Do you think it's possible to tell if someone has a mental disorder just by looking at them?

[msc545]

Do you think this is possible? What physical characteristics do you think correspond to any specific mental disorders? I have sometimes thought, although not completely seriously, that an excessive number of tattoos or piercings, or skimpy clothing, suggests the presence of an Impulse Disorder and Impaired Judgment. What do you think?

Updates

1 mo

If you actually think this is possible, then tell me what it is that you think you see and what mental disorder you think it indicates.

[Ill_made_Knight]

I think there are times when you feel with a fair degree of certainty that you're seeing someone who's slipped over the edge, but you really can't be certain I think.
There was this man in Oakland CA. downtown. Just the hygiene and state of his clothing suggested homelessness. Dirty.
He had a sandwich board though, it said "Unlawful Sex". He would parade back and forth shouting at the sky about people "not being authorized" to be married and that was his whole schtick essentially. You would think that this would be the case with that guy.

[Ill_made_Knight]

I don't think you can make a diagnosis or tell with certainty just based on appearance, or even a behavior that you see over a few minutes and that even if you witness the same behavior briefly more than a few times. Considering the above example, the same guy every day, same routine, happened every day... at some point you have to think, it's very performative and he's very much part of the local landscape. Maybe this guy just found a way to shake together enough coin to meet his meager requirements and it suits him? In one off situations exposure, dehydration, other environmental factors might be causing what you see.
There's a question I've seen tossed about quite a lot over the last year and a half though. Is it possible to diagnose a public figure that is seen with a certain regularity through media and over a number of years. Their ability to continue a valid point to completion has declined, they lose words or they come out slurred/altered, often drifting off into unrelated subjects. They have a certain forward lean when standing that doesn't seem normal. Dozing off during televised meetings, and the right side of the face appears to melt, something we expect to see from someone who's had a stroke. Then there are the consistently swollen ankles, the bruised hands, the marks on the neck, the swelling of the right eye. Seriously I might simply attribute some of this to having just come off an I. V. but this also begs the question why all the medical visits and the MOCA cognitive test being given so frequently? I'm no doctor, and I've seen several of them claim that they don't have enough to go on based on video evidence, and also seen claims of knowing what the problems are based on having dealt with these issues for years as a home health aid etc... so, do you have an opinion on this figures health issues? What's your take... or disclaimer?

[msc545]

Okay, you are not wrong here, but when I said "looking," I meant literally just looking at their face, not the behavior. If you're looking at behavior, then that often tells you, or at least tells me, that someone has something going on that's probably not good.

[Ill_made_Knight]

fair enough

[slatyb]

No, there are perfectly competent people who may appear mentally ill. One possibility is cerebral palsy, and there are others.

[midnightmoon05]

I was teaching 1st grade last year.
day one, a kid was lining up Lottie of my friends classroom… I noticed… but didn’t say anything… she turned out to be a mental case. My teacher friend kept complaining about a kid… I said is it this kid… she said how do I know… I said I saw that her facial features are very strange compared to normal kids.

[confident666]

Difficult for most mental disorders...

[stalk-stopper]

Mental? Probably easily. Emotional disorder? Definitrly not.

I exhibit all the stereotypical things... if i put my past under a microscope... my dad does too with his past... but at the same time we are mentally healthy and can tell you all about mental health science. We are emotionally destroyed by trauma. we are only triggered sometimes. Not at all times. Like i get a panic attack whenever i see children being spanked and i usually clenched my every muscle in the body to force myself not to jump in and intervene, but sometimes i have let loose of myself.

[msc545]

I'm sorry for your difficulties, but the things you describe are not physical abnormalities.

[Staximus]

If they look like they mutilated themselves intentionally maybe. I guess if someone was singing “somewhere over the rainbow” while looking at me like they wanted to eat my liver with some fava beans, I might be a bit concerned. That would be behavior and not just the way they look, though

[Kvass]

Yeah, of course you can't give a full diagnosis, but you can tell that something is wrong with them

[msc545]

How can you tell?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Eyes too close together seems to correlate to Down Syndrome.

[msc545]

Down Syndrome is not a mental disorder. It is the result of a chromosomal embryo abnormality, an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21. I don't think that even you would call this a mental disorder.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Mental disorders are genetic. If it's not a mental disorder, why are so many people who have it in special needs situations?

[msc545]

Prove to me, or cite some literature proving that mental disorders are genetic. They're not. Many mental disorders are acquired, and we don't even know what causes most of them. Special needs, in this particular case, in regard to Down syndrome, pertain to the physical problems that people have as a result of the chromosomal problems associated with Down syndrome. These are again straight-up medical problems and have nothing to do with mental problems.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

BS. Why are so many of them disabled if it's not mental?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

One second, noob. I showed a few weeks ago that my own mental disorder is genetic.
Quote:
Yes, there is a recognized link between type 2 diabetes and schizophrenia, supported by both observational and genetic research. However, the relationship is complex rather than direct. Key Scientific FindingsShared Genetic Loci: Genome-wide studies have identified shared genomic regions and overlapping susceptibility genes (such as TCF7L2) that independently predispose individuals to both conditions. Metabolic Alterations at Onset: Studies show that individuals experiencing their first episode of schizophrenia often exhibit elevated insulin resistance and blood sugar regulation problems before they begin taking antipsychotic medications.

End Quote:

In other words, if you have schizophrenia, you are more likely to have diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are more likely to have schizophrenia. That's a genetic link.

[msc545]

Many of them have physical disabilities as a result of the chromosomal aberration. It's possible to be disabled physically and have no mental disability.

[msc545]

No, that's a correlation. That is not causation at all. You are confusing the research findings with causative studies. It's not the same thing, and that's not a genetic link.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Yes, it is. I asked the AI Google whether the two were genetically linked, and the bot replied "Yes".

Get over it. You lose the debate.

[msc545]

Yeah, I'm not gonna argue with you too much more about this, but I don't give a goddam what the bot said or didn't say. I know more than the bot does about this stuff. If there's a genetic linkage in post proof other than a bot told you so. Do you know what Kruger Dunning syndrome is? I'm not saying it's genetic, but I think you ought to look it up because it's a good description of your thinking.

[choco-latte]

Sometimes they have the crazy in the eyes, yes

[msc545]

And sometimes people just have some eye problems that create this look.

[choco-latte]

Well it’s usually written all over the face too

[msc545]

Written in what way and how? What does certain writing, as you put it, on the face mean? And what does it mean then?

[choco-latte]

It quite clearly means that they look unhinged. For example this one’s grin along with the way she’s looking at the camera (picture I posted)

[msc545]

So if somebody smiles in a way that you don't approve of, that means they are supposedly "unhinged"? That is your professional opinion?

[choco-latte]

Just look at that picture, it’s not just me 99% of people would agree she looks crazy or unhinged in that picture and while you couldn’t confirm it just by looks alone it certainly gives a crazy vibe. Which if I remember correctly, you asked if it was “possible” to which I’m answering maybe.

Here’s another example
upload.wikimedia.org/.../250px-Manson1968.jpg

Does he look crazy in this picture? Most people would say yes. Was he actually crazy? Well he was a deranged killer for sure.

Here’s another one
upload.wikimedia.org/.../Pablo_Escobar_Mug.jpg

He doesn’t look crazy, he looks malicious which he was.

I’m definitely not comparing AOC to either of those two guys so don’t get me wrong. Nor am I saying that I know her personally or that she 100% is a loon.

All I said was that in some instances people do sometimes look a little crazy, maybe they are or maybe they aren’t, but there will be times when your instinct was right, on some level at least.

[msc545]

Believe what you want. I'm sick of arguing with you. This is all bullshit. Anyway

[goaded]

Well, there's the hat...

But no, not really.

[IknowthatIdontKnow09]

Sometimes yes, sometimes is difficult

[888theGreat]

They walk funny

[msc545]

People with a sprained ankle walk funny too. This has nothing to do with a mental disorder.

[loveyouoak]

Sometimes.

[msc545]

I see. How can you tell?