Mood & Mental Health Toolkit

Sponsors: Plunge, Eight Sleep & Waking Up

First Principles of Self-Care & 6 Pillars of Mental Health

Pillar #1: Sleep & Sleep Routine

Pillar #2: Light, Sunlight

Tool: Nighttime Environment & Darkness

Pillar #3: Movement; Pillar #4: Nutrition

Sponsor: AG1

Pillar #5: Social Connection

Pillar #6: Stress Control; Physiological Sigh

Tool: Raise Stress Threshold, Deliberate Cold Exposure

6 Pillars & Brain Predictability, Affect & Emotion

Pharmacology, Psychedelics, Supplements & Neuroplasticity

Sponsor: InsideTracker

Tool: Emotional Granularity

Tool: Heart Rate Variability & Emotional Graduality; Physiological Sigh

Tool: Unconscious Mind

Tool: Self-Concept, Self-Narrative Exercise

Tool: Unconscious Mind & Dream Analysis; Liminal States

Tool: Journaling; Generative Drive

Tool: Processing Trauma

Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

- The podcast episode discusses tools for mood and mental health.
- The tools cover understanding oneself, improving relationships, and self-care.
- Recent research emphasizes the positive effects of morning and afternoon sunlight, as well as the benefits of darkness at night.
- The podcast aims to provide free information about science and science-related tools to the general public.
- The "big six" pillars of mental health include sleep, light/dark exposure, movement, nutrition, social connection, and stress control.
- Prescription drugs, such as SSRIs and atypical antidepressants, can improve mood and mental health.
- InsideTracker is a personalized nutrition platform that analyzes data from blood and DNA to help reach health goals.
- Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett emphasizes the importance of labeling emotions with specificity for better mental health.

- The podcast episode discusses tools for mood and mental health.
- The episode includes tools mentioned by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and Dr. Paul Conti.
- The tools cover understanding oneself, improving relationships, and self-care.
- Recent research emphasizes the positive effects of morning and afternoon sunlight, as well as the benefits of darkness at night.
- The research involved a large number of subjects and provides actionable protocols for improving mood and mental health.

- The podcast is separate from the speaker's teaching and research roles at Stanford.
- The podcast aims to provide free information about science and science-related tools to the general public.
- The first sponsor of the podcast is Plunge, which offers a versatile at-home self-cooling cold plunge for deliberate cold exposure.
- Deliberate cold exposure can induce positive shifts in catecholamines, leading to enhanced mood, alertness, and focus.
- Plunge offers different models, including the all-in cold plunge, and listeners can get $150 off by visiting plunge.com/huberman.

- It is important to have a tool or protocol to raise your stress threshold and increase your capacity to deal with stress.
- Self-inducing elevations of noradrenaline and adrenaline can help anchor your mind and stay calm during stressful situations.
- One effective and cost-saving method is to take cold showers, which elevate adrenaline levels and provide an opportunity to practice staying calm.
- Learning to manage stress is like learning to drive in difficult weather conditions - it may be stressful at first, but it helps build comfort and resilience.
- Deliberate cold exposure is a reliable and versatile way to raise your stress threshold, but other methods can also be used.

- The "big six" pillars are important for improving mood and mental health.
- These pillars create an environment of neurochemicals and hormones that lead to predictability in the brain and nervous system.
- The brain's main job is to generate predictions about what will happen next and regulate mood in the moment.
- Affect sets the stage for different emotions to emerge.
- Tending to the six pillars regularly leads to more positive affect and emotions, regardless of life circumstances.

- Prescription drugs, such as SSRIs and atypical antidepressants, target specific neuromodulator systems in the brain and body to improve mood and mental health.
- Drugs like psilocybin can also be used to enhance neuroplasticity and improve mood, but they should be combined with talk therapy for best results.
- The effectiveness of these drugs varies from person to person, and they may not work for everyone.
- Amino acid-based supplements, like L-tyrosine, can also be used to enhance neuromodulators, but their potency and impact on neuroplasticity are still unclear.
- These drugs and supplements are not the only path to improving mood and mental health; they should be viewed as one tool among many, and the core principles of mental health, such as the six pillars, are essential.

- InsideTracker is a personalized nutrition platform that analyzes data from blood and DNA to help understand the body and reach health goals.
- Regular blood work is important for understanding factors that impact immediate and long-term health.
- InsideTracker provides a personalized platform to see levels of metabolic factors, lipids, hormones, etc., and offers specific directives for nutrition, behavioral modification, and supplements to optimize those levels.
- InsideTracker offers a 20% discount on their plans by visiting InsideTracker.com/Huberman.

- Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett emphasizes the importance of labeling emotions with specificity for better mental health.
- Adding more specificity to positive emotions improves overall feelings of well-being.
- Adding more specificity to negative emotions can enhance the experience of those emotions.
- Two studies highlight the benefits of emotional granularity in depression and non-depressed individuals.
- Regularly assessing and labeling emotions throughout the day has positive outcomes for mood and mental health.

- Increasing emotional granularity correlates with improvements in physiological metrics related to mood and mental health.
- The vagus nerve, which regulates autonomic functions, plays a role in heart rate variability.
- Heart rate variability can be increased through regular exercise, quality sleep, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia.
- Placing more descriptive granularity on emotions is correlated with improvements in heart rate variability.
- A five-minute daily breathing protocol called cyclic physiological sighing has been shown to improve mood, mental health, and autonomic function.

- The transcript is from a four-episode guest series with Dr. Paul Conti, a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry and trauma.
- The series explores the self and provides tools and protocols for understanding oneself and relating to others.
- Dr. Conti describes the mind as an iceberg model, with unconscious processing below the surface and conscious processing above.
- The unconscious mind is responsible for the majority of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and understanding its influence is important.
- The series emphasizes the importance of exploring the self and using actionable tools to better understand oneself and improve relationships.

- Understanding your self-concept is important for self-confidence and personal growth.
- Building a life narrative by creating folders or documents for different phases of your life can help develop agency and clarity of self.
- Each folder should contain bullet points or short descriptions of key milestone events from that phase of your life.
- The content of the folders should include both positive and negative events that are important or memorable to you.
- This exercise is not about goal setting, but rather about understanding your past and present self to determine if you are on the right path.

- Building up one's self-concept is important for confidence and understanding motivations.
- Dream analysis can tap into the unconscious mind and provide insights into internal dialogue.
- Keeping a dream journal can help identify recurring themes and patterns in dreams.
- Paying attention to thoughts during the liminal state between sleeping and waking can also provide insights into the unconscious mind.
- These tools allow for exploration of the contents and themes of the unconscious mind.

- Journaling is a powerful tool for processing emotions and trauma.
- There are two main styles of journaling: free associative journaling and structured journaling.
- Free associative journaling involves writing down anything that comes to mind, while structured journaling focuses on specific goals and aspirations.
- The generative drive, which involves creating, building, and contributing to the world, is the core feature of mental health.
- Journaling can help access and build up the generative drive, leading to a sense of agency, gratitude, peace, contentment, and delight.

- Eight Sleep mattress covers allow you to control the temperature of your sleeping environment and track your sleep.
- The Waking Up app offers meditation programs, mindfulness trainings, and yoga nidra sessions.
- There is a worldwide mental health crisis, and various therapies and approaches are available for treatment.
- The "big six" pillars of mental health include sleep, light/dark exposure, movement, nutrition, social connection, and stress control.
- These pillars are necessary but not sufficient for optimal mood and mental health.

- Science-based tools for mood and mental health should include tools for processing traumas.
- Processing traumas should ideally be done with the help of an expert-trained clinician.
- Self-directed protocols for trauma processing involve using language that captures the magnitude of the trauma.
- Not talking about traumas can lead to negative impacts on mental health, such as increased anxiety and disruptions in sleep.
- The generative drive, which involves creating, building, and contributing to the world, is a core feature of mental health.

- The transcript discusses the importance of getting your physiology right for your psychology to be right.
- It emphasizes the use of tools and protocols to build up psychological processes and self-concept.
- Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett's tools bridge the physiological and psychological aspects of enhancing mood and mental health.
- The idea is to pick one or two tools to implement regularly, without significantly eating into other demands on your time.
- The transcript also mentions subscribing to the YouTube channel and podcast, leaving reviews, checking out sponsors, and following on social media.

- Most people need between six to eight hours of sleep per night, but some may need more or less.
- Sleep should be viewed as a constant process, similar to physical fitness, and we should strive to get enough quality sleep most nights.
- It is important to have a consistent sleep routine, going to bed and waking up at more or less the same time each day.
- Deviating more than or less than one hour from your normal sleep schedule can lead to issues with mood, energy, and focus.
- Consistency in sleep schedule helps regulate mood, mental health, and overall levels of energy throughout the day.

- The second pillar in the toolkit for mood and mental health is light, specifically sunlight.
- It is important to view sunlight with your eyes as early as possible after waking up.
- If there is no sun where you live, there are alternative options such as using bright light sources like SAD lamps or a 900 lux light tablet.
- Wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses is okay, but viewing sunlight through windows or windshields does not have the same effect.
- It is important to avoid looking directly at the sun if it is uncomfortable, and instead offset your gaze slightly to the right or left.

- Darkness during a specific stage of the circadian rhythm is beneficial for mood and mental health.
- A study analyzed light and dark exposure in relation to mental health outcomes in over 85,000 people.
- The study found that both daytime sunlight exposure and nighttime dark exposure have independent positive effects on mental health.
- Staying in a dim to dark environment for 6 to 8 hours within every 24-hour circadian cycle is correlated with better mental health outcomes.
- Keeping the sleeping and nighttime environment dark can improve mood and mental health independently of daytime light exposure.

- The third pillar of a healthy lifestyle is movement, which includes both cardiovascular and resistance training.
- It is recommended to aim for 180 to 220 minutes of zone two cardio per week and to do high-intensity workouts at least once a week.
- Resistance training should be done for 6 to 10 sets per muscle group, either close to or to failure.
- Nutrition is the fourth pillar and it is important to consume sufficient amounts of quality calories per day, regardless of dietary preferences.
- Quality nutrition involves consuming non-processed or minimally processed foods and avoiding overeating.

- Quality nutrition is important for physical and mental health, cognitive functioning, memory, learning, and focus.
- High quality nutrition includes vitamins, minerals, probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber from unprocessed or minimally processed sources.
- Getting enough servings of fruits, vegetables, fiber, and probiotics can be challenging for many people.
- AG1 is a product that provides foundational nutritional needs and can help ensure optimal mental and physical health.
- A special offer is available at drinkag1.com/huberman for five free travel packs and a year supply of vitamin D3K2.

- Social connection is the fifth pillar in the big six.
- We should strive to limit social interactions that cause stress.
- Our nervous system is regulated by both internal factors and interactions with other nervous systems.
- We should pay attention to whether social interactions are net savings, neutral, or taxing.
- Certain interactions can drain our energy and negatively affect our mood and mental health, while others can provide savings and improve our well-being.

- Stress control is the sixth pillar in the "big six" and is important because stress is a part of life.
- There has been debate about whether stress is good or bad for us, but it is important to have stress management tools.
- The best real-time tool for reducing stress is the physiological sigh, which involves a deep inhale through the nose followed by a brief inhale and a long exhale through the mouth.
- The physiological sigh is a safe and effective way to calm down and reduce stress levels.
- Having tools to regulate stress is important for mood and mental health, as stress and negative emotions can be motivating but not good for long-term well-being.

Mental Health Toolkit: Tools to Bolster Your Mood & Mental Health