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

Ahh, it's been too long since I've logged in! I'm still dealing with Trich. It's become one of my main issues, along with the depression, which certainly as hell doesn't help. I won't be shaving my head again. It drove me berserk while it was slowly growing back in and I had to wait for it to reach ...

Hey guys, thanks again for the replies! Oak: I have heard of the online community; they have a forum as well, and I was on it for a while. I have a hard time keeping up with most forums though (this is the only one on which I'm currently active). I'll try to check back into it and see if I feel like...

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about sex. The idea of it feels foreign to me, and it's difficult to reconcile that with seemingly all of my peers (early-mid 20s) suddenly having serious sexual relationships and getting married. What are they experiencing/"getting" that I can't fathom? I...

Thanks so much for the reply, Oak! Wonderful to hear from you. My mother called her insurance provider to see why they couldn't cover the Abilify; they ended up recommending a few medications that are similar but older and cheaper. I hope to gather the guts to call my psychiatrist tomorrow and ask a...

I feel like I can't talk to anyone about today right now. I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't get back to sleep; I didn't need to get up until 5:30. At 5:30, I had my first real textbook panic attack; heart racing, cold sweat, felt I could vomit at any moment, the works. The kicker with that situation?...

I agree with the "general board" idea. When I started posting here I was looking around for one, and obviously couldn't find one. I suppose that would be a bit of a "stabilizing" thing for the forum overall. I do kinda like the larger number of boards, though. Especially since th...

That's an interesting thought, Oak. I'll think over that. As to not being able to keep one's hands still: Actually, one of the "tools" that many people with Trich will use is called a "Tangle," which is basically a series of segmented plastic that the person is free to fiddle wit...

Yeah, I'm somewhat leery of the "awareness week" craze that's sweeping the world, but I guess I feel like this one's somewhat worth it because the subject is so unknown in public. The problem with Trichsters shaving their heads is that, when/if the hair is allowed to grow back, I've heard ...

Also! This week is apparently Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior (BFRB) Awareness Week, from October 1-7. That includes hair-pulling, skin-picking, nail-biting, what-have-you. So that's a fun fact. I think trich.org has a thing or two about it...

Okayyy... Shaved my head today. I know it's at best not ideal for Trich, but the last few days have been driving me up the wall. I had short/bald patches at the front of my scalp, longer hair at the back. The longer hair made me want to get a haircut. Shorter hair made me incredibly self-conscious a...