I never thought I'd laugh at my own mental health history, let alone make other people laugh with me but there it is! David is the kindest of spirits to share his comic ability with all of us. He taught me to really laugh and to learn the initial steps towards self-acceptance so that I can help people understand mental health issues. Thank you, David!

I wanted to try stand up comedy and thought I was a funny person. But I worried that with my mental illness my jokes would be weird and not gotten by my audience. David's stand up for mental health proved that the mentality ill can make their dreams come true. David did everything to ensure I was successful. Because of David I am sure that I can do anything. And I will be writing jokes for the rest of my life.

"It was so nice to have people laugh with me instead of at me for a change."

"I thought my experiences with mental illness and recovery were FUNNY STRANGE...because of this experience I now know that it is also FUNNY FUNNY. This training has finally allowed me to feel comfortable talking about mental illness and recovery and feel comfortable making light of some of the most painful expereinces."

"One thing is for sure, it is hard to suffer with a mental illness when you can laugh about the symptoms, meds, side effects, etc...."

Stand Up for Mental Health was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. And so far, the most rewarding.

Be not afraid of who you are, who others think you are, or who you were. Instead, laugh at yourself and the world will laugh with you.

I have to admit I always laughed but joking openly about my mental health has given me a huge sigh of relief. In this program I don't have to have a mental illness and do crime to be noticed. Ha Ha. David thank you for letting me finally do what I always hoped to do and that was perform to a big audience. Its been great, I do realize it wasn't easy thinking up stuff but damn I'd make a great comedy writer someday (Hey there Mr. Rick Mercer).

Stand Up For Mental Health is the best thing that ever happened for me. I now have courage, CONFIDENCE and self-esteem because of the encouragement and teaching from David Granirer. Thank you David and Stand Up For Mental Health. You gave me a life I can live and have FUN doing it.

The experience that I got in SUFMH is one of the most positive things I have done in a long time. It gave me a chance to look at all the mental crap and rough times I went through and turn it into something that gives people a laugh and puts a smile on thier faces while at the same time helps fight the stigma. I felt like I got a chance to be myself again (with a lil' extra baggage)! Not everyone can see the baggage.......but I know its there! Thank you for everything David!

Having spent the last year and a half talking to different groups about Stigma I was very afraid I would not be funny, your classes and instructional material changed ALL that!!! I feel so so.....so, EMPOWERED!!!!!! I would recomend this class to any and all , who would be thinking about this class, cannot wait to get started again!!!!!!! Changed my LIFE!!!!!!!

It was great being able to tell jokes that the audience was able to understand. Who knew that Zoloft and Prozac would make such great punch lines? Thanks David!!

Thanks to PSO for this awesome opportunity to expose the reality of mental illness. Thank you David for the training and the support - without it, this great experience would not have been possible. It was cathartic, fun, and empowering!!!

It is hard for me to describe what this experience did for me. It was a mountaintop experience, and accomplishment. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I guess empowering, trite though that word might be, is a good word for how it made me feel. Well, "it" didn't make me feel empowered, or anything else, I did it to myself! if you know what I mean. Something I myself did made me feel great. I was so proud of myself for doing it, just doing it. I don't often (like never!) feel so purely proud of myself, without thinking thoughts like "oh, big deal, it's not like you went out and made a million dollars or something", or "well, they were just clapping to be nice to the pathetic mentally ill girl". Or other self-put-downs. Actually it didn't matter what anyone else thought or did, it was my own opinion of myself that mattered to me and I was pretty pleased with myself. All the laughing and clapping the audience did was icing on the cake, secondary to how I felt about myself. I feel like I went up a level in my journey to mental health. You know what I mean? It was a step up in self-esteem, but more than that. You should have heard my sister laughing with pleasure and excitement when she called me the next day and I told her how well it went. She was so happy for me. And I think my mom was just stunned!

Thanks so much for the opportunity to do this. I think your program is such a great one. Somehow, it gets us where we live. Thank you so much, David.

Stand Up For Mental Health has been so empowering for me. To write jokes, perform them, and get laughs and applause is a wonderful feeling. It's been great to give back to the communities, to show them what we were capable of doing. David's leadership has been inspiring too....he survived 20 weeks with us and is still alive. I am hooked and look forward to doing more shows, so....goodbye for now, gotta get back to my writing.

WoW, what a life changing course, I am still depressed but I am no longer ashamed!!!! Stand up for Mental Health has given me the chance to laugh at what is pain, and to shout out to the world, I have an illness, lets talk about it, better yet LETS LAUGH!!!! I will never be the same again,!!!!! Thankfully!!!!!!!!! Best thing I ever did for ME!!!!!!!!

STAND UP FOR MENTAL HEALTH has improved my confidence to go up on stage and tell jokes about being a person with a sickness. The stage is where I know I feel happy, smile and let people know that they enjoy laughing at comedy very much.