Rewiring Your Brain for Better Mental Health: How Small Actions Can Transform Your Health with Dr Camilla Nord #543

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Alternative Health, Mental Health

4.8 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2025

⏱️ 141 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever wondered why the same traumatic experience affects different people in completely different ways? Or why finding pleasure in life is so fundamental to our mental wellbeing? To answer these questions and a whole host more, I'm joined this week by Dr Camilla Nord. Camilla leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge and is author of the best-selling book, The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health. In this fascinating conversation, we explore: How everything that impacts our mental health ultimately works through the brain, and why we often artificially separate 'mind' from 'brain' and 'mental' from 'physical' health Why pleasure is so fundamental to mental wellbeing that a loss of it is a core symptom of depression, and how activities like social laughter can boost mood by releasing natural opioids The fascinating overlap between chronic pain and depression circuits in the brain – revealing why experiencing one increases your risk of developing the other How motivation varies throughout the day based on our individual body clocks, and why morning people and night owls have different energy patterns Interoception – our internal body awareness – and how practices like meditation, yoga and body scanning can enhance this crucial sense Why the placebo effect is so powerful and how a doctor's communication style can significantly impact treatment outcomes Throughout the conversation, Camilla emphasises that there is no one size fits all approach and that it’s the small, consistent actions that ultimately end up transforming our lives. Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Thanks to our sponsors: https://drinkag1.com/livemore https://vivobarefoot.com/livemore Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/543 DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Transcript

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0:00.0	If what you do is you deprive yourself of everything you love in pursuit of some kind of optimized health for most people that will not be the route to best mental health.
0:11.7	Hey guys, how you doing? I hope you having a good week so far. My name is Dr. Ronggan Chatterjee and and this is my podcast, Feel Better, Live More.
0:24.4	Have you ever wondered why the same traumatic experience affects different people in completely
0:31.5	different ways, or why finding pleasure in life is so important for our well-being. Well, to answer these questions
0:40.2	and a whole host more is this week's guest, the neuroscientist Dr. Camilla Nord. Camilla leads
0:48.7	the mental health neuroscience lab at the University of Cambridge and is the author of the best-selling book,
0:55.5	The Balanced Brain, The Science of Mental Health. During our conversation, Camilla reveals
1:02.0	how everything that impacts our mental health, from our genes to our diets to our stress levels,
1:08.9	ultimately works through one final common pathway, the brain.
1:13.6	Yet as Camilla highlights, we often artificially separate mind from brain and mental
1:19.6	from physical health, missing the crucial connections between them. We also discuss how pleasure
1:26.5	is so fundamental to mental well-being that a loss of it
1:30.9	is a core symptom of depression. Camilla explains the brain's hedonic hotspots and how activities,
1:38.5	like social laughter, can boost mood by releasing natural opioids. We also explore the fascinating overlap between chronic pain and depression circuits in the brain,
1:50.6	revealing why experiencing one increases your risk of developing the other.
1:56.7	We also discuss the importance of something called interoception,
2:00.7	how and why our motivation varies throughout the day,
2:04.2	and the incredible underestimated power of placebo.
2:09.4	Throughout the conversation, Camilla emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach,
2:16.2	and that it's the small, consistent actions that ultimately end up
2:21.0	transforming our lives.
2:27.6	You're a neuroscientist at Cambridge University. What would you say are some of the things we commonly misunderstand about our mental health?
	...

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