The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

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Thursday, 17 April 2025 - 2 hours 7 minutes

What if your anxiety isn’t fear, and your trauma might not be real? Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett reveals how your brain creates emotional illusions.

Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is a Professor of Psychology and among the top 0.1% of most cited scientists for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is also the author of books such as ‘Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain’.

In this conversation, Dr. Lisa and Steven discuss topics such as, how anxiety is a predictive error in the brain, the shocking truth about childhood trauma, how trauma can be contagious, and why you don’t have any free will. 

00:00 Intro

02:22 Lisa's Mission

04:14 Why Is It Important to Understand How the Brain Works?

10:48 Measuring Emotions

13:55 What Is the Predictive Brain?

16:08 Examples of the Brain Making Predictions

24:13 Is the Predictive Brain at the Root of Trauma?

31:27 Cultural Inheritance, Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression

36:29 How Reframing Past Events Can Change Identity

42:41 Meaning as a Consequence of Action

44:11 How to Overcome Fear by Taking Action

45:43 Prediction Error

47:37 Learning Through Exposure

49:47 Dangers of Social Contagion

54:06 Anxiety in the Context of Social Contagion

58:33 Is Social Media Programming Us to Be Sad?

1:02:08 Ads

1:03:03 First Step to Overcoming Mental Health Issues

1:05:18 Chronic Pain

1:08:23 What Is Depression?

1:09:17 Body Budgeting and Body Bankruptcy

1:12:26 How Stress Contributes to Weight Gain

1:15:00 Depression in Adolescents

1:17:02 Is Depression a Chemical Imbalance?

1:18:30 The Story of Lisa's Daughter

1:21:09 Oral Birth Control as a Risk Factor for Depression

1:24:07 How Lisa Helped Her Daughter Overcome Depression

1:29:11 Social Support

1:35:26 Lisa's Daughter's Recovery from Depression

1:39:12 Does Alcohol Affect the Body Budget and Increase Depression Risk?

1:42:45 Ads

1:44:00 Can People Change Emotions by Smiling?

1:45:49 Lisa's Perspective on ADHD

1:48:01 The Power of Words to Facilitate Emotion

1:52:26 Stress as a Burden to the Metabolic Budget

1:53:27 Lisa's View on God and Religion

1:54:25 What Is the Meaning of Life in Lisa's Opinion?

1:59:32 Question from the Previous Guest

Follow Dr Lisa: 

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Website - https://g2ul0.app.link/TWOO6vZhCSb 

You can purchase Dr Lisa’s book, ‘Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain’, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/35oJGs4hCSb 

Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACEpisodes 

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