Thank you for this beautiful song. I really need this today.

This is inspiring. Parents are so mean and used to be physical abusing. But now it’s “just words”. But words hurt. I need help. Still living with parents, and I’m 21 but I’m scared to leave, I have mental illness issues, and I don’t know what to do. But I decided I’m going to tell my friends maybe my bishop, what happened/happening, and get help, and I hope to move out soon. Wish me luck. And God bless.

I was a victim of sexual, physical, mental and to some extent, spiritual abuse. I have tried reading the scriptures and my mind wanders off. I can't focus. The negative voices are so loud it's incredibly hard to concentrate. I have tried to self medicate and things got worse. The only time I feel somewhat safe is when I go to church. I still feel inadequate and worthless. Those nagging voices never leave you alone. They never sleep. Even in the most intimate and happy moments, they are there. Waiting to steal whatever joy you are allotted in this existence.

Thank you for sharing your story. I know about depression. I too been a member all my life, and also served and LDS Mission. Still struggling with depression.

Mark, I admire you very much. You are a man of great faith. Your honesty, sincerity, and dedication to the Savior are an example to us all. Your willingness to share your experience with others is so selfless and courageous. You were right from the beginning: our Savior can heal you completely and only He can heal you. It is my prayer that the truth of the words I write to you here will be manifest to you by the witness of the Holy Spirit. As you have expressed in sharing your story, the Lord has blessed you with some degree of relief and consolation, but not with complete healing yet. The reason you are not yet fully healed from this affliction is that, sadly, no one who should have had the discernment to recognize the real nature of the problem has done so. The Savior said in Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy, and my by burden is light." I encourage you to ask yourself this question, "Is the yoke you labor under easy? Even after the help you've received and the improvement you've experienced, is your burden light?" If the true and honest answer to that question is "no", you may be sure that what you are burdened with is not of God. While He has allowed you to experience this, it did NOT come from Him. Feeling "full of darkness", pain, sadness, hopelessness, the inability to feel the Spirit so much of the time, not feeling God's love, feeling abandoned, feeling like you were in "hell", and your recognition that you needed to draw closer to the light of the Spirit to combat the darkness reveals the true nature of the affliction, if you are willing to humbly accept two truths: firstly, God truly loves you and you really are a good and righteous man!; but, secondly, that which is inside you that has caused you so much pain and sadness is utterly evil. At some time in your life, perhaps during a period of intense fear and discouragement, an evil spirit entered your body and has been trying to destroy you ever since. Ask God if what I have told you is true. However, recognize that you will receive two conflicting answers, one from the whisperings of the Spirit and one from the adversary within who will try to convince you that this is just a "chemical imbalance", not the result of an evil spirit within your body. You must be determined to know the truth and greatly desire to be healed. I witness to you that there is complete and total healing available through the atonement of Jesus Christ, a permanent solution and complete healing that medication and counseling can never and will never provide. Most psychologists and many physicians don't believe what I'm telling you. Sadly, many members of the Church who lack experience don't believe this is possible either. The healing you seek, complete and permanent healing, does come by Jesus Christ through the administration of His holy priesthood by one who has both power in the priesthood and also recognizes and believes the true nature of your affliction. If both you and he have even a mustard seed of faith under those conditions, it will be sufficient. If you have had priesthood blessings before and not received the healing you were seeking, I encourage you to read Matthew 17:14-21. You are being blessed now with an opportunity to finally know what has really been happening inside of you all these years and how you may be completely healed. It will take courage to accept the truth. Remember this: it is your life and your suffering, and your choice to continue to suffer or to receive the fullness of healing that can come to you now. May the Lord bless you with ears to hear and eyes to see!

Mark, your story hit my heart in many ways. You spoke of points that find parallels in stories of myself, my mother and my daughter. The truths that brought you out of your dark times, are the truths that sustain me as I watch my daughter grapple with a devastating illness that has morphed her personality, and behaviors, into ones that we scarcely recognize. My only solace has been the help Father has sent me in many, many forms, and the deepening faith I continue to develop in my Savior. My catch phrase now is Wait, Watch, and Work for a miracle; the earthly efforts to bring her back have seemed in vain. Some day, in his wise timing, He will make her whole again. Thank you so very, very much for your story.