- Jocelyn Bystrom
Writer ~Advocate ~ Speaker
Now, on the road to wellness,
I'm telling & writing my story.
Welcome
May you know you're worthy.
​May you know you're enough.
May you know you're not alone.
Blog
About Jocelyn
I struggle with mental health, plain and simple.
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I consider myself a passionate, driven, career-oriented, workaholic, who when a career was unexpectedly swept away buried my grief rather than seeking support to help me discharge pent up emotion.
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In time, childhood strategies, which had served me well, were no longer functional and my body kept score of traumatic incidents and my unresolved grief.
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For seven years, I experienced severe, complex physical trauma that a team of neurologists had a difficult time figuring out. Only, when I was completely incapacitated with daily seizures lasting between10-30 minutes in length, and up to eight in a single day, did I finally end up in a seizures investigation unit.
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Diagnosed with P.T.S.D., F.N.D., O.C.D., and Anxiety, in February 2021, it was time to face exploring my past and to seek support. I needed to reflect on the baggage I was carrying and strategies that no longer serving me well.
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This confident, perfectionist was brought to her knees by unresolved loss and grief. Finally, with the clarity of a diagnosis, I'd known, it was time. I reached out, called out and prayed asking for help. I finally realized I needed support. I've surrendered to my imperfection and am getting comfortable in my own skin.
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Now, on the road to recovery, I'm telling & writing my story. A memoir set amidst the pandemic while simultaneously care-giving for my mother journeying through dementia.
FiNDing Hope: The Mind-Body Connection & Importance of Being Seen and Heard, might sit nicely on the bookstore shelf next to Mark Henick's, So-Called Normal or Megan Devine's, It's Okay that You're Not Okay. Both great memoirs, that I'd recommend anyone check out.
I write to process my own mental health journey, as well as to support others who may be struggling in silence. Might you be walking in similar footwear: alone, struggling in your workplace or looking in the mirror wondering:
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"Who's going to speak for the girl in the mirror?
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I am.
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My name is Jocelyn Bystrom and I choose to speak up and advocate for:
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#MentalHealth&Wellness.
September, 2023
