7 Elements of Horror

Degrees of Insanity

Insanity is not a stagnant state

On the contrary, it is an everchanging rate

Whether it's just a creeping suspicion or small doubt

Or if it's the entire world turning inside out

Insanity is very fluid and diverse

It's always in flux and it can always get worse

Often times, it starts out rather small

You hardly notice anything wrong at all

But the doubt and dissonance creeps in

It's so slow you might even think you can win

But as time continues to move on

Things become a little more wrong

The doubt begins to grow

And other things will change before you even know

Paranoia and a different way of seeing is the start

Then it all falls further apart

Anger is next in line

As certainty and reality decline

Soon, it seems as if you're off in your own little world

Your brain feels like it's becoming unfurled

Perhaps desperation and determination follow after

But now the plunge is going faster and faster

It's a strange mix of certainty and uncertainty

But that's just part of the varying degrees of insanity

You find yourself feeling very alone

It feels as if you have knowledge no one else can ever know

But perhaps you will try to make them understand

Explain, and hope they trust your guiding hand

But if you're too far gone, they won't believe a word you say

They'll think you've gone off the deep end, or this is just play

This will only stress you out even more

Inside your head, it'll feel like a war

Society is slowly pushing you away

The gap is widening every day

You may still feel very coherent and in control

But when you try to check, there's only a large hole

How can you be sure you're not insane?

Especially if you're willing to do crazy acts just the same!

Where is the dividing line between someone truly mad,

And someone who is just willing to be utterly bad?

Well, because of the isolation, you may hate everyone

And not care about what you've said and done

You feel like you're the only one you can trust

So in your eyes, everyone else bites the dust

You become even more locked into your belief

And from the outside, there is no relief

When your faith is all you have left

You'll cling to it and oppose others with zest

And before you know it, you're at odds with all of humanity

And this is how you descend the degrees of insanity

It didn't used to be like this

You used to be normal until you plunged into the abyss

Then the slow-creeping rot sank its teeth into you

You slid down slowly and now you're mad, through and through

From something as small as one little doubt

Before you even began, you were already out

Perhaps this sounds like an inanity

But that's just how they work, the degrees of insanity

AN: Real talk, I do consider insanity to be on a spectrum, but the phrase "degrees of insanity" always sounded so cool to me that I had to write it out. Like, man, I'd use that as a band name!