The 10 Best Podcasts for Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Podcast App’s team is excited to be a part of the conversation by highlighting some of the shows that have made an impact on our own mental health.
As the topic becomes less taboo and more center stage, many podcasts have begun to feature mental health professionals willing to share research-based information and supportive resources on a variety of mental health topics—you just need to know where to look. Here are our top ten podcasts, hosted by some of our most trusted experts in the fields of mental health and mindfulness, covering everything from anxiety to meditation to depression to neuroscience, and everything in between.
Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
There’s been a lot of hype around Dr. Laurie Santos’s class at Yale about happiness, and if it’s anything like her podcast, then the hype is well-deserved. The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos is a thoughtful, approachable, research-steeped investigation into what makes us happy and how to make our own happiness in the “labs” of our lives. Stockpiling insights from the latest scientific studies on happiness as well as inspiring stories from guests, Dr. Santos will help you unlock the gates to happiness, one episode at a time.
Start your 12-minute sit with guided meditations from today’s leading mindfulness experts, brought to you by Mindful.
12-Minute Meditation
Feeling anxious? You’re not alone. For those of us on the team who deal with anxiety, meditation has proven to be a powerful source of relief, both in moments of extreme distress and as a method for learning to calm ourselves in the future. 12-Minute Meditation by Mindful is one of our go-to resources for expert-led meditations that bring us peace.
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown By Parcast Network
Unlocking Us
At Podcast App, we’re kind of obsessed with adventure—the courage, the teamwork, and the challenges. This is just one of the reasons we love vulnerability researcher Brené Brown’s podcast about the adventure of being human. Unlocking Us is an exploration of the bravery it takes to be yourself in a world that’s always judging, and the experiences that unite us despite our vast and fabulous differences. Always raw and relatable, Brené Brown shares her thoughts, research, and real-life proof from guests on how courage and vulnerability connect and fulfill us.
The podcast addresses the value of mindfulness meditation and self-compassion in relieving emotional suffering, serving spiritual awakening and bringing healing to our world.
Tara Brach
With a new talk and guided meditation each week, psychologist Tara Brach teaches why mindfulness matters and how to practice it a little each day to foster compassion and uplift yourself and others from suffering. Her down-to-earth approach to mindfulness is profound yet accessible. With over 3 million downloads each month, her podcast is one of the most influential sources of mindfulness teachings we have encountered.
Hear experiences from business leaders, psychologists, neuroscientists, nutritionists, authors, mindfulness teachers, storytellers and more.
Untangle
Studies tell us just 12 minutes of meditation a day for a couple of months can have a transformative impact on focus, happiness, and inner peace. Most of us can find 12 spare minutes no matter how busy we are, so why not give meditation a shot? Untangle is a podcast that will convince you by explaining the effects meditation can have on the body and mind. You’ll hear from psychologists, neuroscientists, nutritionists, medical doctors, sleep experts, and storytellers from all walks of life.
This podcast will provide you with practical; scientific tips and tools to help you take back control over your mental, emotional, and physical health.
Cleaning Up the Mental Mess with Dr. Caroline Leaf
Do you ever get stuck in a negative feedback loop in your mind that causes you unneeded stress? Let us introduce you to one of the best podcasts for breaking free of the mental spirals that don’t serve you: Cleaning Up the Mental Mess with Dr. Caroline Leaf. Dr. Caroline Leaf, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and communication pathologist who studies neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change in response to the input we provide it with. This show has helped us understand our own minds better, offered ways to work with our brain chemistry and not against it, and revealed scientific research that helps us build our mental and emotional skillsets for destressing on a daily basis.
Open-minded discussions of habits, meditation, wisdom, depression, anxiety, happiness, psychology, philosophy, and motivation.
The One You Feed
An old parable says there are two wolves battling inside you: a good wolf representing kindness, bravery, and love, and a bad wolf representing greed, hatred, and fear. Which wolf wins? The one you feed. This show offers strategies for identifying habits of anxiety that hold you back and how to replace them with positive habits, thus feeding your good wolf. The One You Feed’s host Eric Zimmer has worked as a behavior coach for over 20 years, helping people transform their lives by forming new habits and setting achievable goals.
Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Mental Health By QuickAndDirtyTips.com
The Savvy Psychologist
What’s your personality type? Is emotional stability possible? How does gratitude affect the brain? The Savvy Psychologist is here to answer all your questions about the mind, emotions, and mental health. The Savvy Psychologist’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Mental Health, hosted by Jade Wu, Ph.D., is waiting to be your next rabbit hole. Dive in for evidence-based advice, down-to-earth explanations, and practical tools for understanding yourself a little better so you can get the most out of your life.
Amy Morin shares actionable advice for developing the mental strength you need to reach your greatest potential.
The Verywell Mind Podcast with Amy Morin
We all feel not okay sometimes, and the more we can acknowledge our feelings and learn from them, the more our mental strength grows. The Verywell Mind Podcast with Amy Morin teaches us to be mentally stronger with each episode. From stress to fear to grief to addiction, mental hurdles of all kinds are unpacked and demystified on the show as psychotherapist Amy Morin offers practical solutions for whatever you’re going through.
Every episode is packed with wisdom you can use at work and home.
The Knowledge Project
Bringing you expert insights, scientific evidence, and experiential wisdom from world-class thinkers across a wide range of disciplines, The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish offers an enormous library of eclectic, surprising, and helpful information. From psychology and mindfulness to relationships and communication, no mental health stone is left unturned on The Knowledge Project.
