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

Brave of you to share your story <3 hospitals are a tough thing. I don't want to say they're overarchingly bad, but negative or unhelpful experiences like yours are very common. I'm glad you're alive -- glad your mother semi-accidentally saved your life -- hope you're in a more hopeful place now. Se...

So, I was offered a job at the place working w/ individuals with disabilities, and assuming I pass all the pre-employment screening (I'll probably find out tomorrow) that should go according to plan. I won't start for 2 weeks, so that's kind of not good -- I don't do really well with long periods of...

Thank you <3 That's exactly why I can write it, too... I know things work out. As of right now, I am a mostly functional adult -- sure, still with some issues, but I've been out of the hospital for over 6 months and there's no obvious reason why I shouldn't make it to a year admission-free. And I th...

Thanks everyone for your kind responses <3 I agree, the hospital system is backwards. But I also was absolutely not ready to get better until I absolutely was, so I don't know if I can blame hospital intervention for anything. I needed to stay safe when I needed to stay safe and my stubbornness was ...

April 2014, age 20: I call the front desk at the counseling center I go to, begging for an emergency appointment. I've been crying for days and can't get a grip on myself. They give me one, with the same counselor who sees my ex-fiance. It's a small town, so there's really no other options. I don't ...

The last couple days I've been confronted with several lessons I've learned over the last several months in recovery, regarding living with chronic suicidality. The impulses aren't as bad as they used to be, aren't even half as bad as they used to be, but the last couple weeks have been worse than m...

I hear you. Different styles work for different people. I am so glad you've found someone who validates and supports you. You seem like a lovely person. I'm mostly applying in entry-level social services positions or in childcare positions. I applied for a few jobs working with individuals with deve...

His attitude might sound shitty, but he really has been an excellent therapist and I'll miss him a lot. He understands that I need the distance to really be appropriate and helpful / helped by the therapy process. I had a therapist who was more emotional once and it turned into a mess of bad boundar...

Sharing an essay I wrote about an emergency therapy appt this morning -- originally meant for my blog but not sure if I'm comfortable sharing it there. Will share it here regardless. ~~ "These sound like old problems, things you would have experienced before all the work you've done. Thinking e...

I ended up using PRN and putting myself to bed early. When the suicidal thoughts come out, no matter how fleeting, they really scare me b/c of all the drama I've been put through with them, and there's no way for me to rationally process them in the moment. (At least, not that I've found yet.) So I'...