At the end of the movie Beautiful Mind, the main character, mathematician John Nash (played by Russel Crowe), tells a colleague that he has not gotten over his mental illness. That his demons continue to haunt him, except that he makes a willful effort not to succumb to them. Nash says surviving mental illness is like a “diet of the mind.”
That one line had an effect on me (apart from memorizing the phrase and integrating it into conversation). I think it’s absolutely correct: there are certain (compulsive) acts we can control by willing ourselves to do so. It is very difficult, but it can be done with a lot of self control, focused determination and discipline.
Now if I can just take my own advice.
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