I'm Maura Aronsmili, 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.

Everyone's mental health journey is different.

Our journeys are shaped through a mix of nature and nurture.

Genetics, our different lived experiences, families of origin,

gender, how we see ourselves in the world, and how other people see us.

This means that our mental health diagnoses like depression and anxiety have complex roots.

There's no blood test to figure out the exact issue you have or even where it came from.

You might get the impression on your journey to better mental health that if only you meditated a million hours a day or you became a master of mindfulness, everything would be fine, right? Wrong. Just as our mental health issues and our concerns are a complicated

web made up of layers, so too are how we help ourselves feel better, the different modalities we use, practices, and medications.

And so while today's guest, yes, is a master of mindfulness and an expert meditator,

not to mention a certified yoga instructor, he also says that medication and therapy have helped

him work wonders as he dealt with issues

that ran in his family and that he struggled with for some time. Nor does he say is his journey

over and I think that is such a powerful message to hear. For Anu Gupta, the path to mental health

comes from many threads, better understanding of brain chemistry, family, life experiences,

and identity. And I was so excited to speak with him about the journey that he's on, which many

of you will probably relate to. A quick warning for listeners that we do talk about suicidal

thoughts and some serious issues in this episode. And now, my conversation

with Anu Gupta, scientist, educator, lawyer, and the founder of Be More with Anu.

So welcome, Anu.

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