Below are the Book paragraphs added to the section 1. Introduction/Rationale of this True Self Help Book’s (Rise and Shine Anxiety & Depression & Life Management Tools) 4th/Final Edition – “The Final Cut” addressing these Serious matters… All In Truth…

This is a segment of what provided in the Final Cut text Additions and Significant Changes as provided in Blog post  https://riseandshineanxietydepression.net/2019/03/13

As a lead in to this text/these paragraphs , here is an associated  “Preface/Summary” paragraph:

“The Final Cut updates also include observations made while cycling through those psych wards & follow-up outpatient care stay overs & visits… As I connect those dots and sum matters up, with human nature qualities and how people operate… on how things are really going per related medication stats… and then realize the direction Society (driven by people) is going (ref: section 4.4.), it is Numbing!”

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“Please understand, I am not being mean or unkind about what is being said and written in this Book, concerning mental health Professionals and the industry.  I am just being 100% Straight Up, based on all past gyrations/experiences I have had with many a Professional along the way in dealing with Anxiety and Depression through the years, and corresponding feedback from others based on their experiences.  As for my experiences, mainly, that occurred while resident in those psych wards (4) times, along with follow-up visits to the out-patient care facilities. When I say “witch hunt” in the previous paragraph, that is my gut talking, having gone through what I have, although in those environments I frequented, there is no ability to choose.  In the next several paragraphs below, I provide what I have personally experienced/observed, with full intent to be objective, together with what the stats on the matter are saying; a definite eye opener when merged with, how people typically operate based on human nature qualities, and the continuing trends of what is going wrong in our Society these days (sect. 4.4)… When you sum this all up, not a pretty picture…!

Apologies to all the mental health Professionals with families and all to feed considering my thoughts here… Yeah, I Firmly Believe in other facets of my Education/Nature … Love Thy Neighbor as thyself/Ourselves, and Integrity, regardless of matters…, however, there seems to be a glaring problem within the Professional community, as I look back, on whether or not Professionals at all levels, have been properly Educated on Anxiety and Depression mental health issues as I have, or whether or not, there is some hidden agenda really going on considering the significance of the $ bill (?).  With the prevalence of Greed in our Society, especially these days, hard not to feel this way at times… But with thoughts of, how could all these Professionals be educated properly but yet seemingly be so dishonest or slanted as they work, just seems impossible…(!?) So it points to the Education system then I think (?)… But how could that be?

The first time I ended up in a psych ward, was in 1999 when I made a CO auto apparatus to end it all, but turned myself in instead …  I tried medication upon meeting a private sector Psychiatrist leading up to that point, but Hated and terminated all that,  knowing that the meds could not be the answer (hopefully!). Besides, it just made me feel Worse!  While dealing with the Psychiatrist, I learned absolutely nothing, about what it really takes to pull out of the mess I was in, Naturally.  In the subsequent stay in the psych ward, I finally moved past my denial on the matter, realizing I did have Anxiety/Depression going on, through likely the majority of my 43 years of Life by then.   Yep, that is all I learned, and with no viable natural solutions identified by the Professionals at all; the focus seemed to be on the meds only!

Ditto per the next (3) psych ward visits/stays I had. They seemed to be nothing but medication dominant environments, where medication seemed to be handed out like candy, and with no viable Education being provided on what it really takes to amend A & D Issues Naturally, minus the meds.  Bottom line, medication provides temporary band-aids only, at best, if they do any good at all (??!!) to help A & D matters some.  But, Yes,  I do Know at times, as I address in the Book, an anti-depressant would be Necessary, if a sufferer has a plan to hurt themselves, or have already followed through with that, which landed them in the ward to begin with … and I have found my way into the psych wards going both of those ways… Hopefully, before too long, an elevation in the sufferer’s spirit, from that medication will occur (?).  Thereafter, Education is a Must to find a permanent solution to all this, granted the sufferer has the proper material to work from… unless, the person desires to continue down the medication trail, or one step further in the case they have lost hope in all the meds by then … Yeah, it gets even Worse (!), as addressed in section 3.1.  Of course, lots of $s ++ go along with all the meds……  So, it sure seemed, medication was the focus/emphasis of what they use to “help” sufferers as opposed to properly Educating them, whether it be in the psych wards, or thereafter in the out-patient care facilities that follows.  It is understood the psych wards are likely overwhelmed with the rates/quantities of people coming through them these days, and hence quick fixes/quick turn-arounds of people seems necessary, maybe justifying their meds only approach…  But not providing the sufferers, any inklings of what or where to go, to seek more Permanent solutions to their A & D Issues or related, seems to be such an Injustice, if they do Know…!

In 7/2002, I came across a Tremendous (Proven & True) Self-Help program (ultimately flowed down into this Book, along with Additions made), which completely began the process of turning matters around for me. However, I made some serious mistakes of impatience in process which caused me to miss some Key elements along the way, resulting in me to crash hard a few times.  This was triggered by an impending divorce coming up, which I was in denial about, and then did eventually happen, which landed me in psych wards (3) of the (4) times in my Life.   In those (3) stays, I was always wondering what do these Professionals really know (?!)…  It was Very Puzzling, and it sure seemed like I knew quite a bit more, of what it really takes even though I was in dire straits early on in each of those visits…  In the meantime the “Professionals” would only reflect on some nebulous pointers of improvement it seemed, which did not do any good really for a Sufferer, especially when Knowing what it really takes…  I was always wondering about the legitimacy of the collegiate education systems for future mental health professionals, considering what I was observing, during those times and thereafter… I thought, if these Professionals do really know what it really takes to get out of this mess, as I have learned, then how come they are not coming forth with this information for all the sufferers who are, obviously, all in Desperate Need?!!…  It sure seemed the statement made in the audio portion of the Self-Help program I learned from, “They don’t have a clue”, which I initially thought was maybe doubtful (?), was really Accurate (!?).  What I learned and what that Self-Help program and this Book boils down to, is if you properly deal with the root cause and the lowest level of problems we have with Anxiety & Depression, or related, i.e. our negative thoughts, and the sources of those thoughts, and change that up and our mindsets to be Positive, well that is the Logical if not Factual solution… a solution I did not here of any time when dealing with Professionals (?); these thoughts, control our mind/body chemistry, and hence our feelings resulting in the A & D, or related conditions… 100%!

So unfortunately, the psych wards and follow up out-patient facilities are seemingly environments where sufferers are lost to begin with, and get further lost, thinking if anything, maybe medication is the only way out (?!).   I am not sure if things have really improved any since back in the 2010-2011 time frame, but this is exactly how I felt and what I remember per my experiences… I felt completely Bewildered/Perplexed in those environments for the most part, till my last few days in out-patient care, per my last/4th visit, when I really Knew what was going on, and exactly what I had to do; i.e. to go through that Self-Help program again and again per the suggested 15 week time frame for training, each round, to squeeze every little bit I could from it, Knowing that program Truly has lots of the Answers… Anyway, as I stated in section 1.6, I felt like a hamster running on those spinning wheels in a cage, going nowhere, really, when I was caught up in that professional web.

The first and only True Expert in A & D matters I ever came across, who I could Completely Connect with, was the Lady I learned from. And she was just talking on a Radio station at the time :)… Yeah, my Angel (!), who initially Saved my Life! …  And she was not a Professional, but was an X-Sufferer like I am :). Compared to all the Professionals I ever came across by this time or thereafter …there did not seem to be a close second to be Honest (needless to say)… And I am talking about those qualities of being Caring and Passionate in dealing with sufferers to begin with…  Unless a Professional has gone through Significant levels of A/D Issues themselves, and now doing Good, then I don’t think they would ever be able to really Care and Connect with a Sufferer, and then possibly Help them…  In other words, if a Professional does not have those True Life Experiences with the Bad and then turn matters completely around like I have, and as the Lady I learned from had, how could they possibly muster up that True Passion to really Connect & Help people on a continual basis?  It just seemed like most, or maybe all the Professionals I ever met in the in-patient or out-patient facilities, or in the private sector, did not have those Real Life Experiences/Education…  Apparently though, mental health Professionals cannot disclose in their advertisements, whether they have had Real Life Experiences with the Issues they are attempting to help people with…  If they were able to, no one would ever go to those with no such experiences…

I have never heard a  Professional address upfront, proactively (that would be nice…), or anytime, (3) Key pointers, which are NECESSARY (!), allowing a Sufferer, or Anyone really to Take Care of Themselves Naturally, thru Life :

• We All have to do the Work/Training Ourselves, granted we have the proper material to train from (e.g. this Book) … As far as the training process is concerned, as a sufferer, I Firmly believe, it takes a repetitive training process to reprogram that negative mindset, along with switching those numerous negative thoughts, which are the root cause of our A & D Issues, to Positive thoughts & mindset.  Ultimately, this allows us to appropriately control our thoughts and actions which is KEY!  Just talking to a Professional and conversing about problems with them will not Change the way a sufferer thinks, and operates.

• It Takes a Full Process (as in the contents of this Book), to do it Right for Life if you are a Sufferer! This is necessary to appropriately train, and initially condition the individual sufferer, facilitating the process and allowing them to deal with their fears as they need to, vs. avoiding their fears… Besides, this provides the step by step approach necessary to build up and strengthen the individual internally & incrementally along the way, as they step through the process.  As such, there is really no need for any special, hands on guidance along the way to help the sufferer recover.   When I was going through this process, by then in Life, I had felt all the pains imaginable, so this ride was nothing at all by comparison.  And once I got going with this, this journey turned into Excitement (!), since I finally saw the light at the end of this endless tunnel I felt I was in, for the first time in my Life!

• It is understood, a Professional can never ask a Suffer… What or How about Your Faith? The Lady I learned from did not bring up Spirituality directly, nor did she stress the importance of Faith for a sufferer in the corresponding workbook, in dealing with their Issues.  However, she did indicate in her audio sessions, when she became overwhelmed at times… she would just let go and let God… She had a relatively bigger type business and all, so presume the background thoughts of matter were, bringing up Spirituality/Religion is considered taboo for business success … Sad actually!  Nonetheless, I Know for Certain, as stated through this Book, Our Faith/Our Foundation is at least half the Game in Life! 

Going to private Psychologists/Psychiatrists, may be more helpful, but really I am not sure of that based on my situation and experiences.  In my case, I have been to two private Psychologists, and only one private Psychiatrist, following my out-patient care visits; this is aside of the first private sector Psychiatrist I went to, as already addressed, to no avail…  By the time I met these other private sector Professionals, I already knew a great deal after going through that Self-Help program, the first time, even in light of those mistakes of impatience I made. These Psychologists and Psychiatrist seemed good, but they could not really help me any, since they could see at that time, I was doing Real Good on my rebound via my coping skills etc., and I Truly did know what it takes… So they did seem to acknowledge and agree what I was doing was the right thing to do (?)…  But it is such a mystery to me what the Professionals truly Know, as compared to the process I learned which again, allows the sufferer to whittle down and amend the root cause and lowest elements of A & D Issues or related … I should have asked them straight up :).

Recently I have been on twitter addressing my Book information (@RonnyLG123). There is/was a Professional advertising services, where she was addressing excellent food for thought mental health statements, which are right on target from all I have learned, with the exception of not mentioning anything about Faith; although, this is a given though for all practicing Professionals as addressed…  I did mention in a message sent to her … Great stuff, and indicated, it sure sounds like we all learned from the same teacher/person :) … and Yes, I intended all Good things saying this really… never did get  a response or a like back, which was not surprising, so she probably thought I had other/bad intent with this statement made … the powers and misinterpretations of social media at work (!!) :).

The Professionals do provide Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) services, which I think might be somewhat similar to the Detailed Cognitive/Behavior Modification Positivity Process included in this Book (?).    Well actually, not that similar, since apparently the CBTs they offer are individually personalized, requiring hands on services vs. what the Lady and her Crew came up with, and what is provided in this Book.  The Book’s approach is Self-Personalized, as the process appropriately Conditions a Sufferer, allowing them to drill down to their individual negative thoughts (and their mindset in sum), and sources of their negativity as Best as they can, to unravel and then amend matters Positively.  What can be more personalized than that, especially since, negative thinking is the root cause of most A & D, or related, Issues?!  When properly Conditioned, who knows more than the Sufferer does about their own negativity?… No One, and that certainly goes for the Professionals as well… So why personalize (?), I do not know, and I don’t know the specifics of these CBTs…

Interesting, when I bump into mental health Professionals as I am out and about, doing my thing with Book cards in hand, talking to people about the Book etc. …  I have gone through 22,750 cards to date actually (as of 4/15/19), since the Original publication of this Book, so such encounters do happen every now and then. Often, mental health professionals do not really want to carry on much with me, and some, not at all, since they do realize before long, I do say it like it is, which likely makes them uncomfortable…  But, Please understand, I am always more than Kind when conversing with them … However, there was (1) individual I met, who was with his child, who was Very Cool, Straight Up, Very Experienced, and who had a Real out of office type presence going on … when I started mentioning things about the Book, before long he indicated what he did or was doing for a living … and as the conversation continued, he too believed the Combo in the Book is really All We Can Do for Ourselves, and of course also agreed, We All have to Do the Work Ourselves!

So it seems, the Professionals at some level do know what it takes.  But, if this were the case, at the psych wards/out-patient care facilities I visited, they were certainly not showing it, except for maybe at some nebulous level (?)… The partial Truth (at least) of the matter is, when you $um it all up, the $ is being overplayed & overpaid when it comes to  the mental health industry, vs. concentrating on the #1 Goal which should be, how Best to  Help sufferers who struggle so…  Not surprising though, considering the nature of people and our Society these days, where things are not moving along in favorable nor healthy directions … And the Main reason behind this all stems from the only Biblical statement which I address in section 4: … i.e. “We can’t have two Masters, God and money… we are going to Love one and hate the other” … so which way is Society, or us humans taking us (as addressed in section 4.4)?  Yeah, the Very Wrong Way!

When you enter People into the equation, and associated  human nature qualities, the picture becomes really Interesting (that loaded word :)) … One factor involves the question, are people willing to put in some hard work for themselves, to Help themselves? Generally speaking, No… unless matters get Real bad for them… which leads to another quality, where people often need to hit rock bottom, or be very near that point in their lives, before they finally realize, they need to do something about their pains & Change …  Now typically, people do not really know much about mental health matters, nor what reality is, going into the Professional circuit as I did… So, when people struggle with mental health issues,  just like how people react when they have any physical ailments/issues going on, they go to see the doctor … So under duress, they typically will go seek services from a mental health Professional since they feel they know best.   So likely, or typically (maybe), they approach their Issues as I did, down the same paths in a sense, and you know how my story goes … Hence, when you add it all up, this is why mental health facilities and Professionals are overloaded with rapidly increasing numbers of people stepping forward with Anxiety/Depression, PTSD, OCD, Addictions, ADD, ADHD … and why there is such an large amount of meds being prescribed for Anxiety & Depression (or related)…

Look at the stats on the increasing problems we are having with Anxiety & Depression, PTSD, Addiction Issues, etc., throughout the world it seems.  Alarming when I last heard the stats on the percentage of all medications being prescribed; 70% of those were for Anxiety & Depression Only or related I presume!  This was quite a while ago, so who knows what that count could be nowadays as things worsen.  My Friends, that is Absolutely Appalling!   Obviously, the current approaches of resolving Our Issues, and How We Are Living Our Lives these days, are not faring well.  Besides, how the mental health industry deals with these matters (predominantly with the meds as addressed), seems to be just exasperating the situation… I Hope things change, which I am afraid they won’t, since there are $s to be made. …Isn’t it time we take matters in Our Own Hands at the individual level?  Change will not happen from the top down considering what is said…

If Anyone is in the dark regarding the Significance of Anxiety and Depression issues with Our Youth these days, the Time magazine Cover story “ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND THE AMERICAN ADOLESCENT”, dated November 7, 2016, clearly addresses all this and how matters are just getting worse. It’s time We All open up our eyes… This article informs Us How Urgent of a matter this is, and it just Reconfirms, We really are generally unaware on how to deal with it all.  The opening larger font text in the article summarizes matters stating “The Kids are Not All Right…Experts are struggling on how to help them”.  Ironically, the name of an Individual/sufferer who is mentioned up front in the article is “Faith-Ann- Bishop”, who lives outside of Bangor, Maine.  Nowhere in the article does it identify losing sight of the “Big Picture” (lack of Belief/Faith) as I call it, as being a Key factor why all this is happening; YES, this is a Key Problem as addressed in section 4 of the Book.  Other contributing factors mentioned in the article are consistent with what is mentioned in section 4.4 of my Book (e.g. overuse of social media, and our cell phones, the Complexity of Life we have made it into). Of course none of the Other Important information I bring up in this Book is addressed … i.e. that we All have to do the work ourselves … that it really takes a Full Process to do it Right for Life … and that meds are Truly not the answer(!).

This article prompted me to send out my Book’s information to over 500 school districts in America.  I Know How Huge of an Impact this would have on the Lives and Livelihood of Our Youth as a read when they are like Juniors and Seniors in High School.  HUGE!  And Straight Up, Probably the Most Important Education in a Lifetime for them.  But as a School Superintendent addressed to me in reply: “Your concern and facts about anxiety and depression are real. Also, unfortunately, so is separation of church and state. While I have not read section 4, it is likely the contents of this section on spirituality and God will cause it to be a resource school districts could not offer to our students. While I personally agree with your statements, I fully understand, from recent experience, that school districts are subject to liability when promoting God and spirituality. Please do not criticize school leaders for understanding the laws that we are governed by, whether we personally agree with them or not.  I will do my best to check out your book, and thank you for your efforts on a very important matter.”

I do understand all Superintendents are caught between a rock and a hard place here. But when you sum it all up though, collectively, it sure seems adults in numbers, have lost sight of What and Who are Most Important here … and that should be the Students/ Our Youth, and their Livelihood and Well Being… Very Sad!  Of course Professional mental health personnel are part of the school personnel as well, or are who the students are referred to in case they are struggling. And since the Book tends to go against the grain of the professional community, this Book which tells the God’s Honest Truth, would never be accepted…  Such is the Society/World we live in…Welcome to Planet Earth…

I could say, OMG, with Revelations here, or I can just say Numbing!!! … As I connect the dots and sum matters up, addressing what I have observed within the mental health industry, those human nature qualities and how people operate, how things are really going per the above noted stats on the matter, along with the mental health industry seemingly fueling that fire, and then realizing the direction Our Society is going (ref: section 4.4.), we are in a world of Hurt… And Like I said, I don’t think change will ever happen from the top down where there are $s to be made.  Change, seemingly, can only happen from the bottom (the Individual level), and on up in our Society… If you haven’t latched onto anything Bigger than us in Life, not a better time to start :)!

I guess maybe some might be thinking I am not being objective enough in this evaluation (?)… Well, (2) more things to speak of … as I brought up before, when I was in the final stages of writing the Original publication, I was on (4) Anxiety & Depression boards/sites, where thought only one was medically/mental health based … when I mentioned one day, “say No to meds” since this is Unquestionably not the Permanent Solution to these Issues, within the next day I was banned by all (4) boards!  As for the other issue been pondering some… as I’ve mentioned, I do get around a lot and talk to people with Book cards in hand, and have gone through over 22,750 cards now as I am writing this… I have been wondering why I am coming across so many cases of people diagnosed with Bi-Polar type II disorder, rather recently only it seems…? … Haven’t really seen much, if any of that in the past!?  But it sure seems as far as Bi-Polar type II vs. those that suffer with Anxiety & Depression, they seem so very close in the relevant symptoms… I often wonder, that maybe in Truth, Bi-Polar II is really Anxiety & Depression, with some bad choices being made, maybe associated with Issues with One’s Foundation…  Since Professionals will never consider One’s Faith/Foundation, as being linked to  any of the conditions they deal with (…Wow..), then it would be easy for them to come up with that Bi-polar type II condition, with maybe the key underlying reason being, that condition is identified as requiring medication for Life…hmmm?!  I’ll leave it at that…”