Morning Joy

I can't help but remember one of the most trying experiences of my life--my bout with severe mental depression. I once heard a woman on a Christian talk show describe her experience with mental illness by saying, "I've walked the streets of hell." I can find no better words to express what I've experienced than these.
My hell began in 1971, when my father died. I was nineteen years old at the time. It was the first time death had ever touched our family, and we were all devastated. I didn't realize then exactly how devastated I really was; or that this was to be just the beginning of what was to become a horrible nightmare for me.

Four years after my father's death, I experienced a near nervous breakdown. The doctors said that I just wasn't accepting the fact that he was really gone. To add to my sorrow, my fianc