Mental Health anxiety with a side of blogosphere

Self-talk to center

I believe in God and....

...making anxiety worse?

 
Meander past radio item about anthropologist of religion Tanya Luhrmann's study of schizophrenia in different cultures. Her samples are not large but the results make one want to hear more: in the US schizophrenics with auditory hallucinations hear voices that are hostile, negative, condemnatory. In India, the voices are relatives telling the schizophrenics to clean up and get to work.

Never mind voices. Or bear with a digression about all the mechanical and recorded voices RantWoman gets to deal with and just go back to self-talk: Quit procrastinating with eccentric physics videos such as 5 things not to do with a particle accelerator and Models acting up. (Financial models.)

 

Now the main reading that spawned this post: an article from the Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/when-prayer-makes-anxiety-worse/376002/

 

RantWoman would characterize the above article as an extended abstract of article from Sociology of Religion.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.baylorisr.org/wp-content/uploads/Sociology-of-Religion-2014-Ellison-208-33.pdf

As an aside, RantWoman noted comments in the Atlantic about Hinduism and wonders after reading about half the Sociology of Religion article whether it worked wwith multiple faiths and in what terms to test the basic point. RantWoman takes the basic point to be addressing whether the language of one's faith reduces or increases anxiety. RantWoman did not getthe whole article read and it remains on RantWoman’s mean to read list.

 

RantWoman was reading late at night. Whatever RantWoman did brain was going to stop processing what is essentially table information read in a stream by screen reader. In lieu of falling asleep, RantWoman let mind wander to matters of mental health professional and talking of matters of faith.

 

RantWoman changed practitioners about a year ago. Former Practitioner is of same faith tradition as RantMom and Little Sister (and RantWoman, sort of.) This meant that sometimes Former Practitioner "got" things about the RantFamily really fast and in terms RantWoman did not have to filter. But it also meant that after awhile Former Practitioner could get a little stuck on the very same things RantWoman was getting stuck about:

--We agree that RantWoman is basically highly sane and functional but something is stuck and we are not getting unstuck so what needs to be different.

--Well if you just pray harder….

--RantMom’s Energizer Bunny “If you just keep going and going” outlook.

--People around me are doing nutty and dysfunctional things but I am NOT clear just to go find some new people for one thing because just possibly I need to figure out MY dysfunctions and new people will not necessarily help. Reminding RantWoman about how vexatious matters of one’s faith community are really is no help.  RantWoman is VERY clear she needs a faith community and is willing to live with…

 

But let’s face it: explaining the basics of one’s faith community can get tiresome. Even worse, if one talks about God telling them to read the yellow pages or that someone’s necktie just feels spiritually heavy, LOTS of practitioners might start thinking psychosis and anti-psychotic medications. And we won’t even talk about trying to read George Fox’s journal without wanting to stick on some mental health diagnosis!

So far, RantWoman is grateful for a sense of some progress.

--New practitioner notices things like when RantWoman’s eye drop regimen makes her eyes redder than usual. Pollen, sleep deprivation, and new manufacturers all seem to be on point. Nothin obvious to do about the last but being noticed is peculiarly connecting.

--New practitioner asked RantWoman for a list of books about blindness. New Practitioner sounded interested. RantWoman is unsure whether she has gotten anything read but appreciates being asked anyway.

--Practitioner seems to listen well and also to push thoughtfully. Maybe enough said.

 

Now another problem: RantWoman does not remember whether the subject of blogs has come up. If so, RantWoman suspects she has shared only one; the second would be finable by following info in RantWomans profile but should RantWoman be more explicit about point the way even if it never gets read? RantWoman suspects there is a whole semester worth of ethical consierations entangled in that reflection and is meditating about what to do with…

Arrrrgggh! RantWoman will you please bleeping stick to ONE topic?

Look, this is blog as Quaker journal, electronic scribbling. When has RantWoman EVER proised complete polish> IF anything, this raggedy notebook is like throwing conceptual spaghetti at the wall. RantWOman would not mind hearing that something has resonance or seems ripe for further interrogation….. Right, and maybe RantWoman will go back to reading her book of Nadine Gordimer essays and see what housecleaning they generate…