PODCAST · health
The Mentally ill Mentor
by David Grant Miller
Are you (or someone you love) struggling with anxiety, depression, or thoughts of suicide? Exhausted from the emotional pain? If so, self-help author David Grant Miller has an important message for you: “You CAN do this. There IS hope. You are NOT alone. Please, don’t give up! For over 20 years, I’ve struggled with the very same things. At one point, I was hurting SO bad, I nearly attempted to end my life. But an unmistakable last-minute impression changed everything. I realized that I was worth something, and that my life was worth living. Those facts are true for you too! Before that experience, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that my future was utterly hopeless. But after 25 years of marriage to my beautiful wife, and 7 wonderful children later, I thank God I didn’t follow through with what would have been the biggest mistake of my life. I won’t lie and tell you that my mental health is perfect now, or profess to have the solution to every mental health problem on the planet
Episodes
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85. What Are Trauma Triggers and How Does the “What If” Game Help (with Emma McAdam)
Trauma triggers are sensory cues — a place, a sound, a person, a drive you’ve made a hundred times — that activate the brain’s threat system before you consciously register anything is wrong. In this episode, Dave Miller explains why ordinary moments shift your energy, and walks through the “What...
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84. Does the Vagus Nerve Exercise "Voo Breath" Reduce Anxiety?
The vagus nerve is the body's main pathway for calming the nervous system after stress, and a simple breathing exercise called the Voo breath, or foghorn breath, is one of the fastest ways to activate it. In this episode, Dave Miller breaks down what the vagus nerve is, what the research shows…
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83. Does Walking Every Day Reduce Anxiety and Depression? What the Research Shows
Walking every day can reduce anxiety by lowering cortisol, releasing endorphins and serotonin, and activating the parasympathetic nervous system, the body's natural calming response. In this episode, Dave Miller explains the connection between daily walking and anxiety, drawing on his own...
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82. Is Depression a Metabolic Problem? Dr. Chris Palmer, Insulin Resistance, and Mental Health
Depression and anxiety may be more connected to metabolism than most people realize. In this episode, Dave breaks down metabolic psychiatry, the emerging field connecting insulin resistance, ketosis, and brain health, and shares his own experience with intermittent fasting that led him to this...
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81. The Everkind App Review: An AI Mental Health Journal I Actually Recommend
In this episode, Dave reviews Everkind, an AI-powered journaling and emotional wellness app he's been using personally, and explains why it's become one of his go-to tools between therapy appointments or when he simply needs to feel heard. He covers the company's origin story, the research on why...
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80. Daily Affirmations and Gratitude: The Mental Health Practice I Didn't Expect
In this episode, Dave shares how a real estate mindset practice called Ninja Selling turned into one of his most powerful mental health tools: writing 5 daily gratitudes and 25 affirmations by hand every day. He breaks down the surprising neuroscience behind why handwriting works better than...
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79. Brene Brown and Shame: The Root of Anxiety, Depression, Self Harm and Thoughts of Suicide
In this episode, Dave shares his own experience with shame — and why he has come to see it as the root underneath so many mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, and even thoughts of suicide. Drawing on Brené Brown’s research, he walks through the 5 W’s of shame: Who feels it…
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78. How to Beat Self-Sabotage: The 5 W's of Why We Get in Our Own Way
In this episode, Dave dives into self-sabotage, why we sometimes undermine ourselves right when things are going well, using the 5 W's framework: Who, What, When, Where, and Why, plus How to actually break the pattern. He draws on research, Tony Robbins' teachings on identity, and Jamie Kern…
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77. Doomscrolling and News Anxiety: Why I Stay Away From the News
In this episode, Dave shares his own honest struggle with staying away from the news, including a recent story about flooding in Nepal that pulled him back in, and the simple question he asks himself afterward every time. He dives into the research on doomscrolling and news anxiety, why it's…
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76. Anxiety, Sleep, and Exercise: How I Learned to Calm My Panic
In this episode, Dave shares a vulnerable personal story from about 10 years ago, a panic attack he experienced in a Costco, and reflects on how far he's come since then. He breaks down the three tools that have made the biggest difference in managing his own anxiety: exercise, sleep, and...
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75. Meditation and Temper Control: How I Stopped Yelling at My Kids
In this episode, Dave shares a personal experience that brought up old memories from his own childhood, and reflects on how meditation transformed his own temper as a parent. He dives into the research on mindfulness and anger, from brain changes to a major 2025 meta-analysis, and makes the case...
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74. The Neuroscience of Meditation: How It Physically Changes Your Brain
In this episode, Dave shares his own 8 year meditation journey, from starting with the Calm app to practicing Transcendental Meditation today. He dives into the neuroscience behind meditation, how it physically reshapes the amygdala, quiets the brain's rumination network, and even changes how…
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73. AI Therapist: Can ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok Actually Help Your Mental Health?
In this episode, Dave shares his own experience turning to Grok for what he expected to be a quick check-in, and ended up in a long, unexpectedly therapeutic conversation. He breaks down why it felt safe, validating, and impartial, and dives into the research on whether AI chatbots can genuinely...
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72. Screen Time, Social Media, and the Mental Health of Our Teens
In this episode, Dave shares his own experience as a parent navigating screen time with his kids, from raising his now-adult children to parenting teens today, and why the struggle has only gotten harder despite more parenting experience. He dives into Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation...
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71. The $35 Costco Item That Could Be a Game Changer for Your Mental Health
In this episode, Dave dives into creatine, a supplement best known for building muscle, and explores its emerging role in mental health. He breaks down how creatine fuels brain cells the same way it fuels muscles, and why a stressed brain, whether from anxiety, depression, or sleep deprivation…
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70. Intermittent Fasting for Mental Health: How I Trained My Blood Sugar to Stabilize My Mood
In this episode, Dave shares his own two-year journey with intermittent fasting, including the modified routine he's followed for the last six months: no breakfast, a Vega protein shake at 2pm, and dinner at 6pm. He breaks down why this pattern stopped the dizziness, brain fog, and mood swings he...
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69. Why LeBron James Sleeps 12 Hours a Day — The Science of Sleep and Mental Health
In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor, Dave dives into the power of sleep and why it might be the most important thing you can do for your mental health. Starting with LeBron James' powerful message from the Calm app — "greatness lies on the other side of sleep" — Dave shares his own journey...
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68. How Sugar Negatively Affects Your Mental Health — Dr. Mark Hyman Explains Why
How Sugar Destroys Your Mental Health — Dr. Mark Hyman Explains Why In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor, Dave shares the story of his legendary "Texas Homemade Banana Splits" — a massive bowl of ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce, hot chocolate powder, and chocolate chips — and how...
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67. What Andrew Huberman and I Both Do to Crush Anxiety — And So Can You
Episode 67 — What Andrew Huberman and I Both Do to Significantly Reduce Anxiety — So Can You Can fifteen minutes of walking a day actually change your brain and reduce anxiety? Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman says yes — and so does twenty-five years of my own lived experience with...
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66. The One Thing That Changed Everything: Meditation for Anxiety, Depression, and Emotional Regulation
What is the single most powerful tool for mental health that almost nobody in the traditional mental health system is talking about? For Dave Miller — a 25-year mental health advocate who has battled anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide — the answer isn't a prescription, a therapy...
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65. 3 Simple Steps to Harnessing the Power of Love to Reduce Anxiety & Depresison
What if the secret to overcoming anxiety, depression, and self-harm was something you already have inside you? In this episode, Dave Miller shares 3 simple steps to developing and harnessing the power of love — not as a fluffy concept, but as a real, practical force you can put to work in your…
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64. My True Story. Things WILL Get Better for YOU. I'm Gonna Teach You How 😄
In this episode, Dave shares his incredibly compelling and deeply personal true story of struggling with mental health challenges over 25 years. These include anxiety, depression, self harm, bipolar disorder, and thoughts of suicide. While these topics can be pretty "heavy", Dave keeps it "light"...
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63. 3 Simple Tips for Overcoming Small Talk Social Anxiety
Do you get more than nervous making small talk? In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller you’ll discover 3 simple tips to help make small talk a little easier.
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62. Selena Gomez On: Mother’s Day and Mental Health
While Mother’s Day is a wonderful occasion for many people, it can be quite the opposite for some. In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave refers to an article from an email newsletter published by Selena Gomez on what to do if Mother’s Day is, for you, not a happy time.
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61. Russell Brand On: How Addiction Can Be Overcome Through Transcendental Meditation
Russell Brand isn't shy about discussing his former addiction to drugs. In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave lets us in on some insights from Russell on how Transcendental Meditation helped him get clean.
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60. Relationship Problems? How Understanding Attachment Styles Could Be the Solution
Did you used to feel deeply in love, but now feel frustrated and confused? In Episode 60 of The Mentally ill Mentor podcast, Dave discusses attachment styles, when and how they form, and how understanding them can empower us to change and heal our most cherised relationships.
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59. Camila Cabello, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, and Mental Health
It's no secret that celebrities have mental health challenges too. But in this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave discusses celebrities who have been particularly vulnerable in sharing their stories to help us know we are all in this together!
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58. The POWER of Moving Your Body
When your mood is low it's hard to get out of bed and do much of anything! But, in this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave discusses the incredible POWER physical activity has in changing your mood. Listen now to discover how to get motivated and stay motivated so you can...
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57. 6 Powerful Tips for Silencing Your Inner Critic and Developing Self Compassion and Love
If you struggle with mental health, chances are pretty darn high that you talk to yourself in a negative, harsh way. Although changing our relationship with our Inner Critic isn't easy to do, in today's episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave talks about how it can be done, and...
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56. Special Guest, Aimee Miller (Dave's Wife) On: How to Help a Spouse with their Mental Health
If you've got a spouse that's struggling with their mental health, there is hope! That's Aimee's main message on today's episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller. While Aimee and Dave discuss the heartache and challenges that Dave's mental health caused early on, Aimee shares how she...
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55. Insight Timer: Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
On today's episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave discusses the FREE Insight Timer app, which features unique meditations, along with Live Events, Courses, Workshops and Mentoring.
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54. The Headspace App: Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
Full of cool cartoon-type pictures and fun, colorful backgrounds, the Headspace app makes you feel happy just opening it! In today's episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave discusses all the cool and unique features and discusses what you need to know to determine if this is the...
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53. The Simple Habit App: Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
Seen on Shark Tank and talked about by Forbes, the New York Times and more, the Simple Habit meditation app is a great one! In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave reviews the features of this cool app, which caters to busy people who want to meditate whenever they can...
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52. Aura: Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave reviews - in real time - the Aura app. Aura offers sessions for Life Coaching, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Hypnosis and much more. Consider whether Aura is the right meditation app for you as Dave downloads the Aura app to his...
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51. The 1 Giant Mind App: Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
When it comes to Daily Mental Workouts (meditation), there are some pretty darn good apps out there. In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave explores - in real time - the features of the very cool "1 Giant Mind" app. This app guides you through a mantra meditation, has a...
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50. The Calm App (Part 1): Quest for the Best Meditation Apps of 2022
A quick Google search reveals there are over 2,500 meditation apps! With that many to choose from, if you've made the SUPER-SMART decision to get into meditation, how on earth can you figure out which app is the best?! In today's episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave reviews…
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49. The Incredible Science Behind How Mental Workouts Can Heal Your Trauma
In April of 2021, Oprah and neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry released a phonomenal book entitled: What Happened To You? The name of the book came from the fact that, in so many instances, when those with mental health challenges act kinda weird, people normally ask "What is wrong...
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48.The Powerful Thing Ellen, Tom Brady, Jennifer Ashton, and YOU, Can Do for Optimal Mental Health.
Have you (or a loved one) tried and failed and tried and failed and tried and failed to improve your mental health? Do you wonder if you will ever get over your anxiety, depression, or thoughts of suicide? In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave assures you that there is…
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47. How to Harness the Power of Rewards to Improve Your Mental Health
Olympic athletes get medals. CEO's get big bonuses. Kids in school get pizza parties. But what about the rest of us? How do we cash in on what is arguably one of the best forms of motivation: rewards? In this compelling episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave talks about his...
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46. 5 Simple Steps to Setting New Year's Resolutions You Will Actually Stick To
Remember those New Year's Resolutions you set at this time in 2021? Me neither haha! In fact, as I reflected on my former New Year's resolutions, I wasn't even sure that I had made any, and if I did, I began wondering where I would even find them! But, find them I did, and in this episode of The...
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45. How to Access Your Inner SuperPowers to Help a Loved One CRUSH Their Inner Villain
Isn't it wonderful to have people in our lives who really NEED us? Often, we try heroically to access our inner superpowers in an effort to help someone who may be struggling with mental health challenges. It might be a co-worker, a neighbor, a child, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, or even a wife or…
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44. 5 Secrets to Silencing Your Inner "Oscar the Grouch"
Sesame Street was a show we all used to love - right! It was all about happiness and positivity...except for Oscar the Grouch. This green guy who lived in a trash can rarely had anything positive to say. In fact, whenever something positive or happy was going on in the lives of those around him,...
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43. How to Overcome Negative Thinking: A Guided Meditation with Dave
Meditation is where it's at when it comes to learning to control our minds and become stronger mentally. Bottom line: Training our minds through meditation - which is like lifting weights mentally - can lead to less anxiety (more confidence), less intense and less frequent feelings of depression...
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42. How to Meditate and 3 Ways It Will Completely Transform Your Life
Meditation. I used to think it was TOTALLY UN-manly. And, as someone who likes to think that he's all about "manly", I decided that meditation was definitely NOT for me. But, in a moment of desperation, my whole way of thinking about meditation totally changed! I had become SO mentally overweight...
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41. How Gratitude Re-Wires Your Brain
Contrary to what used to be considered a "fact", science has now proven that our brains CAN re-wire themselves. This is SUPER exciting when it comes to mental health because it means that even though you may have dealt with some pretty challenging issues, there IS hope! In today's episode of The...
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40. Want Your Happiness Back? The Incredible POWER of Keeping a Daily Gratitude Journal
For me, keeping a Daily Gratitude Journal has been an on again off again thing. In the past I've kept kept one out of duty...but keeping it because I felt I "should" hasn't had the desired effect. But, recently, after a few aha moments about how powerful gratitude can be changing our focus and...
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39. How the Fisher Wallace Stimulator is Giving Me the Normal Life I've Always Wanted (and How It Can Do the Same for You)
The Fisher Wallace Stimulator is a wearable device that qualifies as a rapid therapy for depression, anxiety and insomnia. That claim was made, and much more, when I interviewed Kelly Roman, the CEO of Fisher Wallace, on my podcast some time ago. At that time I had one thought: "I wonder if this...
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38. Expert Sleep Advice from My Friend, LeBron James
We all know we need it, so why don't most of us get enough of it? And, when we don't get enough sleep, how does it affect our mental health and our relationships with those we love the most? Is sleep really THAT important? And, if it is, HOW do we go about getting more?! In this exciting episode…
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37. 3 Ways to Show Love to Someone Struggling with Mental Health Challenges
It's not always easy to love those of us who struggle with mental health challenges, as Dave's wife of over 25 years can attest to! But, it can DEFINITELY be a relationship game changer when everyone "feels the love". In this episode of The Mentally ill Mentor with Dave Miller, Dave discusses 3...
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36. 4 Easy Steps to Helping You (or someone you love) Change Your Paradigm
While mindfulness is SO important, the reality is that our lives are controlled, to a HUGE degree, by our paradigms - mental programs that influence how we think and how we perceive our world. And that keeps us from progressing and becoming successful in the areas that are important to us. In…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Are you (or someone you love) struggling with anxiety, depression, or thoughts of suicide? Exhausted from the emotional pain? If so, self-help author David Grant Miller has an important message for you: “You CAN do this. There IS hope. You are NOT alone. Please, don’t give up! For over 20 years, I’ve struggled with the very same things. At one point, I was hurting SO bad, I nearly attempted to end my life. But an unmistakable last-minute impression changed everything. I realized that I was worth something, and that my life was worth living. Those facts are true for you too! Before that experience, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that my future was utterly hopeless. But after 25 years of marriage to my beautiful wife, and 7 wonderful children later, I thank God I didn’t follow through with what would have been the biggest mistake of my life. I won’t lie and tell you that my mental health is perfect now, or profess to have the solution to every mental health problem on the planet
HOSTED BY
David Grant Miller
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Mentally ill Mentor have?
The Mentally ill Mentor currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Mentally ill Mentor about?
Are you (or someone you love) struggling with anxiety, depression, or thoughts of suicide? Exhausted from the emotional pain? If so, self-help author David Grant Miller has an important message for you: “You CAN do this. There IS hope. You are NOT alone. Please, don’t give up! For over 20 years,...
How often does The Mentally ill Mentor release new episodes?
The Mentally ill Mentor has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Mentally ill Mentor?
You can listen to The Mentally ill Mentor on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Mentally ill Mentor?
The Mentally ill Mentor is created and hosted by David Grant Miller.
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