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

Love this episode! For much of it I couldn't help but meditate on the significance of the Stanford Prison Experiment. http://www.prisonexp.org/ It shows how even with the right upbringing, one could still end up do bad things. I agree with Paul, Murph is definitely an inspiration! Think about how many people never truly realize the error of their ways, especially when they've really dug themselves a deep hole.

It shows that deep down we're still human, and instead of dwelling on negative emotions of past mistakes we should be learning from them and make positive changes in our lives.

great episode thanks Paul!

If you liked Murph's story you should check out a guy named Frank Meeink. http://www.frankmeeink.com/ He is a former skinhead from Philadelphia and the inspiration for the film American History X. His story, much like Murph's, proves that people truly can change for the better. He was the goalie for my rec hockey team for 6 months before I learned about who he was and I was shocked. I couldn't believe it was the same guy who was an upstanding member of a community... in Iowa.

looking forward to Episode #5!

This was a great podcast, the thing that struck me is, he looked at his crime like business. This certainly shows why criminals in the act can be so cold to their victims.

For some reason reminds of a story that happened in my area, around San Francisco. There was a felon that had been in jail many times and decided he had enough and went straight. A robbery happened and he somewhat fit the description, yet had an alibi. He was charged with the crime and he was assigned a pro-bono Jewish lawyer that had several relatives lost in the German Holocaust. When the two met, the lawyer noticed the defendant had several swastika tattoos. He moved ahead and defended him well as he believed he was innocent. After the defendant was found not guilty, he had his swastika tattoos removed to honor his lawyer.

This story was such a nice one to hear and shows there is good in all who are considered bad.