Toby, I'm wondering what you mean by enlightenment.
I've been thinking about the relationship between anxiety and depression--that depression is what I resort to in order to not face the unknown, the uncertainties of my life. When I'm depressed, I'm immobilized, there is no action, no decision making. It is self-betrayal. Guilt is a fuel for the depression. It justifies further immobility. To move on would be to be free of guilt, and to be living with anxiety. I've always assumed it was the anxiety that paralyzed me, but it's not, it's trying to get away from it that is actually the paralysis. And guilt has been a handy means.