Change Your Brain Every Day - 7-Habits of Happiness with Dr. Daniel Amen

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

In this week's mini episode, Dr. Amen goes over the 7-most important habits of happiness as he has seen and evaluated in his nearly 40 years of being a Psychiatrist.

Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. So what are the things you can do today to increase your happiness? And it's not wine and it's not CBD and it's not marijuana. It's not pornography. And it's not given in to your angry urges. and it's not a big bar of chocolate or a big bowl of ice cream,

they'll make you feel good now, that they'll make you feel unhappy later. The secret is you have to change your brain to improve your moods. You have to change your mind to change your mood. You have to change your connections to change your mood.

It's not the other way around. You can't wait for your mood to improve to change your behavior. So let me give you seven happiness habits. Number one, notice what you like more than what you don't. This is so important. And this takes discipline, which means basically you have to turn off the news.

Because let's be clear. The news is not about the news. The news is about what drives eyeballs. It's about what drives clicks. And what bleeds, leads, what's scary gets the headlines. And so all the cool things, there have been millions of pandan, pandemic, that's the right word. There have been millions of people doing acts of kindness during this pandemic that never lead.

Never lead the news. The news is not about the news. The news is about scaring you, harming you. hurting you, so you'll click on my pillow or Previgin or the pharmaceutical they're selling. The news is not about the news. Where you bring your focus, I can focus on the tens of thousands of people we've changed their lives and feel pretty good. Or I can focus on my colleagues, not all of them, but some of them hate me. And I could feel awful and irritated.

Where I bring my attention determines how I feel. I could focus on how awesome and wonderful Tana has been during our marriage and feel and feel really happy or I could focus on the fact she just never wants to throw away a rapper. Why? I don't know. But it used to really irritate me and I'd say something and nothing would happen. And then one day I just got it. If the rapper wasn't there because she wasn't there, I'd be really unhappy. And so I just the rapper that she didn't throw away is just a symbol for me that she's here. Notice what you like more than what you don't like. So you want to make a habit to pay attention to what you like about other people too.

A marriage with five times more positive comments than negative ones is significantly less likely to end in divorce. That makes you happier. A business team with five times more positive comments than negative ones is significantly more likely to make money. That makes you happier. College students with three times more positive comments than negative ones are significantly more likely to have flourishing mental health.

Number one, notice what you like. more than what you don't like, and that takes training. You need to work that muscle. Number two, disinfect your thinking, kill the ants. You've heard me talk about this over and over again. Looking for my aunt eater. Hang on one second. During the pandemic, I've spent a lot of time with these guys.

The ants, the automatic negative thoughts, they steal your happiness. You need an ant eater. Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, are out of control right down what you're thinking. And then ask yourself, is it true? Can I absolutely know if it's true? The third happiness, habit, get connected to happy people.

If you're connected to angry people, to irritating people, to whining people, to negative Nelly people, to people who are infested with ants? Guess what? People are contagious, just as contagious as COVID-19. So take an inventory of the people in your life. And just ask yourself, are they bringing me up or are they bringing me down? and you may need to get new people.

A 75-year longevity study from Harvard shows the good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Positive social connections, help us live longer. Happiness habit number four. Know your purpose. Purposeful people live longer. It's actually, besides brain health, it's the key to happiness. is seeing that your life has meaning, that your life can make someone else's life better.

That's actually the essence of happiness. When I see my nieces who live with us, thrive in school, just got the 15-year-old's report card, and she got straight A's. So despite growing up with some drama and conflict, she still works really hard, and it shows, and that makes me happy, right? So you invest in other people and they succeed,

that makes you happy. Researchers at Rush University in Chicago studied more than 900 people and found that those who had a higher sense of purpose in life, greater happiness. more satisfaction, personal growth and acceptance, less depression, better overall mental health, better quality of sleep, and they lived longer. Purpose is so important.

Are you modeling health or illness? In my mission, 10 mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health, I just know I want all of you to be brain warriors, people who are armed prepared and aware so that you can help me fight this revolution. That's purpose. It's my purpose. I wake up every day going, how can I create a new brain warrior today, arm prepared and aware?

Because the end of mental illness will begin with a revolution in brain health. So, of course, we need brain warriors. Happiness habit number five. Protect your brain's pleasure centers. I was talking about that today. That we have these areas deep in our brain called the nucleus accumbens,

where dopamine works on that, and we feel joy, happiness, motivation. And that's where... sex works. It's where cocaine works. It's where alcohol and marijuana. But you can wear those things out. A new survey on happiness also found significant increase in alcohol consumption. Short-term fix, long-term problem. So when something good happens, hitting a home run, landing or promotion, a kiss from someone special, your brain releases dopamine. If you drink or take drugs, your brain releases a lot of dopamine.

And also high sugar fat meals release a lot of dopamine. But the more you push on those pleasure centers, if you do it too much, it actually wears them out. And so I talk about dripping dopamine, so constant stream of little bits of dopamine, versus a lot of dumping dopamine, which ultimately wears them out. And fame, you know, it's like, why are all these young superstars, musicians, actors, have problems with drugs? Because fame actually wears out your nucleus, succumbens. and you end up feeling flat and off center.

And fame actually can wear out your brain. So you don't want to dump dopamine. You want to drip it over time. So you protect your pleasure centers. Low limit the use of constantly stimulating devices and activities. exercise helps rebuild your pleasure centers, meditation, comedy, magnesium, sunshine, pumpkin seeds, green tea. All of this is so helpful. Happiness habit number six.

Get your brain right. damage your brain, your emotional brain will work too hard, and you begin to focus on the negative. So brain healthy habits. There are happiness foods. Salmon. Copper River salmon is running now. It's phenomenal.

It's a happy food. Red bell peppers. It's a happy food. Blueberries. The happy food. Ice cream. It's a sad food because it increases inflammation. Process foods.

It's a sad food. Green tea. The happy food. Alcohol is a sad food. Why? Because it'll disinhibit you and it'll say that hateful thing to your spouse that should never escape your mind. It's not the thoughts we have that make us sad.

It's the thoughts we attach to. to that make us sad. Very important to remember. So brain healthy habits, absolutely critical, including sleep, is critical to happiness. That when you don't sleep right, every other thing in your brain and in your life is not as good as it could.

could be green tea. Somebody asked me what I'm drinking. Actually, since it's after, 2 o'clock, it's decaffeinated green tea. I actually don't like caffeine because, yes, I can feel a little buzz, but also makes me tired. Happiness habit number seven.

There are supplements that can help. And my favorite is three, actually. and I put it in a product called Happy Saffron, which we made it, and then we ran out because people are really meeting it during the pandemic, but it's back in stock. And Saffron, actually, Happy Saffron has three ingredients in it.

And the first ingredient is saffron at a clinically effective dose. So it's at 30 milligrams, and there are 21 randomized controlled trials, so either with placebo or with another antidepressant, Prozac, Zoloft, Efexer, Sylexa, mypramine, is showing it was equally effective with fewer side effects. And saffron, so most SSRIs, mess with your sexuality. Most SSRIs decrease your libido or your desire.

They also decrease function, things like lubrication and orgasm, very bad. But one of the reasons I fell in love with saffron is it's pro-sexual. There's actually some stuff. that indicate it might actually enhance fertility as well as sexual pleasure. And in one study, it was actually given to people on an SSRI to counteract the sexual dysfunction and it was found to be effective. So when we first released it, in the first month, I got four independent testimonials. And one of them, the headline was Viagra for women.

and I'm like, I like that. That's good for you. And we're actually doing a case series now on Happy Saffron and sexual function in women. And if it turns out like I think it might, we're then going to do a randomized placebo-controlled trial. I'll let you know. So Happy Saffron has three things in it, though. So it has Saffron, clinically effective dose, but it also has a sudden. long beta curcumins. So this is a very special kind of curcumins that is easily absorbed in your

intestinal tract. And there's actually a brand new study out today that showed 400 milligrams of long vita curcumans, the same ingredient we have in Happy Saffron, that significantly improved mood and memory in healthy older adults. And so the second pillar of supplements for happiness. And then we have zinc. And zinc does so many positive things, but to actually increase other neurotransmitters, along with helping your immunity.

I'm also a fan of EP. omega-3 fatty acids, so from fish oil, that can help along with vitamin B-6. So you can choose to increase your level of happiness. You can choose by where you bring your attention, by what you think, by who you hang out with, by what you eat and also by the nutrients you choose. And you can be happier tomorrow if you focus on sleeping better tonight. And yes, you can do it in a pandemic. If you've never read Man Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel,

totally you should read that. That's one of my top five favorite. all-time books. He was a psychiatrist in World War II Nazi concentration camp and looked at who survived and thrived and who didn't. And the difference was meaning and purpose. I hope this is all helpful for you.