Hanne Herland, The Herland Report, 4/24
Psychiatric disorders and mental health problems are skyrocketing in the United States. More people died from suicide in the United States last year than any other year on record, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, writes CNN.
At least 49,449 lives were lost due to intentional self-harm in 2022 — nearly 15 deaths for every 100,000 people.
Mental illness alone cost 195 billion USD yearly in lost earnings, opioid misuse 80 billion and not counting heroin, alcohol and legal drugs. Watch Dr. Brenda Caldwell address these issues in a Herland Report TV program here.
According to DrugWarFacts.org, over 27 million Americans aged 12 or older, were illicit drug users. 7 out of 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, according to the Mayo Clinic, 2013.
One in four Americans live with a mental illness, according to Mental Health USA.
The Search for Inner Peace: It is quite self-evident that the massive cultural changes we have been subjugated to since the 1960’s have produced unwanted results.
The fragmented, divisive, divorce, drug and atheist society that Liberal Leftwing elites continue to hail as an ideal does not exactly bring inner peace to its population. We live in a time of dramatic upheaval, where something has gone seriously wrong.
The reasons for the explosion of mental issues could be many, but why is the traditional method for finding inner peace and equilibrium still so scorned?
The numbers are catastrophic and speak for the dramatic human need for anesthetics to sooth suffering and lack of inner peace, writes historian of comparative religions and founder of The Herland Report, Hanne Herland at World Net Daily.
The Search for Inner Peace: Why are the metaphysical truths of faith and its philosophy not more thoroughly acknowledged, the problem is obviously of massive scale. Faith could possibly help some – or many, its spiritual methods have the potential to bring soothing to many souls in mental agony.
Mental Health and the Search for Inner Peace: For two thousand years in the West, religiously-aware people have reflected on the meaning of life and how man’s existence is inextricably tied to the light of God and the spiritual world.
The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard argued that man must be in connection with this eternal light in order to overcome the darkness in this world.
One of the early church fathers, St. Augustine famously said that without love, even knowledge inflates: it exalts man to a self-indulgent arrogance which is only leads to emptiness.
The point is that God’s light helps us to be just, honest, have mercy, show kindness and love the Creator, in gratitude for the gift of life.
As Jewish tradition teaches, man is placed on earth to help God make this a better place. He is to work diligently to the betterment of human kind, in this he will find peace and the very meaning of life.
Mental Health and the Search for Inner Peace: People desperately need peace, but today’s society idealizes the breaking away from traditional, religious values, which are openly demonized and belittled.
Yet, atheism does not sufficiently have the answers to how to sooth the heart, only comfort the body. Man is more than a body, the world is more than material wealth and the observable by the naked eye. There are other dimensions that affect us.
The Latin word “religio,” signifying “consider carefully.” The aim was to take the time to rethink perceptions of reality, search for justice, honesty and a true reverence as a source for wisdom.
The main focus of religion should be as the Greek philosopher Socrates argued, that “an unexamined life is no life for a human being to live.”
He believed that each man has access to the truths of life, as they are deep within himself. The soul and the mind are chambers of hidden treasures.
It is through the soul that we connect to the Creator. Disconnected from the father, the son suffers.
According to traditional religion, man needs to open these inner rooms and bring forth the treasures that may help him achieve balance, virtues and diminish the suffering in life. In this quest, God is his source of strength to overcome evil.
The Search for Inner Peace: One of the main reasons why people leave traditional religion, is the degree lawlessness and self-indulgence among religious believers, to cite Jesus when he defines a hypocrite.
There were no one he was more angry at than religious hypocrites, and the feeling was mutual. They hated him to the point of making sure he got killed. False religion has always been the worst enemy of genuine spirituality. It is not about what you say, but what you do.
The true meaning of spirituality is often the very opposite of “technical religious beliefs”. As summed up by Mahatma Gandhi: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ” and “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today”.
St Augustine refers to the need for “true religion” as opposed to “false religion” – the former leads men to loving others and diligently working for the betterment of the fellowship of mankind. In this, many may find joy of life and a deep sense of fulfilment.
There are a number of ways to approach this discussion, so bear with me while I attempt to sort through them.
The atheists are only willing to believe in what is seen and not in what is unseen. That means that their perceptions are limited so that they see but don’t perceive. The endpoint of their identity is the philosopher’s “I think, therefore I am”, I exist. But when they see all the Creation that also exists they don’t perceive the Supreme Being Who also thinks and also proclaims “I Am”, “I Exist”… because He is unseen.
Denying that unseen reality leads them to commit many fatal and grievous errors, both for themselves and for others. Nothing good can come from the blind leading the blind.