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

Hey, y'all. I've been browsing around, noticing that once in a while people reach out on these forums and get no response, despite, in this case, over 300 views. How creepy that must feel -- especially to a shy or skittish person, if she/he/they comes back and sees how many times people have taken a...

Hello, hobojungle. I'm glad to see you posting about the dermatillomania. That's still a fairly new word to me. It’s one of many things that "wasn't discussed" in my family, and "isn't discussed," mostly, where I've spent time since leaving home. I pick at myself, but this is may...

Hello, oak. Kudos to you for all the sustained attention and follow-through on Project Assertiveness! I'm sorry to hear you got stood up. I admire your positive attitude, but I feel a bit growly toward Nutella No-Show. Grr. Not nice. Using that experience as a springboard for further self-care sound...

rg, I just want to let you know I'm glad you're here. I've seen your posts here and there, and being glad to see your name and read what you have to say has become a habit. Having joined a support group seems like a reasonable basis for carrying on a bit, if you can. There are -- literally -- no sup...

Thanks, hobojungle. It keeps surprising me how much y'all's kind replies help. I like your observation about minimizing our own struggles, and the extra-uncool nature of minimizing someone else's. I've noticed that sometimes (though not always), in trying to get my own situation in perspective, it c...

Heya, brownblob. Nope, nothing invalidating there -- just the opposite. It helps to have your perspective. I wish I were more able to focus on people's possibly good intentions. I really do: I fear that much of my reactivity is plain immature intolerance, which is embarrassing. If I were granted sev...

Thanks, mmg. I'm glad to have your more soothing voice as a follow-up to my potentially cranky-sounding post. I'm also glad to have your validation and witnessing.

I'll do my best to carry on. : ^}

Namu

Paul said that, to him, the decision to commit suicide is "the ultimate example of ... how the perception of time can distort reality and the truth. Because what is suicide but a reaction to the belief that things are never going to get better?" That rhetorical question is, in one form or ...

Thanks, oak.

I've heard of intergroups, but don't know what they are.

Hello, people. I live in a rural area, in a depressed region -- lots of poverty, not much else going on. I have benefitted from support groups in the past -- mostly Adult Children of Alcoholics (though alcoholism wasn't my family's thing, it was the closest match I could find). I'm in therapy. I've ...