Dr. Paul Conti: How to Understand & Assess Your Mental Health | Huberman Lab Guest Series

This is episode 1 of a 4-part special series on mental health with psychiatrist Dr. Paul Conti, M.D., who trained at Stanford School of Medicine and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School before founding his clinical practice, the Pacific Premiere Group. Dr. Conti defines mental health in actionable terms and describes the foundational elements of the self, including the structure and function of the unconscious and conscious mind, which give rise to all our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. He also explains how to explore and address the root causes of anxiety, low confidence, negative internal narratives, over-thinking and how our unconscious defense mechanisms operate. This episode provides a foundational roadmap to assess your sense of self and mental health. It offers tools to reshape negative emotions, thought patterns and behaviors — either through self-exploration or with a licensed professional. The subsequent three episodes in this special series explore additional tools to further understand and improve your mental health. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this episode: Thank you to our sponsors AG1: BetterHelp: Waking Up: Momentous: Huberman Lab Social & Website Instagram: Threads: @hubermanlab Twitter: Facebook: TikTok: @hubermanlab LinkedIn: Website: Newsletter: Dr. Paul Conti Website: Pacific Premier Group: Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal From It: LinkedIn: Resources Dr. Paul Conti: Therapy, Treating Trauma & Other Life Challenges (Huberman Lab episode): The Iceberg Model: Pillars of Mental Health: Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Paul Conti 00:03:46 Sponsors: BetterHelp & Waking Up 00:06:55 What is a Healthy Self? 00:10:41 Agency & Gratitude; Empowerment & Humility 00:16:13 Physical Health & Mental Health Parallels 00:20:21 Structure of Self; Unconscious vs. Conscious Mind; “Iceberg” 00:26:15 Defense Mechanisms; Character Structure “Nest”, Sense of Self 00:31:27 Predispositions & Character Structure 00:36:01 Sponsor: AG1 00:37:27 Character Structure & Action States; Physical Health Parallels 00:46:20 Anxiety; Understanding Excessive Anxiety 00:53:12 Improving Confidence: State Dependence & Phenomenology; Narcissism 00:59:44 Changing Beliefs & Internal Narratives 01:06:04 Individuality & Addressing Mental Health Challenges 01:11:21 Mental Health Goals & Growth 01:17:32 Function of Self 01:23:00 Defense Mechanisms: Projection, Displacement 01:30:14 Projection, Displacement, Projective Identification 01:34:50 Humor, Sarcasm, Cynicism 01:40:41 Attention & Salience; Negative Internal Dialogue 01:45:02 Repetition Compulsion & Defense Mechanism, Trauma 01:58:55 Mirror Meditation & Self Awareness; Structure & Function of Self, “Cupboards” 02:04:57 Pillars of the Mind, Agency & Gratitude, Happiness 02:13:53 Generative Drive, Aggressive & Pleasure Drives 02:21:33 Peace, Contentment & Delight, Generative Drive; Amplification 02:24:18 Generative Drive, Amplification & Overcoming 02:33:00 Over-Thinking, Procrastination, Choices 02:42:20 Aggressive, Pleasure & Generative Drives, Envy 02:49:46 Envy, Destruction, Mass Shootings 02:55:38 Demoralization, Isolation, Low Aggressive Drive 03:02:50 Demoralization, Affiliate Defense 03:09:32 Strong Aggressive Drive, Competition, Generative Drive Reframing 03:20:02 Cultivating a Generative Drive, Spirited Inquiry of the “Cupboards” 03:26:06 Current Mental Health Care & Medications 03:35:33 Role of Medicine in Exploration 03:40:41 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Momentous, Neural Network Newsletter #HubermanLab #Science #MentalHealth Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - Disclaimer: