Mayim Bialik bringing neuroscience background to new mental health podcast

Mayim Bialik is using her smarts to launch a new audio series focused on mental health.

The Big Bang Theory star has a doctorate in neuroscience from prestigious Los Angeles university UCLA and has said she wants to use her academic background to help those struggling with issues like anxiety and depression.

"I'm starting a mental health podcast - Mayim Bialik's Breakdown," she told Kelly Clarkson on her daytime talk show.

"Get it?" she laughed, explaining: "so I can say, 'Welcome to my breakdown' - that's why we named it that... It's not just (about) what medication you're supposed to take or what your life should look like - it's real people talking about their mental health."

Bialik added that she discusses her own experiences with mental health on the show.

The mum-of-two's own condition is a rather unusual one she couldn't quite identify or fully understand - until one of the guests on the new show gave her a "diagnosis".

"I've always been called 'sensitive' or 'highly sensitive'" she shared, revealing: "but it was someone we had on my podcast who said, 'It's called an HSP.' It stands for Highly Sensitive Person. I didn't know it was a thing. I'm just like, the way that I am. And I was like, 'Now I have a diagnosis'."

She explained people with HSP: "feel things very, very deeply. Sometimes they call us 'intuitives', sometimes they call children 'indigo children' if they're like this."

Mayim Bialik's Breakdown will debut on 12 January.