YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hi everyone,

I've been meaning to make an account on here for several months. I've been listening to the Mental Illness Happy Hour for a while now; it was actually the first podcast I ever subbed to. The podcast has helped me so much on my journey to recovery, which started about 2 years ago.
My name is Ashley. I'm 23 years old. I was diagnosed with PTSD over a year ago, but before that I always knew I was depressed. Listening to interviews from Paul's podcast has really helped me when I'm at work. I work a full time job, and started attending community college last year. When I was working, I had a tendency to end up in a bathroom stall, balling my eyes out, over the stupidest things. School also stresses me out for weeks at a time, but I feel like it is a necessary evil to move beyond my shitty desk job I'm currently at.

I'm not really sure what I expect to achieve/learn in this forum. It just seems that maybe I could feel welcome here. I've tried out other depression-based online forums and often times found myself feeling completely ignored & not getting anything from it. Perhaps I was not ready to put myself out there then; maybe I'm still not ready.

Recovery to me is something that I need to always have an awareness of. I have definitely come a long way from where I once was, but my whole life will be a work-in-progress, and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm on this Earth for.

I would like to be able to encourage others to keep improving themselves, or their situation. I have never been one to help myself, but often get mad when I feel ignored. This is what I'm currently working on; I have no self-worth, so why should anyone view me as "worthy?" I want to stop others from feeling this level of self-hatred.

Looking forward to speaking with others, and relating to them. I'm also hoping I don't overstep any boundaries.

Thanks for reading,
-Ashley

Hello piscesxloner, welcome to our little forum! It is so wonderful to see somebody just dive in and provide support to other newbies!

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All the best to you, cheers!

Welcome to the forum.I'm glad you found the podcast and that it has been helpful. I can relate to your self hatred. It sounds like you're pretty self aware and moving towards healing.

Welcome! I just joined too. I hope that you will find a safe space here and that you won't feel ignored. :]