Change Your Brain, Change Your Life and Healing ADD by Dr. Daniel Amen
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life | Healing ADD | ...more Daniel Amen Books
Change Your Brain,
Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for
Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger,
and Impulsiveness
by Daniel G. Amen
How the brain works - or doesn't!
Dr. Amen's fascinating book describes the brain functions
of five separate areas of the human brain and tells what
personality and behavioral changes occur when an area
is overactive or underactive. Separate chapters describe
each part of the brain and how it functions--or malfunctions,
followed by a chapter which gives a broad range of advice
for normalizing that part of the brain, including helpful
medications, alternative therapies such as herbs and proper
breathing, and activities such as thought control and
exercise. Sure, you've heard that proper diet, exercise,
deep breathing and meditation are good for you. Dr. Amen
gives specific non-medical "prescriptions" so
you can do what works best for the part of the brain you
need to address.
Seeing is Believing
Illustrating the book are numerous brain pictures called
SPECT scans which show the differences between normal
and abnormal activity in the brain. Frequently it is seeing
their SPECT scans which will finally convince Dr. Amen's
patients that a brain malfunction is causing their problems,
and convince them to get the help they need.
ADD / ADHD
The book has extensive information about child and adult
attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) such as: ADD medications
work by stimulating the neurotransmitter dopamine, which
"helps to prevent the prefrontal cortex shutdown
that happens in ADD." Dr. Amen says that excessive
serotonin can result in lowered dopamine, leading to prefrontal
cortex underactivity which in turn causes an inability
to focus and decreased motivation. He explains that people
with ADD thrive on conflict, unconsciously creating it
to enhance their brain function! One reason why an ADD
person will stay in an abusive relationship is that they
need to have their prefrontal cortex stimulated. (Change
Your Brain, Change Your Life and Healing
ADD, below, would make a great attention deficit disorder
gifts for someone you love.)
Obsessive Behavior
Dr. Amen discusses behavioral disorders such as obsessive
behaviors, including obsessive compulsive disorder, obsessive
thinking, obsessive eating, and obsessive defiant disorder,
and explains how overactivity in the cingulate gyrus can
cause this type of behavior. He also makes a connection
between ADD, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's
Syndrome.
Emotional Behaviors
Anxiety, fear, depression, anger, and road rage are also
covered. There is information on impulsive behaviors and
compulsive behaviors such as compulsive gambling. One
chapter is dedicated to the effects of drug and alcohol
abuse--how various brain imbalances can lead to abuse
and how abuse can lead to imbalances or further imbalance
an already challenged brain.
Improving Home and Workplace
Throughout the book there are explanations to help you
understand and support your loved ones and co-workers
who have an imbalance, and suggestions for helping them
achieve a healthier state.
Better Brain Function = Better Relationships
My favorite chapter covers relationship problems--how
they can be caused by one or both people having abnormal
brain function--and gives practical relationship advice
for restoring intimacy and smoother functioning in troubled
relationships. In this chapter Dr. Amen stresses the importance
of bonding, building positive memories, and the positive
affects of smell on the limbic system, which "sets
the emotional tone of the mind." There are sections
on improving function in each of the five areas of the
brain in order to enhance relationships. I would buy
the book for this chapter alone. It's a gem!
-Editor, The Healing Arts, Homosassa
Some quotes from Change
Your Brain, Change Your Life:
"Using the new imaging technology...patients and
their families were able to "see" the underlying
brain problems that were driving their emotional and behavioral
symptoms. Rather than blame themselves for having a weak
character or a "mental illness," they were able
to more clearly understand the origins of their struggles
and get the right help with more targeted, more effective
treatment."
-Introduction to the Paperback Edition (linked above)
"Your brain is the hardware of your soul. It is
the hardware of your very essence as a human being. You
cannot be who your really want to be unless your brain
works right."
-Introduction
"The deep limbic system...directly processes the
sense of smell. The olfactory system is the only one of
the five sensory systems that goes from the sensory organ
to directly where it is processed in the brain...Because
your sense of smell goes directly to the deep limbic system,
it is easy to see why smells can have such a powerful
impact on our feeling states [emotions]."
-Chapter 3: Looking Into Love and Depression
Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex:
- attention span
- perseverance
- judgment
- impulse control
- organization
- self-monitoring and supervision
- problem solving
- critical thinking
- forward thinking
- learning from experience
- ability to feel and express emotions
- interaction with the limbic system
- empathy
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Problems With the Prefrontal
Cortex:
- short attention span
- distractibility
- lack of perseverance
- impulse control problems
- hyperactivity
- chronic lateness, poor time management
- disorganization
- procrastination
- unavailability of emotions
- misperceptions
- poor judgment
- trouble learning from experience
- short-term memory problems
- social and test anxiety
|
-Chapter 7: Looking
Into Inattention and Impulsivity: The Prefrontal
Cortex |
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Healing ADD:
The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal
the Six Types of Attention Deficit Disorder
by Daniel Amen M.D.
Hard, visual data make a compelling case for the existence
of attention deficit disorder (ADD) in this pioneering
work by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Using a nuclear medicine
technique called "single photon emission computed
tomography" (SPECT)--a controversial step, according
to some of his peers--Dr. Amen scans patients' brains
to identify various abnormalities. From more than 8,000
such studies and more than 12,000 patient evaluations,
Dr. Amen concludes that six--not the formerly presumed
two--different types of ADD exist. This book encompasses
the full spectrum of Dr. Amen's work: from symptom identification
to clinical evaluation, to diet and medication recommendations,
to everyday strategies for living with ADD (whether the
reader is a parent of an ADD child, or has been diagnosed
with the disease.)
No stranger to the skepticism surrounding this topic,
Dr. Amen begins with a list of dead-on myths (including
"ADD is overdiagnosed") and surprising facts
("Many people with ADD are never hyperactive").
From this intriguing beginning flows a highly readable
chapter on the signs and manifestations of ADD in all
ages. Dr. Amen's full description of SPECT imaging includes
multiple brain scan photos that nicely support his theories.
But the most satisfying element of this well-researched
presentation occurs in the final half of the book; here,
Amen thoroughly explores the biological (diet, exercise,
medication), psychological (from personal coaching to
psychotherapy), and social support (parenting and school
strategies) needed to heal each type of ADD. This book
will prove a valuable tool for parents, adult sufferers,
and medical professionals seeking practical support for
managing this increasingly recognized condition.
-Liane Thomas, Amazon.com
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