Session 474: What Weathering Does to Black Women's Bodies

Dr. Joy sits down with neuropsychologist Dr. Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, assistant professor at UCSF's Memory and Aging Center, to talk through what brain health means, why it's broader than mental health alone, and the daily habits that support it: cardiovascular exercise, a heart-healthy diet, stress management, social connection, and quality sleep. They dig into what our phones are doing to us. Dr. Hill-Jarrett breaks down how short-form video triggers a bigger dopamine response than a typical reward, why the unpredictability of a feed keeps us scrolling, and what that means for sleep, attention span, and memory. She shares her own strategies, including separate personal and professional Instagram accounts and the Pomodoro method for resetting focus without reaching for a screen. The conversation turns to her research on Black women and Alzheimer's disease. Black Americans face 1.5 to 2 times the risk of white Americans, and Black women carry the highest projected prevalence of any group, a gap that shows up even among women who are upwardly mobile, largely tied to the neighborhoods they live in. Dr. Hill-Jarrett also unpacks weathering, the term coined by Arlene Geronimus for the accelerated biological aging that Black women experience, and points to research showing Black women's telomeres suggest they are roughly seven and a half years biologically older than white women at the same age. She closes with her current work on Afrofuturism and hopefulness, including a 10-week workshop where participants imagined a future free of time scarcity and reported feeling more hopeful about shaping what comes next. Her advice for anyone worried it's too late to protect their brain: it never is.   About the Podcast The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.   Resources & Announcements Want to reflect on this conversation in community? Join us inside our Patreon community where we’re unpacking this episode together. You can now catch episodes of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe to get new episodes every week.  Did you know you can leave us a voice note with your questions for the podcast? If you have a question you'd like some feedback on, topics you'd like to hear covered, or want to suggest movies or books for us to review, drop us a message at memo.fm/therapyforblackgirls and let us know what’s on your mind. We just might share it on the podcast. Grab your copy of Sisterhood Heals.   Where to Find Our Guest Website Instagram LinkedIn   Stay Connected​ Is there a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Submit it at therapyforblackgirls.com/mailbox. If you're looking for a therapist in your area, check out the directory at https://www.therapyforblackgirls.com/directory. Grab your copy of our guided affirmation and other TBG Merch at therapyforblackgirls.com/shop. The hashtag for the podcast is #TBGinSession.   Make sure to follow us on social media: Instagram: @therapyforblackgirls Facebook: @therapyforblackgirls   Our Production Team Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Gabrielle Collins Director of Podcast & Digital Content: Ellice Ellis Producer: Ndeye Thioubou