Maya Schumer earned her PhD studying the very disorder she carries, using neuroimaging and machine learning to map the neural signatures of mania and emotional impulsivity at the University of Pittsburgh. She is now a postdoctoral fellow at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School's flagship psychiatric institution. She also lives with Bipolar I.

So when Maya began a modified ketogenic diet and noticed her cognition sharpening, her mood stabilizing, her daily life becoming simply less effortful, she understood the implications in a way few patients could. Today on Beyond Well, Maya Schumer talks about what twenty-first-century psychiatric treatment gets right, what it still gets wrong, and why the emerging field of metabolic psychiatry may be closing a gap that millions of people have been falling through.

Michael F. Kay is an author, Certified Life Coach, and host of the retirement podcast Chapter X. After more than 25 years as a financial professional, he shifted his focus to the inner side of retirement, particularly the identity, purpose, and emotional challenges people face when they step away from full‑time work. His writing has appeared in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets, and his new book, How to Craft Your Chapter X.

Kara Infante, host of Bookish Flights, discusses the link between reading and mental health. Kara shares her personal journey of being a military wife, a transplant, and a new mom, and how reading helped her build community and shore up her new identity. Kara offers tips for people who have turned away from reading for many years, but are now interested in starting a reading habit. Find Kara’s community at https://bookishflights.com