What Do They Call Doing the Same Thing Over and Over?

If you are shocked by the widespread of mental illness found in the study from the Mental Health Services Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, you probably do not work in real estate. The study shows that 1 in 5 people suffered from a mental illness in 2010. Heck, I could have told you that without any such study. Because I am a Sacramento short sale agent.

Who else encounters such a vast number of people in their intimate settings? You might think, oh, maybe a bartender, a hairdresser or a lawyer, but no, it's the real estate agent.

I get to interact with people via email, text, phone and in person. In their home and out of it. I see all kinds. We short sale agents employ a plethora of communication methods in our business, so we tend to experience the whole person and not just a fragmented portion. That fact that 20% of our population is off their rockers is not news to me.

What's hard is coming to grips with the fact that we can't help. Agents are natural givers. It's one of the reasons we are in the business, to help people. Not only is there too much liability attached to such efforts, but it's absurd to try. We are not psychiatrists. We are not social workers nor psychologists.

The best we can do when dealing with people from another planet is to stay grounded on Earth.