I think it all depends on the cause of the mental state that is causing the behavior.

If there is a chemical imbalance that is really messing with the brain I think it might take really strong personal values to counter a beharior that is being created by the imbalance.

I believe that people with a really strong moral value wont go out killing people when they have psychotic issues or behave sexually inappropriately just because they are in a manic state. I believe that there are definitely strong moral values in people that override what a mental state might be pushing on the person...in other words mental states are acted out in behaviors in different people given their internal values they hold & how strong they are.

After going through 2 years of DBT group & lrarningabout mindfulness I truly believe in most cases we can learnvhow to catch ourthoughts & be totally aware of them & be able to combine our logucal thinking with our emotional thinking to come up with wise mind decisions that control our decisions , choices, & behaviors.

Its totally possible but its NOT EASY & takes a lot of work & awareness to be mindfull rather than just react.

It would be interesting to see just how this DBT would have changed how I reacted during my really bad depression years when I wouldjust act/react withouteven thinking....not evenvtruly aware of the thought or feeling I was reacting to. It seemed logical to me at the time.

In other words, our minds can learn to control our behaviors no matter what mental state we are in...I just havent been able to test it out for myself because my depression was situational & the situation has changed so I will NEVER experience that situation again. I got out of the trap with my life.