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

Thanks so much for your response, Scott. I will check out the book you mentioned. I'm glad to hear you speak with such positivity. It gives me a little hope

I can relate to the idea of having a love affair with mania. Although I don't want to be back in the place where I was, I would love for some mania to come back into my life for a while. I felt as though I had purpose when I was manic. My mind was rapid firing with so many ideas and everything felt ...

Hey Joe, I'm really glad I came across your post too. I've been hearing a lot of the "It could be worse" and the "Don't let it get you down" too, as I've been going through an identity crisis and emotional turmoil. The words may make sense intellectually, but they don't come clos...

What seems to work best for me is to lie down on my bed with my keyboard on my lap, close my eyes and just start typing. Most of the time I type "I don't have anything to say" over and over again until something pops into my head and I type it out. Sometimes what I say is coherent, but som...

Hello CandyColoredClown, I was recently diagnosed bipolar, and it was a bit of a surprise for me because my mood shifts happen very slowly like you mentioned yours do. I've gone as long as three months in cycles. I always thought it was seasonal, but that didn't always add up. If you have the abilit...

It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, Atiya. I hope things settle down for you. I've been crippled with anxiety the last couple of months and a friend told me to walk around the block. I told her no, so she told me to walk four houses down and come back. She called me every day to see if I'...

Oh no! Don't let Radiolab make you anxious! I kid. I totally understand where you're coming from on that point about this being as far as you can go. I doubt very much that is the case for you, and I'm hoping that since your post is a couple of months old, you're feeling in a better place now. I thi...

Hi Joe, It certainly sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, and I commend you for being able to put so much difficulty into words. I can relate a little bit to the mushroom trip bringing out a reality that you didn't realize existed. I had a mushroom trip (my last) when I was 17 that made an im...

Thanks for the note, Meh. I guess it's never too late to start life with the right perspective, right? I'm grateful to get the diagnosis now, and hope that I'm able to rebuild my life from a more solid foundation. I'm glad to hear that you still have your wife, even though it's difficult for her. I ...

Thanks for the welcome and your sentiments, anymomentinthewoods. It's certainly good to know that I'm not alone in the struggles, and I'm sorry to hear that you too lost a partner and friends. Right now I seem to be disoriented, and unsure of the future. I keep being told not to focus on the future,...