Overthinking & Anxiety Is Ruining You—Here's How to Stop Part 2

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Change Your Brain Every Day
Episode: Overthinking & Anxiety Is Ruining You—Here's How to Stop Part 2
Hosts: Dr. Daniel Amen & Tana Amen
Date: April 20, 2026

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Episode Theme & Purpose

This episode concludes a two-part series focused on actionable solutions for managing overthinking and anxiety. Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen blend personal stories, clinical insights, and practical strategies—emphasizing daily habits, mindfulness, understanding thought patterns, and taking a holistic approach to brain health. Their aim is to help listeners change their relationship with anxiety, reduce its negative impact, and transform it from a destructive force into a motivating ally.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding Anxiety: Signals vs. Problems

• Anxiety as a Signal
  • “If you see it as a signal rather than a problem, you can go: Why is my brain predicting the worst?” — Dr. Daniel Amen [03:01]
• Anxiety often manifests as predicting and preparing for worst-case scenarios, which can be both adaptive and maladaptive.
• Over-preparation, while intended to ease anxiety, can actually increase stress and waste time.

2. Challenging Negative Thought Patterns (“ANTs”)

• Dr. Amen introduces the concept of ANTs: Automatic Negative Thoughts.
  • “Step one is: don't believe every stupid thing you think. And we call it killing the ants—the automatic negative thoughts that steal your happiness.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [03:37]
• Nine types of ANTs are identified, with “fortune-telling” (predicting bad outcomes without evidence) as a primary driver of anxiety and panic.
• ANTs often “link, stack, and then attack,” creating a cascade of distressing thoughts.

3. Personal Stories of Anxiety

• Dr. Amen shares childhood experiences of anxiety stemming from a chaotic home and being bullied by his brother.
• Tana discusses how preparation (even if perceived as “over-preparing”) gives her a sense of control over anxiety, but recognizes the need for balance.
  • “When I feel like I’m preparing for something… I feel more in control.” — Tana Amen [09:00]
• Both acknowledge that while some worry is normal, excessive focus on control or catastrophic thinking can worsen anxiety.

4. Practices for Managing Anxiety

A. Breathwork

• Controlled breathing with an emphasis on longer exhales helps calm the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system.
  • “Take twice as long to breathe out as you breathe in… take a big breath, four seconds in, hold, and then eight seconds out… five of those and people feel more relaxed.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [11:30]

B. Thought Inquiry (Byron Katie's “The Work”)

• Write down distressing thoughts and question them:
  • Is it true?
  • Is it absolutely true?
  • How does this thought make me feel?
  • How would I feel without the thought?
  • Then, “turn it around” for perspective shifts: the opposite, self, or others [15:21].
• Tana shares how “The Work” helped her deal with paralyzing fears about her child’s safety:
  • “Something could happen to you once, but you do it to yourself a thousand times in your head… I'm the one killing myself because I'm reliving that thought…” — Tana Amen [16:51]

C. Meditation, Guided Meditation, & Rage Journaling

• Meditation helps “calm the monkeys” in the mind; active/guided meditations are helpful for busy minds.
• Rage journaling allows suppressed anger and worry to be “pulled like weeds”—write it out, then burn or shred it.
  • “If you’ve got repressed rage, focusing on gratitude is like saying there’s no weeds in my garden when there are.” — Tana Amen [23:38]

D. Nutraceuticals & Supplements

• Nutritional strategies include magnesium, L-theanine, ashwagandha, GABA, and melatonin to promote calm.
• Avoiding benzodiazepines due to risks of dependence and cognitive decline.
  • “First, do no harm, use the least toxic, most effective treatments.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [26:19]
• Funny moment: Tana recounts accidentally overdoing L-theanine and GABA—“I couldn’t even get off the couch.” [29:31]

E. Nutrition & Gut Health

• Anti-inflammatory diets support mental health; gut health directly impacts anxiety and serotonin production.
  • “Inflammation is literally the cornerstone of all disease, including mental illness.” — Tana Amen [30:33]

F. Dealing with Triggers & Trauma

• Hunt for personal triggers, write them down, and do somatic practices (e.g., bilateral tapping, butterfly hug).
• EMDR therapy and martial arts highlighted for trauma processing and empowerment, especially for women.
  • “EMDR is phenomenal… it’s like a shortcut through therapy… it integrates the left and right hemispheres and calms down your limbic system.” — Tana Amen [35:22]

5. Anxiety and Life Stages

• Anxiety can intensify at milestone ages (e.g., menopause, turning 50/60/70).
• The importance of reframing thoughts about aging: replace anxiety about mortality with a focus on present-moment living.
  • “72. Well, that means you don't have that much time left. Get busy living.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [20:33]

6. The Role of Practice and Daily Habits

• “Happiness is not a thing you do once. It’s a daily practice. Joy is a daily practice.” — Tana Amen [22:14]
• Like physical exercise, mental health practices require consistent effort for lasting change.

7. Holistic Framework: Biology, Psychology, Social, and Spiritual

• Address anxiety from four circles:
  • Biology (brain health, nutrition, supplements)
  • Psychology (thought patterns, trauma work)
  • Social (relationships, environment)
  • Spiritual (purpose, meaning)
• “Looking at your brain may be one of the most important things you ever do.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [18:23]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Don’t believe every stupid thing you think.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [03:37]
• “Something could happen to you once, but you do it to yourself a thousand times in your head.” — Tana Amen [16:51]
• “Repressed rage creates anxiety.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [23:29]
• “We all want to focus on gratitude… but if you’ve got repressed rage, … get the rage out like pulling the weeds so you can focus on the flowers.” — Tana Amen [23:38]
• “First, do no harm, use the least toxic, most effective treatments.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [26:19]
• “72. Well, that means you don't have that much time left. Get busy living.” — Dr. Daniel Amen [20:33]
• “Happiness is not a thing you do once. It’s a daily practice.” — Tana Amen [22:14]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Anxiety: Be prepared vs. over-prepared | | 03:01 | ANTs and fortune-telling explained | | 06:10 | Early-life anxiety stories | | 08:40 | Preparation vs. catastrophic thinking | | 11:02 | Practical steps: Breathing, not fleeing | | 13:26 | Mom anxiety and “The Work” method | | 16:51 | Reliving fears, personal insight | | 19:22 | Menopause, aging, and anxiety | | 21:32 | Renewing the mind, spiritual perspectives | | 22:14 | Importance of daily practice | | 23:25 | Meditation types and rage journaling | | 26:08 | Nutraceuticals and caution with medication | | 29:31 | Overdoing supplements: humor | | 30:33 | Nutrition, gut health, and anxiety | | 31:23 | Trauma triggers, self-inquiry, somatic tools | | 33:54 | Martial arts, EMDR, and empowerment | | 35:22 | EMDR’s effects, therapy resistance | | 35:51 | Wrapping up: The four circles of anxiety care |

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Final Takeaways

• Anxiety can be managed with intentional, daily practices—start by questioning your anxious thoughts and grounding your body through breath.
• Seek balance—preparation helps, but over-preparation and catastrophic thinking fuel anxiety.
• Address anxiety from all levels: body, mind, relationships, and spiritual life.
• Nutritional and natural supplement support can help, but always use the least toxic, most effective methods.
• Trauma work, EMDR therapy, and physical empowerment (like martial arts) are valuable for deeper-seated anxiety.
• “Every day, you’re making your brain better or you’re making it worse. Our goal is for you to change your brain for the positive every day.” — Dr. Daniel Amen

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This summary distills the heart of the conversation, highlighting practical advice and memorable moments to help listeners apply these insights, even if they missed the episode.

Transcript

[A]

Being prepared is an antidote for anxiety. Being over prepared creates a lot of stress and wasted time. With anxiety, you're predicting the worst and then you're making it worse. In this episode, Dr. Amen and Tana

[B]

discuss the various ways anxiety can reveal

[A]

itself and how to overcome it.

[B]

People underestimate the power of nutrition and if you are eating an inflammatory diet, it's not going to help you. Inflammation is the cornerstone of all disease, including mental illness. If your gut's not healthy, you're going to be more anxious.

[A]

The first step in managing anxiety is not giving into it. The second thing is 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. Hi, I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. I've experienced firsthand the powerful impact that proper supplementation can have 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. Brain MD 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 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. Welcome back to the podcast. This week Tana and I are wrapping up our two part episode series on how to manage your anxiety and put your brain into a healing environment. This episode will be going over solutions to help you with your anxiety. I think of it sort of as basic training for your mind. Well, hello.

[B]

Hello.

[A]

So nice to see you again. You often say I calm your anxiety.

[B]

You do.

[A]

You're predicting the worst and raising mine.

[B]

I am preparing for the worst and expecting the best and keeping your anxiety high.

[A]

So I want us to be really practical on helping people. So if you see it as a signal rather than a problem, you can go. So why is my brain predicting the worst? Because that's often okay. What generates. Hold on.

[B]

There's a very big difference between anxiety and predicting the worst. Because someone who predicts the worst isn't necessarily anxious. They might be making other people anxious though.

[A]

I teach all of my patients. So step one is don't believe every stupid thing you think. And we call it killing the ants. The automatic negative thoughts that steal your happiness. And I always show my patients nine different types of ants. All or nothing things are all good or all bad. Just the bad ants, where you focus on what's wrong, ignore all the things that are right. Labeling, mind reading. The ant that drives anxiety, that drives panic is fortune telling, where you predict things are going to turn out badly even though you don't have evidence for it. And then what happens is the ants link to other ants, they then stack, and then they attack you. And I used to be. I don't know if I've actually ever told you this. Maybe I have is I get a bad thought, which would then lead to another bad thought, which would then lead to another bad thought. So if I was almost in an accident, you. Yeah, if I was almost in an accident, rather than go, thank God, I'm okay, I would see the accident. I'd then see the car burst into flames. I'd then see myself in the hospital, burned 90% of my body. And I would see the nurse, and she's not nearly as cute as you. My brain would just, like, go, okay, is there something. That's what I see with people who have panic disorders. It's not the one thought. It's this linking the stacking and the attacking.

[B]

So is there something wrong with me that, like, I'm a little. It's a little bit refreshing for me that you used to do that because you were just so Pollyanna. Like, not that you were, like, in pain or tortured, but rather that you were normal.

[A]

No, that's not normal.

[B]

Well, it's not.

[A]

People who have anxiety do. No, I grow very anxious. It gives me a child. And

[B]

that should give you hope because I literally live with Pollyanna who, like, thinks nothing bad can happen in the world.

[A]

Training. Yeah, it's a lot of training. So growing up, my brother beat me up all the time. We have home movies. All the home movies of me when I was under six. I'm being beaten up by this person. And when I was 50, my dad thought, oh, I want to give all the kids home movies. And I'm like, why didn't you stop him? And he said somebody had to take the movies, which was the dumbest answer. I'm just like, no, that's a dumb answer. And I don't know. We haven't talked very much about this on the podcast, but I wet my bed until I Was like nine. What does that mean? Morning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I woke up in a panic.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I mean, there's just such a really hard thing associated with that. I wish my mom would have known about imipramine or ddavp. They're simple medications that. Well, they had such awful ways. They treated five sisters, so it was, like, chaotic in my house. An older brother that was beating me up, waking up anxious every morning. My brain was trained to look for what was wrong.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was 28 in my psychiatric residency when one of our professors said, you have to teach your patients not to believe every stupid thing they think. But I believed every stupid thing I thought. And I remember as a kid, I would bite my fingernails and sometimes they would bleed or pick my skin because I was being raised in an environment where I was looking for the worst. And so, you know, almost 72 now, I'm, like, peaceful and calm because I do the things we're going to talk about in this episode. And I'm so happy, you know, my best friend, my partner. You don't see me as anxious because I'm not.

[B]

No, I don't see you as anxious. You. You generally are.

[A]

And part of that is I take happy Saffron every day and we'll talk about.

[B]

But you're very grounded.

[A]

But I don't believe everything I think.

[B]

No. And when something upsets you, you quickly get it under control. I know everybody's got their ways, you know, that they sort of deal with anxiety, whether it's good or bad, whether it's healthy or not. I think one of the ways that I learned how to deal with some of my anxiety from feeling like things were out of control, like, even as a child, was because I know you're going to say this is a bad thing, but when I feel like I'm preparing for something or I am prepared for something, that thing no longer bothers me. So while you think I'm, like, preparing for the end of the world. It's not that. It's that while I'm in the process of preparing, I feel more in control. That's why I practice martial arts. It's why I prepare for disasters. So it's the preparation, not thinking.

[A]

The difference between being prepared.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And thinking the end of the world is always coming. Not that you do.

[B]

No, I think I prepare.

[A]

So being prepared is one way to manage. Right. And both you and I, if we have to be at the airport at 1, well, we're there by 11.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Because you never know what bad thing could Happen on the way to the airport. Being prepared is an antidote for anxiety. Being over prepared creates a lot of stress and wasted time. And so the first step in managing anxiety is not giving into it. So if we talk about people have panic disorders that all of a sudden their heart starts to race, they have this impending sense of doom, their hands start to sweat, their muscles are tight, they can't see straight, they're often say this happens in a grocery store or it happens at a party. Their first impulse is to leave. And what I tell all of my patients, don't leave unless it's dangerous. Like if you're walking in downtown Detroit at 2 o' clock in the morning, leave because it's dangerous, but if it's not dangerous, don't leave. Otherwise the anxiety will control you. The second thing is breathe.

[B]

In martial arts we do the same thing. So in martial arts they teach you the same thing, run if you can, get out of the, get out of the situation. So it's awareness and avoidance if you can do that. But if you can't and you are in a situation that you can't get out of, the first thing you have to do is control your physiology because your sympathetic system will take over, that adrenaline will kick in. Same thing happens in a panic attack. Right. So breathing is number one. It's like getting your eyes and it's

[A]

in a very specific way.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And basically if you just remember anything, take twice as long to breathe out as you breathe in. And I teach all of my patients the 15 second breath. So take a big breath, four seconds in, hold it for a second or two and then eight seconds out. And almost everyone who just takes five 15 second breaths, so it's under a minute and a half, they feel more relaxed. You can control your physiology if you control your breath and then write down what you're thinking. This is so helpful because often it's the anxiety. The anxiety is driven by the ant. Yeah, the ant that started and then linked to other ants and then stacked with a whole bunch of ants and then attacked you. You have to go back to the original thought and question it and write it down. And I remember when you and I first met, I took you to a weekend in Big Sur with Byron, Katie, and it was, it was just so interesting. Do you remember that?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And writing down your thoughts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then questioning them.

[B]

It was very powerful.

[A]

You just take away what their power.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And generally the thoughts associated with anxiety. You're predicting the worst and then you're making it worse. Do you Have a thought example. I mean, I have all sorts of

[B]

them, but I think moms, for moms, a big one, is, you know, a lot of their thoughts are focused around their family, their kids. The fear of losing a child or something happens to your child. I mean, I think the minute you give birth, you never sleep again. It's like sleeping through the night becomes difficult, and then when your kids start driving, it's really hard.

[A]

I remember when Chloe was little.

[B]

Oh, I just, I did therapy over it. It was really difficult.

[A]

Something happened to her. I'd never be okay.

[B]

Oh, no. Yeah. I didn't think I'd live through it. And I know I have friends who have lost children and I just, I've always thought to myself that how, how, how do you do that? So the thought of that would make me so anxious. I mean, I've got every one of my family on, on an app. You know, I can see where they're at at all times. And the rule of my house, if you take yourself off the app, then you, you don't get like any privileges whatsoever. Like, it's like, because it's my anxiety, you know, over the people I love. So, yeah, that's probably my biggest anxiety, my biggest fear.

[A]

Did you ever do the work on that?

[B]

Yes. And it, it helped. It. I mean, it doesn't help you with that fear of loss as a mom, but it did help in a lot of ways because what I ended up coming to is this is her life. It's not my life. And what it really boiled down to in the end, after a lot of work, was I. It's not fair for me to smother her or cripple her and try to control everything because it's her life. She's gonna, she's gonna.

[A]

Doesn't she say that to you sometimes?

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

She's 12 years.

[B]

No, no, no. I have a, I have a 12 year old at the time who I'm like, be careful of this, be careful. I'm also a trauma nurse, so I see traumas in my head everywhere I go. So I'm like, be careful of this, be careful of that. Don't do this, do that. She literally looked at me and said, don't put your trauma on me. Go to therapy. Like, who says that at 12 years old, our child.

[A]

So the questions that we've talked about before on the podcast, but I love them from Byron Katie. So it's. You write it down. If I lost my child, I would die. That's a fortune telling answer. You identify which of the nine times? And then you go, is it true? And initially you probably say, absolutely yes. And the second question is, is it absolutely true?

[B]

No, I probably just.

[A]

With 100 wish I was. The third question is, how does that thought make you feel?

[B]

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. It's paralyzing. Like, it makes me go down this crazy dark rabbit hole. Makes me want to control everything.

[A]

And the fourth question is, how would you feel if you didn't have that thought?

[B]

More peaceful, more able to let her develop normally.

[A]

And then you take the original thought, if something happens to her, I'll die. And you turn it to the opposite.

[B]

I won't die.

[A]

If something happens to her, I won't die.

[B]

Right. Which is true. We're. Than the original doesn't feel that powerful. I think one of the ones that feels truer is, no, me doing this, me having these thoughts is not killing me, but it's. It's definitely torture.

[A]

And in the system of questions, like

[B]

I'm doing it to myself, then it would. And I think one of the things that came to me that I just remembered, because this was very powerful for me, something could happen to you once, but you do it to yourself. You relive that thing, and you've done it a thousand times. So I actually, in a sense, made my worst fear happen a thousand times in my head because I just kept living it. Yeah. So I was. I'm the one killing myself because I'm reliving that thought like a thousand times, even though it hasn't even happened.

[A]

Well, I love when you turn it around, Byron. Katie talks about three turnarounds. Opposite, I'm not gonna die, self and others. And when it's. I'm killing her is one of the turnarounds. I'm killing myself.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And with all the questions, you know, is it true? Is it absolutely true? How does the thought make me feel? How would I feel without the thought? Turn it around. Opposite, self, others. There's no right or wrong answer to that.

[B]

It just makes you think.

[A]

It's just a meditation.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's just a question.

[B]

And it cracks the thought.

[A]

And it cracks the thought.

[B]

Because when you think about it, that's where the. That's where the thought came from. It's like, this is her life. I don't have the right to, you know, put all my. In her words, put my trauma on her.

[A]

If you're struggling with anxiety, it might have something to do with how your brain works. And too often, doctors make diagnoses based on whatever symptoms you tell them. And then give you medicines that or may not be effective. What we discovered at Amen clinics is when we look at the brain, we can better target treatment to your brain, rather than just a cluster of symptoms. Call us. Looking at your brain may be one of the most important things you ever do. Go to amenclinics.com it's. It's so powerful. We should do another one. You know, it's another anxious thought. I'm getting old.72 this year, and women in menopause. Oh, dear Lord.

[B]

I mean, what would. I don't know what God's plan was with this, but women in their 50s, it's like you've got empty nest, sandwich generation, possibly losing a parent, you know, and menopause all at the same time. It's like, what was. What was the grand design in that plan? I. I'm just kind of curious.

[A]

Seems a little comical to me.

[B]

I'm glad you think it's funny. None of us think it's funny. You know, it's crazy.

[A]

No, a divine comedy is what I was thinking.

[B]

I was thinking of divine tragedy, but

[A]

I actually deal with that in a lot of my patients, you know, is they turn 50 or they turn 60 or 80 or 90. They're like, I'm gonna die. It's like, well, is that true? Yes. Is it absolutely true? Not today. How does that make me feel? Anxious? Sad? Lonely? How would I feel if I didn't have the thought? Fine. 72. Well, that means you don't have that much time left. Get busy living.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Right. Put it in the present.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or when you turn around to the. To yourself. Is. Those thoughts are killing me.

[B]

Yeah, the thoughts are. So I think that is probably the

[A]

next turnaround, chronological age. That's killing me.

[B]

Right. And the same is true even with the previous one we did. It's the thoughts that are. That are killing you.

[A]

And it was so insightful of you when you go, oh, my God, I've killed her thousands of times. I made myself miserable thousands of time. And just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether or not it's true, whether or not it's helpful, whether or not it's useful. And I like the verse in the New Testament, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you can test to see if it fits God's good, perfect and pleasing will.

[B]

And focus on not that verse, but focus on what's good and pleasing. And you're not supposed to focus on Philippians 4.

[A]

8. Think on whatever is true.

[B]

Yes, that's good. You're not supposed to focus on negativity.

[A]

Well, it's not helpful. Right, right. So people go, oh, this doesn't work. Do you know what that means when you say that? It means you've actually not really done the work in my experience. And people go, I tried that. And they tried it once and it didn't work for them. I'm like, you don't go to the gym 30 times.

[B]

Yeah. You don't go to the gym once.

[A]

Yeah. Like one of my NBA players. I'm like, how often do you practice free throws? Every day.

[B]

Every day. So happiness is not a thing you do once. It's a daily practice. Joy is a daily practice. You know, all of this is a daily practice.

[A]

So meditation is actually very important to you. Why?

[B]

Because it's sanity. Because. Because I have a monkey mind. So it. It calms the monkeys.

[A]

So how do you do it?

[B]

So I have a couple ways I do it. I think there's three different ways. I like. One of them is just, you know, the. In the beginning I couldn't just calm my mind. It just. My brain was too busy. So I did guided meditations because doing something was easier for me. And that's a good way to start for people who have trouble just calming their mind. I do like the calming my mind now. And they're just quieting my mind for a short time. Praying. That's me talking to God. I think meditating is me listening to God. Praying is me talking to God so I can get both of those out and it's great. And then there's also, you know, active meditations and like almost hypnosis type meditations that I really like. Like self hypnosis type meditations that are fantastic. And then there's my fourth one, and this is a bonus. And it's rage journaling.

[A]

And you like rage journaling.

[B]

Love rage journaling.

[A]

Actually talk about it and change your brain, change your pain. Oh, I love it because repressed rage creates anxiety.

[B]

And like, we all want to focus on gratitude and that's great. But if you've got repressed rage, focusing on gratitude is sort of like saying, there's no weeds in my garden. When there's weeds in your garden, getting the rage out is like, get is like pulling the weeds so that you can focus on the problem.

[A]

So how do you do it?

[B]

So it feels really weird at first actually, because these are the thoughts that are so dark that you don't even want to. If you're a good girl. We've Most of us have been taught to be polite and good girls and whatever. It's really hard to say those things. So even writing them feels like, oh my gosh, is someone watching me? Like, who's looking over my shoulder? Like, it's just really hard to write those things that you're like really that angry about. But once you start doing it, oh, it opens a floodgate and you just write everything that just irritates you in, in the worst way as possible and then burn it or, or shred it, make sure you don't leave it around. But what happens is it is like pulling the weeds because then you literally can focus on what's good. You focus on the flowers and then it just, you feel this release.

[A]

So it's balance of being honest about your feelings. And if the feelings could come up out of your body, where would they go?

[B]

So many of us are so afraid of our thoughts and feelings because we think they have so much power. They're just thoughts, they're just feelings and they're not even accurate. But we have this idea that I can't think that because it's, it's like got power. It doesn't. Get it out, get it out of there.

[A]

So how I found Byron Katie's work is. I went through a breakup and I was just not normal for like six months. And I would turn the radio up so loud so I couldn't hear my thoughts. And when I found her book, I realized she and I were published by the same imprint at Random House. And so I had them introduce me to her and she ended up coming to the clinic and we, you know, just loved each other. But it was so powerful. Don't block your thoughts, don't drink your thoughts away. Go into them. And.

[B]

Well, I did her nine day course and I will tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. So I wanted to leave multiple times. It was not for the faint of heart, let me tell you, but very

[A]

powerful because it teaches you that you just don't have to believe the noise that comes in your head. There are also hypnosis. We had Dr. David Spiegel on and that was wonderful. Our app, Brain Fit Life 5.0 has hypnosis exercises on it that I do. There's actually 18 of them now. There's music that sort of calms your brain. There's meditation, including loving kindness meditation, one of my favorite meditations. And then there are nutraceuticals that I want to talk about. So let's talk about nutraceuticals. And when I first started looking at the brain in 1991, I would scan people who are on benzos. And I'm not a fan of benzos now. I was, because I was taught in my residency. Xanax actually came onto the market when I was a psychiatric resident. And some of our professors were using pretty high doses of them. These are so great for anxiety and they chill you out. The problem is they're addictive. They increase the risk of dementia. And once you start them, you may never stop them. And I saw their brain scans. They look like they were drinkers. And I'm like, no, I don't like that. And I remember in medical school, first, do no harm, use the least toxic, most effective treatments. So in the early 90s, I'm like, what are natural things to calm the brain? And so I learned about kava kava. That can be addictive. I learned about magnesium. So helpful. I learned about theanine from green tea. That'll calm you but also help you focus. I learned about Gaba. And people say, oh, but gaba doesn't cross the blood brain barriers. No, but it calms what's going down in your gut, which then calms your brain. It clearly, oh, no, I feel stoned if I take too much effects. And, well, what about. Ashwagandha has been shown an herb to calm anxiety. And so some of our best selling products are theanine gummies. We have a fun story about that. Gaba calming, which has been one of our bestsellers for over a decade or fairly new for us, is Calm My Brain. So theanine thinning gummies, Gaba and magnesium, magnesium, theanine, ashwagandha, all extremely effective and popular. And you had three.

[B]

No, no, no, no, no. I called you and asked you how many should I take of L, Theanine and gaba? And you said four. And so.

[A]

Well, wait a minute, you had three.

[B]

No, I had four.

[A]

Well, then you took too many.

[B]

Oh, you told me.

[A]

I said four thin. And I say, you can take up to four.

[B]

I couldn't even get off the couch.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Yes. I was, like, out of it.

[A]

I love that.

[B]

I know you do. Because I was actually quiet.

[A]

It was unusual. Sometimes these combinations can be just.

[B]

Yeah. Do not start with four of each. No, my go to at night, I have very high thyroid, which keeps me a little wired and tired. And my go to at night is definitely magnesium. I do one restful sleep. I know not everybody wants to do melatonin. It gives them weird dreams. But I do like the Restful sleep, just one milligram. And I do like the L theanine a lot. It helps a lot.

[A]

And we have magnesium chewables and Brain md.

[B]

If I'm. If I'm anxious about something, like when my mom passed, I'll do gaba.

[A]

Brain MD has a brand new magnesium capsule as well. So things that can help. What about food?

[B]

So I think one of the big things is staying away from stimulating foods. If you're anxious, obviously things like caffeine, sugar are stimulants, right? So you want to stay away from things that are stimulating. But I think people underestimate the power of nutrition. And if you are eating an inflammatory diet, it's not going to help you. Inflammation is literally the cornerstone of all disease, including mental illness. If your gut's not healthy, you're going to be more anxious. You are more likely to be depressed because if you're. If your microbiome isn't healthy right up to what is 85%, 90% of the serotonin you make is in your gut. So very important to have a healthy gut, very important to cut out stimulants, and very important to eat anti inflammatory. If you're having issues with your moods,

[A]

with anxiety, trauma can show up and you're being triggered. I want all of my patients to hunt for their triggers. If you get triggered, write about it, bring it to therapy, let's talk about it. Because then something like Havenane or EMDR can be so helpful to calm it down. But you always want to understand where is it coming from, Right. As we talked about earlier, feeling really anxious in the situation. What are you thinking? What are you feeling? When's the first time you had that thought or feeling? And then some. Just simple bilateral hemisphere stimulation, whether it's rubbing your hands together or doing the butterfly hug, can be just so helpful.

[B]

Those are, those are quick things and I love those because it's just so important that you can do that in the moment. I know for me, like we use the example of my fear of losing Chloe, and I had realized I had a trigger like that when she was little because I had been. I had been assaulted. We talked about in the last episode when I was 15 and drugged down an alley. And I had this weird trigger that happened when I was bending over putting her in a car seat when she was a baby. And I thought, oh, I'm so vulnerable. Someone could just take her from me. And I. I've heard a lot of moms say that they feel very vulnerable when they have a baby. Because you're vulnerable even by yourself, but now you've got this child that you're responsible for. And I had done self defense classes on my own, but I always sort of felt like I could take care of myself. So when I had that, I had a sort of an extreme reaction to it. This, like, trigger and like this overwhelming fear that was connected to that anxiety of losing her. And one thing I know that helped me, in addition to some of the things you're talking about now, those are more momentary. But when I started practicing martial arts and I put her in martial arts because it started to build power, it changed that identity of like, oh, I'm a victim. Someone could take this special thing from me and hurt her to I'm powerful and I'm teaching her to be powerful. It's just the act of doing it was really helpful.

[A]

And when she broke a board with her head.

[B]

Yeah, that wasn't supposed to happen.

[A]

That wasn't supposed to happen. So unhappy.

[B]

I didn't know she was gonna do that.

[A]

You used to always used to also take those triggers to emdr.

[B]

EMDR was amazing. I'd say martial arts and EMDR are my two favorite things that I have done for myself. Absolutely. I mean, there's nothing like beating up big padded guys, let's face it. But EMDR is phenomenal.

[A]

How do you think it helped you?

[B]

Because it. I think I really. I mean, I'd love to say it's because you get to beat people up, but it's really not that what it. And it does exist.

[A]

No, no, not martial arts. Emdr, beating up people and.

[B]

Okay, well, let's. But let me finish that. So people don't think I just like to beat people up. It was an identity shift. That's what really helped me about martial arts. Now, emdr, I don't know why it works, but what's weird is I was very averse to therapy. I didn't want to date a psychiatrist, and I didn't want to go to therapy and bang my head against a wall and hear psycho babble all day long. I just didn't want to do it. I did not want to do it. So when I did it, because you gave me 10 sessions as your first gift to me, which was, I'm like, here we go. But I went and I was astounded. It was like a bizarre shortcut through therapy. I don't understand it. I still don't really understand why it works. I know it stimulates both sides of your brain, but it's like you don't have to get overwhelmed and bogged down in too much therapy. You can if you want to, but really it's like this shortcut through therapy and somehow it releases the trauma or it helps you process it. I'm not quite sure.

[A]

It integrates the left and right hemispheres wild and calms down your limbic.

[B]

So I ended up going for two years because I didn't realize how messed up I was. Your 10 sessions turned into two years

[A]

and we never fight.

[B]

No, I. It really changed. How?

[A]

I just sort of like each other.

[B]

Yeah. And when and when either one of us do something, it's really quick. You're really quick to, like, recognize it and take responsibility and just go, okay, I could.

[A]

I have power because we don't trigger.

[B]

And I have power over this. Like, I have the ability to make this better or make it worse.

[A]

So I know we've given you a lot of information, but anxiety is not something you have to live with. It's something that you can manage. And like we said in the last section, you need some anxiety. Right. The goal is never, is not to have no anxiety. You just want to have it so that it gets you to the airport on time and you're prepared. Now, your anxiety, you've done the simple things and it's not working like you hope. Call us at Amen clinics. I mean, I think looking at your brain can be incredibly helpful. We always think here in four big circles. It's what's the biology? And so looking at your brain can be really helpful. What's the psychology? You have to program it and deal with past trauma. What's the social circle of anxiety? Because clearly, if your relationship's not what you want, it's going to make you more anxious and spiritually, which is ultimately, why do you care? And I think you've actually done a wonderful job of putting the pain from the past into purpose to make a difference in the lives of other people. Which is why I love doing the podcasts with you and most everything else with you. There are days when I need to be at my best, whether it's back to back clinic sessions, long writing days, or just keeping up with life. That's when I take geek energy from Brain md. It gives me clean, steady energy without jitters or crashes. And I'm not the only one who who loves it. It just won a 2025 Nextie Award, beating over 500 other supplements. If you want real energy that lasts, check it [e-mail] and use the code PODCAST20 for 20% off. Anyways, we hope this has been helpful. Leave us a comment, a question, a review subscribe to the podcast every day. You're making your brain better or you're making it worse. Our goal is for you to change your brain for the positive every day.