Book Description

'You are a sorry excuse for a wife. I don't know why I put up with you!' Natalie's heart broke. What was happening to the kind, caring man she had married? After four years of marriage, Natalie's husband, Michael, had transformed into a different person overnight. Plagued with depression, he struggled to regain his normally cheerful and outgoing personality. After the depression came terrifying fits of rage and frenzied behavior that Michael couldn't control and Natalie was helpless to understand. Natalie and Michael did their best to hide the crippling effects Michael's bizarre behavior had on them, but their marriage was flying apart. Eventually, Michael was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Throughout the years that followed the birth of their daughter, Michael fought an internal battle for normalcy, both taking and refusing medication as his mood swings dictated. Eventually, Michael's illness drove him to the point of desperation, devastating his friends and family when they learned of his suicide. In Tears to Joy, Natalie Flake details the tribulations of dealing with mental illness in a loved one. Debunking stigma and presenting practical advice, she offers hope to readers whose loved ones have dealt with mental illness or suicide, and even to those who have struggled with it themselves.