Mental Health Today #77 Rewiring Minds: Neurotechnology, Brain Stimulation, & Owen Muir's Unconventional Path to Psychiatry
In this intriguing episode, Owen Muir, a medical doctor and psychiatrist, shares his remarkable journey into the world of medicine and psychiatry. Owen's story is an unconventional one, filled with twists and turns that ultimately led him to a career in healing minds.
Owen's tale begins with a strong determination not to become a medical doctor, despite societal expectations. He pursued his passion for music and recording, even taking advanced neuroscience courses, deliberately avoiding the prerequisites for medical school. However, his life took an unexpected turn when he discovered he had bipolar disorder, which ultimately altered his path and his perspective on mental health.
His academic journey was far from traditional, with a focus on music and audio engineering. Owen's passion for audio engineering and recording significantly shaped his approach to brain stimulation, which later became a central part of his psychiatric practice. He learned to see the parallels between audio engineering and brain modulation, finding common ground in the manipulation of frequencies, patterns, and magnetic fields.
Owen describes the transformative power of brain stimulation, particularly transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). He explains how TMS works by re-tuning the brain's neural circuits, aligning them in a way that alleviates symptoms of mental health conditions such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He highlights the astounding remission rates of 79% in just five days, achieved through this innovative treatment.
The conversation delves into the intricacies of brain function, tuning, and synchrony. Owen uses compelling metaphors, like the concept of tuning musical instruments, to make these complex ideas more accessible. He also touches upon the power of meditation in syncing the left and right brain hemispheres, highlighting the potential of the brain as its own stimulator.
Today, Owen practices psychiatry with a unique approach, utilizing his expertise in brain stimulation. He has made groundbreaking progress in treating conditions like PTSD, offering hope to those who have struggled for years. Owen's method involves leveraging EEG caps to retrain the brain and down-regulate the amygdala, the brain's fear center, demonstrating the potential for significant changes in the mental health landscape.
However, as Owen points out, the real challenge lies in making these effective treatments more accessible. He believes that the true issue in mental health care isn't the absence of effective treatments but rather the failure to pay for them. Owen's work centers on finding a solution to this problem by advocating for independent validation of outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
Owen's partnership with the Validation Institute has led to a groundbreaking approach to getting these treatments paid for. They offer independent validation, putting their money where their mouth is. If the math behind the validation can be disproven, the Validation Institute pays out. This unique approach has the potential to revolutionize mental health care by ensuring that proven treatments are accessible to all.
As the conversation unfolds, Owen brings up critical issues related to the current healthcare system and the need for a paradigm shift. He believes that the mental health crisis is, at its core, a crisis of not acknowledging effective treatments. By establishing a framework where these treatments can be validated, he's working to bridge the gap between innovative therapies and the individuals who desperately need them.
This episode is a captivating exploration of unconventional paths to psychiatry, the power of neurotechnology, and the potential for mental health treatments to transform lives. Owen Muir's story serves as an inspiring reminder that even the most unexpected turns in life can lead to groundbreaking solutions in the field of medicine.
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Disclaimer: The views stated in this episode are our guest's opinions and do not necessarily represent the views, beliefs, or opinions of Mental Health Today With. Our goal is to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health by sharing our platform with professionals in the space. That being said, our guests are not a representation of Mental Health Today or The Jar Foundation.