#396 A Brand New Way to Understand and Treat Mental Health Problems with Dr Chris Palmer

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Alternative Health, Mental Health

4.8 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2023

⏱️ 179 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest today has spent his entire career, trying to understand mental illness. What’s really causing it – and how can we better manage it.

Dr Chris Palmer is Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

In today’s episode, he shares some of the profound insights he's gained over almost 30 years as an academic psychiatrist. He combines years of clinical, neuroscience and metabolic studies into one unifying idea: that mental disorders are not caused by a chemical imbalance. Instead, they are metabolic disorders of the brain, caused by dysfunction in our mitochondria.

It’s a theory that connects physical, mental and emotional health, and it’s the topic of his excellent new book, Brain Energy. Chris doesn’t deny the roles trauma, psychological and social factors can play in poor mental health. But he explains the link between these factors and our metabolism, and how diet and lifestyle interventions can help. Excitingly, Chris explains that making changes to our diet and lifestyle actually offer far more hope for long-term remission than existing treatments, which generally aim to only reduce symptoms.

As Chris reveals, his own experience with trauma and mental illness is what drives him to try and help millions of people around the world who are still suffering. Chris is advocating for a transformation in the way we view and treat mental health. And, if that happens, it won’t just help ease an epidemic of depression, anxiety and other conditions – it also has the potential to address all of the chronic diseases that are underpinned by metabolic dysfunction.

Chris is knowledgeable, passionate and articulate. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with him and I hope you enjoy listening.

CAUTION: This podcast discusses ketogenic diets. Always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before making any drastic changes to your diet.

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Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/396

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wake up.
0:02.0	Traditional academic mental health neuroscientist professionals.
0:07.0	Wake up.
0:08.0	Look at the evidence.
0:10.0	Look at the detailed evidence at the cellular level.
0:13.1	Mental health and metabolic health are inseparable.
0:15.9	This research has just been hiding in plain sight.
0:19.3	When people really understand the detailed science of it, it has the potential to completely
0:25.5	transform the mental health field, reduce suffering, improve millions of people's lives and potentially save billions of dollars.
0:36.0	Hey guys, how you doing? Hope you're having a good wheat so far. My name is Dr. Wongan Ch Chatterjee and this is my podcast
0:44.6	Feel Better, Live More.
0:49.0	My guest today has spent his entire career trying to understand mental illness, what's really causing
0:56.8	it and how can we better manage it.
1:00.1	Dr. Chris Palmer is director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education
1:06.4	at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In today's episode he shares
1:15.6	some of the profound insights that he's gained over almost 30 years as an
1:21.3	academic psychiatrist. He combines years of clinical,
1:25.4	neuroscience and metabolic studies into one unifying idea that mental disorders are not caused by a chemical imbalance.
1:35.0	Instead, they are actually metabolic disorders of the brain
1:40.0	caused by dysfunction in our mitochondria.
1:43.2	It's a theory that connects physical, mental and emotional health
1:47.8	and it's the topic of his excellent new book,
	...

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