Male vs female brains + Shame, guilt, depression + Today's reasons to be anxious

Male & Female Brains . . . No Differences? Seriously??

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (12/11/15):  "Research finds no differences in male vs. female brains. The brain, it appears, is not a battleground for the battle of the sexes. That's because there is no such thing as a 'male brain' & a 'female brain,' according to a 1st-of-its-kind study that examined sex differences in the brain as a whole . . . Scientists at Tel Aviv University concluded that the brain does not reflect a clear dichotomy based on gender differences in the same way that, say, sex organs do. Instead, human brains are unpredictable mash-ups of 'masculine' & 'feminine' traits . . . most brains are comprised of unique 'mosaics' of features--some more common in females compared w/males, some more common in males compared w/females, & some common in both females & males.
      "Though the new findings tackled brain biology, they do not address questions of how a person's gender affects behavior. In other words, whether brain differences stem from nature versus nurture." [Fine . . . after studying thousands of male & female brains, researchers can't find any significant structural features that distinguish male brains from female brains. You tellin' me that men & women don't inherently think differently? Hmmmm.]

Shame

Here are some thoughts about shame from Brene' Brown, gleaned from her book, The Gifts of Imperfection. Sarah, my daughter, a licensed therapist at the Lincoln, NE, State Regional Center, loaned me this book earlier this year. I read it & found a lot of insights in it, even if I don't always agree. My comments follow.

"Shame Resilience 101. Here are the 1st 3 things that you need to know about shame:  

1. "We all have it. Shame is universal & one of the most primitive human emotions that we experience. The only people who don't experience shame lack the capacity for empathy & human connection. [I could be wrong, but as a Christian I can't help wonder if shame, guilt, & conscience are linked.]
2. We're all afraid to talk about shame.
3. The less we talk about shame, the more control it has over our lives.

"Shame is basically the fear of being unlovable--it's the total opposite of owning our story & feeling worthy. In fact, the definition of shame that I developed from my research is:  Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed & therefore unworthy of love & belonging. [emphasis in the original]

"Shame keeps worthiness away by convincing us that owning our stories will lead to people thinking less of us. Shame is all about fear. We're afraid that people won't like us if they know the truth about who we are, where we come from, what we believe, how much we're struggling, or, believe it or not, how wonderful we are when soaring (sometimes it's just as hard to own our strengths as our struggles) . . . [I can relate to this & am convinced that feelings of chronic depression contribute to this. Can you relate to that? I knew something was wrong in the time leading up to my first diagnosis of clinical depression over 10 years ago, & I certainly did NOT want people to know about that part of me. More recently I've become much more transparent about my mental health. I think that on the whole it's good for me & good for others to know, but when my mood is on the up-take, I can feel unworthy about sharing this part of me. After all, I'm "burned out," right? I don't deserve to feel upbeat, do I?]

"In addition to the fear of disappointing people or pushing them away with our stories, we're also afraid that if we tell our stories, the weight of a single experience will collapse upon us. There is a real fear that we can be buried or defined by an experience that, in reality, is only a sliver of who we are." [In my case, it's easy to let what I think I used to consider a rather trivial setback now potentially blow-up into a crisis . . . but more of a crisis of my own making, I think.]

A reminder . . . Although I blog for my own self-therapy, I also hope that maybe others who suffer from chronic depression might identify with some of my "journey." If you know you are clinically depressed or suspect you might be, my encouragement is ALWAYS to seek professional help. Why? Because it IS possible to get help . . . It is possible to cope with life relatively well AND suffer from a diagnosis of clinical depression. Trust me--I wouldn't lie to you about this!

Reasons to be Anxious? You Tell Me!

I've also shared [& sometimes I think I've been too personal, too transparent *] that I also have a diagnosed general anxiety disorder, along with symptoms that some of my "medical health team" have suggested are an indication of OCD. So what? So it's sometimes hard for me to distinguish between things that should genuinely worry or concern me & things that I am needlessly obsessing about. Case in point? Here are a few items in today's news that have my attention. 
* But, hey--still my blog!

Just for fun, you can help me out! Should I be genuinely concerned about any or are of these? Would I just be needlessly obsessing about them? Is this just a sign that I am too self-absorbed? *
* And why is it spelled "self-absorBed" but "self-absorPtion?" Inquiring minds want to know!

Taglines from The Drudge Report (12/14/15): [I didn't bother to read the actual articles.]

• "The Force Awakens: Rise of Jedi Church . . . " [As if Lutherans need more competition.]
• "Obama eyes Cuba visit, says Castro not 'an idealogue' . . . " [Because our POTUS is not an 'idealogue'?]
• "Oklahoma quakes surge . . . " ["There will be earthquakes & famines . . . "]
• "Smartphones ruining your posture--& mood . . . "

I have an appt w/my therapist in Wayne tomorrow morning (TUE 12/15) @ 11:00a. Wayne is located about 35 miles north & east of Norfolk. I really want to keep this appointment, because (a) my visits w/her are very helpful; (b) it will be my last visit of 2015; (c) I am still covered by my 2015 deductible; & (d) my deductible starts over on 1/1/16.

Report from NOAA web site @ 3:57 (CST) for Norfolk, NE:

Tonite:  A slight chance of snow & freezing rain between 4:00a & 5:00a, then a slight chance of snow after 5:00a. Mostly cloudy, w/a low around 26. N, NW wind 5-11 mph becoming E, SE after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%

TUE:  Patchy snow & freezing drizzle before 9:00a, then patchy drizzle & snow between 9:00a-noon, then a chance of snow after noon. Cloudy w/a high near 38. E wind 9-15 mph, w/gusts as high as 21 mph.Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than 1/10" possible.

NOTE:  Do you notice this same phenomenon? Whenever road conditions get dicey, everyone else except me either drives way too slow or way too fast for conditions!