ABSTRACT
The author experienced an unprecedented dip in his mood in October 1979, when he was 28 years old. This was perplexing to him, since he had been experiencing success in all areas of his life and had been feeling “on top of the world.” His wife was four months into her fi rst pregnancy, which had been planned and was greeted with excitement. In addition his wife, his parents, and he had just returned from a 10-day trip to Europe, which included the fi rst visit to his maternal grandfather’s birthplace in Denmark and to the home of his former American Field Service “brother” in Italy. The trip was fun and surpassed expectations. In May of that same year he took action on his goal to start his full-time clinical private practice, which was off to a stable beginning. And during the summer he played the lead role in the production of a community theatre musical. He felt that whatever he touched turned to gold.
