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 one of the top 0.1% most cited scientists in the world for her groundbreaking research in psychology and neuroscience. She is also the author of bestselling books including ‘Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain’.

She explains:

Why anxiety is a predictive error, not a signal of fear
The shocking truth about childhood trauma and memory distortion
How trauma can be socially contagious and spread between people
Why you do not actually have full free will over your decisions
How your brain constantly builds your emotional reality

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

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Independent research:

lisafeldmanbarrett.tiiny.co

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The Light at the Heart of Darkness (Shemot 5779)