Our character structure includes for instance whether we prefer to socialise or isolate or what we use humor for.Our character structure is mostly determined by action states, how we interact with the world and what actions we take.By understanding the self we can understand the components underneath the self.

Character Structure

"We take what's unconscious and make it conscious so that we can change."

Understanding the mind, the self and the structure and function of the self is essential. What do we look like when we are happy or sad?The structural self consists of a huge unconscious self and a much smaller conscious self. Our conscious mind is vulnerable as it reacts to fears and confusement. It needs a defensive structure also known as character structure, which is the way we engage with the world.We need to know ourselves so that we can build a healthy character structure. Awareness of the "I" is important.

Creating Agency And Gratitude

Anxiety can be good because it protects us. However, too much anxiety without a specific reason is bad and it takes away from agency and gratitude. We have to understand the anxiety in order to deal with it.Anxiety can be caused by our genes or by past experiences and traumatic events.<ul><li>It is important to look at your conscious mind: What are you thinking about?</li><li>Consider your defenses: Do you avoid it?</li><li>Take note of your character structure: What decisions are you making and how are they affecting you?</li></ul>With that in mind you can see what the experiences of the self are.

Anxiety

Confidence is the ability to handle situations. It can also be dependent on states: Are you confident in a specific area or in general?You can ask yourself the same questions from above: What is your experience of being confident?Too much confidence is also not good as it can lead to narcissism.

Confidence

Our beliefs and internal narratives are extremely important to our mental health and people normally are aware of them but they are often not very healthy. It is hard to change our beliefs but through enough practice they can go away. Because we crave instant gratification we often say someone failed at changing their beliefs instead of being a little more patient.Everything in the mind is addressable: What is going on inside the mind? What got them into the pattern? There are answers to everything and it is important to approach people as individuals.

Beliefs And Internal Narratives

This is our actual engagement and our defense mechanisms in action. Our defense mechanisms can also work for us, for instance when using humor or when talking to people. However, most of the time they don't. Here are three common defense mechanisms.<ul><li>Projection: Projecting our feelings outward.</li><li>Displacement: Saying our feelings come from somewhere else.</li><li>Projective identification: Making people feel the way you feel. You project your feelings onto someone and they identify with it.</li></ul>Awareness of our defense mechanisms is key.

Function Of The Self

<ul><li>Humor: Cynicism and sarcasm can often be defense mechanisms. Humor can be used to feel better but as soon as it goes against another person, it is bad.</li><li>Repetition compulsion: We often do things we know we shouldn't be doing. We repeat our toxic behaviour patterns because we think we can fix them and "change the past" but that usually does not work.</li></ul>

Humor And Repetition Compulsion:

Mentally healthy people approach life with a sense of agency and gratitude. Problems don't take away their engagement and enthusiam for life.Agency arises from empowerment, which is the ability to navigate the world around us.A healthy structure of the self leads to humility, which leads to gratitude.

The Healthy Self

Andrew Huberman and Dr. Paul Conti discuss important factors to consider when trying to understand and assess your mental health.

This is episode 1 of a 4-part special series on mental health with psychiatrist Dr. Paul Conti, M.D., who trained at Stanford School of Medicine and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School before founding his clinical practice, the Pacific Premiere Group. Dr. Conti defines mental health in actionable terms and describes the foundational elements of the self, including the structure and function of the unconscious and conscious mind, which give rise to all our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. He also explains how to explore and address the root causes of anxiety, low confidence, negative internal narratives, over-thinking and how our unconscious defense mechanisms operate. This episode provides a foundational roadmap to assess your sense of self and mental health. It offers tools to reshape negative emotions, thought patterns and behaviors — either through self-exploration or with a licensed professional. The subsequent three episodes in this special series explore additional tools to further understand and improve your mental health.

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Timestamps
00:00:00 Dr. Paul Conti
00:03:46 Sponsors: BetterHelp & Waking Up
00:06:55 What is a Healthy Self?
00:10:41 Agency & Gratitude; Empowerment & Humility 
00:16:13 Physical Health & Mental Health Parallels
00:20:21 Structure of Self; Unconscious vs. Conscious Mind; “Iceberg”
00:26:15 Defense Mechanisms; Character Structure “Nest”, Sense of Self 
00:31:27 Predispositions & Character Structure
00:36:01 Sponsor: AG1
00:37:27 Character Structure & Action States; Physical Health Parallels
00:46:20 Anxiety; Understanding Excessive Anxiety
00:53:12 Improving Confidence: State Dependence & Phenomenology; Narcissism
00:59:44 Changing Beliefs & Internal Narratives
01:06:04 Individuality & Addressing Mental Health Challenges
01:11:21 Mental Health Goals & Growth
01:17:32 Function of Self
01:23:00 Defense Mechanisms: Projection, Displacement
01:30:14 Projection, Displacement, Projective Identification
01:34:50 Humor, Sarcasm, Cynicism
01:40:41 Attention & Salience; Negative Internal Dialogue 
01:45:02 Repetition Compulsion & Defense Mechanism, Trauma
01:58:55 Mirror Meditation & Self Awareness; Structure & Function of Self, “Cupboards”
02:04:57 Pillars of the Mind, Agency & Gratitude, Happiness
02:13:53 Generative Drive, Aggressive & Pleasure Drives
02:21:33 Peace, Contentment & Delight, Generative Drive; Amplification
02:24:18 Generative Drive, Amplification & Overcoming
02:33:00 Over-Thinking, Procrastination, Choices
02:42:20 Aggressive, Pleasure & Generative Drives, Envy
02:49:46 Envy, Destruction, Mass Shootings
02:55:38 Demoralization, Isolation, Low Aggressive Drive
03:02:50 Demoralization, Affiliate Defense 
03:09:32 Strong Aggressive Drive, Competition, Generative Drive Reframing 
03:20:02 Cultivating a Generative Drive, Spirited Inquiry of the “Cupboards”
03:26:06 Current Mental Health Care & Medications
03:35:33 Role of Medicine in Exploration
03:40:41 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Momentous, Neural Network Newsletter

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com

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Welcome to the official Huberman Lab YouTube channel. 

The Huberman Lab podcast is hosted by Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. The podcast discusses neuroscience and science-based tools, including how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health, as well as existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works.

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