Eight Mental Health Podcasts to Help You Survive in 2025
There are many reasons to be worried and depressed about the world in 2025. And while parasocial relationships with your podcast friends are not a replacement for therapy, a thoughtful, informative, empathetic podcast can be a helpful addition to your mental health toolkit.
Unfortunately, not all of these shows are helpful (or even worth it), and wading through the sea of them is probably not what you want to do when you’re already stressed or sad. Luckily, I’ve done the hard work for you: Here are eight shows that don’t just spout generic advice and empty statements, but actually use thoughtful conversations, unconventional storytelling, and concrete structures that can help you through a tough situation. (They certainly helped me—the fifth one on the list legit changed my life.)
Basket
Basket Case is a mental health podcast that is unlike any mental health podcast I have listened to before. He doesn’t offer hacks or advice, but looks at the mental health industry as a whole, using intimate narratives to show how it systematically makes us sick. It’s more about the forces that contribute to mental illness than mental health, but it’s invaluable nonetheless. Host NK introduces us to a variety of mental health issues, from perfectionism to depression and anxiety, in a way that makes them feel intuitive and immediate. This is achieved in part through the stunning soundscape that NK uses to evoke other ways of experiencing the world.
Podcast “Blind Boy”
The Blindboy Podcast , hosted by Blindboy of the Rubberbandits, is also not strictly a mental health podcast, but it is like a hug in podcast form. Combining cultural commentary, history, observation and fairy tales, Blind Boy manages to normalize the therapy process and autism by being open about himself. It helps listeners learn something they might need to hear about the world or themselves. Free-flowing episodes cover everything from Irish and Greek mythology to the inside of a tennis ball and a discussion with the late Sinéad O’Connor.
Black Healing Remix
Black Healing Remixed is the porch, the kitchen island, and the perfect spot on the couch where honest and transformative conversations about healing and wellness unfold. Each episode celebrates Black healing in all its forms—beautiful, messy, imperfect, and joyful—while providing listeners with linguistic and practical resources to participate in their own healing journey. What does it mean to thoughtfully and honestly highlight your mental health in the face of modern society? Hosts Yolo Akili Robinson and Natalie Patterson are the perfect people to answer this question.
10% happier
Meditation can seem so dark, so foreign, so uh-huh. And if you’re not a woo-woo, you may not think this will help you. At10% Happier, Dan Harris explores meditation and mindfulness in a truly accessible and science-based way, offering practical tools and interviewing guests ranging from meditation teachers to neuroscientists, psychologists, and the occasional celebrity. Dan is a memorable and genuine presenter: he once had a panic attack on air, which set him on the path to mental health.
How to fail
In each episodeof How to Fail , journalist Elizabeth Day asks her guest to tell us about three failures they experienced, reframing them as events that helped them become a better person or live a better life (at least in the long run). Elizabeth creates magical chemistry with all of her guests, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mo Gowda and Brené Brown. The focus is not on hacks or advice, but on revealing the mistakes and regrets these people were able to overcome and how. You may not end the series feeling grateful for your latest mishap or failure, but hopefully it won’t be as bad.
The one you feed
The One You Feed was inspired by the famous parable of the two wolves, reflecting the choices we all make to nourish our good or bad sides. Host Eric Zimmer weaves together topics of health, wellness and self-improvement into insightful conversations with psychologists, spiritual leaders and authors in episodes covering anxiety, depression, self-doubt and more. The One You Feed beautifully combines ancient philosophical ideas with modern psychological research, and Eric’s personal story of overcoming addiction adds a layer of vulnerability and meaning to each episode—over 400 to date.
Depressive mode
In each episode of Depresh Mode, John Moe (also creator of The Funny World of Depression ) sits down with comedians, musicians, authors, and actors to talk about how we experience depression, anxiety, addiction, and harsh self-talk. Familiar names like Jamie Lee Curtis, Justin McElroy and David Sedaris shared their baggage and the tactics that worked (and didn’t work) as they tried to cope with the situation. If you can’t find someone in your life who shares your struggles, you may find him in John and his guests.
Happy Hour for Mental Illness
In Mental Illness Happy Hour , comedian Paul Gilmartin tackles mental health issues in a way that makes listeners feel cared for while making them laugh, aided by his guests – actors, comedians and the occasional doctor. The show covers a wide range of topics and will help you realize not only that you don’t have to feel so alone in your problems, but that many others are facing other problems that are likely making them feel equally isolated. Gilmartin’s secret ingredient is humor, but he doesn’t shy away from the difficult stuff.