Naomi Judd is releasing a new memoir that will detail the singer's long struggle with depression. The matriarch and one half of recording duo the Judds will release River of Time: My Descent Into Depression and How I Emerged With Hope on Dec. 6 through Hachette Books.

Written with New York Times best-selling author Marcia Wilkie, River of Time is a raw and honest look into Judd's history, from sexual abuse as a child, years of psychiatric hospital treatments and pharmaceutical drug poisoning and a two-year battle with depression and panic attacks. In an excerpt from the new book, Judd writes of her experience while still a touring artist.

"I wanted to be completely honest that if someone took out a gun and killed me on stage, they would be doing me a favor," she writes. "But I didn't. I was there to inspire them and I could not let them down. I gathered every ounce of strength I had, straightened my shoulders, adjusted my suit jacket, found the will to smile, and strode out on stage."

In addition to this new memoir, Judd has also written two self-help books, two children's books, one cookbook and a 1993 autobiography, Love Can Build a Bridge. Of course, she is best known for her contribution to country music with daughter Wynonna Judd, as the duo released seven studio albums and won countless awards before Naomi was forced to retire from touring in 1991 after being diagnosed with Hepatitis C. But it is perhaps her newest endeavor to chronicle her journey with mental illness that will make the biggest impact.

"My story isn't one of a victorious recovery from debilitating mental illness, but of a wary and humble gratitude for persevering through thirty terrifying months," Judd said in a statement shared by Rolling Stone. "I've gained an appreciative hope and, in the past year, an ongoing purpose for living once more. And, because I have survived and found peace, I feel a responsibility, as a messenger, to share what brought me hope and what's kept me alive."

River of Time: My Descent Into Depression and How I Emerged With Hope will hit bookstores on Dec. 6 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

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