Welcome to the Commune podcast. My name is Jeff Krasnow. Today I'm joined by Dr. Judith Joseph. Dr. Joseph is a board-certified psychiatrist, clinical researcher,

and best-selling author of High Functioning, Overcome Your Hidden Depression, and Reclaim Your Joy.

She is also a clinical assistant professor at NYU and serves as chair of the Women in Medicine Initiative

at Columbia University. Her groundbreaking work has brought high functioning depression,

which she calls the hidden epidemic of our time, into mainstream awareness. In her book and her

research, she explores how countless people who seem to be thriving outwardly, always busy, always productive, are actually

struggling inwardly with Anne Hedonia, the inability to feel joy. She makes a crucial distinction

between happiness, which is fleeting and external, and joy, which is deeper, steadier, and rooted in connection

values and meaning. As you'll hear in this conversation, we dive into the landscape of hidden

depression, how trauma, both big T and little T, shapes our emotional lives, why imposter syndrome

can keep us from naming our suffering,

and how social media fuels the endless comparison that steals joy.

And most importantly, Dr. Joseph shares her powerful five V's framework,

validation, venting, values, vision, and vitals for reclaiming joy and moving from

mere functioning to flourishing. This is a practical and compassionate discussion that I think will

resonate with anyone who has ever felt that they had to hold it altogether while quietly

falling apart on the inside. And now my conversation with Dr. Judith

Joseph. Okay, Dr. Judith Joseph, what a treat. Well, thanks for having me. It's nice to meet you.

Yeah, great to meet you. I love meeting a doctor who's writing best-selling books and appearing on

podcasts who's actually also seeing

patients. And I'm actually learning so much from you. I mean, before we jump into the blood

and guts of the interview, I was checking out your Instagram and I learned what whining was.

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