Dr Julie Smith's appearance on The Diary of a CEO was one of the most-watched mental health episodes ever. Here's everything she shared about anxiety, emotional resilience, and why your brain isn't broken.
Dr Julie Smith is a clinical psychologist who became one of the most followed mental health creators in the world, with over 4 million followers across TikTok and Instagram. Her book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? became an instant bestseller, spending months at the top of charts in over 30 countries.
What makes her different from most psychologists on social media is her ability to distil complex psychological concepts into practical, actionable advice. She doesn't just tell you what's wrong — she gives you tools to fix it. That's exactly what she brought to her conversation with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO.
One of the first things Dr Julie Smith addressed in her DOAC episode was the widespread belief that mental health problems mean something is fundamentally wrong with you. She pushed back hard on this idea.
"Your brain isn't broken. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do — the problem is that it was designed for a world that no longer exists."
She explained that anxiety, for example, is an evolutionary survival mechanism. The fight-or-flight response that once kept our ancestors alive now fires in response to work emails, social media notifications, and traffic jams. Understanding this reframe is the first step to managing anxiety rather than being controlled by it.
Dr Smith emphasised that emotions are information about your internal state — they're not commands you have to follow. Feeling anxious doesn't mean something dangerous is happening. Feeling angry doesn't mean you need to lash out. Learning to observe your emotions without automatically reacting to them is what psychologists call "emotional regulation," and it's a skill anyone can develop.
Her practical advice: when you notice a strong emotion, pause and name it. Simply saying "I notice I'm feeling anxious" creates a gap between the feeling and your response. That gap is where your power lives.
In one of the most compelling segments of the episode, Dr Smith explained how social media platforms exploit your brain's dopamine system. Every like, comment, and notification triggers a small dopamine hit — the same neurotransmitter involved in addiction.
She told Steven Bartlett that the most concerning effect isn't addiction itself, but how it changes your baseline. When you're constantly receiving micro-hits of dopamine from your phone, everyday activities — reading, walking, having a conversation — feel boring by comparison. Your brain has been recalibrated to expect constant stimulation.
Her recommendation: schedule regular "dopamine fasts" where you spend time without any screens or stimulation. Even 30 minutes a day can help reset your brain's reward threshold.
Dr Smith shared research showing that what you do in the first hour of your day has a disproportionate impact on your mental state for the rest of it. Reaching for your phone immediately floods your brain with other people's priorities, problems, and curated highlight reels.
Instead, she recommends a simple three-step morning practice:
This was perhaps the most important clinical insight Dr Smith shared. When you avoid something that makes you anxious — a difficult conversation, a social event, a work presentation — you get immediate relief. But that relief teaches your brain that the situation really was dangerous, making the anxiety stronger next time.
"Every time you avoid something because of anxiety, you're sending your brain the message that you were right to be afraid. You're feeding the anxiety."
The alternative isn't to throw yourself into terrifying situations. It's gradual exposure — taking small steps toward the thing you fear, building evidence that you can handle it. Each small win rewires your brain's threat assessment.
Most people wait until they feel motivated to make changes. Dr Smith explained why this is backwards. Motivation follows action, not the other way around. Starting something — even imperfectly, even reluctantly — generates the momentum and emotional reward that creates motivation.
She calls this the "action-motivation cycle" and considers it one of the most important concepts in psychology for everyday life. Don't wait to feel like going to the gym. Go, and the feeling will follow.
Dr Julie Smith's episode pairs brilliantly with several other mental health episodes on The Diary of a CEO. If you enjoyed her insights, you'll also want to explore:
Mental health awareness has exploded in recent years, but awareness without tools is just worry. What makes Dr Julie Smith's DOAC appearance so valuable is that she doesn't just describe problems — she hands you solutions. Concrete, research-backed techniques that you can start using today.
In a world where anxiety rates are at record highs, where social media is reshaping how our brains work, and where most people still don't know the basics of emotional regulation, this episode is genuinely essential listening. It's the kind of conversation that, had it existed 20 years ago, would have saved millions of people years of unnecessary suffering.
Never miss the key takeaways from The Diary of a CEO. We break down every episode so you don't have to watch them all.
Subscribe Free →Whether you're struggling with anxiety, trying to understand your emotions better, or just want practical mental health tools, Dr Julie Smith's episode on The Diary of a CEO delivers. Bookmark it, share it, and most importantly — apply what she teaches.