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

I haven't posted on message boards since I was 13. I'm 27 now, so this may take some getting used to, but I felt compelled to do so and in the end I think I will be glad that I did.

I guess I'll just list all my shit in cronological order.

My mother has been going through on-going depression, panic attacks/seizures, since as long as I can remember.
In August of 1999, after 10 years of sobriety, my dad started drinking again.
In August of 2007, I got a DWI, lost my job and my girlfriend of 4 years.
In August of 2008, my parents got divorced after 25 years of marriage.
(Man, something about August sucks.)

Anyways, I'm not saying that these events being so closely strung together like they are is what caused my depression (It's probably been lingering around in the back of my mind since about...my adolesonce) But these events did "help" to set up a kind of launch pad.

Anyways, I found out about this podcast through a Mystery Science Theater website. Both my dad and I being a huge fan of both MST and Frank Conniff, I listened to that podcast. (I just sent my dad the link tonight, strongly reccomending he listen to it.)

It was SO COOL to listen to somebody that Iv'e admired and looked up to, express thoughts and feeling that I could TOTALLY relate to! There were things said that suddenly gave me "A-HA!" moments. I downloaded a few others (Paul F. Thompkins, Doug Benson) and when I finished, I just had to seek out the other people who are going through the same kinds of things.

Anyways, I'm glad I stumbled upon this and I think it will be a big help.

Brad

Welcome Brad.

Not surprised you have suffered from depression given your family history. My husband and I had a talk about comorbidity yesterday. One thing often goes hand in hand with another. For instance he has ADD and dyslexia, and also suffers from depression and that can lead to substance abuse. Not uncommon. People who struggle with substance abuse often have an underlying mental illness (ADD, depression, anxiety etc). As you said, you had quite the launching pad.

Brad wrote:I just had to seek out the other people who are going through the same kinds of things.

Brad, I'm glad you found the podcast. It sounds like you've been through an awful lot. I joined the forum a couple of months ago--first message board I've ever posted to. It's often quite difficult for me to open up about my problems, and writing in this forum gave me a way to start doing that. I bet that as you listen to more podcasts and look around the forum, you'll find a lot of like-minded, supportive people.

Dan

Brad,
Welcome to the forum. Glad you like the podcast. I'll pass along your nice words to Frank when I see him tomorrow. Glad you're seeing that you're not alone!

Paul