Episode Details

How Stress Can Cause Real Illness And How To Reverse It with Dr. David Clarke | Ep 390

What if your body’s pain isn’t a sign of damage, but a signal that your brain’s alarm system has been stuck on high? We sit down with Dr. David Clarke—president of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms—to unpack how stress, trauma, and learned danger can wire physical symptoms into the nervous system, and how those same circuits can be rewired for relief.

Dr. Clarke shares unforgettable cases that flip the script on chronic illness: a patient hospitalized 60 times for dizzy spells who recovered by spotting a pattern tied to an abusive parent; a teen whose debilitating diarrhea struck only on game days; and a lifelong gut pain sufferer who improved by processing an eight-year-old’s trauma at age 87. These aren’t “it’s all in your head” stories. They’re brain-body science in action, showing why migraines, IBS, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, tinnitus, and many “mystery” complaints persist after normal tests—and how naming the true drivers opens the door to healing.

We walk through simple, powerful clues to identify neuroplastic symptoms: do flares map to stress, places, or people? Do you feel better in safe settings? Are multiple systems involved at once? Clarke explains how anxiety and depression often appear in the body before the mind notices, why subtle childhood invalidation can seed lifelong hypervigilance, and how to rebuild self-worth so your system stops scanning for danger. Expect concrete steps: express repressed feelings through words, set boundaries that lower toxic exposure, and schedule joy that serves no purpose but joy. You’ll also hear about training, tools, and a quick self-assessment at symptomatic.me, plus how clinicians are rediscovering the “why” in medicine by treating the nervous system, not just organs.

If your tests are normal but your symptoms are not, there’s real hope. Listen to learn how to recognize neuroplastic patterns, rewire your responses, and reclaim a life that isn’t ruled by fear signals. If this resonates, subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome And Global Reach

1:06 Meet Dr. David Clarke And ATNS

2:22 What Are Neuroplastic Symptoms

5:15 How The Brain Generates Physical Illness

7:35 Prevalence And Why Training Matters

9:53 The Case That Changed His Career

14:09 Elevator Moment: Talk Therapy Cure

17:12 Years Of Practice And Results

19:05 Patient Cured By Seeing The Pattern

22:12 Books, Films, And Mission Growth

24:25 Host Shares Personal Mental Health Journey

26:48 Treating Long-Held Trauma At Any Age

29:49 How Anxiety And Depression Show Up In Bodies

33:20 Tuesdays And Thursdays: The Soccer Clue

36:22 Childhood Stress As The Hidden Driver

39:18 Rewriting Self-Worth And Identity

42:23 From Repression To Expression

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