# Stability vs. Plasticity: Do we have control, or are we under control?



## Thunderlordcid

Hey there everyone. First of all I want to explain why I started this topic. I'm taking a Developmental Psychology class and on the second day of lecture the professor introduced an ongoing debate in the psychological world about Stability vs. Plasticity. The debate of Stability vs. Plasticity is about if a person can overcome some of life's certain events or not. Stability is the side that believes that people can't really help themselves and are going to be stuck in the rut they're in for the rest of their life, or they are under the mercy of nature. Plasticity is the belief that people, no matter the situation, can always help themselves through any rut they really get into. I got to thinking about this and Depersonalization. Do you think that we, with depersonalization/derealization disorder, can help ourselves, or are we under the control of nature and have to go with the flow?

Or let me give you the story of John Nash. John Nash was on that really good movie with Russel Crowe, a Beautiful Mind (Which is inaccurate in a lot of ways, if any of you want the link to his actual documentary I can send a link.) John Nash was what some consider one of the smartest people to walk the earth. He helped father modern economics with a theory he made called "Game Theory." If you wanted to know, game theory is a theory that in a multiplayer game, like poker, there is a best move that everyone can play. And when these best moves tend to level out amongst players the game gets to a point called "The Equilibrium Point." He was a Professor at MIT at an extremely early age. Then at thirty he hit a point in his life where everything crumbled and he developed paranoid schizophrenia. He had delusions that aliens were speaking to him through magazine titles, and that everyone on his campus that was wearing a red tie was following him (Which at the time a red tie was pretty common at a University.) He went through mental hospital to mental hospital for about 20 years of his life. His friends managed to get him a job at Princeton even with his schizophrenia. But in his sixties he managed to rationalize with his delusions. He was able to get his schizophrenia under control without the help of psych meds. He then received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is teaching to this day at Princeton.

Now if you've read the story, do you consider John Nash's triumph over schizophrenia with the side of Stability, that only through time and by the grace of nature he was able to overcome his schizophrenia naturally? Or do you consider John Nash's triump with the side of Plasticity, that sine he could rationalize with his delusions and overcome them naturally that he took the disease in his own hands and beat it?

Now with that in mind do you think that we can overcome our disorder by choice, or only by the grace of nature?

I honestly want to read any opinion that you have to contribute. But keep in mind that other people might have different opinions too, so don't get offended by anything that might be posted on here.


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## Pablo

Very interesting post. I wonder if John Nash really did overcome his schizophrenia through his own rationalisations, something tells me thats not quite right even though thats what he says happened it just doesn't sit quite right with me, generally from my own experiences I think the more you let go of control and rationalisations the more control you get which is a bit of a paradox. In terms of taking a mental problem "into your own hands" I generally think the control you have is generally what you do with your time so you can exercise, socialise, do things like yoga or meditate but trying to actually control it mentally by your will just creates stress and more problems and letting go give you more control in the end.

So in terms of what you can do to overcome mental problems you can set up the most perfect environment possible to recover by surrounding yourself with support and love, eat the right foods and exercise, stimulate and fulfill yourself physcially, mentally and sexually if you possibly can but then in terms of interfering with your mental processes the only things which could help and not cause more stress would be something like mindfullness training or similar things where you learn not to identify with parts of your mind.


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## Thunderlordcid

Pablo said:


> Very interesting post. I wonder if John Nash really did overcome his schizophrenia through his own rationalisations, something tells me thats not quite right even though thats what he says happened it just doesn't sit quite right with me, generally from my own experiences I think the more you let go of control and rationalisations the more control you get which is a bit of a paradox. In terms of taking a mental problem "into your own hands" I generally think the control you have is generally what you do with your time so you can exercise, socialise, do things like yoga or meditate but trying to actually control it mentally by your will just creates stress and more problems and letting go give you more control in the end.
> 
> So in terms of what you can do to overcome mental problems you can set up the most perfect environment possible to recover by surrounding yourself with support and love, eat the right foods and exercise, stimulate and fulfill yourself physcially, mentally and sexually if you possibly can but then in terms of interfering with your mental processes the only things which could help and not cause more stress would be something like mindfullness training or similar things where you learn not to identify with parts of your mind.


I share the same opinion with you Pablo. You can't take this thing that we have and find a way to overcome it, I think it just has to naturally come to you. The only thing you can do is relax yourself by doing various things from yoga to taking anxiety meds, but fighting this thing is like a Chinese Fingercuff, the more you pull the more you stress it.


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