Kindle Edition Amazon Category:  Self-Help Publisher: self-published Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 217 Copyright: Oct 28, 2019 ISBN-13: 9781700322395 Price: $7.60 (eBook) This is a book of hope and determination...of walking back into the sunshine after years of living in the darkness of Major Depression, Anxiety and PTSD with the help of Louise, Deepak, Oprah, Pam and many others. This is a book of hope and determination; a memoir and a how-to-heal-book combined. This work may be the answer that so many people suffering from depression are looking for, as it was written to try to help those living in depression feel that they are not alone and that there may be a way out of the darkness for them. It is also written for friends and loved ones who may not yet have understood the extent of the misery and hurting that their friend is living through, as their loved one may have been unable to articulate it. “I was under a death sentence with an uncertain end date, which could have happened in the near future as I would have taken my life by suicide. My major depression was a terminal illness and I was desperate to change the prognosis and find a way to cure myself.” With total candour and openness Natasha describes her misery and torment of living through her years of major depression and ptsd with a near suicide while hiding her agony from co-workers and friends because she was ashamed and afraid of the stigma attached to mental illness. She writes of her search to understand the causes of her mental illness and her struggle to overcome her pain and find her way back from the darkness into living. She references many self-help books and different modalities she tried that reinforced her belief that she had the power to heal herself. She credits many things for her recovery, but credits Louise Hay’s teachings most of all. She wrote this book in gratitude to Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, Wayne Dyer, Bob Proctor, Bruce Lipton, Gregg Braden, Marianne Williamson, Joseph Murphy, Joe Dispenza, Pam Grout, Neville Goddard and all the other authors and personalities who helped her on her journey back. This book is written to help de-stigmatize depression as the illness it is and not a weakness.       Excerpt Chapter 1 I was desperate to get healed. I was under a death sentence with an uncertain end date, which could have happened in the very near future as I would have taken my life by suicide. My depression was a terminal illness and I was desperate to change the prognosis and to find a way to cure myself. I tried everything I could to heal myself; I tried different medical modalities and different diets, I read and reread many books, I meditated and said affirmations, I participated in therapy, I explored alternative healings and most importantly I opened myself up to different ways of thinking. Something worked. Perhaps they all worked in some way. Slowly, incrementally I began to feel a tiny ray of hope in my soul, which slowly grew, and grew into sunshine. The most important thing you need to know is that you are not alone in your pain. You need to know the pain that you are feeling and experiencing is shared by others. I understand what you are going through. I have experienced it and I know what you are living. I know the pain that you are. I know the pain that inhabits your body and your soul. I know that sometimes pain is all that you feel and there is nothing else. It is a pulsating blackness that does not allow you to sleep, nor to eat and at times makes it hard to breathe. A blackness that overflows your body and envelopes your soul, a blackness that makes you feel that you are in a bottomless pit and that there is no light in your world, and that the glimmer of light which sometimes appears high above is merely an illusion, a mirage that cannot be reached, and that any attempt to try to climb out is impossible. All pain is individual so I am not presuming to say that I know exactly how you feel as the person that you are, because your pain and circumstances are unique, but I do understand. I’ve been there, I’ve lived it, I’ve endured it and I have survived it - barely. This book will show you the path I took to help myself heal, to climb out of the black hole and into the sunlight. That reading my words can perhaps help you ameliorate some of your pain and allow you to start feeling the warmth of sunlight on your soul. It was a long journey that most times felt as if I was not moving at all. A journey of continual existence in pain, and yet I was progressing as sometimes the pain would ease and I would catch momentary glimpses of light. All I knew was that I had to keep trying, to keep going no matter what, to do anything I possibly could to help myself, for I knew that I couldn’t live in this constant and continual torment much longer, because if I did, then one day soon I would make the choice from which I would never return. I was under a death sentence of my own making, and I was the keeper of my life clock. A few times I thought it, thought to end the pain permanently, and once I was teetering on the verge, but I didn’t know what would become of my cats and as they were the one loving constant in my life I couldn’t let them down. Also some tiny part of me didn’t want to leave this world as Wayne Dyer would say “with my music still inside me”, so I started to research ways of helping myself to get well. This is not to imply that I hadn’t been trying for years to get better, oh I had tried and tried, but this time something inside had shifted and I became determined to heal. This book is also an attempt to help those who do not suffer from depression to understand what your sister, lover, brother, wife, husband, mother, father, child, friend or colleague is suffering from. To somehow de-stigmatize depression as the mental illness it is. Very few of my close friends knew how ill I was, certainly not any business colleagues or associates. Too many of them have the attitude that ‘people should just snap out of it”, “get over it already” and ‘get with the program”. Friends knew I was “down”, that I was ‘depressed”, that I was “blue”, but not that I was very ill with major or clinical depression. And even those friends who knew what major depression was, and were able to empathize with my being ill did not understand the actual physical pain of depression. When I finally described the pain I had been feeling to a friend; that the inner blackness was a living thing inside my body, my friend said “I never knew that is what you were feeling. I never thought that you were in so much anguish. I just thought you were sad and depressed, and not in such acute physical and mental agony.” Whereas others who did know that I was very ill and were trying to be supportive, could not quite understand that the depression had changed me from a confident, competent, intelligent woman to a fragile emotional wreck. Somehow they equated my illness to having become a victim. “Stop playing the victim” was a response I got when I asked for compassion and understanding. They say there is no shame in living with mental illness, well, if that is the case, why did I feel ashamed??? For the past several years I’ve been in an internal conflict - being ill and trying to get healed and knowing that is something I should not be ashamed of and yet being ashamed of it. I had had a very stark reminder of people’s attitudes towards the mentally ill. I had been in an all-day strategy meeting for a charity on which board I sat on, and we had been discussing branding and how effective campaigns worked, and the topic of Bell and the Let’s Talk (about mental health) campaign with Clara Hughes’ Big Ride came up. It is a very successful campaign aimed at increasing awareness and reducing the stigma around mental illness. A fellow director, a mature well to do lawyer said to the group “I’m willing to give money, but I wouldn’t want to meet one of those people.” I was sitting 2 people away from him at the board table and I was shocked. I know I must have stopped breathing I was so taken aback at such prejudice. I knew that it existed, but I had never come across such vehemence directed even unknowingly at me. I couldn’t believe that an educated person could utter such words. But I did believe it. I wanted to shout that I am “one of ‘those’ people, sitting at the table with you! You’ve talked to me for several months at these board meetings. You know me and smile at me”!!! But I didn’t. I was ashamed. I didn’t because I was afraid what he and the others would think of me, and how they would treat me going forward and I also knew that I would not be able to get my words out in a coherent manner. I didn’t have my voice. I couldn’t articulate what I had been thinking and feeling. I sat there mutely, feeling even more ashamed. So why would I have opened up about how deeply I have been hurting? I didn’t want to be thought of as being ‘crazy’, ‘a flake’, or a ‘hysterical and emotional’ woman. I powered through it during the days, only showing a faint sadness, but once alone the agony could not be kept in any longer and the tears would burst forth as I turned the key in the lock in my front door. Tears so deep and profound that I could hardly take a breath as they exploded out of me, the sobbing bringing me to my knees as I walked up the stairs. Sometimes the tears would erupt during the day, but people don’t see, nor do they care to see, or sometimes since there is nothing they feel that they can do to help, they just pass by. I would hurry to the washroom and cry in the stall as waves and waves of pain would overwhelm me. I couldn’t breathe as the tears would flow. When the pain attack would subside and I could function at some level again I would repair my makeup. I had learned to wear waterproof mascara and eyeliner so as not to appear as a raccoon and only needed some powder to smooth out the blotchiness of my tear ravaged face. Then I would return to my desk. No one would notice my absence or return, or if I did run into someone I would say that my allergies were acting up to explain my red-rimmed eyes. No further thought to my drawn face was given.

5 Star Review - Reader's Favorite Book Review
Reviewed By Lesley Jones for Readers’ Favorite

As doctors still try to agree on whether depression originates from genetics or our surroundings, we take an in-depth look into the illness and break down every possibility. The causes, symptoms, and treatments for this debilitating mental illness are examined in detail in Thank You Louise Hay by Natasha Bronfman, backed up with scientific research, whilst weaving in the author's own battle and life experiences of depression. Looking at the illness from many different angles, such as the principles of quantum physics, historical, spiritual and medical perspectives, this book will ask some important questions. Why do sufferers still feel embarrassed to discuss and admit to suffering from a mental illness as opposed to a physical one? How can family and loved ones best support someone with depression, and what are the common mistakes used that can harm not help? The journey out of the darkness of depression is possible and although everyone's experience of the illness is unique, this guide will offer enlightenment, hope, and encouragement that you are not alone. Depression is an illness that can draw you into the depths of despair but it should and will not define who you are. Use the references, quotes and suggested reading material throughout the book to find your personal path out of the darkness. 'No negative condition can remain in our lives when we truly love and accept ourselves.' -- Louise Hay.

Even if you have read other books on the subject of depression, I would still recommend you read Thank You Louise Hay by Natasha Bronfman. I loved the way the author tackles the subject from not only a personal perspective but from every aspect possible. Her definition of the symptoms was brutally honest and anyone who has suffered from the illness would surely relate to the feelings of hopelessness and darkness described. I also loved how the use of antidepressants was recommended just as a short term measure and not a lifestyle choice to battle the illness. The discussion into the quantum physics theory was very interesting as was the comparisons between nature and nurture. I found the examination of how the conscious and unconscious mind plays a key role in the illness, an awakening moment. This book is an absolute must-read for any sufferer or their family because it offers inspiration and hope that you can overcome this illness as others have. It also offers encouragement that you are not alone and talking about the illness should not be surrounded by shame. The bibliography at the end is vast and amazing too.



5 Star Review - Reader's Favorite Book Review
Reviewed By Vincent Dublado for Readers’ Favorite

Natasha Bronfman survived her bout with depression. The ordeal was harrowing, so much so that it tore her apart. But she survived and coped by understanding her pain. Thank You Louise Hay recounts her lowest point and how she managed to emerge like a butterfly from its chrysalis. She penned this memoir/how to heal book with the profound purpose of reaching out to others suffering from the same malady, to help them cope and to reassure them that they are not alone. Any person trapped in the maw of depression can benefit from reading this book. Bronfman introduces us to her path toward recovery with the help of people who inspired her to keep going.

The author processes her emotions to help her facilitate coping with and understanding her painful feelings. But it seems that the more she tried to understand her moods, the more it perpetuated negativity. While the common mechanism employed in depression is denial or distraction, Bronfman chooses to go deep into the anatomy of her illness. Her writing is fluid and down to earth. She never bores you with details that could trigger an argument on therapy approaches. She gives a step by step account of her experience and keeps everything understandable. She writes with a layman’s approach, combining her medical therapy with practical solutions derived from inspirational figures and holistic methodologies. The book is practical, and the length is unintimidating. Its conciseness is its greatest strength. Thank You Louise Hay manages to address the deepest truths about depression with succinctness.


5 Star Review - Reader's Favorite Book Review
Reviewed By Edith Wairimu for Readers’ Favorite

Natasha Bronfman’s enlightening self-help book, Thank You Louise Hay, precisely describes the impact of depression and offers possible treatment methods. In the work, Bronfman candidly shares her painful and heart-breaking struggle with the illness. Desperate to free herself from suicidal thoughts and the continued torment of living through crushing moments of darkness and pain, Bronfman sought answers from conventional medicine and later turned to naturopathy. The different conventional medical treatment options and dietary changes came with varied results. Still, she was determined to overcome the illness. The process Bronfman experienced shows how the path towards healing is different and personal for every patient. Bronfman gives credit to the teachings and lessons from different notable figures but most of all, Louise Hay.

Thank You Louise Hay by Natasha Bronfman puts into words what many suffering from depression would like to communicate to family, friends, and society in general who may not understand the full impact of the illness. The work debunks popular misconceptions of depression. One of these being that depression is a state you can just choose to get out of. The book makes it clear that a patient suffering from depression requires treatment and just because there may not be the physical manifestation of the illness, it does not mean that the illness does not exist. Thank You Louise Hay is uplifting in many ways as it gives people suffering from mental illness a voice to describe what they are going through. It also provides hope by showing healing from depression is possible.