Poor Matthew!

By Lenore Karkan

No doubt, we all have our own "demons." While they may not "possess" us like some biblical narratives describe them doing so, it is also quite true that insanity ensues when one cannot keep their "demons" in check to maintain balance. Whatever you call it, be it depression, anxiety, just plain worry, or, simply, overthinking, experiencing "it" - or, to put it mildly, "madness" that is, if that's what you want to call it - however brief or prolonged an episode it is for someone, can shake a person, hijack their wellbeing and thus, disable them temporarily or, worse yet, permanently. Attacks of this sort often conspire to make a person go "crazy" or be called a "psycho," thereby causing them to be humiliatingly shunned by society. But what is actually going on with "madness" when it occurs though? What is the root cause of the severe and troublesome difficulties that can leave a person feeling isolated, frightened, unable to function adequately, at odds with friends as well as loved ones and their community, helplessly agitated, desperate, despairing and, possibly, suicidal? The short answer is no one really knows. Yes, isn't that sad? Yes, it's sad but true: no one knows. For those of us who may sometimes go through it, we come out of losing our minds never seeming as the same again. We can no longer recognize who we once were, if we were ever at all happy, and we don't like who we're becoming. That's the difficulty with it. That's its dreadful cost. Even receiving a diagnosis to pursue treatment for it results in leading to feelings of hopelessness and decreased confidence in the patient. Its chaos is a message that there's too little to do to overcome its insurmountable problem except to "keep shoving pills down your throat." That's probably because our so called "doctors" or "therapists" attempt to convince us that without the medicine, we wouldn't be normal. Thus, it can divert attention from the possible meaning or positive aspects that the experiences it causes might have for the afflicted. It can also deflect attention away from underlying painful emotions that could otherwise be addressed in a restorative way. Importantly, this book, therefore, attempts to narrate a "maddening" experience that's been observed by the author. In doing so, it does not wish to dismiss anyone else's disorder, but it is presented for the significance that somewhat lies in the truth that the unlucky of us endure in having a beautiful soul and a kindful heart that frequently leads the mind to be "lost" in a very dark place. In that, it seeks to describe what "thoughts" are like as a symptom of life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1096239825
• ISBN13: 9781096239826
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 26 Pages
• Weight: 0.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"