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

That moment when Jerry says his mother told him "You'll never be a man"
Paul: "What a horrible thing to say to a child"
Jerry: ".....Yeah, well...whatever"
Paul: *bursts into laughter*

This really should be in next year's intro montage. It was A+ Awfulsome.

Oak, thank you so very much for your reply today. In my better moments, I reflect on how this whole awful situation is going to serve to make me a better person in the long run. Today I just feel sad, and your understanding words were comforting to me. I am working out what my boundaries are with hi...

A month ago, six weeks shy of their 40th wedding anniversary, my mom left my dad. My dad has been a gambler for most of his life (horse races mostly), a serious compulsive gambler for at least 10 years. The problems in my parents' marriage radiated out from there, assisted by my mom's pathological c...

This is a very worthwhile goal, but very Big. I suggest that you just start by simply accepting yourself and showing a little more compassion to yourself. This relieves you of the pressure to "love" yourself even when you know you are not at your best. You don't have to love it, you just h...

One of my favorite guests ever. I also had a bitter granny that chain-smoked and hated everything.

In the spirit of the fear- and love-offs that Paul does with his guests, I am going to list some of the things I feel shame about today. Feel free to add your own below. Things I feel shame about: The first thing I posted on facebook in months was something I thought was funny, then no one else thou...

Here is the link to Brene Brown's talk about this very issue. I am in the thick of dealing with this myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ifUM1DYKg

This is somewhat similar to an activity my therapist assigned me called "thought records". Given that, until recently, most of my thoughts were anxieties, my list and corresponding percentages would look a little like yours. Written in a list on a page, it revealed how irrational most of m...

I would like to hear more about how you cope with this issue. While I don't have fibromyalgia, I relate to the feeling of extreme fatigue and needing to cancel plans (or at least wishing I could). When you are able to pull yourself out to a show like this, how do you feel during the event? Are you a...

Thank you very much for this reply. I am thinking about different ways to frame my struggle and am doing better today.