Kristin Cavallari Gets Real About Partying, Hypnosis, and Healing the Brain

Summary

Podcast Summary: Change Your Brain Every Day

Episode: Kristin Cavallari Gets Real About Partying, Hypnosis, and Healing the Brain
Hosts: Dr. Daniel Amen & Tana Amen
Release Date: February 17, 2025

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In this compelling episode of Change Your Brain Every Day, New York Times bestselling authors Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen engage in an honest and insightful conversation with reality TV star and entrepreneur Kristin Cavallari. The discussion delves deep into Kristin's tumultuous past, her journey toward optimal brain health, the science behind brain functioning, and practical strategies for mental well-being. Below is a detailed breakdown of the episode’s key points, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps.

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1. Kristin Cavallari’s Troubled Youth and Substance Abuse

Kristin opens up about her rebellious teenage years marked by substance abuse and risky behaviors. She recounts incidents of sneaking out, getting arrested, and experimenting with drugs.

[00:00] Dr. Daniel Amen: "What kind of trouble did you get into?"
[00:01] Kristin Cavallari: "I was sneaking out a lot... My friend James stole his parents car and we went and found an abandoned house and we were drinking..."
[07:12] Kristin Cavallari: "I started smoking pot in eighth grade. My first time doing cocaine was my freshman year in high school when I was 15. And then from there it was recreational, but it happened frequently until I was about or 23."

Kristin describes a consistent pattern of neglect and feeling like an afterthought in her family, which fueled her rebellious streak.

[09:12] Kristin Cavallari: "Yeah. I was very much neglected... And I found connection with my friends through smoking pot."

2. Transition to a Health-Conscious Lifestyle

After becoming a mother, Kristin shifted her focus towards health and prevention. She expresses curiosity about the long-term effects of her past behaviors on her brain and whether her healthier lifestyle has made a positive impact.

[03:10] Kristin Cavallari: "For me, it's really about Optimal health... I'm curious if my partying has left an impact on my brain and... if the things I've been doing the last 13 years have also played a role."

3. Brain Health Assessment and SPECT Scans

Dr. Amen explains the use of SPECT imaging to evaluate brain activity and highlights the importance of balancing brain function. He assesses Kristin’s brain scans, noting signs of past substance abuse and aging effects.

[17:35] Dr. Daniel Amen: "SPECT looks at blood flow and activity, looks at how your brain works... if it's too low, how can we strengthen it? If it's too high, how can we calm it down?"

Kristin shows concern over her brain appearing older than her actual age due to past behaviors.

[18:46] Dr. Daniel Amen: "So let's get it to look as beautiful as you are. Let's get it to be even better."

4. Understanding the BRIGHT MINDS Risk Factors

Dr. Amen introduces the mnemonic "BRIGHT MINDS" to outline the 11 major risk factors that can jeopardize brain health:

• Blood Flow
• Retirement (Aging)
• Inflammation
• Genetics
• Head Trauma
• Toxins
• Mental Health
• Infection
• Nutrition
• Downloads (Digital Overload)
• Sleep

He emphasizes the importance of addressing each factor to maintain optimal brain health.

[05:04] Dr. Daniel Amen: "If you want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it, you have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that steal your mind."

5. Trauma and Its Impact on the Brain

Kristin shares her experiences with trauma during her high school years, including emotional and physical abuse from family members. This trauma has left lasting effects on her brain’s emotional centers.

[23:26] Kristin Cavallari: "There were two. One was more emotional, one was physical, both with family members... I didn't deal with it when I was younger."

Dr. Amen discusses how trauma can hyperactivate certain brain regions, leading to long-term mental health challenges.

[23:09] Dr. Daniel Amen: "So I wonder if there's some past trauma that’s holding on to."

6. Therapies and Treatments: Hypnosis and EMDR

Kristin and Dr. Amen explore various therapeutic methods for healing trauma. Kristin has engaged in hypnosis and other holistic practices to release emotional pain.

[23:26] Kristin Cavallari: "I've done bufo, DMT... also done some past life regression stuff."

Dr. Amen recommends EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) as a scientifically-backed method to address trauma effectively.

[30:34] Dr. Daniel Amen: "I would add EMDR to try to balance it... connect to the original traumas and they get released."

7. Substance Use and Its Effects on the Brain

The conversation shifts to the impact of various substances on brain health. Dr. Amen expresses strong opinions against alcohol, opiates, and newer substances like psilocybin, highlighting their detrimental effects.

[27:15] Dr. Daniel Amen: "Alcohol is associated with an increased risk of seven different types of cancer... Marijuana kills them. Chronic stress kills them."

Kristin shares her cautious stance towards psilocybin and similar substances, influenced by her experiences and Dr. Amen’s insights.

[29:15] Dr. Daniel Amen: "We don't know what it does... there are less than a thousand participants in the research."

8. Parenting and Protecting Children’s Brain Health

As a mother of three, Kristin is deeply concerned about her children’s brain health. She discusses strategies to safeguard them from the pitfalls she experienced, including avoiding substance abuse and encouraging healthy activities.

[39:08] Dr. Daniel Amen: "I hired an ex NFL player to be his coach... but if he said, 'Dad, I really want to do cocaine?'" [43:24] Kristin Cavallari: "Yeah... I hope my kids are like you."

Dr. Amen advises incorporating brain-boosting supplements, proper nutrition, and engagement in activities that promote brain health.

[48:33] Dr. Daniel Amen: "You have a great brain... I'm going to make sure you're taking a really good multiple vitamin, high dose, high quality fish oil."

9. NFL Players and Brain Health

The duo discusses the severe impact of playing football on brain health, referencing Dr. Amen’s work with NFL players and the prevalence of concussions in the sport.

[40:49] Dr. Daniel Amen: "You only get one [brain] and it controls everything... Imagine every play you get hit. The helmet doesn't protect against brain damage."

Kristin reflects on her son's desire to play football and seeks Dr. Amen’s advice to ensure his safety.

[39:54] Kristin Cavallari: "My oldest is playing football, I want to know what things I can be doing to help him out."

Dr. Amen suggests alternative sports and emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to brain health.

[40:17] Kristin Cavallari: "Yeah. Not a bad idea, actually."

10. Recommendations and Conclusion

In the closing segment, Dr. Amen provides personalized recommendations for Kristin to enhance her brain health, including specific supplements and continued use of hypnosis alongside EMDR therapy.

[48:57] Dr. Daniel Amen: "A brain boost that works in like six different ways... focus and energy." [49:11] Kristin Cavallari: "Amazing." [49:22] Tana Amen: "This podcast is brought to you by the Change Your Brain Foundation... Change your brain every day."

Kristin appreciates the guidance and expresses eagerness to implement the strategies discussed to achieve a healthier brain and life.

[49:22] Tana Amen: "...provide free information that will make a meaningful difference in your life every day."

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Key Takeaways:

• Early substance abuse and trauma can have lasting negative effects on brain health.
• It's never too late to adopt a healthier lifestyle and implement strategies to improve brain function.
• Understanding and mitigating the 11 BRIGHT MINDS risk factors is crucial for maintaining optimal brain health.
• Evidence-based therapies like EMDR can effectively address trauma without the risks associated with psychedelics.
• Parenting plays a significant role in shaping children’s brain health; proactive measures can prevent future mental health issues.
• Awareness of the physical dangers in contact sports like football is essential to protect long-term brain health.

This episode serves as an inspiring testament to the possibility of transformation and the profound impact of informed, science-based approaches to brain health.

Transcript

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

What kind of trouble did you get into?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I was sneaking out a lot. I would get taken home by the cops. My friend James stole his parents car and we went and found an abandoned house and we were drinking in the abandoned house and what do you know, the cops came and took us home. I would be out past curfew, cops would take me home. I was sneaking out one time, I got taken home by the cops and my dad didn't even know I was gone. He answered the door and he was like, I thought you were sleeping. What? So it was a consistent theme for me.

[Tana Amen]

Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. I'm so excited to welcome to the podcast Kristin Cavallari, who is an influencer who reality TV star from Laguna beach and the hills. She is an entrepreneur and shifted from sort of an unhealthy lifestyle. We'll see if we see that on her scan to a healthy lifestyle. We're gonna look at her. Look at her brain. I'm so excited to share this with her. Hi, I'm Dr. Daniel. Amen. I've experienced firsthand the powerful impact that proper supplementation can have on on your brain, your body and your mind. That's why I founded Brain md. Our formulas are scientifically created from decades of clinical research designed to help you think clearer, feel better and improve every aspect of your health, whether it's brain and body power. Max, the same formula I used in the world's largest study of NFL players to optimize brain performance. To Happy Saffron to boost mood and memory. And Pro Brain biotics Max to improve the gut brain connection. BrainMD delivers the highest quality science backed solutions to help you think and feel better. Tana and I take many of our products every day. And as a special offer, Tanner, just for our listeners, you can save 20% on your next order. Visit brainmd.com and use the code PODCAST20. With a better brain always comes a better life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Thank you so much for doing this with us.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Thank you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So we have a big mission. We want to end the concept of mental illness buying, getting people to fall in love with their brains. Right. So what if mental health was really brain health? And I read your history. I reread it this morning. I've looked at your scans, I've looked at your testings. I sort of have a good idea. Okay, tell me your goal. What would make this important for you?

[Kristin Cavallari]

For me, it's really about Optimal health. Everything I do. I live a very healthy lifestyle with everything I do. And I always like to just have the knowledge so that I can be preventative with everything I'm doing. So there isn't one specific thing that I'm looking for. It's more just if there is something I want to get ahead of it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Okay, and what makes you curious to look?

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's a good question. Well, I definitely did not take care of myself in my teens and my early 20s, and for about the last 13 years, really since I became pregnant for the first time, it's when I kind of switched and health became the most important thing to me. And I'm kind of curious if my partying has left an impact on my brain and. Or if the things I've been doing the last 13 years have also played a role. And if, in fact, you can. And I know you say this. You're not stuck with the brain you're given or you have. You're not stuck with the brain you have. And so I'm curious what my brain looks like after taking care of myself all of these years. If, in fact, it's played a crucial role or not.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's a great question.

[Kristin Cavallari]

We're gonna find out.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's a great question. Okay, so you're here to see if there's any ling. Brain toxicity. Yeah, basically because it was sort of toxic.

[Kristin Cavallari]

It was. Oh, just my. My life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Your history. When I read your history, I'm like, yeah, it is. She's living a really healthy lifestyle that mitigates something. But it was a little bit on the crazy side.

[Kristin Cavallari]

It was.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Now the one question I have, if I have to go to it, because I was like, what is this?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, no.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm like, it was under. So you want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it? You have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that steal your mind. And we know what they are. And the mnemonic is bright minds. So Those are the 11 risk factors. So B is for blood flow. We'll look at the blood flow in your brain. R is retirement. It is aging. Does your brain look older than you are? I is inflammation. G is genetics. What runs in your family? And there's some stuff. And H is head trauma. Right. And you're married. Were married to a former NFL player. We've seen lots of NFL players. And the answer is no. Football's not good for your brain.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. The T, though, is toxins. And there were some toxins in your past. But the question I had was Actually in head trauma. And you responded with did things purposefully to lose consciousness.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I want to know more about that.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, this is awful. When I was in fifth grade, this is a long time ago, it was cool to make each other pass out. You would. I don't even remember exactly, but it was something where you'd go like this and take a lot of breaths in and you would literally pass out for. I don't remember if it was 5, 10 seconds, whatever it was. But I probably did that a handful of times at school, at recess. This is what all the kids were doing, which is insane. So. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So you would hyperventilate to the point where you would pass out. That's so interesting.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. It's idiotic, really.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. No, I mean, giving your brain is the most oxygen hungry organ in your body.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, I know. Now that I'm a mom, I'm like, the stuff that I did.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Why talk to me about the drug use when you were young, when did that start?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I started young. I started smoking pot in eighth grade. My first time doing cocaine was my freshman year in high school when I was 15. And then from there it was recreational, but it happened frequently until I was about or 23.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Now you're the mother of three, right. How old are the kids?

[Kristin Cavallari]

12, 10 and almost 9.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And so now you're a mom. Tell me what was going on with you that you started smoking pot in eighth grade.

[Kristin Cavallari]

So my family dynamic growing up was difficult. Moved around a lot and basically moved around for my dad's job. Was born in Colorado, moved to Connecticut, moved back to Colorado, moved to a suburb in Chicago, which is where I started smoking pot. I was living with my mom, my stepdad, my stepbrother at the time, my real brother and my dad were living in Laguna Beach. And you know, I love my mom. She's my best friend now. But at the time, I felt like she was really wrapped up in her new marriage and I was just sort of an afterthought. I was very much on my own and I found connection through with my friends through smoking pot and loved it. At first I was getting into a ton of trouble. So I got essentially shipped off to Laguna Beach, California to go live with my dad. And as you're aware, I'm sure it's a very fast lifestyle out here for kids. I think most of the parents in Laguna beach kind of look the other way. There's a lot of money and kids have a lot of freedom and drugs are just prevalent. They're around. And so, same thing. I didn't have a good relationship with my dad, and I just, you know, started doing drugs again right away my freshman year of high school and consistently throughout high school.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you think mostly because of the disconnection.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I think so.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Of your mom and your dad. So they're not paying attention.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. I would say I was very much neglected. And that was. I had that rebellious streak in me, too. And I think in a lot of ways, it probably was not a cry for help, but just a I'm gonna do whatever I want. You guys don't pay attention to me anyway, is kind of that. That rebellion.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Do you think that's natural for you?

[Kristin Cavallari]

For me, yeah. I've always been a little rebellious. Yeah, I still think I am a little. I've just learned how to tame it or do it in healthier ways.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Because your brain isn't what I would think of as an oppositional brain.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I've actually published studies on oppositional defiant disorder. No matter what you say, they say the opposite.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. I'm not like that. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So how many times out of 10 when your mom asks you to do something would you do it the first time without arguing or fighting with her?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, you know what? I don't even remember. I don't remember ever. I don't think that was ever an issue for me of parents not being able to get me to do something. It was more just. I was in school for the social scene. That's where I found my identity, because I wasn't really. I didn't have an identity really at home. So it was more. This is where I kind of blossom and come to life is, you know, through the social aspect.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

What did you want to do when you were a kid?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I had no idea. I had no idea. And then in high school, I think really with my dad's influence, I wanted to go to school to study broadcast journalism and sort of work my way into the entertainment world through that route. And then I got under reality TV in my junior year of high school. Laguna beach, the real Orange County. And that just totally changed the course of my life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you say with your dad's influence, what did he do?

[Kristin Cavallari]

My dad, I think, wanted to be in entertainment, and so that didn't happen for him. So he sort of pushed me into it in a lot of ways.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

How interesting.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So how are you going to be different with your children?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I love that question. Well, having three kids, I see how different they all are, and I think it's really important to Let them be them. And you know, I think my parents did a lot of great things too, from both of my parents. There are really great qualities that I'm taking from both of them. And then there are some really bad things that they both did too. And so I will say I'm excited to take what I appreciated and do that with my own kids. My dad, I actually cut my dad out of my life a few years ago. He's your typical narcissist and I finally had had enough. But he still was able to instill a lot of great wisdom in me. He's very spiritual. He. I get my business sense from him, my work ethic and so there are great things from him. And then my mom is your typical, just very sweet midwestern mom who's always so supportive and so sweet and caring. Didn't really push me in a lot of ways or encourage me, but just was always supportive. So I kind of want to blend the two for my children. And I think the most important thing for kids is support, love and just being, being there for them. So that's what I'm going to do with my kids and not push them in any one way direction but also encourage them to try different things.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Supervision is really important.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Supervision.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Knowing your frontal lobes aren't developed until you're about 25 in girls or 27 and boys and so early. Drug use, just a bad thing.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Now you can mitigate it and I think you have. I'll show you in a second.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay, good.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But I think it sounds like you didn't have good enough supervision. Right. And not punitive. Yeah, but if you're smoking pot and nobody knows it. Oh, my mom knew and she didn't care.

[Kristin Cavallari]

No, she cared. I just don't think she knew quite what to do with me. She read my diary, which I think that was traumatic in itself.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Is that why she sent you away?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Probably on my brain assessment.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Is that why she sent you away? Right?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, I think so. She knew a little too much.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

What kind of trouble did you get into?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I was sneaking out a lot. I would get taken home by the cops, just smoking pot, drinking home by the cops. Well one time. So ridiculous. My friend James stole his parents car and we went and found an abandoned house and we were drinking in the abandoned house and what do you know, the cops came and took us home, stuff like that. Which by the way, I consistently got into trouble in high school too. It didn't just stop. Once I moved to Laguna Beach, I mean I would be out past curfew cops would take me home. I was sneaking out one time, I got taken home by the cops, and my dad didn't even know I was gone. He answered the door and he was like, I thought you were sleeping. What? So it was a consistent theme for me.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Sounds like they were distracted a little bit.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But when I. Because one of the questions we asked was on a scale of 0 to 10, how many bad things happened to you as a child? And you answered zero on that, I'm thinking there's.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I don't even remember that question.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

More going on than.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I think I missed that. I don't remember that question, actually, because I.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Well, there are 10 questions.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh. Oh.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So. And your hope score is really high, which is great.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Good.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. And you actually score really well.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay, good.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So there we go.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So this sort of looks at the major psychiatric stuff, and it's like, oh, no.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. That's good. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you're good at reading faces. That's what this one is.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you tend to read positive faces faster than negative ones. So people have a lot of childhood trauma.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Interesting.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

They're suspicious because a lot of bad things happen.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. Like my wife. On a scale of 0 to 10, she's an 8.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And her.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

She's really good at reading faces. And. And I'm like, oh, I have tools to train that. Why would I want to do that? No, I'm keeping my suspicious.

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's hilarious.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Emotionally flexible, which means if you get your feelings hurt, you can let it go.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Not stressed. Not anxious. Not depressed. Memory could be better.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I'm not surprised.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Could be better, Actually. Your short term memory is awesome.

[Kristin Cavallari]

But that makes so much sense to me. I feel like I've blacked out my childhood.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. So maybe there's more trauma.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I mean, there's a reason there's trauma for sure. Smoking pot and doing cocaine and.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's probably the rational part of you is, like, probably not a good thing for me.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. But if you're blocking pain, that's the way to do it. It's just.

[Kristin Cavallari]

That makes sense.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I don't suggest it. Yeah. Your focus is awesome. Your planning is good. Processing speed could be better. This is cognitive flexibility. Shifting attention could be better. You're a really positive person.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I am.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

This so protects you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Good. I've had to train myself to be like that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you can. I mean, that's sort of the cool thing is you can. And you're resilient and you're social. So what can we do to get your memory better. That will help. And then so we do a study called spect. And SPECT looks at blood flow and activity, looks at how your brain works, and basically shows us three things. Good activity, too little or too much. And my job is to balance it. Right. If it's too low, how can we strengthen it? If it's too high, how can we calm it down?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I want you to pay attention. Here's an example of a healthy skin. We're looking underneath. The brain should just be full, even, and symmetrical.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Here we're looking down from the top. Sort of looks like a flat sheet. It's smooth. That's what we want yours to look like.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And past drug abuse sort of wrinkles the sheet. So we'll look here. Blue is average activity, red is the top 15%, white is the top 8%. White's like the super active parts. It should be back here in the cerebellum. So your cerebellum is healthy, but you have some other spots. So. Okay. Wrinkled cheek. So the past substance abuse. If you wouldn't have sort of got serious.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

This would be so much worse.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Really?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I mean, I have drug posters in 100,000 schools, prisons, hospitals around the world, and they're moth eaten.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So odds are when you were 22, your brain looked awful.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And even now it looks older than you are.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Really.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So let's get it to look as beautiful as you are. Let's get it to be even better.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But you just see the bumpiness.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I don't like that.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I don't like that either.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And it's why if your kids are not doing their homework, being less motivated.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Drug test them. If you were my child, I drug tested you. I'm like, no, we're not okay with it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I know.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I adopted my two nieces because both their parents are drug addicts.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And when the older one was 16, I caught her vaping and I grounded her for six months.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, good.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm like, yeah, no, I know you come from addiction.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You need to be on an addiction prevention program every day of your life. And, oh, she's writing 10 page papers on the impact of vaping.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I love it. There you go.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And we got really close because she couldn't go anywhere.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And now she's a pre med student.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow. That's amazing.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. And I worry about her a lot just because of the genetic pull.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So. Ever a concussion?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I mean, not that I know of.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Car accidents?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I Was in a car accident. I dislocated my elbow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Tell me about it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

So that was almost nine years ago. And a car came out and hit me, and I locked up, and that's how I dislocated my elbow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You know the image hit you from the left side?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Because it looks like it happened right here.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, that's so interesting.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Here. This is the left side of your brain. See this little dent?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Overall, you have a great brain.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Compared to the brains we all see, you have a great brain.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay, good.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But it can be better.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Okay, then it can be better. And it just looked like this part got hurt, so maybe when you got whacked, it slammed up against the other side.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Interesting. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. So if you're like this.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And a car goes like this.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Your brain floats right. In water in cerebral spinal fluid.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And so if you go boom, the part that hits the skull is this. So that'd be the opposite side.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That makes sense.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, that. Yeah. Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And memory is right there.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Long term memory. It's a part of your brain called the hippocampus, which is Greek for seahorse. And every day, Your brain makes 700 new stem cells or baby seahorses.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And so that's why alcohol kills them, Marijuana kills them. Cocaine kills them. Chronic stress kills them.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Being in a toxic marriage kills them. Oh. Just not surprised. Why?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Why I have that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

We can make this better.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. There's hope.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So much. Okay. So it's a very interesting part of the brain. It's very busy. It's the first part of your brain that dies in Alzheimer's. That's not where you're going. This is. This is good.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It actually goes with iq and it's also part of the chatter in your head. I probably have a busy mind.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Very busy.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

We're busy over here.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Shut up. Give your mind a name so you can begin to just separate from the noise.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I like that idea.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I don't know what name you might give your mind.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I'm gonna figure it out. I don't know.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Not Chris. I named mine after my pet raccoon.

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's a good way up.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm like, shut up. Go in your cage. We're not listening to you today. Your cerebellum is okay, but part of this is called your thalamus. It's part of the feeling brain, Part of your emotional brain. It's really busy.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So I wonder if there's some past trauma that holding on to And I saw there was some sexual stuff early. Was that significantly stressful to you?

[Kristin Cavallari]

You know, there were two. One was more emotional, one was physical, both with family members and so, yeah, I think in a lot of ways I didn't deal with it though, when I was younger. I've had to kind of deal with it as an adult.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

How old were you?

[Kristin Cavallari]

First one, freshman year of high school. Second was sophomore year. Well, kind of kind of started fifth grade through sophomore year of high school with one person. That one was more physical. The one that was more emotional was my freshman year of high school. Part of the reason I moved to California.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you've actually done a lot of hypnosis? Yes, I love hypnosis.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I'm obsessed with it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Before I became a brain imaging person, it was a huge part of my practice and I still do it and love it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I love it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you've also done some past life regression stuff, which I think is so interesting.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, I love that stuff.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah, I actually did scans before and then during a past life regression. And that's the part of the brain that lit up.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, cool. Oh, that is so cool to me.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I mean, we have this life trauma so we don't have to go, yeah, we've got enough. Was it the Indians in the 1860s.

[Kristin Cavallari]

To go try to heal every life? Seems like a lot actually on Saturday too. I don't know if you've heard of this, but it's called the Bionic Method. It's in Venice and it's an energy massage essentially, but it's an emotional release and this guy was able to find these different trigger points on me. And once I would release it, I would have. I was having tears just streaming down my face and it was the most incredible feeling afterwards. So I've done bufo, DMT and during that, which I know we don't like drugs, but this was more for a. A spiritual. It was more of a spiritual. What's the word I'm looking for? Ceremony. And I did it right when I found out my divorce was final, actually. And the whole time my arms and my legs were really tingly and I was going like this the whole time. And afterwards the shaman said, that's emotion, quite literally trying to leave your body. And that was the lightest and freest I've ever felt. But it was the same feeling after this massage I had a couple days ago. So, I mean, does that stuff help with releasing that trauma? Do you believe in that?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Well, it's not that I don't believe or Not. I just. I worry that it has more side effects than necessary.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I, you know, as a psychiatrist, I get to see the fallout of bad trips. And I'm like, well, what about emdr? Because EMDR does the same thing.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Have you done.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I haven't done that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Because that could actually be really helpful.

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's for you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Because it's often a huge release, but you actually connect to the original traumas and they get released.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. As opposed to. We just talked about it. You get re traumatized by.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And if we talk about it while you do the eye movement, it tends to come up and then dissipate, not come back. So I've been a huge fan of emdr. I get worried about psilocybin, especially because I've seen this party before in the 80s when I trained Xanax came onto the market, and it's like, not addictive. And it's mommy's little helper. Yeah.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Now look where we are.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

No, it's terrible.

[Kristin Cavallari]

It's terrible.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right? Once you start it, you can't stop it. And it increases your risk of dementia. It's not good. Then in the early 90s, alcohol is a health food.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I know.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I'm like, no, I know. It increases the risk of seven different cancers. And it is the number one reason that'll get someone into my office. Office. Because they drank and they took the decision maker on vacation, and then they made bad decisions. They said something they shouldn't. They did something they shouldn't.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm just not a fan of alcohol at all.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I. That's interesting, because in the last. I'm not a big drinker at all, but I will drink from time to time. But lately I've just been like, I want to cut it out completely. Well, I feel like my body's.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

The American Cancer Society came out against any alcohol because any alcohol is associated with an increased risk of seven different types of cancer.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Plus your microbiome, you know, the hundred trillion bugs you have in your gut. Alcohol kills them.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. What about psilocybin?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's interesting, because I'm getting there.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And then it was. Pain is the fifth vital sign. And it's like, your doctor should give you opiates. And Purdue Pharma and their masterful marketing campaign created this opiate epidemic that has killed 700,000 people over the last 20 years. 191 million prescription for opiates. And opiates help your pain and then make it worse because it pisses off the white blood. Cells in your body and they go to sleep and then they come back angry. And it's not good. Unless, you know, of course, short term after surgery or something, but not long term. So. And then marijuana is innocuous, which is complete lie. Right. It didn't help your brain develop.

[Kristin Cavallari]

No.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. And you know, your brain's undergoing this wild development and you're like, oh, it's just marijuana. And now. And I think psilocybin is going to go the same way.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Interesting. See, I had girlfriends trying to convince me to do a psilocybin journey with them. And I would commit and then I would pull out, and then I just. Something was telling me not to do it. And it's been a year now, and I finally just said, I think I'm. I'm going to sit this one out. You guys go ahead and do it. I'm not doing it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. You got to ask yourself why? You know, what's my goal and what's the payoff?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And it's not legal.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right? There is that. There's that too.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. It's not legal. And all the research on it. There's less than a thousand participants in the research. It's not what is being portrayed when they talk about it. It's like, there's 25 people in this.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Study, 50 people in that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And so I'm like, tell me all the studies. Right. Because I want to be in.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But not very many people. I just feel like I've seen this party.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Well, so let's say you have this trauma. How do you get rid of that?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So you've already found hypnosis incredibly helpful.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. I would add EMDR for it. And the cool thing about emdr, it's like, no matter where we start, let's say we start with you had a blow up with one of the kids and you felt bad. Whatever. Okay, go with that. Have your eyes. Go back and forth. Imagine yourself on a train. And let's go back to the first time you felt bad like that and see what it's connected to.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And okay. You know, with the drugs, it's sort of like magic. I don't. I'm not a huge fan of magic.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I want to know why.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And.

[Kristin Cavallari]

So not a fan of ayahuasca.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I've never done it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I'm not gonna do it. I'm just curious.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So Will Smith and so many of my patients have done ayahuasca, I'm sure, and sometimes go, oh, it's a miracle. But then they're still seeing me.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right, Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's an incomplete miracle. But I read Will Smith's autobiography, and I love him. I was a consultant on the movie Concussion. Did you see that?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yes. And I did know that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I thought he got an Oscar nomination. I was so. I love him. And I read his book in February a couple of years ago, right before the Oscars, he did ayahuasca 14 times.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And he's still smacking Chris Rock in public.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I'm like, no, didn't work time. You're doing something like that 14 times.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You're sort of addicted to the experience.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. That's fair.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. And so I look at people's brains, and I want your brain to be as awesome as you are.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. Okay. That makes sense to me. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Good for my brain or bad for. Good for my brain or bad for psilocybin? Good for my brain or bad for it? And I'm like, we don't know what it does. There are a couple of imaging studies is it turns down the chatter. But I did a study with ibogaine. It's also sort of in the family of the hallucinogenic drugs. Calms the brain down, but too much.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

One of my friends, I have his scan five times. Terrible. To start. Better. Better. Freaking awesome.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And then he went and did ibogaine. And I'm like, begging him, don't do it. Don't mess with my work. Don't do it. He did it. And it. His brain was terrible again.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Really? From one time?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And it makes you feel terrible for like 12 hours? Yeah.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I mean, I. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I grew up Catholic, and. And I'm grateful for it, but I'm not a fan of long suffering.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, No, I. I think it's scary. All that stuff scares me, quite honestly.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So what I want you to hear is you have a great brain.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

There is some trauma.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It can be better. And I'm a fan of continuing the hypnosis work you've done. I would add EMDR to try to balance it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I always think of my patients in these four big circles. It's, you know, your brain looked at it. It functions really well. Your mind is sort of your ant population. Automatic negative thoughts, the thoughts that come into your mind automatically ruin your day. So do you think your ants are more like Barstow? You know where Barstow is?

[Kristin Cavallari]

No.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's this little tiny town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. There's 10,000 people or more like New York City.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, man. You know, I would say it's been more. More like New York, but I'm trying to train myself to have it be a bit cool. Quieter.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Give your mind a name.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I will.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And whenever you feel sad or mad or nervous or out of control, write down what you're thinking.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's so powerful.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, just write down what you're thinking and ask yourself if it's true.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Cool. I like that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's so helpful.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And you have to do it, like, a hundred times. Right. So I'm working with this NBA player that I love and teaching them this. And I'm like, so how many free throws did you have to shoot before you made more than 80% of them? Like, thousands. You have to train your brain. Especially if you had a lot of that when you were growing up, you probably had a lot of it. You can't just do it twice.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You have to make it a practice. And I think it's so much more powerful than Soul Sign.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. I mean, I'm excited about that. Yeah. Sounds like it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And like you said, you've trained your mind to be more positive.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

This is training. Like, I was 28 in my psychiatric residency, and one of my professors said, you have to teach your patients not to believe every stupid thing they think.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I'm like, but I believe every stupid thing I think. I mean, it's just not part of. Right. Despite graduating from high school and college and medical school, and no one had ever said, question your own.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right, Right. You just think it's normal. Yeah. Well, it is normal until you realize there's something you can do about it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. Not helpful. And ultimately, it's the class and logic. Right. Unlike my wife never listens to me, which just disconnects you from that person.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yes.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And I'm like, well, is that true?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

No. She listens to me a lot.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

She does not listen to me now.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right, Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But when you just insert the word never, you just created a disconnection. So I like the verse in the New Testament. Know the truth. The truth will set you free.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So These are the 11 risk factors. So blood flow, mostly healthy, but could be better.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Through exercise, because I'm going to give you some supplements.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You also are taking a whole.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Taking a ton. Because I'm working on my gut. Health.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Retirement, and aging. You're young, but I believe all of us should be on an Alzheimer's prevention program our whole life.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Well, especially if my brain looks older than me.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Let's make it look younger.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yes.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Inflammation. We should check.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Genetics. Talked about your dad. Your mom has hypertension. Somebody has hypertension?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, my mom is a bit of a stressor.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Some substance abuse brother perhaps? Bipolar.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, I think. I think he was. For sure. He was never. Well, he was diagnosed when he was really young. And then. I don't know if this is good or bad, but my dad said, you're not taking anything for it. And it just progressively got worse as he got older.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's bad.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

If it was really true.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. And he did a lot of drugs in high school. He did a peyote trip. And we. He had said it at the time, but he thinks it totally messed with his mind. Yeah, I know, I know.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Sort of to the point.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

He was never risky.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think that's why I never did drugs. Because I'm like, why would I?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Well, you're smart.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Be out of control. Why would I? I was. I think it was 10th grade and one of my best friends goes, oh, let's smoke this pot together. I'm like, are you insane?

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's. I hope my kids are like you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So I think what you want your kids to do what? I think that's what you want your kids to do. Are you insane?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Of course I should love your brain.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I mean, I didn't know that I should love my brain. Right, well. Right.

[Kristin Cavallari]

It's not something you think about when.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You're kidding me. Came a lot later.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. Yeah. My oldest, I think he says he never wants to drink or do drugs, which is great, I think, just because he's seen other people around him and he realizes what they do.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Well. And you have to ask yourself, why did Tom Brady play a brain damaging Sport until he's 45? Well, if you read his book, TB12, he did everything else. Right.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. Yeah. Which I want to talk to you about, too. Just because my oldest is playing football, I want to know what things I can be doing to help him out.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Golf is good.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Great. I'll suggest that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Tennis is terrific. Table tennis is good.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Perfect. I'll get him into that. Yeah. Great. I love that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Dancing okay.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Except if you drink when you dance, it ruins the benefit.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, he'll listen to me on that. Perfect.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think you should have him watch concussion.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. Not a bad idea, actually.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm like, hey, I went and talked to Dr. Amen. He's got 400 NFL brains and cool brains. Like, I have dick Buckus's brain and.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, your ex.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Work, you know, played for Chicago.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Dicks in the hall of fame.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, yeah. I did a commercial with him actually.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

He's awesome.

[Kristin Cavallari]

He's great.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. He did 800 hyperbaric sessions.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

He called me his brain savior.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow. That's amazing.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. I loved him. He died last year.

[Kristin Cavallari]

That's right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm sorry about that.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I know.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. I mean, if you have a choice, don't hurt it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. You only get one and it controls everything. How you think, how you feel, how you act, how you get along with other people. It's the organ of love, of learning, of decision making and intelligence. And it's soft. I mean, this is really the thing to tell your son, right? It's soft about the consistency of softness. Butter.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, really?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Wow.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And it's housed in a really hard skull that. If you look inside the skull, do you see the sharp bony ridges?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

This is not a good thing.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Jeez.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And so imagine every play you get hit. And the helmet doesn't protect against brain damage.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It protects against skull fractures. And so every play your brain is doing this. And so if you can imagine, and you can. Being in the NFL.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Where people are really big and they're really strong and they're really fast. And the purpose is to tackle you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Which means to kill you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Quite literally.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Going to go after you. And so inside your skull, your brain is doing this. And certain positions seem to be worse than others, like offensive linemen because they get hit in the head all the time. Yeah. But quarterbacks and defensive backs, they get big hits.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I know. That's the.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Cause they're running fast.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Maybe it's not as often, but when they do, they get right. Oh.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

If you damage your brain, you damage potentially the rest of your life.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But I have active players. One signed an 80 million dollar contract. And I'm like, if you're gonna play, you have to do everything else, right?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. It's like, yeah, you have to read Tom Brady's book because he did everything else.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Went to bed, didn't do drugs, ate claim.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right. No alcohol.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

No alcohol.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Good supplements?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah. All of it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Yeah. Okay. So that's what I'm gonna tell my son.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And is your son big and strong and good and all those things?

[Kristin Cavallari]

He's so. He's in sixth grade and he's very little. And because our school is so small, we don't have a junior varsity team. So he's playing against six, five, six, four eighth graders, and he's half their size.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah.

[Kristin Cavallari]

So I'm.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think it's okay to say no.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I know. They just pulled him out the last game. He didn't play because they were worried about his safety, which they should be because he's so small. So hopefully he's not going to play the rest of the season.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah, I think it's okay to try to get him interested in other things.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Flag football.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's a gateway sport. I know. So I was. I was at a conference in Orlando, Florida, the Future of Medicine conference. And a billionaire there I was friends with. He said, my son really wants to play. What would you say? No, but he really wants to. But he really wants to. And I hired him like an ex NFL player to be his coach. He said he really wants to. What if he said, dad, I really want to do cocaine? Because the level of damage is about the same.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Oh, that kills me.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

How old were you when your brother died?

[Kristin Cavallari]

Let's see. It was almost nine years ago, so I was 28. So I had my daughter sailor on a Monday, and my brother died that Friday. And it was the Friday after Thanksgiving. And what happened was. I'll just give you the cliff note version. He was coming off of a bender. Lived in Orange county with my dad, actually, in San Clemente. He was driving to Chicago for Thanksgiving to come visit my mom and I and my family. And what we think happened was he pulled off in Utah and crashed his car. The airbag went off. He left his car running and his cell phone in the car because he was in this paranoia. He thought he was being followed, thought he was being chased. So he got out of his car, took off in the middle of nowhere in Utah, and we think he ended up getting lost. He ended up dying of hypothermia. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system. But that was the. That was kind of like how it started, that journey to get there. And so that was. That was almost nine years ago. And that was such a crazy time in my life because I had a newborn baby, and then my brother just died. That's actually when I dislocated my elbow. So it was just this crazy time in my life. And so it was just. It was a really difficult time in my life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So. Sounds like it.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Besides your brother, any other people with sort of serious mental health stuff?

[Kristin Cavallari]

No. No. I don't know if you consider narcissism mental health, but my dad, of course. Okay. I do.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Narcissism is I'm great. You're a shit.

[Kristin Cavallari]

So that's my dad.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm great. You're great. If you believe everything I say.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Or if you find. If I can benefit you in one way, then I'm great. But only when you're bringing something to the table. Yeah. So that's my dad.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's so hard.

[Kristin Cavallari]

It was hard. I actually cut him out of my life about. I guess it's been almost two years. Two years ago he got physical with one of my life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I read this saying. I'm not sure if we posted it, but don't let your family of origin ruin the family you're creating.

[Kristin Cavallari]

See, I love that that's ultimately what I did.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Okay. Because, you know, I'm just thinking of your son now. I'm going to think about him all day long. It's. If there's a vulnerability to mental health stuff. Because these things always stack.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. Vulnerability, mental health stuff. Multiple concussions.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Right. Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And he has a level of expectation from his dad that there's no way he's going to live up to.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right. Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So.

[Kristin Cavallari]

And it's one of the.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

One of the curses I know of being, you know, following in their footsteps, Famous dad like that.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So.

[Kristin Cavallari]

And that's the only way he feels connected to Jay too. So again, it's just sort of a dead end road that's. It's challenging because it's never going to be fulfilled.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Right. And I always say that's why God gave us parents so that they can help us make good decisions until our brain has developed.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Right.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Do you have Covid?

[Kristin Cavallari]

I did. No symptoms.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Wow.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

All right. So the take home.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You have a great brain. Okay. Still, it's older than you are because of some of the decisions you made when you were. Your brain wasn't finished developing.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I want to make sure you're taking a really good multiple vitamin, high dose, high quality fish oil.

[Kristin Cavallari]

I'm taking cod liver oil. Does that count? Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And a brain boost that works in like six different ways.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So I think that's the thing. I'll add.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Great.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

For you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Along with focus and energy. These are for you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Okay. Thank you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And then I'm going to put together your slides and I'll send them to you.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Amazing.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And then let's be friends.

[Kristin Cavallari]

Let's do it. Thank you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Questions?

[Kristin Cavallari]

No. All my questions I'm going to ask you on my podcast.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

All right. Let's do it.

[Tana Amen]

This podcast is brought to you by the change youe Brain foundation dedicated to ending the concept of mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health. Go to changeyourbrain.org to learn how you can support our mission. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. Tana and I work really hard to provide free information that will make a meaningful difference in your life every day. Change your brain every day. If you liked it, please subscribe. Leave us a review and if you have a story of transformation you want to share with us, you can do that by dming us at docaimon on Instagram. Thank you so much.