Mental Illness Happy Hour

Another installment of Paul reading anonymous surveys submitted by listeners about their mental and emotional ups and downs during the pandemic as well as things they love. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST ______________________ Subscribe via iTunes and leave a...

The second installment of listeners sharing their loves, happy and awfulsome moments and struggles during the pandemic via surveys read by Paul. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST ______________________ Subscribe via iTunes and leave a review.  It costs nothing. ...

Listeners share their loves and struggles during the pandemic via surveys read by Paul. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST ______________________ Subscribe via iTunes and leave a review.  It costs nothing. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mental-illness-happy-...

Who couldn't use some positive vibes this week? No guest, just things that people love, submitted via the show's Loves Survey. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. This episode is sponsored by Roman.  For a free online visit and free two-day shipping go to www. GetRoman.com/mental This epi...

Paul's support group friend recounts his childhood and teenage years growing up in NYC's Hell's Kitchen and the cycles of violence, addiction, crime and poverty that he is struggling to break. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. This episode is sponsored by SquareSpace.  For a free trial...

The retired sex crimes detective and speaker/author answers listener questions about the mentality of serial killers and  sex offenders, the legal system, victim rights and famous cases past and present. For more about Don go to www. DHLectures.com Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. This...

The host/performer @TeresaStrasser returns to talk about her misdiagnosed, involuntary stay in the psych ward after breaking down as a severely sleep-deprived, mother battling shame and perfectionism. She and Paul share their fears and loves. More About Teresa www. TeresaStrasser.com www. Facebook.com/OfficialTeresaStrasser Follow her as @TeresaStrasser at www. Instagram.com/TeresaStrasser and www...

The writer/performer (winner of The Moth GrandSlam) opens up about the family secret that harmed his ability to trust and the eventual airing of it that improved his relationship with them. He also shares about his struggles to feel validated, included, respected and seen. More info about Sam and his podcast Family Ghosts Family Ghosts Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fam...

Fallon talks about her life as a trans woman; her desire to be "passable", how she feels about her voice, her experiences pre-op and post-op, the fetishizing of trans women, having bottom surgery and the bathroom dilemma. More about Fallon: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ , (they deal with lgbtq youth - they have a suicide hotline).   Her Instagram is @fallonchavezhair and her work website is to...

The Iraq war veteran, author and advocate talks about PTSD and moral injury he battled after returning home and the positive effects meditating has had on his struggles. Tom is the author of Where War Ends: A Combat Veteran’s 2,700-Mile Journey to Heal — Recovering from PTSD and Moral Injury through Meditation For more on his experiences with meditation check out www. TheMeditatingVet.com Support...

Therapist Katie Vernoy returns to answer listener questions about therapist/patient boundaries, when to report a client (in response to a very dark survey), what therapists get wrong and how to know when we're overwhelmed. More About Katie: website: katievernoy.com social: FB: https://www.facebook.com/KatieVernoyManagementConsultant/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/katievernoy Support Our Sponsor...

Al has always been a comedian's comedian, but mainstream success has always eluded him. Raised by a smothering anxious mother, fear and lack of independence have stunted his emotional growth. He talks about the fear of independence, sense of entitlement and narcissism that hinder his growth. More About Our Guest  For more about Al go to www. AlLubel.com Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponso...

Despite her traumatic upbringing and becoming the woman (her mom) she swore she'd never be, Wendy went from an alcoholic PTA mother shooting at her husbands mistress to jail to getting sober and finding her life's purpose helping others and halting the cycle of intergenerational abuse.  She is an author and certified drug and alcohol counselor. More About Our Guest  Her new book is Mother Load: A...

Karolyn suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disease that affects her joints and internal organs as well as being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She rarely goes more than two weeks without a visit to the hospital.  She's the creator of #HospitalGlam, a movement that utilizes photography and fashion to create awareness of invisible injuries and help empower patients....

Ellen (a pseudonym) shares about shares about discrimination, growing up poor, living on a reservation, riding the line between native culture and "white people things" and tells her story of grooming and sexual abuse from her father, being "trapped" in her own bedroom for years to avoid him, and how getting sober herself was the catalyst for healing and forgiveness. She speaks about the open woun...

Prostitution, alcoholism, fetishes, swinging, abandonment and being stabbed by a bayonet.  Handyman Hank Adams has experienced them all.  Paul’s friend has to literally pause to count how many stepdads he has had.  This episode originally aired in 2011. Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18....

The standup comic (Lights Out) (aka @BSComedian) and Iraq War vet opens up about his unstable childhood - being lied to and moved from foster home to foster home - and how it has affected him, what he learned about white people while serving in the Marines, battling Major Depressive Disorder and his thoughts on cultural appropriation. Follow Brian on social media @BSComedian Check out his FB page...

The 29 year-old Second City writer/performer @GobbieDixon shares about being gender-fluid, growing up believing there was nobody else going thru the feeling of not being in the right body, and their suicide attempt at 13. They share about their anxiety using public restrooms, dysphoria during sex and what their younger self could have benefitted from hearing. For more about Gobbie: Centered Web Se...

The 2-time Olympic gold medalist and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee shares about surviving domestic abuse and becoming an advocate for other survivors. She also shares about being one of 20 children, being a preacher's kid and learning how to stop trying to "rescue" broken partners and take care of herself. For more about Ruthie go to www. MightyRuthieBolton.com Contact her at teammighty...

The talented stand-up comedian, podcaster (The Neighborhood Listen) and writer/actor (HBO’s Mr. Show, Bojack Horseman, Room 104, Comedy Bang Bang) talks about the role therapy played in helping him turn his pain and rejection into being a happier person and a better artist.  He opens up about the shame of having parents who didn’t find him funny or necessarily interesting, and the beauty of being...

Paul and Jessi talk about the mean voices in our heads - especially towards our bodies; how childhood sexual trauma affects sexuality, self-objectification, difficulty orgasming and being your body's friend. More About Jessi Website: https://jessikneeland.com/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/jessikneeland/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/jessikneeland/   The books she mentioned: The Body Keeps the Scor...

The writer and NPR contributor @IAmGothamGirl shares about developing epilepsy at 40 (as a single mom), bad doctors, shattering her face during a seizure, the myths around her condition and the hope she has found accepting her new reality. More About Alisa Book links or alisajones.com https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com/ https://endepilepsy.org/ https://www.epilepsy.com/ Support Our Sponsors! This...

The public health psychologist opens up about the mental, emotional and political battles both personal and cultural that the LGBTQ community has fought especially since the 1969 Stonewall riots. More About Our Guest Perry N Halkitis, Ph. D., M.S., MPH is a public health psychologist, researcher, educator, and advocate who is Dean and Professor of Biostatistics and Urban-Global Public Health at th...

Nick talks about being a social worker clinician working with victims of the wildfires as well as combat veterans. Topics covered: types of PTSD, vulnerability, how to reach out for help and hyper-masculinity.  Support Our Sponsors! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp online counseling.  To get a free week go to www. BetterHelp.com/mental  Must be 18. WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST _________________...

Despite being attacked as a college student, the author of What A Body Remembers went on to become an attorney defending violent offenders. She talks about the various ways trauma ripples thru our later lives and finding her voice despite anxiety, hyper vigilance, PTSD & shame. More About Our Guest http://stefanokaren.com/ https://www.facebook.com/karen.stefano.5 https://twitter.com/kstefano1 Supp...