Courage: My mental health journey - Audrey Joyce - Wattpad

Courage: My mental health journey

Reads 271
Votes 16
Parts 22
Time 1h 43m

Reads 271
Votes 16
Parts 22
Time 1h 43m

memoir memories mentalhealth mentalhealthawareness mentalhospital mentalillness mymemories nonfiction

"Courage is to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart." 
(Brene Brown)


When you hear the words "hospital" and "mental ward", you think of the word "loony bin", don't you? Or did I just put that in your head? Either way, it usually comes with a negative connotation in some way or another. You get what I mean. I hate it, and I hate that mental illness is stigmatized at all, but that's the world and society we live in. I want to bring more light to it all in my writing, and I hope others will follow suit, as a lot already have.

When I was 25 years old, I went to the Emergency Room at a nearby hospital after having a breakdown that was very close to leaving me dead. I was admitted to the mental ward of that same hospital and went up there that night. I stayed for 5 days, from Sunday night to Friday afternoon.

And in that time, I transformed. I went from a wilted rose to a new rose fully formed. I became a butterfly. I was called "Spring".


This memoir-writing is going to be all about my journey with mental illness/health, what lead up to my hospital visit, and what happened during and after it. It's going to be a long therapeutic ride for everyone.


"Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we'll ever do." 
(Brene Brown)

~*~

"Life is beautiful and brutal; Life is brutiful." 
(Glennon Doyle Melton)


"Stay strong" / "You seem like a wonderful young lady even though I just met you." / "Take care of yourself" / "Good luck" / "You remind me of spring. You've bloomed and transformed here." / "You matter" / "She is a lovely young lady" / "It's all going to be okay" &lt;3

(Things that patients and staff told me when they left and when I left the hospital.)

~*~

Dedicated to, 
The Joyce to my Jacquelyn; my best friend; E&E; my sunflower; my support system including my family and co-workers; all the friends/staff I met in the hospital; and anyone that might be suffering. It will be okay.

~*~All Rights Reserved

memoir memories mentalhealth mentalhealthawareness mentalhospital mentalillness mymemories nonfiction

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22 parts

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Remember This✔ by autumnskiess

Molly has never felt safe. For four years she has lived in constant fear that the serial killer that murdered her family is coming for her. She has been moved around the country continuously, dropped off with a new foster family every couple of months that are too out of their depth to deal with her. When she is relocated back to California at seventeen, Molly has nothing left to live for. Believing that suicide is her only option, Molly makes the brave decision to end it all one fateful night . She had the perfect plan; nothing was supposed to go wrong. Just one choice, one jump, and she'd be with her family again. Charlie has never had to consider his own empathy towards strangers. He's arrogant, selfish and becomes unbearably irritated with other people's problems. But when he sees Molly standing on the edge of the bridge and ignores every part of himself that wants to walk away, something awakens inside of him that he never realized was there. Saving her was just the beginning. The two are thrown together in a world-wind friendship of hope, healing and passion as they endure the temptation of love and the danger of a sadistic killer that isn't willing to let Molly go. R E V I E W S: - "I started reading it and I could not stop until I was finished. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and events. I enjoyed everything! It is so well written, would recommend this book to everyone!" - "It's a heartfelt story that touches you deeply, and never gets boring. It's filled with everything you could ever want and more." - "Not sure I have cried this much reading ever... . Definitely the best storyline I have read in a really long time." - "Insanely intense book from beginning to end makes you cry a few times throughout absolutely amazing story." - "This was the most AMAZING story I have ever read. I laughed, I cried. It was so emotional and it was MAGNIFICENT."

Static by hattielynn

{COMPLETED} "now that you've had your fun electrocuting me, would you care to hop in the backseat?" ---------------------------------------------------------- Freak DNA. That's what I like to call it. The fault to my genetic code. More often than not, it's a curse. The static running through my blood gave me a name. A cruel, daunting label of a measly bug. A roach. That's what I am to them, to the government. Roach; the nameless monster with electricity for a sense and lightening as a second nature. It ruined my life, the sparking currents playing tag in my mind, running around and bumping into everything, shaking me loose. The government, actually. They ruined my life. My curse just gave them a reason. You see, the normal population with ordinary DNA, they don't know about the people like me. The roaches of the world. We don't get that kind of recognition at the camps. There, we are only one thing in the military's eyes. We are weapons and we will act like it. Everyone else out there, bathing in the goodness they don't know they've got, they don't know about the roaches their stepping on. As long as their getting closer to the sky, they don't care what they stand on to reach it. They don't know about the sparkling dreamer that's killed 7 people before her 17th birthday. They don't about the ghost of a girl peaking around corners for her entire life because even home wasn't safe. They don't know about the fighter of steel and iron sucking on his bloody lip courtesy of the wars he battles in as nothing but a shadow. They don't know about the masked villain who would do anything to see the army they lead claim the throne They don't know about us. But they will, because we will rise. And when we arrive, we will arrive violently. ___________________________________________ Started: 10.06.15 Finished: 3.17.16

My Dear Reader Rebecca by philpw99

What will you do, when you have only 5 days left, before a dead-or-alive challenge happens? Rebecca is having a highly risky brain surgery next week. Time is extremely precious for her. Yet she chooses to finish reading a book, which is unfortunately mine. I am a failing writer whose stories go nowhere. There are still two more chapters to write for this book, but I am having a writer's block. I visit her in the hospital, and greatly inspired by her courage under the unfortunate circumstances. However, can I finish the book in time for her? I'll try my best. Once again, my mind flies back to the post-apocalypse world of my fiction, searching for a way to end the book properly... ...... This is an attempt to mix comedy with tragedy. Some content is quite heavy, like cancer, depression, sick patients...etc. So prepare a tissue, just in case. I wrote and posted the first 3 chapters 4 years ago, yet due to my stupidity and insensitivity, I lost a dear friend over this story, which I regretted deeply. The idea was first inspired by another friend, who gave me some first hand experience of a cancer patient. Can't thank her enough. It's totally my fault that this story was delayed for so long. It's simply too good to waste, and not fair for her priceless contribution. There are also various things inspired by different friends online, who once bared their souls to me. Sincerely appreciate their friendship. It has totally 8 chapters. Each one has about 2000 to 3000 words. Disclaimer: Everything here is fake, never happened and completely fabricated by my wild imagination. The story has nothing to do with Wattpad or any website, because seriously, nothing is real here. If someone happens to have a similar experience, that's just coincidence. Copyrights of Becca Franco, Bill Cadogan and "The 100" TV series belongs to The CW Network.

WINNING ATTITUDE by KAPERISTADAILY

Are you facing trials? Problems? Difficulties? Are you tired of trying? You want to give up already? Are you looking for Inspiration and Motivation? You look down on yourself? You think you are a loser? Are you oppressed and depressed? Or you just want to read Inspirational books? You come on the right place, this book is for all of us, because no one is exempted when it comes to life difficult situation. I write this book to help, to Motivate, to Inspire and to teach you the right attitude in front of all the life difficult situation. Every chapter has a different purpose. I completed this book already hope you get inspiration from my book I will surely make another book. Thanks you Guys. 🙏

Zeus by Lani_love11

Gangs. A girl. War. Fights. Love. Hate. Death. All words to describe the city of Athens. The most dangerous city in the country. But only those who have been there know that. Athens is not a place for tourism. Not many people who visit, make it out alive. Vicki, 16, has finally found a home willing to adopt her after 6 years of jumping from home to home, family to family, foster to foster. Some were good. Some bad. Some could, would, and did the unthinkable. But now she didnt have to deal with that. But she had no idea of the secrets that the friendly "welcome to Athens" sign hides. Or did she? She wasn't ever supposed to end up in the system. Or end up on her meds. She remembered nothing of her life before 10 years old. She had always knew something was missing, but this? This was more than she could ever handle remembering. **** "Wow, I thought it was just you guys and Artemis." "There's a whole world of gangs. There are gangs in every country, some even I don't know as a leader." "Is it tough being a leader?" "Some times. Especially when I have to deal with loss. But I also give some opportunities to people who need it. I've even given a homeless man a small job and it set him up for life." "That's cool. Are the Zusians tyrants. I mean were they?" something about the name doesn't shake me. It's stuck in my head for some reason. "They more are now. There's speculation that a kid got out safe and will one day take back the leadership, but after seeing the wreckage first hand, I don't think anybody left it alive," he says it. But he doesn't sound like he even believes himself. "Did the kid get out? Is it even slightly possible?" "Between you and me. I helped her escape. I know she got out. But I don't think she lived long after we lost contact. Why do you ask?" "Something about the name... It is vaguely familiar but I don't know why. Maybe it's just my meds." "You might have just heard it before." *** Cover by @_scintillas

Logan by braindeadwriter06

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Lost In The Mind of Me by GennAnn5

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A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔ by wigglysubu

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LATE NIGHTS IN TOKYO (UNPOLISHED VERSION) cover

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Remember This✔

Molly has never felt safe. For four years she has lived in constant fear that the serial killer that murdered her family is coming for her. She has been moved around the country continuously, dropped off with a new foster family every couple of months that are too out of their depth to deal with her. When she is relocated back to California at seventeen, Molly has nothing left to live for. Believing that suicide is her only option, Molly makes the brave decision to end it all one fateful night . She had the perfect plan; nothing was supposed to go wrong. Just one choice, one jump, and she'd be with her family again. Charlie has never had to consider his own empathy towards strangers. He's arrogant, selfish and becomes unbearably irritated with other people's problems. But when he sees Molly standing on the edge of the bridge and ignores every part of himself that wants to walk away, something awakens inside of him that he never realized was there. Saving her was just the beginning. The two are thrown together in a world-wind friendship of hope, healing and passion as they endure the temptation of love and the danger of a sadistic killer that isn't willing to let Molly go. R E V I E W S: - "I started reading it and I could not stop until I was finished. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and events. I enjoyed everything! It is so well written, would recommend this book to everyone!" - "It's a heartfelt story that touches you deeply, and never gets boring. It's filled with everything you could ever want and more." - "Not sure I have cried this much reading ever... . Definitely the best storyline I have read in a really long time." - "Insanely intense book from beginning to end makes you cry a few times throughout absolutely amazing story." - "This was the most AMAZING story I have ever read. I laughed, I cried. It was so emotional and it was MAGNIFICENT."