What’s Going Right: A Guest Post by Paul Conti

This affirming book from world-renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Conti, offers a paradigm-shifting approach to optimizing mental health, offering readers a proven way towards a joyful life—based on the popular series on Andrew Huberman’s podcast. Read on for an exclusive essay from Dr. Conti on writing What’s Going Right.

 

“A peerless mental health guide that belongs in every home.” ―Andrew D. Huberman, PhD, professor of neurobiology, Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab Podcast.

 

Most of what I’ve treated in my career pertains to trauma, which comes across in my first book, Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic. After it came out, I began seeing just how insufficient our approach to mental health really is—not just trauma, where I think we’ve made strides, but everything: how we think about it, treat it, stigmatize it.

Our approach to physical health is nuanced and fairly sophisticated, but mental health? Not so much.

When I was a guest on the Huberman Lab podcast, it felt like the perfect opportunity to call this out and offer a user-friendly framework most people could identify with—something like learning how diet and exercise play a role in weight loss. I didn’t say much that was entirely new; it’s stuff I’ve been pulling together for a couple of decades.

The success of the podcast surprised me. The overwhelming support made me think about another book, something more general. I thought, Well, why not? It might help people to have all this down in writing, plus I’d be able to offer practical exercises and better examples.

What seemed to resonate most is that mental health isn’t something fixed or shameful. Just like physical health, there’s always something you can do about it. I use the word optimize a lot, but optimization isn’t always the point. Sometimes the point is just making it through the day, learning to talk to yourself with a little more kindness, or committing to one or two mental health practices daily.

I also want people to appreciate that even during our most difficult times, there’s way more going right than wrong. I know that can sound like a stretch for someone suffering from addiction or depression, for example, but it’s true for all of us. As humans, we’re far more resourceful and resilient than we give ourselves credit for.

With mental health, we magnify our struggles in ways we’d never do with physical health. If we hurt our knee or catch COVID or find out we have cancer, we will have feelings about it—but we don’t usually feel shame or like outcasts. We seek out the best treatment we can have, and both work for and hope for the best. That works because our bodies are amazing—designed to take a beating, survive viruses, go hungry, walk incredible distances, lift heavy things, and also to eat well, rest, and be generally good to ourselves when we can be.

Our mental health works the same way. A struggle or two, even if severe, doesn’t erase the fact that our brains and minds are extraordinary, designed to thrive and adapt and last.

I want us to break away from the problem-based model that’s dominated psychology for far too long. I want people to feel empowered and excited to generate positive change. We can all work toward being our healthiest selves—physically, mentally, and otherwise—and that’s exactly what What’s Going Right is built to help people do!