Inside Mental Health

What if the person everyone thinks has it all together is actually struggling with depression, and they don’t even know how to express it? What if that person is you?

Clinical psychologist Dr. Margaret Rutherford joins host Gabe Howard to explore perfectly hidden depression, a pattern in which perfectionism, achievement, responsibility, and constant productivity can conceal serious emotional pain. These aren’t necessarily people pretending to be happy or deliberately creating a perfect life. They may genuinely believe that continually striving, helping others, solving problems, and staying “on” is simply who they are, which can make depression incredibly difficult to recognize.

Listeners will learn:


why success doesn’t necessarily mean someone isn’t depressed

why “fake it till you make it” can miss the real problem

how being “the responsible one” can become a trap

where to begin when perfectionism is causing emotional pain


Most importantly, this conversation isn’t about eliminating ambition, responsibility, or gratitude. It’s about having choices. Dr. Rutherford explains how recognizing destructive patterns can help people decide what they want to keep, what they want to change, and where they need to give themselves permission to be something other than “perfect.”

If you or someone you love always seems fine, successful, responsible, and endlessly capable, this conversation may give you a different way to look beneath the surface.



“Perfectionism can actually become its own prison where you feel trapped in this life of, ‘but everybody looks up to me.’” ~Dr. Margaret Rutherford



Our guest, Dr. Margaret Rutherford, is a clinical psychologist whose TEDx Talk on Perfectly Hidden Depression has reached 2+ million viewers. Her work has been translated into dozens of languages and offers life changing insights for sufferers, families, and friends.

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.



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Psychedelics are having a moment in mental health care. Research is showing promising results for conditions including depression, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD. But how much do we actually know — and how much is hype?

ADAA member expert and licensed psychologist Jonathan Schettino, PhD, explains how psychedelics went from being viewed primarily as illegal drugs to becoming the subject of serious clinical research. He breaks down what happens during psychedelic-assisted therapy, why standardized dosing matters, and why treatment involves much more than simply taking a psychedelic and “tripping.”

Listeners will learn:


how researchers control psychedelic doses in clinical trials

why psychedelics aren't yet FDA-approved treatments

whether psychotherapy makes psychedelic treatment more effective


The research is promising, but the science isn't settled. This conversation explains what we know, what we don't know, and why the next few years could be critical for understanding the future of psychedelic-assisted mental health treatment. Listen now!

This episode has been sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).



Our guest, Dr. Jonathan Schettino, is a licensed psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders and OCD as well as research on approaches to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. He received his AB in psychology from Princeton University in 2004 and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UCLA in 2012. He completed his predoctoral psychology internship at St. Elizabeths forensic psychiatric hospital in Washington DC and postdoctoral training in personality assessment research at Otto-Friedrich Universität in Bamberg, Germany. He owns a small private psychology practice in Baltimore and has an appointment as a research psychologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University. 

Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.




This episode has been sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

What if some of the anxiety, depression, and mental health issues we experience aren't simply problems inside us? What if they're actually signals telling us something about the world around us?

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Joanna Cheek joins the show to challenge the way we think about mental health, diagnosis, treatment, and self-care. Her argument isn't that mental health disorders aren't real. They're real, they can be debilitating, and they deserve professional treatment. But focusing only on the individual can cause us to miss external factors that could be a contributing factor.

Focusing on the world or external circumstances raises complicated questions. For example, if anxiety can be a normal response to danger, when does it become an anxiety disorder? If low mood can be a signal that something in our environment isn't working, when does it become depression? And if treatment helps us feel better, does that mean the problem is solved?

Listeners Will Learn:

·      Why self-care alone may not be enough to improve mental health

·      What “collective care” means and why it matters

·      How small acts of kindness and connection can benefit well-being

·      Why anxiety and low mood aren't automatically mental health disorders

This episode isn't an argument against mental health treatment. It's about asking a bigger question: What if we're treating the symptoms without paying enough attention to what's causing them? Listen now for a fascinating conversation about what we misunderstand about mental health—and what we might be able to do about it.



“Self-care isn’t enough. We need to care for our collectives because this world will keep making us sick.” ~Dr. Joanna Cheek, Author of “It's Not You It's the World”

Our guest, Joanna Cheek, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, psychotherapist trained in dozens of modalities, researcher, meditation teacher, journalist, and Clinical Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. She co-created the national-award-winning Mind Space collective, offering publicly-funded mental health workshops to teach effective mental health strategies through connection and care to tens of thousands of community members and physicians who, like us all, experience the mental health symptoms that arise from living in a disordered world.



Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.

Men die by suicide at dramatically higher rates than women, accounting for nearly 80% of suicide deaths. Yet many men who are struggling never seek mental health support — and the consequences can be deadly.

On this episode, host Gabe Howard talks with psychiatrist Dr. Sanjay Mathew, board president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and Richard Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men and author of “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It.”The conversation explores why traditional mental health language and services may not resonate with some men, how anger and irritability can be overlooked warning signs, and why men may be reluctant to seek or continue treatment. They examine the importance of friendship, community, purpose, and feeling needed — and why men may sometimes hold themselves to such high standards that they count themselves out before they even begin.Listeners will learn:


how adjusting the language around mental health may increase engagement among men

why connection and belonging can be critical to men's well-being

how friends and family can help prevent male suicide 

why mental health treatment and therapy are a sign of strength, not weakness


Most importantly, the episode challenges the idea that improving men's mental health means taking anything away from women. The goal, the guests argue, is not either/or — it's helping everyone thrive. Listen now to learn more.

This episode has been sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). 



“I think sending that message to men and perhaps especially to young men, ‘We need you,’ is actually something that as a culture, we're not doing very well now.” ~Richard Reeves, author of “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It”

Our guest, Richard V. Reeves, is the founder and president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Before founding AIBM in 2023, Reeves was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. While at Brookings, he focused on policies related to economic inequality, racial justice, social mobility, and boys and men.

Reeves is the author of several books, including “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It” and “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What to do About It.”

Inspired by his own experiences as a father and policy expert, Reeves founded AIBM to bring awareness to the challenges facing boys and men today and to develop evidence-based solutions.

Our guest, Dr. Sanjay Mathew, is a professor and department head in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Texas A&M University’s Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine.



Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.

What happens when you seemingly have everything — and still don't feel OK?

TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie opens up about the severe depression that followed his departure from the company he built. What initially felt like a mild depression gradually became a years-long struggle marked by isolation, shame, loss of purpose, relationship difficulties, suicidal thoughts, and a painful disconnection from himself.

Blake also shares his experience of being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and taking multiple psychiatric medications before working with a psychiatrist to carefully taper off them. They also explore an uncomfortable question: Have we taught people to expect medication to fix mental health problems in the same way we expect an antibiotic to cure an infection?

Listeners will learn:


Success doesn’t make you immune to depression.

Rock bottom looks different for everyone.

Recovery often requires multiple tools.

Feeling better doesn’t mean you stop doing the work.


Blake ultimately discovered that recovery wasn’t about finding a single solution — it was about reconnecting with himself, finding purpose, and continuing to do the work. Even after feeling better, he still shows up for therapy every week. Listen now to hear Blake’s powerful story of depression, recovery, and learning that there really is no magic pill.



Guest & Host Information:



Blake Mycoskie is best known as the founder of TOMS Shoes and the creator of the One for One movement, which gave over 100 million pairs of shoes to children in need and helped spark a new wave of social entrepreneurship. But behind the global success, he was quietly battling something deeper: the unshakable belief that he was never enough. After selling TOMS, that internal struggle became impossible to ignore. Despite having everything he once believed would bring fulfillment, family, success, community, and financial security, he found himself in a profound depression. At his lowest point, he came close to ending his life. That breaking point led to a life-altering realization: the wound wasn’t external, it was rooted within. And the only way forward was to heal the original lie that he wasn’t enough. From that awakening came his next chapter: ENOUGH. A cultural movement designed to challenge the deeply ingrained belief of “not enough” and reframe how we understand mental health at its core. Through simple but powerful symbols, like the green ENOUGH bracelet, sold in pairs, one to keep and one to give, he invites people to reconnect with a truth that has always been there: I am enough. You are enough. We are enough. Blake is also launching No Magic Pill - a podcast created for those who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or alone. It’s a space for honest, unfiltered conversations about mental health that are both relatable and practical. There’s no agenda, no product to push, and no requirement for a perfect ending. Just truth, shared openly.

This chapter is not just about healing, it’s about rediscovery. Through doing the inner work, Blake reawakened something he thought he had lost - his entrepreneurial spirit. What followed has been a renewed sense of clarity, creativity, and passion. Fueling a level of joy and productivity in his work that surpasses anything he has experienced before. He is now channeling that energy into new ventures as co-founder of Morning Water and Moovlab - brands rooted in wellness, intentional living, and human performance, each reflecting a more aligned and conscious approach to building. Beyond business, Blake is a proud father of two, an avid surfer, and a portrait photographer. He is currently working on a 50th birthday project, traveling to photograph and honor the people who have most shaped his life. Blake lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he continues to build, create, and connect from a place of wholeness rather than lack. His life’s work now sits at the intersection of mental health, creativity, and entrepreneurship, guided by a simple but transformative belief, that embracing our inherent enoughness is the foundation for everything that follows.



Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. Gabe is also the host of the "Inside Bipolar" podcast with Dr. Nicole Washington.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To book Gabe for your next event or learn more about him, please visit gabehoward.com.