Mayim Bialik, 45, has recently shared that she firmly believes in mental health therapy.
The actress started a new podcast called Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown – a quirky, informative, and interactive podcast breaking down the myths and misunderstandings about mental health and emotional well-being.
Bialik, who is also a neuroscientist, said, “I wrote my Ph.D. thesis on obsessive-compulsive disorder. The past year has been a heck of a year, and I think a lot of people are experiencing mental health challenges in ways they maybe haven’t before. So I decided to start my podcast to really break down the science behind mental health.”
“I’m a big believer in therapy—I’m one of those people who believes that everyone can use at least a little bit of it,” she added. “I happen to believe in classic psychotherapy, where you stick with someone and go over all your issues and all that stuff. I also talk to a behavioral therapist specifically for my OCD stuff. I’ve also been to shamans and healers—but the consistent thing that helps me is therapy.”
The Big Bang Theory star took a break from acting to get her Ph.D. While doing that, she said she learned that people are the same everywhere. “There’s not a field where women aren’t mistreated or there aren’t arrogant people or power struggles,” she said. “It was kind of comforting to realize that. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we can run away, and you can’t—you’ll face things no matter what you do.”
“I am the queen of reduce, reuse, and recycle,” Bialik continued. “I was taking a canvas bag to the supermarket in college—people thought I was insane. I don’t use disposable feminine hygiene products and just switched to washable makeup remover pads—they are great.”
The Call Me Kat actress also revealed that she felt uncomfortable eating animals so she became a vegan 12 years ago.
“I became a vegetarian when I was 19 and a vegan 12 years ago,” Bialik said. “I was always that kid who was uncomfortable eating animals, but I didn’t know you could do anything about it.”
“When I left my parents’ house, I cut out anything that had a face,” she continued. “But I am also not the kind of person who believes it has to be all or nothing—everyone should make their own decisions and do what they can to have compassion for our planet.” The article originally appeared on Health.
