GUEST SERIES | Dr. Paul Conti: Tools and Protocols for Mental Health

This is episode 4 of a 4-part special series on mental health with Stanford and Harvard-trained psychiatrist Dr. Paul Conti, M.D. Dr. Conti explains what true self-care is and how our mental health benefits from specific self-care and introspection practices — much in the same way that our physical health benefits from certain exercise and nutrition habits. He describes how the foundation of mental health is an understanding of one’s own mind and the specific questions to ask in order to explore the conscious and unconscious parts of ourselves. He describes how this process can be done either on our own, through journaling, meditation and structured thought, or in therapy with the help of a licensed professional. He also explains how unprocessed trauma can short-circuit the process and how to prevent that, and the role of friendships and other relational support systems in the journey of self-exploration for mental health. People of all ages and those with and without self-introspection and therapy experience ought to benefit from the information in this episode. For show notes and additional resources, please visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Self Care (00:02:37) Sponsors: BetterHelp & Waking Up (00:05:34) What is Self-Care?, Foundation, Self-Understanding (00:13:18) Life Narratives (00:15:24) Journaling, Self-Inquiry & Therapy (00:24:41) Unconscious Mind, Salience & Journaling; Panic Attacks (00:28:20) Self-Inquiry; Grief & Death (00:33:23) Sponsor: AG1 (00:34:39) Self-Harm, Hopelessness & Therapy (00:37:27) Apprehension of Unconscious Mind Exploration (00:42:34) Mental Health Map: Cupboards, Agency & Gratitude, Generative Drive (00:54:18) Structure of Self, Unconscious Mind, Abscess Analogy (01:01:57) Exploring the Unconscious Mind, Curiosity, “Question the Givens” (01:10:48) Conscious Mind Exploration; Self Curiosity, Busyness (01:19:20) Exploring Defense Mechanisms, Character Structure (01:24:54) Self & Character Structure, “Tending the Garden” (01:32:45) Function of Self Cupboards (01:35:50) Self-Awareness Exploration, Mirror Meditation (01:38:34) Defense Mechanisms in Action & Self-Inquiry, Patterns (01:47:15) Salience Exploration, Grounding Meditation (01:52:37) Behavior & Self-Reflection; Phantom Driver Analogy (02:00:14) Self & Strivings; Empowerment & Humility (02:09:07) Challenges in Certain Life Domains (02:17:49) Friendships & Support, Social Media (02:23:50) Anger & Self-Care (02:34:18) Self-Care & Challenges (02:38:43) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Momentous, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience — how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.  Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states such as fear and courage. He also works on neural regeneration and directs a clinical trial to promote visual restoration in diseases that cause blindness. Huberman is also actively involved in developing tools now in use by the elite military in the U.S. and Canada, athletes, and technology industries to optimize performance in high stress environments, enhance neural plasticity, mitigate stress and optimize sleep.   Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals including Nature, Science and Cell and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover and other top media outlets.  In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 5 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.