In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, and in support of the growing number of people who struggle with mental affliction, InterVarsity Press (IVP) will release the On Getting Out of Bed podcast on May 15.

Hosted by Alan Noble, author of the book by the same name, this podcast series delves into the everyday struggles of modern life, with Noble and guests discussing how the simple act of getting out of bed can be a powerful testament to the goodness of life and God.

“To get out of bed is not to just physically get out of bed, although it includes that,” Noble said. “It also means choosing to embrace the life God that has given you as opposed to despairing and staying stuck.”

In this four-episode podcast Noble invites special guests to share their own experiences struggling to get out of bed. Offering wisdom and compassion, each episode offers hope and support to those who struggle with sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness.

Noble said, “This is not going to be a podcast that tells you what do or how to do it, or how to fix yourself. Instead, we are going to have conversations about what we have experienced and what we know to be true about the basic human experience of suffering, and how challenging it is to live in the modern world with our anxiety and our depression and our mental illness, and persevere.”

Guests on the On Getting Out of Bed podcast series include:

Tish Harrison Warren, author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night, is a weekly contributing newsletter writer for the New York Times and writes a monthly column for Christianity Today. She has worked in ministry settings for over a decade as a campus minister with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries, as an associate rector, and with addicts and those in poverty through various churches and non-profit organizations.

Curt Thompson (MD, Wright State University) is a board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of Being Known, an organization that develops resources for hope and healing at the intersection of neuroscience and Christian spiritual formation. He is also the author of The Soul of Shame, The Soul of Desire, and Anatomy of the Soul.

Heather Thompson Day is associate professor in the department of visual arts, communication, and design at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. She runs an online community called I’m That Wife and hosts the Viral Jesus podcast. An interdenominational speaker, Heather is the author of books including It’s Not Your Turn, Confessions of a Christian Wife, How to Feed the Mediavore, and I’ll See You Tomorrow. She is a contributor for Religion News Service, Newsweek, and the Barna Group, and she previously taught at Colorado Christian University.

Wendy Alsup is the author of Companions in Suffering, Practical Theology for Women, The Gospel-Centered Woman, and By His Wounds You Are Healed. Wendy also teaches math at a local community college and is editor at theologyforwomen.org.

“There are lot of us experiencing mental affliction of one kind or another, and there’s wisdom to be gained from each other,” Noble said. “My hope is that you’ll feel seen, and encouraged, and inspired, and built up, so that you can get out of bed.”