Lori Calabrese, MD

Tag: science of happiness

BDNF and Microbiome: Your Paved Path to a Fulfilling Life

Strengthen your microbiome, build up your BDNF: Live Better and Enrich Your Relationships

Feel sluggish…like your brain is falling down on the job? “Why did I come into the kitchen?” “Where are my keys?” “I’m so overwhelmed…!” Wishing you had more physical and mental energy… and feel kind of foggy..?

It’s not surprising if you do. It can happen to anyone, but there are things you can do about it.

BDNF Grows Brain Cell Connections

We’ve talked before about BDNF (brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor) and how it works like a rich compost causing brain cells to branch prolifically creating a dense network of connections to move signals around and through the brain.

We talked about how the abundance of signals help you think more clearly and understand with more depth. In turn, you have more neuroplasticity to change your perspective and your outlook to improve your enjoyment of life and the meaning you draw from it.

Did you know there are things you can actually do to increase your BDNF, and in so doing, improve your sleep, your memory, cognition, and outlook?

We’ve talked about the impact stress can have. How it prunes away signaling structures in the brain, wearing down and destroying synapses, and leaves you with a sparse number of connections between brain cells that slows down thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and hope.

Brain Cell Connections Empower Life Connections

Dr. Hannah Critchlow is a Cambridge neuroscientist whose work shows us how we form our own subjective views of the world. She weighed in on the effect of stress on your function as a leader in the workplace which also applies to your role in important relationships in your life, and basically your own well-being, as well.

In a NYT article by David Donaldson April 4, 2018, she made the point that stress “seeps into the brain, and basically starts to damage the dendritic spines — the connections in the brain — so you get a much less connected brain and it becomes much more difficult to think flexibly and creatively.”

She points out that research has shown that working out at the gym or going for a jog can help reduce the effects of stress on the body, and mental and physical activity can reduce the effects of stress on the brain’s functioning.

And…since BDNF is such a huge boost for building synapses — those connections between brain cells — and improves resistance against stress – doing things that increase BDNF is the ticket.

Dr Critchlow says that some people have high levels of BDNF naturally. This certainly helps them with productivity when they’re under stress. But for those who don’t, regular exercise can actually boost their own BDNF levels.

But there’s more.

BDNF and Microbiome: There’s More To It than Exercise

She emphasizes that beyond exercise, engaging in meaningful socialization and getting a full night’s sleep also boost BDNF. Things like going to new places, exploring new environments, exchanging new ideas — both listening and expressing — also give more synapses a jump start.

But here’s the rub. It’s tough to discipline yourself to regular exercise, go to new places, stretch your boundaries, and have stimulating conversations when you’re depressed and lack the energy to do anything. Even if you’re just feeling a bit blue.

So Dr. Critchlow recommends developing an attitude of positivity, to keep those synapses growing.

Her own hack is to maintain a gratitude journal…and she writes down 3 things at the end of every day she’s grateful for. Doing that helps her keep her mind focused to help herself think with more positivity as well as think about how she might pay it forward and help others have more positive days ahead.

It’s also helpful to listen to your own emotions, and use them to try to pick up on key alerts within you… and try to make sense of them. It’s not always easy, but it helps to learn to let them inform our decisions, rather than pulling us down into a dark pit.

Sometimes the alert is about something or someone in our environment, and other times it’s about our own “slightly flawed view of reality.” Either way, it gives us something to work on or make new decisions about how to live better and help others, too.

What Makes BDNF Increase?

So…since you and I want to live better lives, and enjoy richer relationships by deeply engaging in stimulating conversations… and reaching out to show interest in others, how can we increase our BDNF to help us have the energy to want to?

Harvard neuropsychiatrist John Ratey is the author of, Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. He stresses the importance of exercise for release of BDNF. From his point of view, exercise is more for the brain than the body. (Think about this and how important this might to you!) He says that it turns the power switch in the brain to ON.

But, if exercise isn’t the only way to cultivate the release of BDNF, what else can you do?

Well, one suggestion is to reduce your intake of sugar. Because it so happens that high glucose decreases BDNF release, the neuroplasticity fuel in your brain that helps you learn and change, and stimulates the very ability to learn itself.

Most of us are either trying to lose weight or avoid gaining it. (So we already have a guilt trip in place about our waist size.)

Try this instead of self-reproach:

Reach for a clearer mind, success in your work, and fulfillment in your relationships…. Make your diet decisions in light of your desire to enjoy your friends, your spouse, and your children. And to find work meaningful, to work more effectively with your coworkers, and to enjoy the success that goes with better team building.

No guilt here. Just rewards.

Give Your Pancreas a Break!

Another method is to use short periods of fasting now and again. You can work it into your schedule daily like some do, or just plan it for once a week. For example, if you stop eating at 8pm, then go to bed and sleep from 10pm-6am and put off breakfast til 8am, you’ve given yourself a 12-hour fast and hardly notice it.

A 12-16 hour reprieve like this gives your pancreas some off-duty time and boosts BDNF.

This can increase the resistance to dysfunction and degeneration of those brain cells we talk about so often. The healthier and more resilient your brain cells are, the more resilient you are.

There have been a number of studies focused on what happens to BDNF following intense exercise. One example involved a 3 minute sprint, followed by 2 minutes of rest, then another 3 minute sprint.

Participants enjoyed a 20% increase in their learning ability immediately afterwards.

You can, too.

Rich Socialization = Higher BDNF

Did you know that children who grow up in a highly stimulating and engaging social environment display less anxiety and higher levels of BDNF? In addition, they develop better social behavior in adulthood as a result.

You can probably think of someone this describes.

Children involved in team sports with social activities that occur around their team are an example that comes to mind. The exercise, the sense of accomplishment, and the great times with their friends increases their BDNF — and their synapses — and their sense of well-being.

But, this need for rich social interactions — and their benefits! — applies to all of us, even the introverts. Rich socialization is about the quality, more than the quantity, of your relationships. And as long as there is quality engagement with people you enjoy stimulating your emotions and your mental performance, BDNF increases.

The Benefit of Supplements

Supplements can boost BDNF, too, and including them in your diet or supplement regimen can play an important role in your sense of well-being, emotional balance, and bright outlook.

Krill oil, for instance, increases the omega-3 levels in your body, and one of the omega-3 fatty acids can help increase BDNF.

Resveratrol is found in dark grapes and red wine. It can also help increase BDNF, as can components found in green tea.

And, curcumin can increase BDNF, so it’s not surprising that it’s being studied for its antidepressant as well as anti-inflammatory benefits. We’re learning that it may help prevent cognitive decline as you age.

BDNF and the Microbiome

Add to those nutrients a regular dose of broad-spectrum multi-strain probiotics to strengthen your microbiome and your gut-brain axis, and you have the set-up to greatly improve your brain’s ability to produce and release BDNF, your sense of wellbeing, and your fulfillment in important relationships.

When diet is not enough…

But what if you do all these things — really do them –and still don’t feel well? In that case, you may need treatment to gain enough function so you can improve your outlook.

And if you’ve suffered with depressive symptoms for months or years and no doctor has been able to help you feel better, you may need a different type of treatment than pills.

Some people need something novel…more advanced than pills.

Consider ketamine.

Ketamine treatment is a series of IV infusions that can turbo boost your BDNF to stimulate dense branching and new connections between the neurons in your brain. Its actions are so rapid, so robust, that you can begin to feel improvement within a couple of hours.

At Innovative Psychiatry, we’re witness to the transformation people experience with this extraordinary and effective medicine. Daily.

If you suffer with little to no improvement and need a real solution that can help you enjoy a rewarding life and fulfilling relationships, call us.

We can help you find the you that seems lost and forgotten. The you that has ached for a chance to live … and love.

Reach out and give yourself the chance to enjoy. To love. And to be productive.

We’re in your corner. And we want to help you live the life you long for.

To the igniting of your very best self,

Lori Calabrese, M.D.

December 11, 2018
Fuel Hope With Gratefulness All Year Round

Surprising Results Can Follow Counterintuitive Choices

Thank you.

Such sweet words.

Here in the US, we’re just ending a four-day celebration we call Thanksgiving weekend. True, the official day for Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November each year — but it’s also true that most families spend the entire four day weekend continuing to celebrate, spend time together, and enjoy this holiday set aside for gratefulness.

Plus, you probably know that “the holidays,” starting with Thanksgiving and lasting through New Year’s Day, is a difficult time for some people. Yet many others actually enjoy all the festivities, sharing, eating, and laughing that goes with good times together.

Whether you’re a celebrator or an abstainer from these gatherings, there are some things we can talk about to improve these days for the grievers, and improve sensitivity for the revelers.

Thanksgiving was first conceived by the Pilgrims after their original successful harvest in the New World.

That doesn’t mean it was their first harvest, but rather the first time it was successful and there was food to eat. There’s nothing like starvation to inspire gratitude for food.

They called it their harvest festival.

George Washington made a proclamation that Thanksgiving should be celebrated in 1789, and it was sporadically celebrated. However, Thomas Jefferson chose not to celebrate the observance, so the day of gratefulness tended to be hit and miss until 1863.

In the midst of the Civil war, Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving be observed as a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November … and that has continued to this day.

It might strike you as odd that President Lincoln started a federal holiday observation when the country was at war with itself, when families were torn apart by sons, fathers, and grandfathers marching off to to battle…

Homes and farms were burned. Families were seeing more funerals than birthdays.

Does that sound like a time to be thankful…?

Can you imagine the uproar?

“Have you heard what he’s done now??? He’s declared thankfulness as a national holiday, of all things!!”

“I’m not surprised…after all, seeing as how we do have SO MUCH to be thankful for right now… I’m so sick of this war and this administration! I’ve lost my farm! How will I feed my family?!!

…and on and on it might have gone.

Doesn’t sound all that different from what we hear today, does it?

Counterintuitive Declaration in the Middle of the Chaos

Is it possible he had a higher purpose than just creating confusion in the midst of the terrible war?

We do know that he had an abiding faith. He seemed to understand that choosing thankfulness can inspire better decisions and better outcomes. Thinking of others inspires generosity…and his nation needed generous hearts from top to bottom if it were to heal.

Some of the most liberating principles of life have been around for hundreds of years and dozens of generations. And sometimes they’re hard to grasp because they’re locked in counterintuitive thinking.

Oprah Winfrey put it this way:

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey

And therein lies the secret. The secret of justice and unity that President Lincoln reached for, the secret of poverty vs. abundance that Oprah warned about, the benefit that we all receive when we take the time to focus on everything and everyone in our life that’s good.

The Secret of Gratefulness.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” –Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer may not be a familiar name to anyone under the age of 50. But, he won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his extensive work in Africa in an area now known as Gabon, near the Republic of the Congo.

He had studied extensively in theology and medicine, and as a newlywed set out with his bride to live in this place where sickness and suffering were crushing the people. Over the course of his life he built an enormous hospital complex to treat the thousands who came to him for help.

He wasn’t perfect — and even embraced perspectives that would offend us now in our modern culture — but he gave what he had from who he was and helped make life better for thousands.

It’s no mystery why he might have felt his “light go out” from time to time. His work was demanding and unrelenting in a place where hardships abounded.

But he understood gratitude.

Do you ever feel as though your light is going out…and you need it rekindled? Me, too. In fact, most of us can say that words of encouragement spoken at the right time can help to turn us around.

Beloved 20th Century Actress Doris Day has seen it all. She knows the value in that counterintuitive assertion of gratefulness. In her own words:

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.”

On her way to becoming a dance star, her car collided with a train. Her injuries took a serious toll that permanently ended her dancing career. But, rather than give up, she turned to singing under the training of a voice coach. She soon made movies that were wildly popular in the mid 1900’s … and her fans assumed her life was perfect.

But behind the sweetheart-girl-next-door image she presented to the public… was a victim of domestic abuse, a history of 4 marriages, the widow of the only man she loved, loss of her fortune, and complete exhaustion.

But she, too, understands gratitude in the face of adversity.

As humans we may envy what another has that we don’t. Wealth, charm, health, fame…but focusing on what we don’t have does nothing to improve our situation.

Turning a laser beam of attention on our envy of another person only fuels a raging fire of jealousy inside us. And we grow more bitter and focused inward. It isolates us and doesn’t improve anything.

On the other hand, being grateful for the gifts, the benefits, the talents we do have, empowers us to make those gift, talents, and benefits bigger, brighter, and more abundant.

Helen Keller said that she cried that she had no shoes, until she met a man who had no feet.

Helen Keller, if you’re not familiar with her, was blind, deaf, and mute… so you can see her metaphor about the lack of shoes…

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” they say. So her gratitude for having feet led her to find ways to serve mankind, and especially others who were blind, deaf, or mute… or all three.

Miss Keller knew there was no place in her life for self pity.

She came to understand gratitude at a young age.

During World War II, as able-bodied men went to war, and women and children were left behind, women who’d never considered such a thing went to work for wages. It was a time of hardship. But, rather than complain, these women put on their work shoes and headed for the factories.

Many of us had grandmothers and great grandmothers who worked in the factories to make bombs, aircraft, trucks, and other tools needed to fight the war.

Is it any wonder that gratefulness and the can-do attitude that was required to rise above those difficulties led to a song in the last year of the war that strengthened that frame of mind? :

You have to accentuate the positive,

Eliminate the negative,

And latch on to the affirmative,

But don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.

Comical? Maybe so…but you get the message.

Like we saw with the man with no shoes, there is always something to be grateful for. And gratitude has a way of propelling you above the circumstances you wish would change, so you can see the bigger picture.

Gratefulness transforms your perspective.

And when that happens, you’re no longer a victim, but rather on top of your circumstances. The circumstance may not change the way you want it to, but your improved outlook can give you power over it.

No one is without flaws, and no one’s life is perfect. But each of us can contribute to the lives of others in some way, and in the process gain the freedom to overcome our own struggles on some level.

Psychiatric disorders can render you emotionally paralyzed… trapped inside inertia, fatigue, and despair. And as you know, there are other types of paralysis. If you’ve experienced this, you may be able to relate to Jon Morrow.

Jon Morrow is a wildly successful blogger whose body is paralyzed by Spinal Muscular Dystrophy. He can move nothing except his eyes and lips. Helpless? Well, he was for awhile. But he has pushed through from a point of inertia and despair to doing what he could do…until he learned to drive traffic to his blogs and has achieved the status of the most widely read blogger in the world.

He has generated more than 200 million views of his blogs and earned $50 million as a result.

A spoiled rich kid? Not in the least. This guy was facing the end of his life because of his need for healthcare, and no money to pay for it. His story is hugely inspiring. If he can accomplish his dreams…anyone can.

And Jon understands gratefulness.

Look for his blog Unstoppable.me. It will give you a shot in the arm to choose and express gratefulness and overcome adversity.

Gratefulness is liberating, empowering, and humbling… all at the same time.

So now that the Thanksgiving 2018 holiday weekend is behind us…let’s not lose sight of the lessons we’ve learned together as we venture through the rest of the winter holiday season and into the new fledgling year 2019.

With gratefulness you can turn on the light in someone in your world, and illuminate your own heart at the same time.

Still, if you’re suffering under the weight of a psychiatric disorder that hasn’t yielded to any medicine you and your doctor have tried, there is something more you can do as you focus on gratitude in your life.

Ketamine treatment is a series of IV infusions that have demonstrated in thousands of cases an extraordinary capacity for relieving depression and anxiety in the vast majority of those who have not been helped by anything else.

From severe treatment-resistant depression, bipolar depression, and suicidal thinking, to social anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and addictions, ketamine has the remarkable ability to rebuild signaling structures and systems along with regulating a wide variety of puzzle pieces in the brain that make up the sense of wellbeing, joy, motivation, and initiative you long for.

At Innovative Psychiatry, we’re big believers in joy. Happiness. And gratitude. We offer help and we offer hope — with new treatments that can turn things around for you.

Call us. We want you to experience relief and the ability to build a rewarding life you enjoy… and to revive and renew the relationships in your life that are important to you.

With gratitude for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you this year, I want to wish you a warm and heartfelt joyous season of holidays.

To the renewal of your best self,

Lori Calabrese, M.D.

November 26, 2018
How to Start Today to Build Christmas Cheer and Hanukkah Happiness… in Time for December 2018
Christmas Holidays…Hanukkah

…. a season of Joy?

The song says this is the most wonderful time of the year, and for so many children, it is…but for others, not so much. It’s also a treasured time for many adults…but not all. And while there’s no magic way to go through some step-by-step plan to snap from sorrow to happiness, there are some purposeful things you really can do to get your brain in a happier mode over time.

Because although it feels like happiness and sadness come from your heart, they’re actually manufactured in your brain. And neuroscientists have done some remarkable work to get to the bottom of what makes or breaks our feelings of contentment, happiness, emotional warmth, and feeling loved.

There really are things you can do!

We have a tendency in our society to just let the way we feel “happen” to us. Some of us are naturally upbeat…others of us lean toward the grumpier side. Still others are downright melancholy.

But if being happy doesn’t come naturally, you can regularly take some simple steps to train your brain into a happier, more upbeat outlook. And it’s like going to the gym. If you go once a year…the results aren’t so impressive, right? On the other hand, if you go every day all year long … you’ll have a toned, well-developed body that responds instantly to any demand.

Emotions are like that, too. If you’re a 97-pound weakling in the emotional part of yourself, every wind that comes along can knock you down. But, build your emotional strength and resilience, and you can stand and command in the face of all kinds of adversity with grace, patience, and confidence.

Weight-lifting for emotional resilience

A book by Alex Korb, neuroscience researcher at UCLA, entitled The Upward Spiral, reveals all sorts of eye-opening activity that happens in the brain in response to sadness, guilt, and rejection…and shows how you can turn those negative feelings on their ear by simple emotional strength-building actions.

You know what it’s like to feel guilty or ashamed…these are terrible feelings and make it seem impossible to be happy again. Pride is an emotion you may use to try to overwhelm the feelings of guilt and shame, but interestingly, they all stimulate activity in specific parts of the brain: the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, insula and the nucleus accumbens.

There’s a lot of scientific jargon there, but these structures are as important to your emotional life as your heart, kidneys, and lungs are for your physical life.

Turns out that worrying, which is a natural reaction to guilt and shame, actually decreases activity in the amygdala, and is calming. (You’re tricking your brain into thinking you’re at least doing something about the problem.) Sounds crazy, because worrying does other things like stir up ulcers, so it’s not really a good solution.

Play the Glad Game

However, there is something that is:

When you feel down, ashamed, guilty, or fearful, when you’re worrying a hole in it…Stop.

Play Pollyanna’s Glad Game. Remember the old Walt Disney movie Pollyanna? A child whose missionary parents had died was sent to her aunt’s to live. She had a way of turning frowns to smiles by following the principles her parents had taught her. Like counting her blessings when she was down.

Ask yourself what you’re grateful for. Think hard. Just because you’re down, or maybe even devastated by one of life’s worst losses, there is always something to be grateful for. What’s important is that you search for it. It could be that you have a warm place to live…or if you don’t, it might be a friend you have, or that you’re healthy.

Or if you’re sick … it might be that you have good care, or that you simply have a beating heart.

But think about it, and search for it. Because gratitude increases neurotransmitters in your brain like serotonin and dopamine. And those neurotransmitters help signals move through your brain, to lighten your mood and to help you feel more sociable.

And here’s another thing… expressing gratitude to others in your life, helps them feel grateful to you, too. And that stimulates more mutual gratitude … and those relationships slowly become stronger.

So, bottom line, the search for things you can be grateful for actually helps your brain spiral upwards, as the title of Korb’s book describes. Do it, everyday and often, to train your brain to be happier and stronger.

But I’m just too angry…

Now, let’s be realistic. Sometimes you feel so beaten down, so hopeless, so angry, or so scared, that you can’t – just can’t – think of something you’re grateful for. The best thing to do when that happens? Just name names.

If you feel angry…? Say, “I’m angry.” If you’re scared or worried…? Say so. Best to not go into a diatribe about it, as that can backfire. But if you just call it what it is, simply expressing the emotion you’re feeling reduces the activity in your amygdala and actually helps you feel some relief.

So call it what it is. Then move on.

Another stab at the gratitude exercise might also be more effective right about now. And remember…this is an exercise regimen to build a brain that’s better at happiness so keep up the good work!

Get off the fence and MAKE that decision

Now, let’s talk about those times when something is eating at you in the back of your mind. You know that gnawing… and it’s so subtle but unsettling…. You have to consciously stop and ask yourself, “what’s bugging me??”

It just could be a decision you NEED to face and MAKE. Staying on the fence about it is building anxiety, and anxiety creates all sorts of havoc in your emotions. It can make you irritable, withdrawn, distracted.

But making the decision does good things in your prefrontal cortex. And that calms down worry and anxiety, helping you to feel more relaxed wellbeing.

So you need to get that decision settled.

Here’s a clue that might help you get there. Decisions are sometimes choices that aren’t easy. Maybe there’s no perfect choice. At those times, neuroscientists say that a “good enough” decision is better than no decision. Far better.

When you accept that a good enough decision is acceptable, you release yourself from the stress of striving for perfection, and avoid activating the ventromedial segment of your brain which heightens your stress.

Instead, accepting good enough switches on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions, and you feel more in control…which is far more comfortable.

And…you know what? Good enough is almost always good enough. Things have a way of just working out, especially if you’re at peace and not tormented.

Neuroscience says that actively choosing…or making the decision…increases the feelings of reward from dopamine activity.

Just do it.

You deserve the break.

Now, you’ve established some great habits:
- like making a list of all the things you’re grateful for, building an attitude of gratitude
- Naming names, calling out those emotions that feel awful, and taking the wraps off ‘em
- Make that decision, and get out of limbo
And you know what…? People who are naturally upbeat and happy tend to do all these things instinctively. Ever noticed that?

Hugs for Christmas cheer and Hanukkah happiness

And now the best of all, and my personal favorite, is to give and receive love with touch. Hand holding, shaking hands, hugs and squeezes, and pats on the back.

In fact, research shows that 5 hugs/day for 4 weeks builds happiness in a measurable way.

Physical touch releases oxytocin, which is a neurotransmitter that gives a sense of wellbeing. This is the same neurotransmitter that’s released in the mother when she’s nursing her baby. It gives the mother a sense of wellbeing along with a stronger bond to her infant.

Holding hands and hugging are some of the most therapeutic methods of touch, because that oxytocin reduces reactivity in the amygdala.

So get out there and hug, dear friend. Do it for science. And do it for your own happiness. And do it all year round for next year’s Christmas cheer and Hanukkah happiness. The more the better and for as long as possible!

Take the findings of neuroscience researchers…and use them to YOUR advantage

“[Optimism] is not about providing a recipe for self-deception. The world can be a horrible, cruel place, and at the same time it can be wonderful and abundant. These are both truths. There is not a halfway point; there is only choosing which truth to put in your personal foreground.”
― Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want

And if you’ve been suffering from symptoms of severe major depression, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, OCD, or PTSD, and you’ve tried at least two forms of medication or other therapy, call us. Innovative Psychiatry specializes in advanced treatment options that can be provided in cooperation with your current psychiatrist.

Help us help you by calling us for an appointment. We can determine if you’re a candidate for IV ketamine treatment or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Here at Innovative Psychiatry we’ve consistently seen 80% positive results in our most treatment-resistant patients. We’ve also seen 75% positive response in our treatment-resistant patients to TMS.

2018 can be your best year to date. There are outstanding alternatives available now to help you if nothing has helped before.

To the year of your best self yet,

Lori Calabrese, M.D.
December 26, 2017

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