. They cannot see that their world is not quite the real one, nor could they ever be convinced their specialness is a creation of their own imagination.
It is of course impossible to say, but if I had to guess again, I would go with DD.
Based on my knowledge and experience, I would not guess Joseph Smith had a personality disorder.
~td~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
For what it is worth, some individuals can exist is a hypomania state, exhibiting a lot of energy and getting many tasks done (although they usually start more than they finish) and only on rare occasions lapse into full blown mania. They many never touch upon a depressive state.
How about Thomas Jefferson. His resume is equally impressive if not more so.
Understatement of the year.
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The lds church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo