Can peptides like semax or selank actually 'rewire' your brain?

What did @starjessetaylor actually say?

The creator argued that your brain works like a social media algorithm: whatever you give attention to, you get more of. His framing is that anxiety and intrusive thoughts worsen because you "engage" with them, and that the fix is redirecting focus toward "valued actions" instead of fighting the feelings. He specifically named compulsions as the behavioral mechanism making things worse, and said the goal should be shifting your "measure of success" away from getting relief.

To be clear: this is not a peptide claim. There is no mention of BPC-157, semax, selank, or anything in the peptide category this video is tagged under. What he is describing is a lay interpretation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), two evidence-based psychological frameworks. That context matters a lot for evaluating how accurate this actually is.

Does the science back this up?

Mostly, yes, with some important caveats. The core idea, that engaging with intrusive thoughts through compulsive behaviors reinforces them, is well-supported. The algorithm metaphor is loose but not wrong. Where it gets shaky is the oversimplification of what "engagement" means and the implication that focus-switching alone is sufficient treatment.

The reinforcement model he is describing has real grounding. Research by Salkovskis (1985, Behaviour Research and Therapy) established that neutralizing behaviors, what the creator calls compulsions, maintain obsessional thinking rather than resolving it. More recently, Abramowitz et al. (2019, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology) confirmed that ERP, which involves stopping compulsive responses to anxiety triggers, remains the gold-standard behavioral intervention for OCD and related disorders. The "valued actions" framing maps onto ACT, where Hayes et al. (2006, Behaviour Research and Therapy) demonstrated that psychological flexibility and values-based action reduce experiential avoidance more effectively than direct symptom suppression. So the intellectual skeleton here is sound.

What did they get wrong, or right?

He got the core mechanism right but stripped out the clinical nuance in ways that could mislead people with serious disorders. Telling someone to just "change the channel" on intrusive thoughts is dangerously incomplete advice for anyone with OCD, PTSD, or severe anxiety disorders, where self-directed attention switching can actually function as another compulsion or avoidance behavior.

The claim that "the brain doesn't understand what you like or dislike, only what you engage with" is a useful metaphor but not literally accurate neuroscience. The brain does encode valence, whether something is aversive or rewarding, through distinct dopaminergic and amygdala-mediated pathways (LeDoux, 2000, Annual Review of Neuroscience). Engaging with something unpleasant does not neurologically signal the same thing as engaging with something rewarding. His metaphor collapses that distinction.

What he got genuinely right: the emphasis on behavioral engagement over thought suppression aligns with decades of research showing that direct thought suppression backfires (Wegner et al., 1987, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology). And naming compulsions specifically, rather than just vague "bad habits," shows more sophistication than most wellness TikTok content.

What should you actually know?

If this video resonated with you, the underlying ideas are worth pursuing, but through actual clinical frameworks, not a 2-minute TikTok. ACT and ERP are both structured, evidence-based therapies that a licensed therapist can deliver. Doing them improperly, especially ERP for OCD, can make symptoms worse if not guided correctly.

The creator's claim that this is "the only thing that rewired my brain" after therapy, self-help books, and supplements is an anecdote, not evidence. It is also worth noting this video is categorized under peptides on this platform, which is a strange fit since no peptides are discussed. Peptides like semax and selank have been studied in animal models for anxiolytic and nootropic effects, but human clinical evidence remains limited and they are not a substitute for psychotherapy. If you are dealing with persistent intrusive thoughts or anxiety that disrupts your daily life, a licensed mental health professional is the right starting point, not an algorithm metaphor or an unregulated peptide stack.

• Thought suppression makes intrusive thoughts worse, a finding replicated across multiple controlled studies.
• Compulsion reduction is the behavioral target in ERP, which has the strongest evidence base for OCD treatment.
• Values-based action is a core ACT component, not a novel idea invented by this creator.
• "Changing the channel" on thoughts can itself become avoidance if used to escape distress rather than accept it.
• If symptoms are severe, self-administered versions of these techniques are not a reliable substitute for supervised therapy.