When I Heard God Speak: A Memoir of Spiritual Awakening Through Mental Illness

"It had never occurred to me before that someone who was going crazy might know it. That the wild-eyed look that we have all come to associate with madness, could instead be terror reflected in the eyes of one who knows that they are losing their mind, and yet is powerless to stop it from happening. At least, that was how it was for me. I knew I was going crazy, but I couldn't stop it."

Like many, Danielle Darden had grown distant from the traditional religious beliefs she had been raised with, and struggled to find faith and meaning in a modern world. In 2003, the thirty-one year old social worker delivered her first child by emergency C-section. This traumatic event triggered a genetic predisposition for post-partum psychosis that resulted in the new mother not only hearing voices, but also conversing with them. She then had the unsettling experience of finding herself a patient in a psychiatric ward, when previously she had worked as a professional in one.

Rather than these events having a devastating impact on her life and sense of self, the wisdom and insight gained through these experiences started Danielle on a journey of spiritual rediscovery. Through this journey, she ultimately achieved the relationship with God she had been seeking. But, in the process, Danielle questioned everything she thought she knew about mental illness, and whether life is actually more than what it seems.