In this episode, Dr. Alauna reflects on America's most recent Presidential Debate between Former President Donald Trump and Current President Joe Biden on June 27, 2024. The stakes for our country are extremely high, and watching this as a trauma psychiatrist, I realized that we HAVE to talk about the aging brain! Both candidates have clearly observable challenges, but without mental health awareness and education, these concerning symptoms may not be obvious. Over the next few episodes, we will explore the various presentations of the aging brain, including addressing different types of dementias, personality disorders, and other mental health factors that America's voters need to consider when choosing our next leader. Stay tuned for more Minding Your Amygdala Podcast!

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Have you noticed that society seems more divided than ever? How can so many people be living in the same world, yet experiencing such different realities? Enter our brain and biology! While some have become aware of the importance of understanding implicit and explicit bias, I believe the strongest human bias is confirmation bias, the tendency to believe in our own "rightness" and therefore our brain gives greater weight to information that reinforces our own perspective and downgrades evidence to the contrary (even if it is more grounded in evidence or accurate.)

The advancement of technologies such as the internet, graphic design and social media have ensured that finding someone to agree with us is easier than ever, yet this can result in "silos of psychosis," where enough people in agreement can create deeply shared false beliefs. In this episode of Minding Your Amygdala, you'll learn more about confirmation bias, and how to use empathy to combat this feature of human biology!

Get your Early Bird Ticket to The Trauma C.U.R.E. : Creators Using Radical Empathy at https://thetraumacure.com!

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We are absorbing an INCREDIBLE amount of trauma lately. From the very public medical emergency of Damar Hamlin, to the release of brutal footage of police beating Tyre Nichols, we find ourselves in the space to again, be a witness. According to dictionary.com, to be a witness is to "be present, personally see or perceive a thing; a beholder, spectator, or eyewitness."

This episode of MYA is centered on the importance of building our individual trauma resilience skills. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to feel about these events; the key is to identify effective actions that help create healthy change. Dr. A shares her 3As of Coping with Secondary Trauma: Acknowledgment, Awareness, & Action! It's important to understand how "indirect trauma" still can directly impact our brain, causing "programming changes."

Learn more about your brain, body and behavior with Dr. Alauna on March 9-11, 2023 at https://thetraumacure.com. Join us for The Trauma C.U.R.E. : Creators Using Radical Empathy, for 3 days of fun and informative education, coaching and skill building! It's the most fun you'll ever have talking and thinking about trauma!

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We are seeing the numbers of children struggling with emotions skyrocketing, and as a trauma psychiatrist, it makes sense to me. Traumas create predictable patterns in our psychological and biological health. The pandemic was/IS a shared, global trauma that all humans experienced, and if a large number of "adults" are struggling with "post-" traumatic mental health effects, then of course, the children are suffering, too. In this episode, we will dive into 3 common challenges for children who have experienced ACES: Tantrums, Trouble-making and Trust-issues, and address how Empathy (LOVE) can help them heal.

ACEs (Adverse Childhood Events) are surprisingly common in the US. About 61% of adults surveyed across 25 states reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18, and nearly 1 in 6 reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs.

• experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect
• witnessing violence in the home or community
• having a family member attempt or die by suicide

Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding, such as growing up in a household with:

• substance use problems
• mental health problems
• instability due to parental separation or household members being in jail or prison

Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. For example, by preventing ACEs, up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases could have been potentially avoided.

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

Be aware of the power of words and the way the amygdala can pull even adults into saying things in a heated emotional state that we cannot “erase” even when We retract. Having empathy for the Child’s internal experience. See Your Self as they might experience you. Become a corrective experience.

Look with Suspended Judgment
Observe the emotions in all parties involved
Validate the differing yet EQUAL experience of the Other
Express Your Self SKILLFULLY, Creator!

To learn more how to AIM for better Mental Health and self-heal from trauma in 2023, Join me for The Trauma CURE : Creators Using Radical Empathy 3 Day Live Virtual event on March 9 - 11, 2023 from 10 - 4 pm CST.

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Why does it seem like humanity is gang-banging right now? How we achieve Unity in such a Divided Society? We're called the "United States" but it seems we are more divided than ever. I haven't heard anyone say that they think humans are doing OK. "Mass global mental health crisis" is a term we hear more and more. There aren't even enough mental health practitioners, especially who are FULLY trauma trained to even manage the number of people struggling emotionally.

What do we need? Mass education. A huge RESET in how we think of mental health, in general. Mental health is for everyone. We all have a brain. It's doing shit. We need to understand what it's doing to our decision making, and how operating in primitive FEAR mode, grouping, stereotyping and dehumanizing others sets us up for a state of perpetual "Us" vs. "Them."

Tribalism is in our biology. We biologically tend to group with similar and prefer "same." There nothing we despise more than fear and pain. When something is unknown, it creates a sense of danger. To our brain, predictable means "safer." Our Amygdalas are running the show when we operate in fear. This is the effect of terrorism and we are allowing it to work on us. Fear begets suspicion, distrust, disgust then dismissal and dehumanization. It is what allows us to ignore others emotions AND try to ignore our own. We have been told emotions are bad or that they don't exist when they are IN FACT. The. Most. Important. Things. We. Can. Pay. Attention. To. Right. Now!

Who do you dehumanize? Where are you being tribal?

Are you ready to learn more about how to heal trauma through empathy? Catch the Early-Bird special for the next Trauma C.U.R.E. : Creators Using Radical Empathy 3 Day Live Virtual Event, March 9-11, 2023! (Expires Jan 9, 2023)

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In October, we observed Mental Illness Awareness Week. In that time I asked myself, as a society, Are we TRULY AWARE of mental illness? (Spoiler: NOOOOooo!)

This month, we take the time to acknowledge and raise awareness of many different conditions we call “mental illness” like Depression, Schizophrenia, ADHD, PTSD, Dementia, Bipolar Disorder and more. However, as I listen to society debate the many pressing issues of our current society, the widespread violence and chaos, or hypothesizing about “what’s wrong with Ye?” it strikes me that we do not even have the BASIC language to fully appreciate most mental illnesses. Every day, I hear people use language like "crazy" or "weird" to describe people who are experiencing mental health crises. I hear misuse of words like "bipolar" to describe erratic weather, and a host of other frankly ignorant statements about emotional and mental health. Our culture has long downplayed attention to emotions, despite them being ever-present, resulting in widespread mental health struggles that have yet to even be "named" and identified. Our current system is woefully inadequate to address the realities of how many people need mental health support and treatment.

In this episode of MYA, Dr. Alauna breaks down why a Brain, Body, Behavior anatomy lesson is KEY to truly becoming Mental Health Aware!

Learn more from be at www.dralauna.com and Follow Dr. Alauna on social media! Donate to support DA-TRI at www.da-tri.org.

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Suicide, or intentionally taking one’s own life, is complex; it involves psychological, social, biological, cultural, and environmental factors. Join us this week for an important conversation about one of the most preventable public health emergencies in our society today: suicide. Talking about it can save a life.

Some statistics about suicide:

• Globally, there is one suicide about every 40 seconds.
• In the U.S., there is a suicide every 13.7 minutes.
• Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for Americans.
• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for Americans ages 10-34.
• Males die by suicide four times as often as females.

It's time to change the stigma surrounding suicide! When someone is at the point where they are wishing they were dead, questioning their will to live, or actively in a space where they want to end their lives, these struggles have a downwind effect on every aspect of the community. Join Dr. Alauna in this episode as she looks at suicide from all sides, and gives a brain, biology and behavioral explanation of what it is to experience suicidal crisis.

Learn more from Dr. Alauna; Register for The Trauma C.U.R.E. at https://thetraumacure.com

References:

1 CDC, Suicide Vital Signs

2 WHO, Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet

3 Suicidology, Fact Sheet

4 CDC, Fact Sheet

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New Season Alert!!! Minding Your Amygdala : A Brain, Body & Behavior Podcast is Back!

Sex! What a loaded word! It can mean so many different things to so many people, yet it is one of the hardest things to talk about! Which means our amygdalas have a LOT to do with the human experience of SEX!

In this episode of Minding Your Amygdala, we will dive into some key elements of sex: why it's so difficult to discuss in a healthy way, why there is so much disagreement and dissatisfaction when it comes to sex, AND Dr. Alauna will offer a roadmap to a healthier relationship with sex and sexuality in America.

Learn more with Dr. Alauna at The Trauma CURE - 3 Day Live Virtual Educational Event.

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