Is Modern Life Making Us Miserable? What’s Fueling the Mental Health Crisis & What Can Help?

The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer

Dialogue, Science, Reason, Michaelshermer, Natural Sciences, Skeptic

4.4 • 921 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does your diet have to do with your mood? Is mercury in fish really dangerous? Psychiatrist Dr. Drew Ramsey joins Michael Shermer to discuss the science behind nutritional psychiatry and how food, sleep, exercise, and social habits influence brain health. They explore why mental health issues are rising—especially among teens—and what role parenting, social media, and modern lifestyles play.

The conversation also covers the effectiveness of SSRIs and other treatments, the role of inflammation in mental health, and the importance of sleep and tracking sleep quality.

Drew Ramsey, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist, author, and leading voice in Nutritional Psychiatry and integrative mental health. He is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. For twenty years, he served as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. He has authored four books, including the international bestseller Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety. His new book is Healing the Modern Brain.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to The Michael Shermer Show.
0:16.6	Hey, everybody, it's Michael Shermer.
0:18.6	Time for another episode of The Michael Shermer Show.
0:20.2	As always brought to you by, you know, your favorite magazine, Skeptic Magazine. There it is in print.
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1:09.0	Okay.
1:09.5	That's it for our commercials. My guest today is Drew Ramsey,
1:13.8	Medical Doctor. He's a board certified psychiatrist, author, and leading voice in nutritional
1:19.2	psychiatry. Oh my God, I never heard of that, but I like the sound of it. So we'll get into
1:25.3	that a minute and integrative mental health. He's a fellow of the American
1:28.7	Psychiatric Association and founder of the Brain Food Clinic and Spruce Mental Health. For 20 years,
	...

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