Welcome to episode 719 with my guest Sepide de Cerami. My name is Paul Gilmartin.

I'm the host of this place, which is a place for honesty about all the battles in our heads.

To anybody who's new, welcome.

I hope you find this to be a place where you can feel less alone.

It's one of the reasons why I started the podcast

back in 2011.

Do we remember 2011?

When there was a semblance of decorum and our public political sphere. Oh my God I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole.

Let's get into some surveys.

This is from the Ask Paul Anything survey and this is filled out by Lindsay and she asked

did or do you struggle with self-isolation and how have you overcome this. My nature is to isolate and I would

imagine a lot of people listening struggle with that too. Or if they don't isolate they

over commit themselves and feel a sense of dread when they do meet a social

commitment but that's where support groups really help me because the one

thing that I have done well in my 20 years of going to support groups is I've never stopped going because I know if I stop going

at the very least my life will be a shit show not just in my head but in reality and I might

die which sounds dramatic but addictions you know running from our feelings

can kill us our feelings won't kill us but running from them might and so

that's how I battle self-isolation, but on the days that I don't have a support group meaning, I really enjoy just being on my own and I don't know if I can put into the words the difference

between healthy solitary time and on healthy isolation.

I suppose it would have something to do with having human connection in our lives.

Isolation to me would be that we don't have any human connection. And I mean by connection I don't mean just showing up to

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