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Paul Conti is an author & practicing psychiatrist who specializes in helping people heal from trauma. In this episode, Paul returns to The Drive to delve into the intricate relationship between emotional health, healthspan, & lifespan. He first challenges common assumptions about the inevitable decline of emotional health with age, providing strategies for conducting a comprehensive audit of internal emotional health. He establishes a framework for the foundation of good emotional health: a balance between the generative drive, the assertive drive, & the pleasure drive. Paul also explores the nuanced dynamics of motivation, happiness, & satisfaction as it relates to material possessions, draws connections between physical & emotional well-being, confronts the impact of negative self-talk, & describes how making peace with our mortality can foster a sense of hope, purpose & well-being. Additionally, Paul offers many practical insights into initiating emotional health improvements & navigating the search for a suitable therapist.

We discuss:
0:00:00-Intro
0:00:54-The importance of prioritizing emotional health as we age
0:05:53-The impact of emotional health on healthspan & how to foster a proactive approach to emotional well-being
0:12:21-The discrepancy between outward success & inner fulfillment, & the importance of a healthy “generative drive” for genuine well-being
0:23:42-A deeper dive into generative drive: impact on human behavior, resilience, purpose
0:29:57-Evaluating one’s inner self: introspection, self-awareness, challenging societal norms, & returning to the basics of physical & emotional well-being
0:43:34-Self-auditing tools: introspection, curiosity, & exploring underlying reasons for unwanted behaviors
0:53:15-Breaking free from destructive cycles by understanding the continuum of self-care & addictive behaviors
1:03:57-Critical self talk: the malleability of one’s inner dialogue & the potential for transformative change with perseverance & self-compassion
1:13:45-Slowing the anger response & gaining insights into the underlying triggers to achieve lasting change & self-understanding
1:26:44-Foster gratitude & humility by achieving balance between the three drives—assertion, pleasure, & generative
1:30:39-The conflict between intellectual understanding & emotional feelings, problematic comparison frameworks, & the importance of living in the present with intentionality
1:42:14-How making peace with our mortality can foster a sense of hope, purpose & well-being
1:52:22-Advice for finding a compatible therapist
2:07:01-The key components of therapeutic progress
2:16:43-The caricatures of four common patient phenotypes, & how to get through to them
2:27:51-How Paul manages his own well-being & the emotional challenges with his line of work

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing longevity, & all that goes into that from physical to cognitive to emotional health. With over 90 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including exercise, nutritional biochemistry, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, & much more.

Peter Attia is the founder of Early Medical, a medical practice that applies the principles of Medicine 3.0 to patients with the goal of lengthening their lifespan & simultaneously improving their healthspan.

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