MHA's Blog: Chiming In

A few weeks back, in my blog about Maria Bamford’s Special Special Special, I mentioned a podcast called the Mental Illness Happy Hour as being one of the new places where comedy is openly discussing mental health issues. I wanted to talk about the podcast in depth a little more because it’s doing something truly unique in the worlds of podcasting and self-help.

The podcast is hosted by Paul Gilmartin, a comedian and TV host of some note. He started the podcast in 2011 as a way to deal with his own depression and addiction issues, and to create a place where people can safely talk about mental health issues without judgment. Boy does he succeed. The podcasts (there are currently 111 episodes) feel like sitting in on a therapy session. Guests talk about their mental health conditions, awkward interactions with parents, school bullying and everything under the sun in an extremely open way. Gilmartin is a wonderful interviewer, sympathizing with his guests and offering his own perspective, but not afraid to call them on their stuff too. In addition, he reads anonymous answers to a number of surveys where people can tell their secrets, happiness moments, private moments and things you’d never tell anyone else.

Listening is a cathartic experience. I found myself wondering how anyone could admit some of the things shared in a public forum, which just shows you my personal bias. All of the stories are genuine, and the insights people have from them are powerful. Many of the guests are in therapy or have been in therapy, so they’ve dealt with a lot of the issues before talking about them, but some haven’t. Other guests don’t have any mental health conditions, and are just dealing with life in general, and their insights are just as interesting.

This podcast is a great example of peer support. Peer support comes from the idea that a person who’s been through an experience can help another person through that same experience. An AA sponsor is a well-recognized example. Peer support has been scientifically proven over and over again to be an effective part of the treatment of a mental health condition and occurs in many different settings. It’s a key part of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan program (WRAP plans). Populations as diverse as bullied students, veterans and people with severe mental health conditions have all been proven to benefit from this type treatment.

I really have to praise Paul Gilmartin. He obviously cares about the people he is interviewing, and his compassion makes the podcast feel like a truly excellent support group. I felt like I was part of their story when I was listening to the guests, and that’s his doing. He’s open about his own struggles with his issues, and that immediately normalizes his guests’ struggles, even if they aren’t dealing with the same things. He keeps the podcast listeners from feeling like they are voyeurs by inviting them into the guests’ stories, which is much harder to do than it would seem. He’s doing an enormous amount of good, simply by being a kind, compassionate ear for people.

If mental health advocates ever forget how far the movement to “normalize” mental health conditions has come, listen to this podcast. It’s peer support at its purest; one peer empathizing with another, without judgment. Gilmartin often says that making the podcast helps him. It helps us listeners, too.

The Mental Illness Happy Hour is available on his website (http://mentalpod.com/), or on iTunes.

Next week, we’re going to take a look at Safe, the 1995 film about allergies and phobias. Do you listen to the Mental Illness Happy Hour? What do you get from listening to it?