What Is The Difference Between Legally Insane and Clinically Insane?
I worked in mental health since 1987 and I have never heard the word “insane” used by mental health professionals except in a legal context. Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGRI) is a legal concept that means the person could not tell the difference between right and wrong at the time the crime was committed. But having a mental illness does not automatically mean the accussed will get the NGRI verdict. It depends on what happens in court. I have worked for a state mental hospital where we had patients classified as NGRI. I also worked for a prison where we had inmates with major mental illnesses like Schizophrenia and they were sentenced the same as inmates who did not have mental illness. In popular usage, “insane” might mean the same thing as “mental illness.” But I honestly never heard or read where a psychiatrist wrote in a report that somebody is “insane” unless the legal concept was applicable.
