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

Hi. Straight male. Dangerously close to 40. Parent of a 4yo awesome daughter. Married to a super cool woman. Creative professional. Creative hobbyist.

I always enjoyed Paul when he was a guest on Jimmy Pardo's podcast, Never Not Funny. Then one time he was on, and talking about this new podcast he was starting up and it sounded super interesting and totally up my alley. I checked it out, and loved it. He introduced me to Eckhart Tolle and I read/listened to The Power of Now and it really spoke to me. Further podcast listening opened me up to what therapy was all about and I'm now just about a year into being therapized. It's been very interesting and exciting.

I didn't think I had TOO much drama going on upstairs. Just run of the mill anxiety and insecurities, with some stuff thrown around by a good chunk of time spent being very born again christiany in jr high/high school. However, I'm now 4 months into sorting out some gender identity business that I didn't even REALLY know was a thing for me until it came up in therapy. (The more I think about it, I think I did know of course. It was just waaaaaay way way on a back burner, on a stove in the back room of a dark basement that I never even went into before.)

I blame/thank Paul for this, essentially. Thank god for Paul Gilmartin!

A pleasure to meet you.

I know just how you feel about Paul. I found him thanks to Adam Carolla's podcast. It's taken me three years of listening to start therapy and I still haven't read Eckhart Tolle even though I know he would challenge me in a good way.

I didn't think I had TOO much drama going on upstairs

I wonder if everyone should go to therapy and learn to live a better life by exploring their inner self. I oscillate between that belief and the idea that maybe most people don't need any therapy at all. Either way, people who do need therapy are the one's I am drawn to get to know. "Everyone's fucked up in weird and wonderful ways." The one's who really don't seem fucked up are so BORING. Creative people are never boring which is why I got into podcast listening in the first place. I love hearing about the deep stuff in people's brains and even the little dramas upstairs.

Now I'm rambling... Welcome to the forum.

Thanks! I can't imagine there is a single person who couldn't see some benefits from therapy, given they had the right attitude and therapist.