In this book, “From the Shadows: A Journey of Self-Discovery and Renewal,” The Author, Elizabeth Onyeabor, tells her tale of transformation with a story that begins with suicidal thoughts and the battle she faces in trying to overcome it. She describes it as a light and dark dance entwining within her. In her first excerpt, she writes;
” I don’t know why this incredible sadness envelops me. I know that it happens when I feel powerless, events around me seem so out of whack with my desires, and I’m emotionally exhausted. I compare it to food poisoning. I feel like I can’t keep happiness down. I keep vomiting it back up”.
She, however, shares her battle with depression with her extended and close family members who aren’t used to seeing her so sad and vulnerable. She describes her emotional dependency on others and the domino effect of unacknowledged anger. She was angry at her life, her inability to fix everything and her husband’s accident. She blamed herself for everything. She never expressed the anger hereby suppressing it, she had a conditioned belief that good people don’t express anger. She changed her outlook on anger and made it her responsibility to express it appropriately and release it (not suppress it). Her feelings of unworthiness extended to her life as a mother and her career. It was hard to obliterate her insatiable emptiness.
In a bid to find solutions to her depression, the author finds solace in writing and keeping journals, reading through self-help books and talking to a counselor. She traces the roots of her depression to her childhood experiences, her near-rape experience, and her conditioned beliefs.
This author surpassed my expectations. I was engrossed in her journey and I could literally understand why she was suicidal. The feeling of hopelessness and living your life with no meaning could lead to suicidal thoughts and to think she had been going through depression right from her teenage age was so alarming. Depression is a silent killer ravaging the society, killing all and sundry who are too weak to fight it.
This book brings hope to all those who have faced and are facing depression. I think the author deserves some accolades….don’t you?
You can get a copy of “From the Shadows: A Journey of Self-Discovery and Renewal,“ in our store. Click here.
Anita Jackson is a book blogger at Bookz Frenzy, an avid reader of everything and an aspiring author.
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