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

There was a checklist a few episodes ago in the intro monologue that was beautifully delivered. It really tickled me.

There was a moment in the most recent episode amidst the final read of surveys. Paul recounts a negative review on iTunes and responds to it with hilarious aplomb.

Then without missing a beat he switches back to reading a fairly dark survey with gentle compassion.

Great stuff.

Well said.

I still laugh at something he said 2 or 3 years ago. He had ordered some nut butter just before Christmas. I think it was soon after his marriage broke up, so he was looking for small joys like the nut butter. The jars arrived broken and he talked about having a funeral for the nut butter, and that the jars were going to come, but all the pieces had to come in separate limos.
I'm laughing now!
Heather

I really like this thread. I recently got my wife to listen to some back episodes because I thought those episodes would help her understand some of the things I really go through on a day-to-day basis. Her takeaway was how not-funny she found Paul to be and how focused on inappropriate sexual jokes he is. I just had to tell her that we'll have to agree to disagree on these points. I especially disagree with her on the topic of Paul's inappropriateness. I always hear it as akin to that awkward smile or chuckle when faced with something that makes you deeply uncomfortable. I think Paul's even made comments to this effect -- that it's his coping mechanism.

I’m enjoying the survey-only episodes a lot. Interviews are great of course and the people Paul finds to talk with are amazing. But there is always a real sense of communion when Paul reads out surveys. And having survey-only episodes only heightens that sense.

I feel the same, BB. That was a really great episode yesterday.
Heather

Mental health guru . What a champ and life saver Paul is .

a few years ago I was badly depressed when I found the podcast. Bingeing on it daily got me through. It was the support group I never had. I don't listen every week anymore, but I still listen. I don't think Paul would want to be known as a guru. He is a life saver and a champ. Through a combo of humor and sensitivity, he tries to connect the disconnected.

I agree 100%, brownblob. I found Paul's podcast in the midst of my anxiety spirals and I'll never forget it. It was episode #349 w/ Paul's friend Meredith M. It was the very first time I had ever heard about covert incest and even though that topic wasn't why I came to the podcast my ability to relate to it rocked my world and convinced me that there was probably a lot going on in my head that I was unaware of. Shortly after I sought out a therapist and began my recovery journey. It didn't take long for me to see Paul as a human with lots of recovery under his belt and a model for what I wanted (and still want) to be one day "when I grow up." As I was writing that it dawned on me that my own episode was exactly 100 episodes after that one. That's serendipity for you, I guess.

One of my favorite Paul moments was when he coughed, then said, "Sorry, I just had a mouth full of Ginger...Ginger is my neighbor." Then he went right on with the survey.