Dr. Wendy Suzuki
speaker
915 appearances
5 recordings
5 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard 7 Jan
Dr. Wendy Suzuki’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jan 2026 with 1.
Appearances
So it makes you happier.
It makes you live longer.
And yes, loneliness on the flip side causes stress, long-term stress that damages the brain.
And yeah, in the long term can make it smaller and less healthy.
We have years of knowledge, but there is an enormous amount that we still don't know. There are brain areas we have no idea what they do. Every ping of the phone is anxiety producing, which then launches your stress response and that keeps us stressful for way too much of the day. So many people are appreciating at a higher level stress and anxiety and depression.
A little bit of that is actually good for the brain. You want to live a long, healthy, energized life. Start paying attention to all the things you need to do to make your brain work beautifully. It defines everything that we do and everything that we are.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you for having me. I'm thrilled to be here.
That is such a great question. We have hours and semesters and years of knowledge that we have gained about the brain since we've seriously been studying it. But there is an enormous amount that we still don't know. There are brain areas we have no idea what they do. My favorite is called the claustrum. Somebody asked me, what's the most mysterious brain area that you know, Wendy?
This is a brain area that connects to everything, cortically, subcortically. It should be integrating something critical. We have no idea what it does. We have little idea of how consciousness works. We know a lot about vision. So it is a beautiful bag of information and mystery that our brain represents.
Yes.
Yes.
I think that the answer to that is so many people are appreciating at a higher level their stress and anxiety and depression. A little bit of that is actually good for the brain. chronic all the time, can't get out from under the cloud or the big rock around your neck that anxiety can feel like, that is not good for your brain.
High levels of stress overall will start to first damage and then kill some neurons in your brain. That is not good. So if you are at that level, that is not good for your brain.
I would say I said that a lot to myself. And when I sat down to write my second book, Good Anxiety, I realized how much stress and anxiety that I was dealing with in my life. And also, I think the key was there were simple tools that one could use to address not all forms of your stress and anxiety, but a lot of those forms of stress and anxiety. And so the first step is awareness.
I think, well, I live in New York City. People like to wear a badge of stress. Oh, you know, every time you answer, how are you? Oh, so stressed out. So much to do. It's like a badge of honor. So I think that that has become part of our individualistic society. And that's not good. I mean, what you should be able to say at least a good chunk of the time is actually, I'm doing well. I feel good.
I feel energized. And you don't hear that response all too often. And that's not just in New York, but I think all over the country and all over the world.
Right. I've noticed that as well. I've noticed that in myself and my colleagues. And it's about stepping back and realizing, you know, I think one of the most profound pieces of advice that somebody gave me early on is making me realize that how important and how complex my brain was. It defines everything that we do and everything that we are. And making that work well should be high on our list.
Chronic stress and buying into that I'm busy all the time culture is not conducive. to brain health. So you want to live a long, healthy, energized life. Start paying attention to all the things you need to do to make your brain work beautifully.
They are intertwined in a really complex way. So physiologically, the stress response is enacted by the sympathetic nervous system, and it's all those feelings that we are very familiar with. Increased heart rate, increased respiration rate, our eyes dilate.
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