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: https://ai.hubermanlab.com/s/9jvLHEkQ
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Dr. Paul Conti
Website: https://drpaulconti.com
Pacific Premier Group: https://pacificpremiergroup.com
Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal From It: https://amzlink.to/az01KBLaUX3m6
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-paul-m-conti-845074216
Resources
Dr. Paul Conti: Therapy, Treating Trauma & Other Life Challenges (Huberman Lab episode): https://hubermanlab.com/dr-paul-conti-therapy-treating-trauma-and-other-life-challenges
The Iceberg Model: https://bit.ly/3Pr13sC
Pillars of Mental Health: https://bit.ly/3r11yjM
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 – https://www.blabacphoto.com
Disclaimer: https://hubermanlab.com/disclaimer
44 Comments
Im watching the segment about drive and I think I see the point you're trying to make, that there are categories of drives, they have different purposes? and they help us survive, but none of the words reference one another and I'm having a great deal of trouble understanding what you are trying to answer and explain. It's just phrases. What are you answering?
boring
All this reminds me of "Winning The War In Your Mind" by Craig Groeschel
People are more bothered by Conti's "right" than by Goggins' "fuck". 🙄😅😜
1:07:00
Take a sip for every ‘right’.
Tell you what, mental health will feel all types of better half way in,
Down side you won’t make the end of the episode.
social media is not a way to assess mental health..
So, mental health is basically just the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference?
I have a question, if my mother language and the language of the country that i currently reside in is different, should i be assessed by a therapist that speaks my mother language? Is there a lot of difference in outcomes? My level of language of country of residence is okay but definitely not native level and might influence the effectiveness and deepness of conversation between me and the therapist. Thank you
0:04 Huberman, your handwriting is so bad…
Thanks
The amount of authentic knowledge shared here is astounding. This should be the new form of education.
Right !
Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this topic and episode, please click the "like" button and subscribe to our channel here on YouTube.
Thank you for your interest in science! — Andrew
Stop!
Question: A lot of people don't even know that there is a way out of their situation. How do we teach people to identity when they need help? (I feel like the usual way is that people reach rock bottom and they are forced to listen to their generative drive.)
Some feedback: All this information is enlightening. I think you guys are pioneering on spreading this perspective on mental health.
BUT I tried sending this to a few friends who would benefit from hearing this perspective. And they were all turned off at how long this is.
It would be interesting to have a summarized series. Perhaps 5 minute video versions of each of the episodes in this series.
The goal would be to just sort off point people in the right direction. And have them find their way.
Here after watching lex Friedman and Andrew’s podcast
Right.
Thank you both!
A da🎉
Add to agency and gratitude, humility and a health sense of hymor
Right!
Right?
Bless you Dr Andrew Huberman. Gratitude from China
Dr.Conti is so soft spoken😅
This is AI-generated
Spam reported
Huberman🫶 only you are making sense from my in this interview 👍🏻🫶 Thank you so much for helping me to be a better me in every day basis.❤️💪🏻🤩
I have never had a moment when I feel very confident
Hi Andrew , not sure I agree with Dr Conti on his description on why you repeatedly seem to gravitate towards relationships that are not necessarily healthy. May I respectfully suggest you read Dr Gabor Mate and Daniel Mates book “ The Myth of Normal” where he explains Big T and small t trauma which affects how we respond to things in life and the relationships we have . Without knowing your personal circumstances I would think that perhaps you graviton towards those relationships because deep in your subconscious those people make you feel comfortable based on you r life and surroundings as a child . Really an amazing and helpful book. Just thought to share . Take care , Kim 🌹
gosh this is the best video on the internet ….everybody should watch it👍👍👍
Agency and gratitude. I would say connection- and gratitude comes from connection- but other things too. Empowerment and humility. I’m praying about all this.
This world needs Jesus
This podcast changed my life, forever.
God this is so GOOD! Thank you Dr Conti and thank you Andrew Huberman for bringing this to us. It creates SO MUCH CLARITY in a world of extremely confusing information. I am extremely grateful!
loved every point you raised in this episode, I had to delete instagram because it felt like everything/everybody was just a facade. The reset series is so refreshing Leo👏🏽
I hate your commercials between your talks
This video is the best one ive watched in a really long time. You hit every key point about mental health and how to actively change the bettle against it. I really appreciate it greatly.
I think the answer to demoralisation is to follow the origin of the word: a loss of – being away from – morality.
Now, one way of interpreting that is that one has been “cast out” from what others consider to be “moral”.
Another interpretation is that one has lost a sense of one’s own morality.
With the former, it is not necessarily one’s own fault that one is considered amoral or – worse – immoral by others. But, with the latter one becomes a lost soul.
A strong sense of one’s own morality can be as a shield against the slings and arrows of others. A loss of one’s own sense of morality has only one answer: to become more moral.
If one chooses no morality, it will not make one feel better as they see the harm they cause to others and the harm the people they “attract” do to others – and themselves. Indeed, it will make them feel worse.
And, if they feel nothing, then they are nothing.
Far better to seek out what is moral, but one first needs to decide – or learn – what is “moral”. One cannot follow another and – as if by magic – be moral. One first needs to find their own sense of what is moral – even if that is by the wisdom/teachings of others.
But, I assure you this: it starts with The Truth. And, only you can know if you are being truthful to others. And, if you are not truthful with yourself, no one can help you. And, where you are not truthful with others but you are truthful to yourself: your quest for what is moral starts there. Is it because they can’t handle the truth, or you are ashamed of the truth?
And, if you are not ashamed yet you speak not the truth: you are lying to yourself.
True morality can only come when one speaks only the truth. But, society doesn’t make that easy. And they will hate you for your piety (arrogance?) if you do.
Still, you should try. And, understand why you did not if you told a lie. And, when you tell the truth, no one can hurt you with it, because you have already hurt yourself. And, if they hurt you because of the truth, then they are not your friends. You need to find true friends.
Atonement, confession. Are not part of this lesson.
I wish you luck!🙏
How did your relationship changed one u notice then world is what it is? Did you have a "no feelings" with people's who who you loved?
So thoughtful and interesting, thank you both.
Thank you for your work and dedication to educate! I've learned a lot from your podcasts. I would be really interested to hear in more detail about the research done on side effects of SSRIs and even more about tapering off of antidepressants. I am currently tapering off SSRIs after 8 years of using them and am experiencing a lot of withdrawal symptoms. The most alarming are brain zaps and from what I have seen there is not much research done to clarify what they are and if they are harmful. Thank you.
Dollar store Jordan Peterson
Kram och Puss! 💜