Category: Self-Help Publisher: Booklocker.com Inc.
ISBN-10: 1621418138
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 308
Copyright: Oct 15, 2012
ISBN-13: 9781621418139
a uniquely-told true story about a male survivor of sexual abuse, overcoming suicide and learning to live with mental illness.
After a turbulent childhood filled with traumatic events, including the death of his parents, Nathan Daniels downward spiraled into hopeless despair and thoughts of suicide. Orphaned and homeless, he miraculously clawed his way out of the bottom of the barrel and lived a relatively normal life for nearly five years before he felt himself starting to slip into a familiar darkness. A cycle had begun that would continue to repeat itself throughout his life with ever-growing intensity and threats.
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Surviving the Fourth Cycle swings pendulously back and forth between two stories that ultimately bleed into one...
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You will experience the author's most recent battle with mental illness through raw and honest journal entries that give you a rare "fly on the wall" perspective from a truly haunted mind. At the same time, Nathan rips his closet door off its hinges and lets all the skeletons come rattling out through a series of writings that are, in essence, the chapters of his life. You are in for a bumpy ride as he picks through the bones in these extremely personal essays that examine the intense relationships and experiences that have led to both his struggle to function in society, and his ability to persevere.
Excerpt
FROM CHAPTER 7:
JOURNAL ENTRY (The Wedding)
"The building was foreboding and seemed bigger than should be possible. I crossed the street staring at the front entrance, my vision a kaleidoscope, twisting and turning everything I saw into colorful bursts.
I slipped two more Xanax into my mouth, felt my heart start kicking hard in my chest, and walked up the front steps to the church with dream-like difficulty as if I were knee deep in quicksand.
I walked through the doorway, a hungry mouth looking to eat me up, and I started sweating. There was too much open space and my eyes began playing tricks on me as everything in my peripheral vision began melting away.
The sunlight crashed through the stained glass windows and sent colors flying through the air before me. The notes from the monstrous pipe organ stomped on me and made me wince.
Voices became hostile and gained weight inside my head forcing me to brace myself. It was an angry choir yelling and screaming at me as I resisted the urge to take flight from the holy nightmare."
Professional Reviews
Emotional, Raw, and Truthful
With so much stigma in the public about mental health, in part caused by long-standing social pressure to not talk about the mental health issues that plague ourselves or our family, this book rips though the silence with an emotional, raw, and most of all, truthful and unfiltered account of one man's lifetime journey through mental illness. While the story itself is an enticing read, it's also an important tool for parents, educators, and mental health workers who want a mechanism through which to open the public dialogue about mental health and to foster open communication about the topic. I applaud the author for opening his soul up to all of us and putting his truth on the pages so that we all may benefit from his experiences.
---AMAZON CUSTOMER
An Intimate Read
Surviving the Fourth Cycle, by Nathan Daniels, is an intimate reading experience that lures you into the mind and life of an extremely fascinating individual. Part psychopath, part genius... this new author delivers perfectly chosen words at an intense pace to craft one of the most entertaining, satisfying and, quite frankly, important stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I could FEEL all the pain, loss, suffering, and fear. I was inspired by the strength, honesty, hope and love. This is an original and powerful memoir, that has the potential to change lives and raise much needed awareness for abuse, suicide, and mental illness in general. This is one of those books that everyone should read!
--BARNES & NOBLE CUSTOMER
One Hell of a Journey
One hell of a journey!
An incredibly original writing style, by a gifted writer, tells the story of a life riddled with tragedy and despair, but underlined with love and hope.
A really great book for it's entertainmaint value, (seriously... you go from reading about a poor boy's experience being molested by his sister, bullied by his father, and losing his loving mother, to training with shaolin monks, getting in a wrestling ring, staying in a famous haunted house, and falling in love.
I think this is a rather important book too, as it will surely raise much awareness to what it's really like to be crippled by severe mental illness.
I laughed. I cried. And I was haunted and inspired long after I finished reading it.
---GOODREADS COMMUNITY MEMBER
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Lined and Unlined
Fun Tidbits and Trivia about each state.
Journaling can help improve mental health and happiness, provide a creative outlet, and give a perfect place to record life's precious events. Grab your journal today.
Through insightful and thought-provoking writing, the author encourages readers to embark on a journey of self-reflection, guiding them to access inner wisdom and cultivate a mindset conducive to a better understanding of our world.
