😌 Mental Wellness + Mental Health Protocols

This week we've got a deep dive on Mental Wellness + Mental Health tools, largely sourced from Andrew Huberman + Peter Attia’s podcasts.

It speaks to both biological levers that can be pulled — modifying dopamine, sleep, heat, breath, cold, exercise, nutrition — as well as psychological levers — journaling practice, gratitude practice, and mindset shifts.

As entrepreneurs, we’re willingly putting ourselves in situations that will test is psychologically and physically. This toolkit can be used as needed to optimize mental and emotional well-being.

Dopamine Levels

Low baseline dopamine states are correlated with depression. Resetting the balance requires entering states of boredom or non-pleasure-seeking, as well as doing challenging things.

Protocol #1: Do Challenging Things & Be Mindful of Dopamine Peaking Activities

• Exercise, cold plunge, sauna, hard work

• Increases baseline dopamine

• Tell yourself ‘this is good for me’ — there's a subjective effect of dopamine when you do this

• Be mindful of things that peak dopamine, as it will cause a subsequent drop. Caffeine, Sex, Video Games, Nicotine, Alcohol, Cannabis, Adderall can increase dopamine, leading to a subsequent drop/deficit.

Protocol #2: Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)

• Similar to yoga nidra, study showed it increased dopamine reserves by up to 65%

• Free NSDR tracks available on Youtube

Protocol #3: Morning Sun

• Morning sunlight exposure (3-10 minutes within 30 minutes of waking) increases dopamine levels and prevents late-shifted cortisol increase, which is linked to depression.  

Exercise

150-180 minutes of exercise per week can help stave off depression.

• Subjectively enjoying the exercise (i.e. telling yourself 'I like this, this is good for me') will activate dopamine and serotonin, which will help with cognitive/emotional symptoms of depression. 

Sauna + Hot Yoga

Protocol: Sauna, Hot Yoga, or Hypothermia Treatment

• Elevates core body temperature and alleviates depression symptoms

• Possible mechanism: heat stress increases beta-endorphins and dinorphin, which may sensitize mu-opioid receptors to endorphins.

• Hypothermia treatment has shown antidepressant effects.

Stress

Protocol: Cyclic Sighing for Acute Stress

• In a study, cyclic sighing was the most effective practice for stress reduction, improving sleep and mood when pitted against box breathing and cyclic hyperventilation.

• Inhale deeply through the nose, second inhale to maximally inflate lungs, long exhale through the mouth until lungs are empty.

• Repeat for 5 minutes a day.

Supplements

EPA Fish Oil (1g/day) for Depression

• 1g of EPA Fish Oil per day inhibits inflammatory cytokines, thereby helping divert tryptophan to the serotonin pathway 

• Viva Naturals Triple Strength Wild Caught Fish Oil has the recommended high dose of 1g of EPA per day

Creatine Monohydrate (1g-5g/day) for Depression

• Creatine monohydrate (1g - 5g per day) can improve mood and symptoms of major depression.

• Note: shown to increase mania in people who are already in manic state of bipolar.

• Thorne Creatine is a trusted source

Ashwagandha for Stress/Anxiety

• Known to lower anxiety, stress, cortisol.

• Shown to reduce cortisol 14.5% - 27.9% in clinical study.

• Best used in times of stress, not taken on a regular basis.  

• Nootropics Depot uses KSM-66 Ashwagandha, a standardized extract that has clinical studies backing it

Sleep Supplements

• Magnesium Bisglycinate (200mg)

• Apigenin (50mg)

• L-Theanine

• Yin Sleep - Complete formula for Deep Sleep + REM Sleep →

NeuralRX

• NeuralRX is essentially a longevity stack for your brain — it upregulates ATP in the brain, reduces inflammation, and increases neuroplasticity + neurogenesis

• It’s formulated for brain health, but I’ve seen it work wonders for people close to me experiencing depression

• It’s not cheap (about $100/month), but it really pushes the needle

  • Caveats: you have to store it in the dark, it’s an MCT oil so the bottle can get messy, and you have to slowly build up the dose so it doesn’t upset your stomach

• Ian Mitchell, the founder & formulator, is an absolutely brilliant polymath chemist. Here’s a pod episode with him to learn more.

• NeuralRX →

  • Code ‘Human3’ gets you 20% off

Lion’s Mane

• Studied for its neuroprotective and neurogenesis effects

• Nootropics Depot’s Erinamax Lion’s Mane capsules are the only brand optimized for Erinacines, the key active ingredient

Kanna

• Kanna, also known as Sceletium tortuosum, is a plant extract used traditionally in South Africa for mood elevation, stress reduction, social cohesion, and focus

• Contains psychoactive alkaloids — mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol — that interact with the serotonin system

• Been clinically shown to positively affect cognitive flexibility, which is a form of neuroplasticity

• Serotonin modulation is often linked to neuroplasticity as well

• Huberman mentioned it on his Gratitude episode as a potential way to boost a Gratitude practice / prosocial networks in the brain

• Ka! Empathogenics is the best source for Kanna

  • Code ‘Human3’ for 10% off

Technologies

Apollo Neuro

• A wearable that positively affects HRV with vibrations for the nervous system

• Apollo Neuro →

Sensai

• Clinical-grade at-home neurofeedback

• Sens.ai →

HeartMath Inner Balance Trainer

• A biofeedback device that trains HRV & Heart Coherence

• Studies have shown improvements in emotional volatility, anxiety & depression, anger

• HeartMath →

Hypnosis

Clinical hypnosis can improve symptoms of stress, chronic anxiety, chronic pain, and other illnesses. 

• Can help change mental states to face problems and see them from a different point of view.

Psychedelics

Ketamine, MDMA, and Psilocybin are promising psychedelic therapeutics for depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

• Read notes on Huberman episode with Robin Carhart-Harris on Psychedelic for Mental Health →

• Retreat Guru — Meditation & Psychedelic Retreat Directory

• Psychedelic Support Network — Network for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapists

Cannabis

Chronic cannabis use (more than 2 times per week) increases the rate of depression & anxiety.

Inflammation

Inflammation can lead to or exacerbate depression. Limiting bouts of chronic stress can prevent depression.

Thyroid

20% of people with major depression have low thyroid hormone.

Keto Diet for Mental Health

Disorders that may benefit from the ketogenic diet:

• Chronic depression

• PTSD

• Alcohol use disorder

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Bipolar disorder

• Schizophrenia

Keto diet’s effects on the brain

• Influences neurotransmitter levels (glutamate, GABA, adenosine)

• Changes calcium channel regulation and calcium levels

• Alters gene expression and reduces brain inflammation

• Changes the gut microbiome

• Improves insulin resistance, lowers glucose and insulin levels

• Stimulates mitophagy (removal of old/defective mitochondria) and mitochondrial biogenesis (creation of new mitochondria)  

Ideal Ketone levels

• Depression: aim for blood ketone levels greater than 0.8 millimole 

• Psychotic disorders and Bipolar disorder: aim for blood ketone levels greater than 1.5 millimole (creation of new mitochondria)

Peer-Reviewed Journaling Method for Mental Health

This journaling method has been scientifically proven to improve mental and physical health, with over 200 peer-reviewed studies

• Reductions in anxiety, insomnia, improvements in mood, sleep, immune functioning

• Leads to neuroplasticity, the literal rewiring of neural connections

The Method

• Write for 15-30 minutes continuously about the most difficult or traumatic experience of your life.

• Write about this 4 times in total; can be done on consecutive days, or spread out i.e. once per week.

• If nothing traumatic, write about something you’re thinking or worrying about too much, major conflicts, or stressors

• Explore your deepest emotions and thoughts about an upsetting experience

• Connect the experience to your childhood, relationships, career, etc.

• Include facts about the difficult experience

• Include emotions felt at the time of the experience and emotions felt now

• Include any links that come to mind about the negative experience and anything happening now or planned for the future

Happiness + Mindset Shifts

Once you’ve made a choice, don’t second guess it

• Considering alternative options reduces the reward associated with the chosen option

• Evaluating decisions after making them prevents extracting happiness from the choice

Self-compassion is a powerful psychoemotional tool — leads to stronger self-worth and growth mindset. 

• Reduces sympathetic activity (inflammation, cortisol) and increases parasympathetic activity (heart rate variability). 

• Full Takeaways from Kristin Neff episode on Self-Compassion ->

Identifying as a victim can lead to hopelessness and despair

Giving resources (money, effort, time) is immensely beneficial for increasing happiness levels.

Balancing the need for personal significance with the acceptance of one’s smallness in the universe can lead to a sense of peace

• Standing in awe of something, like a sunset or a selfless act, can induce a sense of transcendence and insignificance

• Nature, music, human genius, psychedelics, and meditation can all provide transcendent experiences 

Proven Gratitude Method

This method shifts the prosocial circuits in the brain to dominate the mindset — enhances social relationships and shifts from defensive circuits. 

• Reduces fear and anxiety circuits and increases motivation and circuits associated with positive emotions, just 1-3x per week

The Method: Step 1

• Option 1. Find someone whose story resonates with you – whether they are giving or receiving help; choose a book, podcast, movie, etc.
  Option 2. Reflect and really think about a time in which you received thanks – write out what the struggle was, what the help was, and how it made you feel

The Method: Step 2

• Write notes and read them or think about that story over and over – even just 1-3 minutes

• The more you read & reflect on the notes or take in stories, the faster you will sink into gratitude, until its almost immediate.

• It’s much faster to sink into this desired state than meditation or similar practices

• Having a story you resonate with and return to helps to create a physiological shift in your heartbeat and breathing.