The mental health statistics vary widely. Near as I can find, a minimum of 10% of people have a personality disorder. This article at nomarriage.com speculates that the mental health community grossly underestimates the figures, and concludes with:
What we have here is a medical community that is afraid to say that a big percentage of American women have very serious mental problems.
Most people occasionally show personality disorder traits, so having cognitive deficits and being nuts is somewhat of a sliding scale, rather than a black and white issue.
Nomarriage.com is great misogynist fun. Misogyny and misandry and misanthropy all hold pertinent and impertinent truths. Misogyny is better understood by including the context of misandry. Both are better understood by a keen inclusion of the wisdoms of misanthropy. My counsel and aim has always been to use the system. If 100% of what nomarriage.com says about women and western feminist women is true, what else is true, and then what? People tend to suck, but it can still be a great ride.
At least, if you aren’t attached to a nutter. The mood over at thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com is way too familiar. Nothing worse than someone threatening you with their mood. My mood is fine, thank you, no need for it to be adjusted by any pissyness.
Over at the Tucker Max message board, statistics are ignored, and people talk about how to spot the signs that a guy is fucked up, or signs that a girl is fucked up.
I’ve been thinking of this as I am finally dating someone who isn’t nuts and who enjoys the simple pleasures of making each other happy. We are very happy. How hard was this to find? Like finding lettuce in the canned beans section.
Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel has done studies that show that ethics professors are less ethical than average. It turns out that being good at thinking about how to be nice and kind isn’t related to being nice and kind. How kind we are is based on our emotional regulation and empathy. People have a set state of how happy they are, plus people vary in their ability to regulate their mood. So some people are moody and cranky and bothersome about it, and no amount of conversation will resolve their trouble. That’s why mood is the most important factor in a mate.