Anxiety and Depression

Namaste and welcome friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers to another posting for the Quiet Mouse Strikes Back. I first want to say that this subject is extremely painful. I have taken dozens of pills over many years to help with the symptoms brought on by Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depression.

As I begin to write this, the thought occurs to me to stop because my heart is already beating faster for reasons I cannot fathom. I have to calm myself from not hyperventilating at times. Life feels at times to be cursed rather than blessed when you have anxiety and depression. A chemical imbalance of serotonin, I'm told is the cause. It hurts when others that you love, who don't understand are dismissive and disrespectful, blowing you off because they think you are being "negative", rather than just listen... that's all EVERYONE wants... but especially when you are afflicted with mental illness. The triggers of an attack on one's mind are VERY REAL. The reaction to those stimuli may or may not be equally appropriate. However, I again assert that the negative reaction made by loved ones in THEIR response to the sufferer can  be just as detrimental. The reactions of others (including family members), as made by the anxious person, are often deemed as apathetic and uncaring. Rather than constantly be argued with, much like with a counselor or psychologist, most of the time the person just wants to feel as if they are listened to and validated for their concerns.
It is our common reaction as human beings to shun away from things that bring displeasure and negative emotions. When you have a loved one who is mentally ill, there must be exceptions made; a greater effort from the supporting family to both actually UNDERSTAND what is going on, AND a greater effort to HELP the family member who is afflicted. It is common for the one with anxiety to feel alienated and lose that connection with loved ones when it feels like nothing matters or no one listens. When a person feels alienated, unappreciated, that NOTHING MATTERS, or that no one listens, this can lead to feelings of hopelessness, depression, and MORE ANXIETIES.
Above all, no one wants to be treated condescendingly. We already know there is no cure for our issues and we don't need a constant reminder as to why YOU or anyone else thinks that we are wrong for our OWN thoughts and feelings. It HURTS when a family member diminishes the value of your anxiety, especially by arguing with you or hurting your feelings. YES, I can concur that it is counter-productive to attempt to placate the individual by agreeing with him/her arbitrarily... but the idea is to make the process easier which, hopefully will decrease the overall level of anxiety, not just with the one person, but with the family, in general.
What really hurts this whole process is that kids, in particular, just don't give a shit. They are spoiled, lazy, apathetic, negative, and flat out MEAN at times... kinda like adults. NO, I'm not saying everyone is bad. We ALL have our moments of weakness where we succumb to the pressures of life. This is normal. But it's bad enough when it feels like the ENTIRE WORLD is going to shit... at these times we NEED our family to be the ones to HELP, NOT HINDER our recovery from this debilitating illness.
It is easy to give up and fall into habits that are self-defeating. This is why we need the support of our families. Family and home are meant to be the people and place that an individual is supposed to be able to be his/her SELF, without having to be fake, without having to be judged, and without having MORE anxieties that lead to MORE depressive episodes and/or other self-defeating behaviors. Home is supposed to be our castle, our protection, our shelter of zen happiness and peacefulness. But what happens when are homes are chaotic and destructive to our already broken psyche? It's NOT good.


Anxiety, to me is like this: You know that sound that is made by a person scratching their fingers on the surface of a chalk board? It's mind-bending, obnoxious, and sometimes infuriating. Well, anxiety is sort of like that, except in YOUR HEAD; instead of a chalkboard there are stimulations, often many of them, that trigger our brains to go into that gritty chalkboard scratching. Worry becomes stress, which leads to a panic, which leads to attempt at control, which causes more fear, which causes labored breathing, increased heart rate, muscle tension, loss of energy and again, MORE ANXIETY. What makes this condition so horrible is that you are often the cause of your own problem. But you don't need to be told that. Society is ALREADY judging you just because you are behaving different. This causes more anxiety and often the desire to be separate FROM society. This hurts more and more because we are social creatures and we intrinsically desire our fellow humans to not just care, but to appreciate us as well.

HELP! When life is spiraling out of control, it is difficult to regain perspective. Sometime the episodes of anxiety and depression can last a LONG time. Family members who do not understand need to exert some level of empathy in dealing with the afflicted loved one. Arguing, yelling, fighting, or ignoring the issue(s) WON'T HELP! Trying to FORCE the person suffering to "see the light" of YOUR PERCEIVED TRUTH is condescending and counter-productive. These things are cyclic. This too shall pass. The MAJORITY of the time, the sufferer will realize on their own the perspective to calm his/her self. All you have to do is be PATIENT, LISTEN, and SUPPORT your loved one UNCONDITIONALLY!!!
We CAN get through this TOGETHER. It's going to be difficult. I need your patience, your love, and your ears. Listen to me. Value me. Respect me. HELP ME.
This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.

Can There Be A Separation of Church and State?

Namaste and welcome to another edition of the Quiet Mouse Strikes back.
"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in  blood for centuries."
- James Madison, 4th President
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
- George Washington, 1st President
"Christianity may be good and Satanism evil. Under the Constitution, however, both are neutral. This is an important, but difficult, concept for many law enforcement officers to accept. They are paid to uphold the penal code, not the Ten Commandments... The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by religious zealots in the name of God, Jesus, and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don't like that statement, but few can argue with it."
- Carl Sagan, author and scientist
"Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so."
- Robert A. Heinlein, American author
"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under."
- Ronald Reagan, 40th President

I started out with some quotes to get my readers thinking about the topic of the blog. Now, I'm gonna throw a curve ball and state that I don't think there can EVER be a true separation of church and state because in reality the CHURCH IS THE STATE. Think about that one for a second.
In the United States of America, approximately 77% of the population considers itself to be Christian. Throughout history, especially in Europe through the dark ages of the last 2000+ years there was NO clear boundary between the church and state. Often, in fact, the religion acted as a tool to further the whims of the state, and their holy book, the Bible, was often edited, like in the example of the King James Bible, based upon who was in charge at the time, and what they wanted to accomplish... generally this had to do with taxation, fealty, and the threat of penalty for dissent against the government/church state. In fact, still to this day judges continue to wear robes in court (as well as making you swear on the Bible) because the original court system FOR the state was done BY the church and its officials, who acted as judge, jury, and executioner... any dissent was considered a crime punishable by DEATH or torture. Beyond the fact that religion claims to be infallible and beyond the scope of government or the people, there are many more similarities with government than they would like to admit...
CHURCH v. STATE
1) BOTH claim all-encompassing authority over the land and the people within.
2) BOTH claim to be the authority over morality and judgement.
3) BOTH are large organizations that CLAIM to serve the people.
4) BOTH are 100% funded by citizens of nations.
5) BOTH claim to have gotten their power from a HIGHER AUTHORITY.
6) BOTH claim to be a path of salvation for millions.
7) BOTH discriminate and spread disinformation as it serves their interest.
8) BOTH are hung up on trivial issues like abortion and homosexual rights.
9) BOTH threaten punishment for failure to follow their "code of ethics".
10) BOTH threaten long term consequences for these violations.
11) BOTH have sanctioned wars and murdered innocents based on their biased beliefs.
12) BOTH are more concerned with their own agendas than the will of the people who fund them.
13) BOTH hold their meetings in large buildings where their agenda and creed is preached from a pulpit.
14) BOTH have an over-inflated sense of self-importance.
15) BOTH are fully capable and DO rationalize bigotry, ethnocentrism, war, theft, and murder... often BOTH in the name of GOD...

I could probably go on, but I think my reading audience will understand the point I'm trying to make. In a certain geographical area, the predominant religion also becomes the predominant government philosophy. It is no different in Muslim or Jewish controlled nations.
It is a novel idea to separate church and state, but the practical application is much more difficult. It is this way because the very citizens that make up the government happen to be predominantly of that religion. In this nation that is 3/4 Christian, our political representatives are mostly Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant to a lesser degree. Right now there are NO Protestants holding position on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Lastly, look at our money and see that it says "In God we trust"... clearly NOT a separation of church and state. Also, we can look directly at the Bible to see that there is no separation of Christianity from the State.
Romans 13: "Let every soul be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil..."
THINK and be FREE. This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.