Change Your Brain Every Day - Schools Reopening & Anxiety: What To Do

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

Anxiety levels in the US had been experiencing a dramatic rise even before the pandemic hit, but once coronavirus came into the picture they skyrocketed. Some have been able to keep their thoughts under control over the summer, but now that the school year is approaching, things are definitely getting interesting. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Daniel and Tana Amen discuss how September is likely to change people’s anxiety levels, as well as some practical tips they can use to keep calm and collected.  

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. In our podcast, we provide you with the tools you need to become a warrior for the health of your brain and body. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we have been transforming lives for 30 years using tools like brain spec imaging to personalize treatment to your brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceuticals to support the health of your brain and body. To learn more, go to BrainMd.com. Welcome, everyone. We're so glad you're with us. We have missed you. I know we've been with you, but we've been interviewing other people. I mean,

we've had some great guests like Dale Bredesen and Ubin Naidoo and Joan London. And the podcast is growing like crazy. So we're really grateful for you. And share it. You want them to share it. Yeah. So anything you learn today, we would be super grateful if you would post it and tag us. You can even take a screenshot and send it to us. It'd be awesome and tag us in it. And go to brainwarriorswaypodcast.com. We are always grateful for reviews, especially five-star reviews. That helps our rating and helps where they place us. And it will enter you into a giveaway. So it'll enter you into a drawing for one of our books, either your book, The End of Mental Illness, or the Brain Warriors Way

cookbook. So we still have so many questions on food. And so that's, we're still using that book as one of the giveaways. So welcome. Because it's awesome. Yeah. One of our questions for today is about food again. So. So this pandemic has been hard. It has. Before the pandemic, anxiety disorders were really at epidemic levels. They were nearly a third of the population. And I'm betting now it's over half. The incidence of anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, sleep medications have just skyrocketed. How has it impacted you? Now, it's not all negative. Eight out of 10 families feel

like they're closer because they have more time together, but the level of stress has gone way up. Yeah. So what I've noticed, I've been talking to a lot of people, even on my community, is initially a lot of people were like, oh, we get this extra time together. But that wears off after time, right? Especially if you've got kids with ADD or you've got kids or you're trying to work and you don't have childcare. It started to get really stressful. And I think when it really hit people, in addition to all the social unrest and the election stuff, it really hit people when school came around and they're still not starting school. That's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing from a lot of moms who are like, wait, whoa, stop.

This is not okay. And so, yeah, it's been really interesting to hear people's reactions. Well, and I think a big part of it is the uncertainty, the back and forth, forth that it's just not giving people time to get used to whatever the new reality. Yeah. There's a lot of discrepancy. And also, moms sort of scrambled and not that they liked doing the teaching, especially for little kids. I mean, try keeping a kindergartner on Zoom. It just doesn't really work well. And so a lot of moms were scrambling and they made it work because they thought it was temporary. But the idea of starting to do that long-term is causing a lot of stress for people. Well, they're not trained. They're not trained.

To do it. Most people never get training on how to be a parent. Right. Well, and let's face it, a lot of moms, even the stay-at-home moms, they rely on that time that their kids are in school to get stuff done, to get growing up and cleaning, laundry, and now it just all feels overwhelming. So what are things people can do to retain their sanity? What are some of the things you've done to retain yours? Well, I can't say I've been perfect at retaining it. I agree with that. I did so well for the first couple of months. And then I just kind of like done with this, sort of like a lot of other people. And now I'm in the same position.

I'm scrambling, trying to get three kids registered for school. I have no idea what we're doing. So I think for me, I mean, I know for me, it's interesting. Exercise has always been my medicine. So no matter what everybody knows, they need to let me exercise. It's better for their benefit if I exercise. And second, yeah. And meditation, when I get away from it, it's just, I just find myself when I don't focus on what I'm grateful for. I find myself right now focusing on what I'm irritated about. And so you're going to focus on one thing or the other. The glass is half full, the glass is half empty. You have to train yourself to focus on the right things. And it's not easy when you've got so many things coming at you, but you can do it. And the third thing is I'd gotten, you know,

I think everybody got a little bit lazy with their diet. I mean, they call it the COVID-19. I mean, for us being lazy with our diet. The COVID cushion. Yeah. So for us being lazy with our diet is a little different than probably the average person. It still means we're eating about 85% to 90% healthy. But I noticed that. So I really decided this was when I was going to do a cleanse.

I've got one of the kids doing it with me, but then also after that eating super clean. And so I'm doing sort of a, our version of our food. One of the questions was about food rules. Our food rules are in many of our books. They're definitely in brain warriors way and brain warriors way cookbook, which is where the recipes are. And one of the food rules is, you know, eliminating all those things that make you feel bad. And so I got really serious about doing that. And for me, that looks like sort of a paleo keto modified with extra greens,

but that's really what works for me. And that doesn't work for everybody, by the way. It depends on your brain type. Some people need a little more of the smart carbs and sweet potatoes or apple or something. But for me, when I really cut back on all those carbs, do really high fat, high protein, lots of greens and fiber, I feel like a different person. My focus, my energy, everything is more positive.

So what diet really works best for you? I mean, ultimately, it's high quality calories, not too many of them. A couple of weeks ago, maybe a month ago, I could just feel it, that things are a little tighter. Throughout the pandemic, I've been exercising, but things were just a little tighter. I actually put a tape measure around my waist waist and it's optimal when it's 31. It was like 34 and I'm like, that's irritating. And some of that's inflammation and bloating. It goes away somewhat quickly.

Well, it's the chronic stress. I lost my dad managing our eight, soon to be nine clinics. We had to close New York. I mean, there's a lot. For me, I start counting everything I eat. We have a little scale on the counter way measure it and it's just like gotta go on a budget dude and and now my waist is 32 so almost back um and it just you know um you know you know i hate wasting money that i think of calories the same way. You should stop wasting calories. Know how many you're putting in your body and the quality matters just as much as the quantity both matter. And we have several podcasts

and even on, you know, I have a blog on my site if you go to tanaehmann.com on food and mood because it is a little different for everybody. And that's where we differ. People often ask, why is your program different than paleo or different than some of these other programs? It's different because we take your brain type into account. So that's a question we get all the time. How many carbs should I be eating carbs or no carbs? Should I go high protein, low carb? What should I do? And

it really does depend on you. Now, if you're going to eat carbs, we want you to eat smart carbs. So yeah, all those rules are in Brain Warrior's way. You can find them on my website, tanaayman.com. The cookbook really helps you to eat that way all the time. But for me, that is just a huge thing with my mood. Well, and you can go to brainhealthassessment.com and for free know your brain type. And as part of the information you'll get is, well, what should I be eating? High protein, high smart carbohydrate, what, you know, we're a fan of healthy fat. so all of the diets have healthy fat.

But you cheat more toward protein or more toward smart carbohydrates, and you will be able to know. So in dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief, getting into a routine and the two things we talked about today, exercise, absolutely critical head to head against antidepressants. They've been found to be equally effective and get your diet right for your brain type. Just know everybody's stressed during this time. The people who will thrive, they have stress management practices. And I think for you, it's exercise. Same for me.

I do 40 minutes of meetings in the morning while I'm walking, right? I'm just moving. So have a routine that works for you. When we come back, we're going to talk about more specific strategies for dealing with anxiety. Whatever you've learned, please write it down. Take a picture of it. Post it on any of your social media sites. Go to brainwarriorswaypodcast.com. Leave us a comment,

question, or review, and we'll enter you in for a drawing for either The End of Mental Illness, my new book, or Tana's cookbook, Brain Warrior's Way. Stay with us. If you're enjoying the Brain Warrior's Way podcast, please don't forget to subscribe so you'll always know when there's a new episode. And while you're at it, feel free to give us a review or five-star rating as that helps others find the podcast. If you're considering coming to Amen Clinics or trying some of the brain-healthy supplements from BrainMD, use the code podcast10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com or a 10% discount on all supplements at brainmdhealth.com. For more information, give us a call at 855-978-1363.