A note to our listeners, this episode contains discussion of suicidal ideation.

I used to believe that for most people, having one mental illness, just one, just the one, was possible, common.

I thought it was very normal for someone to just have major depressive disorder, to have generalized anxiety disorder and nothing else.

You got OCD, but OCD alone. I don't really think that way anymore.

And that's because it's simply not what I have seen. I don't see people with only one thing.

I don't talk to people with just one issue, maybe ever, or at least barely

at all. There are no solo artists out there, as far as I can tell, when it comes to mental health

conditions, only bands. If you have one condition, you probably have more than one condition.

People are complicated.

Their minds are complicated. The terminology of different disorders is useful in a couple ways, one, for insurance purposes.

Two, for better understanding some of the elements of one's mental makeup.

But I think it helps to understand that these are elements

and not really a totality. I'll show you what I mean by the conversation we'll have this week.

It's depression mode. I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here.

You might know our guests this week from times in your life when you've been trying extremely hard to ride a stationary bike as strenuously as possible,

while a very positive and energetic woman cheers you on.

Kendall Toole became pretty famous as an instructor on Peloton, amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media,

and one might be tempted to think that because Kendall is physically fit

and energetic comes across positively, that she has never known mental health problems. Not so. It doesn't work that

way. Kendall does have experience with depression, anxiety, OCD, suicidality, and the idea of using

her platform to speak out on those issues has informed the work she has been doing lately, advocating for mental health

awareness, fighting stigma. She started a company called NKO Club, stands for not knocked out.

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