Something changed around 2018. Intelligent, high-achieving professionals began arriving convinced they’d developed adult ADHD. Most didn’t meet criteria. By then I’d been a psychiatrist for seven years, and suddenly my private practice was mostly engineers, lawyers, and finance professionals asking for stimulants because they couldn’t keep their minds on task. They were genuinely suffering–more from screens than genes. The benefits of stimulants were rarely worth the costs to sleep, appetite and sometimes personality. Even with evidence-based behavioral work–which many resisted–I wasn’t satisfied I was truly helping. They needed meaningful lifestyle change, not controlled medications. I wanted a solution that actually helped them reach their goals, and that search became the seed of what would later become Goldmind Health. Then the pandemic upended everything.

Lockdowns accelerated what I was seeing. Inattention became ubiquitous. Hours indoors, all-day screens, social media, and the rise of short-form video eroded nearly everyone’s ability to stay on task. Stimulants remained the default for many colleagues but weren’t fixing the deeper problem. Unsatisfied with the status quo options I had to offer, I returned to public psychiatry to lead a clinic serving people with severe mental illness, where I felt I could have more impact.

Then in 2024, my own focus slipped. I couldn’t finish journal articles or write a coherent email beyond a few sentences. My mind had been fragmented by constant, rapid context-switching–notifications, feeds, the whole cadence of modern work. Amphetamines weren’t the answer for me, so I went deep into the scientific literature on complementary and alternative medicine to find real signal and treat myself.

Goldmind Health grew out of that research and those results. I summarized the approach in the free guidebook Defragging Your Mind (download link inside every box and on our site), with standardized protocols and quantified interventions that go well beyond supplements. It’s the content I wish I’d had in 2018 when I first saw fragmentation take hold. I built Goldmind:Focus (Nov ’25) and Goldmind:Drive (Jan ’26) to deliver evidence-based ingredients that improve cognition, at research-backed doses, with COA-verified quality and the convenience to fit modern life. We disclose exact doses–no proprietary blends. These are the products I use myself and feel comfortable recommending. They help minds focus, naturally.

I still practice two days a week in public psychiatry and see patients at The Baywood Clinic. While Goldmind’s mission–to help people think their best–is my passion, clinical work keeps me directly connected to the people I trained to serve.

–Michael Vagts, MD, MBA, MA

About Dr. V:

Dr. Michael Vagts completed his undergraduate studies in Physics at UCLA, graduating summa cum laude, and went on to earn an M.A. in Physics from UC Berkeley. He received his M.D. from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson. Dr. Vagts completed his psychiatry residency at San Mateo Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He previously served as Medical Chief for San Mateo County BHRS (Central County Adult Psychiatry Clinic and Coastside Mental Health Clinic) and has held attending roles at Mills Health Center (Sutter), Mills-Peninsula Psychiatric Emergency Services, San Mateo Medical Center (inpatient psychiatry and psychiatric emergency), and PCPA/Lifestance (outpatient). He continues as Medical Director of The Baywood Clinic focused on adult psychiatry and metabolic health and continues to work two days per week seeing patients in a public psychiatry outpatient clinic.