I'm Maura Aronsmaley and this is The Anxious Achiever.

We look at stories from business leaders who have dealt with anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges,

how they fell down, how they pick themselves up and how they hope workplaces can change in the future.

Media and entertainment isn't always the easiest on our mental health.

Every day we're presented with images of people whose lives seem perfect or who always seem to be happy,

it can be overwhelming. On the other hand, we seem to take some sort of pleasure

in watching the messiness on reality TV, and yet we often avoid the messiness in our own lives.

But media and entertainment have incredible power to show people that there are others out

there who feel just like them and to shift the conversation and dialogue around one's

taboo issues.

Later in the show, we'll speak to a listener of the anxious achiever, Andrew Suchmior.

He's an Emmy Award-winning makeup artist who reached out to me to tell me how much the show

means to him as someone who struggles with anxiety and depression. But first, I want my MTV.

I speak with Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group, which includes

not just MTV, but Comedy Central, VH1, Pop, and other channels. McCarthy has realized how

important creating a more mentally healthy culture is in television, and he recently, with

industry partners, released a mental health

media guide. In our conversation, we talk about the power and privilege creative and entertainment

industries really have when it comes to our mental health. And we talk about Chris's own

personal struggles that made him the leader he is today.

Well, so let's just start out.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

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