Dr. Jud Brewer is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and leading researcher into the science of mindfulness, and we dive DEEP into how we can fight anxiety and panic. Stop feeling “covish” and start recognizing how our minds work when faced with uncertainty.

Once we get warmed up, we discuss:

• how ancient Buddhist psychology relates to modern ideas around positive and negative reinforcement and addictive behavior
• the role of dopamine in etching context-dependent memories
• the challenge of social media and smartphone addiction
• recognizing addiction to news during the COVID-19 crisis
• the phenomenon of “social contagion” in relation to the current pandemic and social media
• the nature of primitive limbic fear versus the higher reasoning of the prefrontal cortex (elephant and rider)
• what happens when worry becomes a habit
• the relationship of worry to anxiety
• how we can hack our brain with the BBO (Bigger Better Offer) approach with regards to habit and addiction
• insights around panic disorder
• the nature and utility of changing “reward value”
• bringing “curious awareness” online to recognize cravings and their low reward value
• addiction and it’s relationship to dopamine
• the nature of selfless flow states
• fMRI data on adept meditators and the quieting of the “default mode network”
• psychedelics and the effect on the brain’s default mode network
• the effectiveness of an app-based mindfulness approach on physician anxiety and physician burnout in a recent set of studies
• the nature of the psychological benefit of kindness and how the COVID-19 crisis may be a huge opportunity in disguise.

Check out ALL our COVID-19 coverage here.

Watch this full video here!