Rhythm & Cognition | How Drumming Improves IQ & Learning w/ Chris Brien Artwork

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! | A Mental Health Podcast On Lived Experiences & Dark Humor

If you live with mental illness—or love someone who does—and you’re tired of sugar-coated wellness talk, this show is for you.

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! blends dark humor with real recovery so you feel seen, steadied, and a little lighter. We tell it like it is, so you don't have to.

You’ll get:

Lived-experience truth from “The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective” (host) + grounded insight from "IndyPocket" (co-host and music therapist).
Edgy, stigma-smashing and often, controversial conversations about life with mental illness mixed with social commentary, relationships and messy real-world coping as it relates to mental health.
Some challenging takeaways you can ponder after each episode—along with laughs that punch up, down, left, right... EVERYWHERE.

Perfect for: people juggling therapy, meds, and everyday chaos who want honest talk, gallows humor, zero judgment and acceptance for who they are.

Guests include survivors, clinicians and everything in between... Any human being who is willing to share their story with our listeners.

Content notes are provided when necessary.

We (the hosts) are NOT providing professional mental health services. We are simply sharing our lived experiences and our perspectives on these topics while offering support to this community.

If you are in the U.S. and you need help, call or text 988 (24/7) and seek professional psychiatric care immediately.

All Episodes

Beat The Mental Health Out Of It! | A Mental Health Podcast On Lived Experiences & Dark Humor

Rhythm & Cognition | How Drumming Improves IQ & Learning w/ Chris Brien

May 12, 2025 • Nicholas Wichman - Mental Health Advocate • Season 1 • Episode 13

How drumming shapes cognition—improving attention, learning, and neuroplasticity—plus synesthesia and real ASMR (not clickbait).

A candid episode on practice systems, teaching mindsets, and why rhythm training can sharpen how you think—on and off the kit.

Content note: explicit language.

If you’re struggling (U.S.): Call/Text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7).

Episode focus: rhythm as brain training—subdivisions, steady time, deep practice—and how synesthesia and true-blue ASMR show up in music and learning.

We cover:

Rhythm & cognition: attention anchors, working memory, feedback loops
Synesthesia: hearing in color—and writing/teaching to it
ASMR, for real: neurological calm vs. internet gimmicks
Teaching for curiosity: deep practice, scaffolding, and reps that stick

Hosts/Guest: The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective (Nick) • IndyPocket (Tony) • Guest: Chris Brien

Guest links:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@chrisbrien

• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/chris.brien.39

• TEDx 2013: https://youtu.be/XGHi_FiPdAQ

• TEDx 2018: https://youtu.be/1DShDopfjQI

IndyPocket (Tony) links:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@indypocket
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indypocket
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@absolutezen

HEY DRUMMERS! Try 5 minutes of steady subdivisions (quarters → 8ths → triplets → 16ths at one tempo). Post your focus rating before/after on our Discord "The Struggle Bus." (link below)

NEW EPISODES DROP EVERY OTHER MONDAY (BI-WEEKLY) AT 6AM (EDT)

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Drop suggestions, topic and content ideas, potential guests… we want to know what you want from “BTMHOOI!”

Send us an email at beatthementalhealthoutofit@gmail.com

We’re a candid mental health podcast with lived experience—schizoaffective disorder, trauma recovery, coping skills, and dark humor that fights stigma!

Join Our Discord — “The Struggle Bus” - https://discord.gg/emFXKuWKNA

HOST / SOCIALS

The DEFECTIVE Schizoaffective (Nick)