This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Historically on this show, we have shied away from celebrity interviews,

largely because we want guests who either have some skills that they can teach us.

We're talking about people like meditation teachers or happiness researchers,

or we want people who are willing to get super personal about their interior lives.

And with respect, these are qualifications that most famous people don't have.

Today though, you're going to meet a boldface name who happens to have both qualifications and in

spades. Mayan Bialik burst onto the scene in the 1990s as the star of the TV show Blossom.

Then she stepped away, got a bachelor's and a PhD in neuroscience and also became a mom.

She returned to TV in another sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. And now she has a very full plate.

She is the co-host of Jeopardy and she's the host of a podcast of her own called Mayan Bialik's

Breakdown. Oh, and she has written four books, including Girling Up, How to Be Strong,

Spartan Spectacular, and Boying Up, How to Be Brave, Bold, and Brilliant.

In this conversation, we talk about the pressures of being a teen star,

her fascination with the brain, how she squares her scientific expertise with her religious beliefs,

why she half jokingly says she was born a mental health challenge,

the difference between anxiety attacks and panic disorder, why she's chosen to be so public

about her complicated psychiatric history, whether it's possible to be overdiagnosed,

the tools she personally uses to stay afloat, what is behind her busyness and what happened when

she decided to stop working all the time, and why at age 47, she's now taking the time to learn

how to express her anger in a healthy way. Just a few notes here before we dive in, heads up,

there are some mentions of suicide and addiction in this episode. Also just to say, this is the final

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