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 ...
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...
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 ...
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 challenge...
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 ...
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 hypo...
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 l...
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 d...
Dear friend, I'm sorry to have to tell you, but we, human beings, allaus, unfortunately, are struggling with an addiction to violence. It's not your fault, because of the way our global society has evolved, now in 2022, we are all caught up in a devastating cycle of trauma and addiction, fueled by one important, powerful (but short lasting) pleasure chemical, Dopamine. American society is uniquely addicted to violence, because aggression and force has been a core principle t...
Y'all... I'm tired. Are you tired? I'm angry, hurt, frustrated and SICK of us ignoring the obvious impact of 2 core human issues: Hate and Racism. In this episode, I'm going to explain why racism is a delusional condition and hate absolutely IS a state of mind that should be classified as mental illness! The sooner we begin to understand the underlying mental illness that all humans are experiencing, the faster we can evolve society to address these issues....
"Trauma hurts. Empathy heals." Have you wondered lately, WTF is wrong with humans? Everywhere you look, there are traumatic events and painful reminders that we are going through an emotional, spiritual and psychological crisis. We want answers for how to stop mass killings, political division, addiction crises and beyond, yet those answers seem slow in arriving, as we witness more and more chaos. Yet, I do believe that there is a cure for what ails humanity, and it's ...
What is psychological trauma? How do you know if you have experienced trauma? What can you do about the traumas in your life? In this episode, I break down my motto "Trauma hurts. Empathy heals" and explain why I chose to lead with that statement. As society begins to realize trauma as a core experience that all people share, it will help us to expand and update the way we think about psychological trauma. MANY events cause psychological trauma, and we will...
Have you ever considered the anatomy of words? What are "words?" How do these fragile yet impactful sounds affect the way we think, feel and act? Can words be "violent?" Miscommunication is inherent in the human experience, and our current world is full of the trauma that comes from our careless use of words. Whoever said, sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you, clearly did not know about the Somatosensory Cortex, the part of the brain that regi...
In this episode, Dr. Alauna breaks down the anatomy of the primitive brain, and the 7 parts of your brain that are critical to understanding your mental health. Have you ever heard of your amygdala? Did you know it does more than create FEAR responses? When is the last time you thought about your Brain Reward System? Did you know dopamine drives all addiction processes? Do you know how to activate your prefrontal cortex? Did you even know you have a PFC???W...
It's time for Trauma Mythbusters!!!! Now that we have explored the real world trauma of "The Slap," it's time to dive into the many myths and falsehoods we have been taught about mental health and psychological trauma. "Only military people who go through combat and get injured have trauma." - NOPE, Errbody has experienced trauma. Every human being on Earth has experienced trauma in their past, present and will in their future as well."Trauma has to be horrific and obviously...
"Oh $h!ggidy! Did you see that?!" was the common refrain from the night of the Oscars 2022. So many of us worldwide watched in shock as Will Smith, one of the main honorees of the event, slapped Chris Rock in response to a joke told about Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head, which is due to autoimmune alopecia. This is just one of MANY examples that we have had lately of humans behaving badly. From airplane conduct, to road rage, to gun violence, political violence and even war, ...
Welcome to Minding Your Amygdala! In this first episode, Dr. Alauna breaks down her journey through traditional psychiatry, her crash course in trauma as she navigated her own personal and professional life, and how this led to the creation of Empathy Skills Practice™ for Traumatized Humans. We're all humans. We all have amygdalas, and we all have emotions. There is no shame in having traumatic experiences—We all have them. Tune in each week as Dr. Alauna offers answers to mental health...