Balance Your Brain with Dr. Cristine Hull – Episode #720

In this episode of Live On Purpose Radio, Dr. Paul Jenkins welcomes Dr. Cristine Hull, author of 10 Ways to Balance Your Brain Chemistry, for a conversation about what is actually going on when your mood will not cooperate. Cristine's work grew out of her own long struggle with depression and anxiety and the search for real answers that followed, and as she puts it, her mess became her message.

 

Dr. Paul opens with a question he has heard from clients for years: is this all in my head, or is it chemical? Cristine's answer is that it is all connected. She describes the wellness diamond, with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual facets that each lift or limit the others, and she makes the case for taking personal responsibility for your own well being rather than handing it over to whoever is calling the shots in the market.

 

From there the conversation gets practical. Cristine walks through the five brain chemicals that shape how we feel and the everyday counterfeits we reach for when one of them runs low, from caffeine and carbs to sugar and the endless scroll on our phones. Learning to tell them apart, she explains, is what puts you back in a position to choose. Dr. Paul's own drumbeat fits right here: awareness precedes choice.

 

Listeners are invited to take an honest look at what they reach for and why, and to start sorting out their own brain chemistry. Cristine has a free series of content, including video, at 10waysbook.com, and you can learn more about her work at cristinehull.com.

What is Live on Purpose Radio?

Live On Purpose Radio features principles of prosperity, abundance, and positive psychology to help you create and live the life you love. As you listen to Live On Purpose Radio, you’ll hear powerful stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Dr. Paul Jenkins interviews inspiring people about principles that empower them to live on purpose. Living on purpose means that you have a purpose, and that you do it intentionally. Live on Purpose Radio, LiveOnPurposeRadio.com, started in 2007 and has been helping listeners worldwide overcome the effects of noxious negativity with a regular dose of Pathological Positivity. Share Live On Purpose Radio with anyone you know who would appreciate a dose of positivity in their life. Visit DrPaulJenkins.com for more resources to Live On Purpose.

This is Live On Purpose Radio episode 720, balance your brain with doctor Christine Hull. Now is the only time to create and live the life you love. I'm doctor Paul Jenkins, the positivity psychologist. My job is to connect you to powerful positive psychology principles that immediately upgrade your relationships, business, and mental health. Are you ready? Let's jump in. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Live On Purpose Radio. This is doctor Paul, the shrink who expands your life with another episode of Live On Purpose Radio. Joining me today is doctor Christine Hull. She is looking at aspects of mental health that I think deserve some attention, integrating that with everything else that's going on in our life, and she knows some things about brain chemistry that I am excited to talk to her about today. Welcome to the show, doctor Christine Hull. Oh, it's good to be here. Thanks for having me. I'm glad you're here. I've talked about this a lot with my clients over the years, and I think we've gotten into it a little here on the show before too. When when people ask, well, is this just all in my head, or is it chemical? And I'm like, what's the difference? Because I think that it's all part of the same picture. You've done a lot of work in the area of brain chemistry, and I'm just curious to open that up with you today, Christine. What first of all, though, share with with us why are you so passionate about this? Oh, because it was it was a kinda do or die for me to figure this out. Yeah. I was I suffered from chronic depression and incapacitating anxiety throughout much of my childhood, early adolescence, and then it persisted kind of even into adulthood. And Wow. Yeah. So part of it is that I I figured out what didn't work first. And That's kinda how it goes sometimes. It is. Yeah. I I I went through the phase as a teenager where I I chose substances, you know, and got into drugs to Mhmm. For survival kind of kind of self medicated, kind kind of kind of giving up on life. And then I had a spiritual awakening actually that that transformed me and gave me a whole different yeah. I kinda started over. I kinda had a a life redo, which was amazing. And a lot of things worked after that, but then I realized, you know, I hadn't outrun my brain chemistry completely. And so I still dealt with seasonal depression and bouts of anxiety and just some chronic stuff. And I think it was actually kind of my my purpose, my life purpose to uncover some real solutions. And I talk about that in the book, the counterfeits and the real solutions. Yes. Yeah. And there's plenty of counterfeits out there. Mhmm. It's interesting that you started out with, you know, I found a bunch of things that didn't work and that this is tied to you personally. And I have seen that so many times as I've interviewed people here on the show and just through my career as a professional psychologist. It's almost like your mess becomes your message. Yes. I have heard that. Yeah. And and and that's what makes it so powerful because it's not just the PhD, it's your life experience that has taught you these things. Yes. Yeah. I learned things in the nineties with, you know, a bachelor's degree in psychology and social work, and I was working in the substance abuse field. So that was one of the things that happened in my transformation. I knew my mess was my message, and I went right into substance abuse as my first career. And so as I was working with clients, I realized there was not a solution for brain chemistry specifically, and this was even before SSRIs were available. And so people were very much out of balance, but it wasn't being addressed. It was like there was a solution in just quitting the substances without figuring out what was out of balance and finding a way to correct it in a real way. So it was not just me who, you know, was finding these answers. I was finding them for kind of the whole collective of those who were not being offered other solutions. Right. Right. Your integrative approach includes the body, obviously, and the brain chemistry. There's actual chemical stuff going on in us all the time. And and also thought patterns, what we believe, what we think, the narratives in our mind. And then you add that energetic component to the spirit and kind of I don't know what other words we could pick, the soul, the the agent in the machine. All of those have to be addressed together to really get to the answers. Wow. That's well said. I like it. And I guess I summarized that in an attempt to crack open some things that are often unseen. Yes. You know, I I shared with you that one of the questions I've got over the years is, is this all in my head, or is it chemical? Yes. Could you just address that from your unique perspective for a minute? Bring us up to speed. It is all connected. So I use in my book, 10 ways to balance your brain chemistry, I talk about the wellness diamond. And so that's a four pointed diamond with the bottom facet being physical, and then the side facets being emotional and mental, and the top being spiritual. And so it's just kind of a really simple view of kind of the aspects that you might be describing that all kind of work together. Yes. But it's all one diamond with different facets, really, that all are part of the same expression, if you wanna call it that. So And is it fair also to say that they they each impact the others? Oh, for sure. Yes. They're all part of a refinement process is what I would call it. And so you can raise your frequency, you know, that's a I talk a lot about raise your frequency in in one area. But if you don't also raise it in the others, you know, I use a metaphor of a rock climber too. And so you've got top arms, you know, bottom feet. And if you're not pulling your feet up, you can't go any higher. So you've gotta be, you know, holistically moving in your progression. And, you know, that does involve multiple life areas. I would add relationships and financial career to that, you know, because we're, you know, impacted by others in our in the environment as well that we're in. Oh, for sure. Yeah. So you've tried lots of things that didn't work. I think we're in a culture where there are some biases toward particular aspects of our health or our mental health. And I know I read about this a little bit on your website too because you've noticed that as well. And Oh, yeah. In the mental health industry, and maybe I'm going on a little rant here, but you can rein me in if you need to. I think we sold out Oh. To the insurance companies. Oh. That triggered something in you too. That did. Yeah. And and what I mean is, you know, with the traditional Western medicine, which is very different from some of the Eastern approaches and and even more ancient practices. In order to get a little chunk of the insurance dollars, I think the mental health industry decided, oh, well, we have to address this like a chemical problem, and we'll treat it with medication. I'm not saying medication isn't helpful. That don't misunderstand me. I'm I'm saying I think we sold out to that idea a little bit and maybe missed out on some of the powerful ways that we can address our own well-being. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned So let's yeah. Let's start with the physical because Yeah. The sellout, I can see with the physical is pharmaceutical companies have a lot of power in influencing that aspect, the physical aspect in mental health. And Yeah. You know, and it's interesting that, like, homeopathy had a real position a hundred years ago. You know, it was in the running, and it was completely set aside. Almost nobody knows about homeopathic remedies for, you know, everyday ailments. Right? Mhmm. And and it and it's so powerful and it's so cheap. Like, you can buy a $10 bottle and last a couple years. Right? Because you don't have to take them all the time. So there's no money in homeopathic remedies. And, you know, and that's a sad unfortunate thing that was part of my training. Later, when I got my doctorate in natural medicine, I learned more about that. And so in other countries, there are different guidelines around that. But in America, I think America sold out. That's the concern. And we also sold out to to big business that could make, you know, like, for example, use things that were toxic to us, but it provided a bigger yield on their crops. Right? And so we we weren't really given a choice as consumers. You know, some interesting things about the fact that cereal companies have their the recipe they use for America, but it in it includes things that are illegal in Europe and Canada. And so they have to do a different version of that box of cereal for Europe and Canada that looks different. I mean, it's it's not neon, for example, or it's, you know, it's got different ingredients in it that you actually can pronounce and know what they are. So, yeah, America kinda sold out, and it's unfortunate. And I think what we've gotta do as as people, as individuals, is look for truth and and listen to ourselves. And so one of the first things I learned was muscle testing. So kinesiology is where you can take a supplement or a food, and you can hold it to your solar plexus and you can listen to your own body, say yes or no to this. And that's a powerful way to get our power back, to just listen to our own innate knowing and give ourselves permission to say no to something. And then and I think the hardest thing is when we say no to it and we don't have something to replace it right away. So my first no was after I read a book called potatoes not Prozac, and it had me go through a detox process. And when I started taking eating weed again, my body reacted horribly to it. And so I had to give it up completely. And this again, it was in the nineties. There was not a shelf for gluten free. So I had nothing to replace it with for a while, but it was still better to have that out of my diet and give myself other options and start the healing journey than it was to continue something that didn't work. What I'm really hearing from that, Christine, is the the personal responsibility element. Yeah. Rather than deferring that to big business or insurance or whoever is calling the shots out there in the market, listen to your body, trust yourself, and take personal responsibility for your own health, your own well-being. Yes. It's interesting when I'll I'll have a client, you know, when I was seeing clients, we'd stand side by side and I'd show them the sway method of kinesiology. And that's where you just kind of zero out your mind. You feel your feet. You don't like you try to just be neutral and then you say the word yes and you allow your body to just move where does yes show up in your field. And I would say 75% of my clients would surprise themselves with the idea that their body had her answer. In most cases, it'll it'll sway forward to yes. And then I'd have them come back to zero, clear with all that excitement, go back to neutral, and say the word no, and they would naturally lean backwards. And I would invite everybody listening to just test this for yourself because I can tell you of those, you know, the 75% that it was working for had no idea that they could get an answer that would align with a yes and a no. Just a binary, like, truth test, you know, detector That just starting with that is empowering because you realize you have some answers that you don't realize you can access within yourself. You know, it's so fascinating to me just the power that we have within us. And what you're talking about right now, Christine, might sound like some kind of woo woo mystical thing that really can be understood according to natural principles when we don't close ourselves off from from the powerful mechanisms that are already built into us as humans. Yes. Agreed. Yeah. I was taught this I think I I was still in my bachelor's program when I learned the principle around it. And and it allowed me to move beyond my first health crisis personally. I was being told at the time that I had the beginning of endometriosis and I was newly married and, you know, ready to start a family. And I was being told by a doctor that that was complicated, that that my body wasn't working with that plan. I could have gone in the direction of believing that and I don't know. I mean, I I watched stories like that. They did not end well. They ended with things like hysterectomies. Right? But I found at that point in time, I found a natural health provider and I went that direction. That was the first time I kind of stepped out of the system and started asking different questions of different experts or, you know, guides. And she was actually the wife of my physiology professor and he was teaching physiology while she was a midwife. Right? And so very different. Yeah. But I talked to her about, like, what do I do? And and she taught me how to muscle test. And then she invited me to go to our local herbal remedy store. You know, it wasn't even common. There wasn't really a chain of those at the time. And start testing some different tinctures and supplements and things. And she suggested a few, but she gave me permission to get the answer for myself. Mhmm. And I was able to to completely change the course of that. I was able to get pregnant within a couple years and corrected a lot of my hormonal issues throughout, you know, the last, you know, decades to where I feel like that weakness has become a strength. I've uploaded that. It's so fascinating. And, again, you're getting right back to that theme of personal responsibility. Listen to your body. You're perfectly designed. I mean, I think about this all the time. Your your body, your mind is designed to heal. Yeah. The power is within you to heal. And if you can work with your mind and with your body instead of against it, I think we can expect better outcomes from that. I'm curious, Christine. Maybe you can get us going in the right direction. So if we are a brand new client of yours, if we're someone who's just being introduced now to these ideas, what would be some next steps to like in the title of this episode, balance your brain. Mhmm. Where would you start with someone? What would you suggest? So what's interesting in the book, it has you look at five different brain chemicals and just knowing, like, being able to sort them is helpful. Mhmm. So I can go through those. So there's norepinephrine or it's also called noradrenaline, and that's your upper. So a lot of times when people look for a counterfeit, it's caffeine. And then there's a continuum, you know, and if someone's in a heavier addiction, the other end of that continuum is methamphetamine, which is just such a, a curse on society. It's, you know, destroyed so many minds. It'll leave a mark. Yeah. Yeah. But most of us are doing a counterfeit that keeps us functional. Right? So it works enough to get us by, but it's really not solving any problems and might be creating some. And one of those could be the inability to relax or sleep at night. Mhmm. So that chemical is in the brain is GABA and it stands for gamma aminobutyric acid. And GABA is something that when people drink alcohol, for example, that's a counterfeit for GABA. Mhmm. And then there's very addictive benzodiazepines that would fit in that category as well. So so those, you know, there's harm that's on a continuum with those. And and then there's just chemical imbalance because we're using one thing which creates an imbalance in another thing. And so right? So then another category is serotonin. So we hear a lot about serotonin, and it's the chemical that gives us a sense of well-being. Kind of that comfy sort of, I like being where I am. And a lot of times we don't. And so what our go to with serotonin, a lot of us is food and specifically carbs. So carbs are the comfort foods, right? So that's where, you know, people reach for potato chips. And and the and that word couch potato is interesting. You can kind of picture that. You know, sitting on the couch watching TV, munching chips kind of story. And so I mentioned this book, Potatoes Not Prozac. Well, isn't that interesting in a title that is literally talking about antidepressants or SSRIs and potatoes in the same, you know, same space. Right? And so so as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is a allows for more serotonin to flow, but it doesn't really give you more serotonin. And I like that. You know, and so a solution with that, for for one, one of the first ones I learned is you can actually buy it at Walmart, and it's called five HTP. And five HTP is a metabolite for serotonin. And so someone who's low in that, if they haven't started taking antidepressants and they're have reasons not, you know, to try something else, they may wanna try that. And so as a metabolite of serotonin, it allows the body and brain to have more ingredients to convert those into serotonin. Mhmm. So that's a powerful solution. Yeah. And then the fourth, this one's tricky. So in the serotonin paradigm, it kinda keeps us even keel. And depression is an interesting thing because depression is like a dip that's far from even, you know, far from the norm. But if it's serotonin related, that will solve that depression, but there's a different kind of depression. And it's one that I think has kinda mystified the medical fields and has set up an incredible epidemic, and that is the opioid epidemic. Oh, yeah. So this other type of depression seems to be more of an endorphin depression. And the lack of endorphins gives someone just kinda like it's like it could be painful, emotionally painful. It could be like there's just a lack of joy and it's chronic. So it tends to last for a couple years. You know, your DSM, it's the persistent depressive disorder, PDD. And so they typically will see it going on for a couple years. In fact, it can create a personality. And I use the metaphor of Eeyore. So it's kind of the Eeyore personality, the the melancholy type that complains and goes into victim mode. And when you talk about that mind body connection, very strong with the dysthymic personality. Mhmm. Mhmm. And it's very difficult to treat. And and really you can't treat it medically with something that's non addictive because it's on that same continuum with narcotics, you know, endorphins that are innerorphine. Kind of it's already kinda built into that name. Mhmm. So it's the inner narcotic that we are capable of creating, but many of us have a chemical imbalance with it, and I did. So I'm gonna ask if you can think of what and, you know, I talked about caffeine and carbs. What's the the common counterfeit for endorphins? You wanna guess? It's really common. Well, I was, my first thought was, like, sugar. Yeah. You got it. Oh my gosh. Not everybody gets that. Really? You got the points. Yeah. Oh, yay. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Yes. Sugar is actually on the continuum of narcotics. Yeah. That makes sense. Yes. When they've done tests with rats type type of thing and they've, you know, they've even done these tests with cocaine, it's actually sugar that's more addictive than cocaine, which is really frightening. So yeah. And and people will go through really painful withdrawals a lot of times when they try to get sugar out of their diet. Mhmm. So so that's a tricky one. And that was the one that for my, you know, life experience, I would say connects more to that emotional healing, the mental healing. And I will tell you spiritual highs are a really a real solution for endorphin. Isn't that fun? It it makes total sense. And then the final one is dopamine. And so dopamine is the fifth chemical and it's the one that you hear a lot about it because actually the nickname dope comes from dopamine. So it's the one that is the most intense for people. And you can get dopamine from things like high risk behaviors, you know, speeding in your car or jumping out of a plane. But you get them so easily in society today just on your cell phone. Right? I was thinking about the the clickbait and Yes. They know that. The the they being, you know, advertisers or, you know, and Or game developers. Game developers. Mhmm. Yeah. So dopamine is very easily accessible now, and it leaves a lot of emptiness behind when it's not there. And so, you know, there's this constant drive to kinda fill that. Boredom ends up being kinda like the the withdrawal from Right. From it. And and, you know, you see, you know, our teens and our kids even, it's like they don't wanna get out of bed and they're, like, they're so zapped, you know, by this, you know, using up their dopamine in other ways. And so that one is just like, it just kinda gets you in the heart like, what do I wanna do? And cocaine is actually a dopamine, you know, kind of on that continuum. Mhmm. But there's so many things and, you know, and they're some of them are actually natural highs in ways, you know, like, they can be healthy, like, you know, hiking and doing big sports or outdoor things. Yeah. We hope that that's you know, my husband's a a recovering dopamine addict, and his his thing is fishing. But he does know. He's figured out it's not fishing. It's catching. It's catching. That's where the domains. There's difference. There's a difference. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Christine, thank you. I've you listeners, you you know that I I'm beating this drum all the time. Awareness precedes choice. Mhmm. And being aware so you've given us these five neurochemicals that we all experience at some level. And as we become aware of those, you said one of our first steps would be let's learn how to sort those out. Yeah. Right? And become aware of what's going on there because that puts you back into a position of choice. And I'm guessing in your book, you're gonna get into more of the detail about Yeah. What you can do with that information once you become aware of it. Tell us, before we turn you loose here today, what's the best way to get a hold of that or to connect with you? Where would you have our listeners go? So you could go to my website, and I have actually also a freebie to offer. So it's called love those. Yes. We love those. Okay. So 10waysbook.com, and it's the number 10waysbook.com, opens up a, like, a series of content including video. So So, like, some really good stuff that helps you understand the brain chemistry better and get into some of those solutions. And then Wonderful. Other things, christinehall.com is my best is my website. Just to clarify for those listening, Christine is spelled without an h. So it's c r I s t I n e, and then my last name is Hull, hull,.com. So christinehole.com. Perfect. So the 10ways book, number10waysbook.com or christinehull, no h in there. Yeah. Excel is the last name. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. .Com. Thank you, Christine. So helpful. I appreciate that. Alright, you guys. We have heard it. It's time to go apply it. Let's go live on purpose. Did you get what you came for? Give yourself the gift of taking real action on what you realized today. Please share this episode with someone you know would value it, and leave us a rating too. It's time now to live on purpose.