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"Tea kettle reality" is elusive not illusive. 

Our discussion of mental health seems plagued by words like comfortable, acceptable, or fitting in. This kind of language reeks of mediocrity when health is about excellence. When we talk about physical health we think of toned muscles and strong backs, not your average joe-six-pack who just "fits in".  

When we speak of a spectrum of illness, any kind of illness, we are still talking about something which is categorically different from health. Certainly each individual experiences a variety of aspects of healthfulness, both mental and physical, but that does not mean that health and unhealth are merely quantitatively different; they are in fact qualitatively different.  If I have a cut on my arm I would say that my arm is injured/has a problem that needs fixing. But, a cut lies on the spectrum of illness that does not require intervention... most of the time.  Likewise with mental illness I think that we can say that many mental health issues lie an a region of the spectrum of problems/ilnness that does not require intervention.  But to say that the cut is "not a problem" or that even mild forms of mental illness are "not problems" is... I can't think of a better way to say it than to say it... is wrong.

 I think it is far more realistic to try to dry lines between qualitatively different things than it is to draw them between quantitatively different things. Ryan's discomfort with drawing a line is totally legitimate because thus far our conversation has considered all mental states as qualitatively the same. 

 Other than this point I am in total agreement with Grob's 7 points. 

Don't get me wrong, I am all for diversity. I don't want everyone to think, talk, act, and look just like me but, for their own benefit, I do want everyone to live in the "tea kettle" reality which is dictated not by any culture but by the laws of nature (gravity pulls things down type laws). 

In regards to the "moral comfort blanket". I think that it is dangerous to think like that because you will set up default "protocols" for action which may not be applicable to particular circumstances.  Each situation should be examined individually. To think one has a set of rules/safety blanket to guide them through every decision  will cause problems.