What mental disorders can someone have that might cause them to be considered legally insane?
Recently in a forum I saw someone say that being Bi-Polar made you legally insane. I am curious if this is true and what other mental disorders would cause someone to be considered legally insane?
Yes, as bipolar disorder can cause hallucinations and delusions which is a break from reality.
Schizophrenia is another disorder in which one can claim legally insane.
Hope this helps!
What makes you legally insane at the time of trial is whether or not the defendant knew that whatever he did at the time of the crime was wrong or not. You could have schizophrenia and know that the act you committed was wrong. If so, you are legally sane.
Answers:
there is no specific list of mental disorders that would constitute someone legally insane. Normally the defence applies to people that at the time of the criminal act or generally are considered unable to distinguish between right and wrong or unable to control theor actions and comprehend the consequences of those.
Normally schizophrenia and psychopathy are two mental illnesses that almost always qualify under what you could call the insanity defence.
Bi-polar disorder can become a defence normally only when it is proven that is accompanied by some sort of psychotic episode at the time when the crime was committed.
