The Gifts And Struggles of a Bipolar General with Gregg Martin

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the qualities that make you successful are the ones keeping you from getting the help you need? In this episode, I talk with General Gregg Martin, a retired U.S. Army two-star general, about what it’s like to lead at the highest levels while living with bipolar disorder. Greg shares how the same energy, drive, and creativity that propelled his career were also symptoms of a condition that went undiagnosed for decades. We also dive into the cost of high performance, why success can mask serious mental health struggles, and how bipolar disorder often shows up in ways people don’t recognize. Tune in to better understand the complexity of mental health in high performance, work, and leadership. Check out our sponsors: Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to shopify.com/anxiousachiever Notion - Notion is an AI powered, connected workspace for teams. Try custom agents now at notion.com/achiever In this Episode, You Will Learn 00:00 What does leadership mean to you? 06:30 How gratitude shifts your mindset in high-stress environments. 09:00 Why bipolar traits can be rewarded in leadership roles. 12:30 How the bipolar spectrum shows up over time. 16:30 How structure and routine can stabilize mental health. 19:30 How pressure and responsibility can intensify mental health struggles. 23:00 Why high achievers often go undiagnosed. 26:00 What it feels like to experience rapid emotional shifts in a single day. 30:00 Why success can hide serious internal struggle. 34:00 How performance can stay high even during mental health decline. 41:30 Why mental health diagnoses are often missed. 43:30 How loved ones can help identify what you can’t see in yourself. 46:30 Why do leaders struggle to speak up about mental health? 50:30 Why your mental health challenges don’t define your potential. Resources + Links Learn more about Gregg Martin HERE! Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever Watch the podcast on YouTube Find more resources on our website morraam.com Follow Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just sign up for your $1 a month trial today at Shopify.com slash anxious achiever.
0:05.3	That's Shopify.com slash anxious achiever.
0:12.8	You know, if you're successful and you have bipolar disorder, when you're up, when you're manic, hypomanic, hyperthymic, as today's guest is and what you'll
0:25.7	learn about, you know, you get a lot of rewards for it. The behaviors that tend to accompany
0:31.9	some bipolar behavior, not all, are what we think of when we think of leaders, right? Energy, passion,
0:39.9	drive, creativity, strategic thinking, a kind of go-gettedness, right? It is very extroverted
0:48.5	behavior and it is what we think of as successful behavior. General Greg Martin was rewarded for his mania for many years in the Army.
1:02.5	Even while he managed depression and sought help, the mask of success that he wore kept him from actually getting the diagnosis that he needed,
1:14.7	which is bipolar 1.
1:16.8	The thing that's awesome about General Martin, who has a PhD from MIT, is a combat veteran,
1:23.9	was an Army Ranger, and has all of the accolades, is that he's just totally an open book.
1:30.4	He wrote a book called Bipolar General, which is really, really good.
1:35.1	But today we really dive into what it's like to be a leader, leading life and death
1:40.1	decisions in wars while managing a level of mania. And also we talk about mixed state
1:48.6	bipolar, which is an experience that you really have to live to understand, but it is the sense
1:55.7	that in sometimes even the same day, you can go from feeling a sense of joy and euphoria and passion
2:04.0	and just, oh, man, I'm in the right place living my life, to feeling so depressed that you feel
2:10.3	despairing.
2:11.8	Listeners on the show who have bipolar will understand this.
2:15.5	And it's really in the understanding there's so much we don't understand about mental illness and bipolar. And it's really in the understanding. There's so much we don't understand
2:19.1	about mental illness and bipolar. And it really hurts those of us who are very successful,
2:26.1	but need help anyway. I'm so excited for you to hear General Martin's story, his enthusiasm, his passion, his learning, his curiosity,
	...

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