Elizabeth Smart on Surviving Kidnapping & Painful Memories, Plus Healing & Posttraumatic Growth

Change Your Brain Every Day

Dr Daniel Amen

Braintrauma, Healthtips, Sleep, Obesity, Anxiety, Braininjury, Depression, Ptsd, Mentalhealth, Mood, Brainhealth, Health & Fitness, Energy, Disease, Addiction, Mental Health, Healthadvice, Adhd, Memory, Focus

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Elizabeth Smart shares her powerful journey after being kidnapped at age 14 in 2002, revealing how she turned unimaginable adversity into hope and posttraumatic growth. Join Dr. Amen and Elizabeth as they review her brain scans and discuss the brain’s response to trauma, the resilience factors that foster growth, and the actionable steps you can take to heal and thrive after life’s toughest challenges.

00:00 Intro

01:30 Sponsor

02:38 Elizabeth

05:39 Before the Kidnapping

07:07 The Kidnapping

13:18 The First Days

19:46 The Kidnappers

32:25 Mental State During Captivity

39:10 Rescue

53:15 The Aftermath/Panic Attacks

58:45 Processing the Trauma

1:04:24 Post-Traumatic Growth

1:09:50 The 4 Circles/BRIGHT MINDS Risk Factors

1:16:00 Elizabeth’s SPECT Brain Scans

1:23:12 Final Impressions

1:24:36 Sponsor

1:26:02 Wrap Up

Transcript

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0:00.0	I asked him if he was going to rape and kill me,
0:03.8	could he do it like close to my home
0:07.6	just because I wanted my parents to know what had happened to me.
0:10.7	And I had heard on the news of reports of mountain lion attacks
0:16.0	and there were coyotes up behind my house as well.
0:18.7	And so I mean, I wanted my body to be in one piece.
0:22.6	And I remember saying, if you're going to rape and kill me, could you do it here?
0:26.6	And when I said that to him, he had looked at me and smiled, he's like, I'm not going to rape
0:30.9	and kill you yet.
0:34.2	Every day, you are making your brain better or you are making it worse.
0:39.3	Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day.
0:45.3	I'm really thrilled to have Elizabeth Smart on our podcast.
0:53.3	You might remember that when she was 14 years old,
0:57.0	she was kidnapped and then literally raped every day for nine months. And then she was found
1:05.7	and rescued and has just gone on quite the journey.
1:11.7	And one might think she would have post-traumatic stress disorder.
1:16.5	But what we're really going to talk about today is post-traumatic growth.
1:21.7	We're going to look at her brain and talk about the amazing journey and work that she does now.
1:31.4	Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, obsessive thinking, past emotional trauma, ADHD,
1:40.2	or brain fog, and don't know where to turn? Are your relationships a mess and you don't know why?
1:48.0	Have you had a brain injury?
1:49.7	Concussion or just don't feel the same after COVID?
	...

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