I was watching a movie last night. There was a one-on-one conversation between two characters who'd supposedly known each other for decades. They were colleagues(there was a hierarchy to their relationship) and friends.

Superior's character was that of being altruistic and logical. Subordinate's character was the same. However, during the conversation the subordinate saw that the superior had egregiously lost his way.

The subordinate, in a state of consternation, asked: "When did you abandon reason for madness?"

Has anyone else abandoned reason for madness or something similar?

It seems that when I find myself in a state of madness, it's not because I'd abandoned reason for madness, it's because reason or trying to employ reason had driven me mad.

The problem and attempt to use reason to find a solution becomes an intrusive thought. I find myself in a detrimental and deafening infinite regress series where I don't have enough information.

Years ago, I was in my first "mad" state and called a close friend who happened to be an MD, I don't remember much of what he said, but I do remember him saying that I had to stop attempting to employ rationale.

Reason seems to drive me mad. But...it has also been a tool that helped me succeed in college, grad school, and most other endeavors.