Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144692 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Author
New insights on ways to optimize your brain and your life.
When your brain works right, you can work right. When your brain doesn't work right, it is very hard for you to be effective in your life.

Here is exciting new information on how your brain works, along with clear, easy steps to optimize its function.

Based on my brain imaging work with over 6,000 patinets, this book graphically shows readers that many behaviors once thought to be purely psychological in nature may actually be brain problems. ADD, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, bipolar disorder and violence can be seen in the brain, helping us to more fully understand the troubling feelings and behaviors suffered by many.

The book divides the brain into 5 "working" sections, and tells what each section does and what happens when things go wrong. For example,

PREFRONTAL CORTEX -- executive center, helps with impulse control and attention span -- ADD and impulse control problems are often found here

CINGULATE GYRUS -- helps you shift attention, and move from thought to thought -- OCD, worriers and people who have problems with opposition and argumentativeness have problems here

LIMBIC SYSTEM -- controls mood, bonding and smell -- problems include depression, social isolation and loss of libido

BASAL GANGLIA -- sets the body's idle or anxiety level -- problems include panic, anxiety, fearfulness and conflict avoidance

TEMPORAL LOBES -- memory, mood stability, temper control -- problems include memory problems, erratic moods, and temper problems

Understanding brain function on a deeper level allows scientists to recommend more targeted treatments. Based on our imaging work, the book is filled with brain prescriptions geared to optimize brain function. These are the same prescriptions I give patients in my clinic in Fairfield, California. They are practical and include nutritional strategies, behavioral interventions, appropriate medications, and cognitive exercises.

My belief is that this book shows how psychiatry will be practiced 10 -15 years from now. It also gives practical advice on how to optimize brain function and subsequently optimize your life.

Customer Reviews

In the past 3 weeks I have lived the title of this book.
I read this book three weeks ago and am performing as an actor in a stage musical for the first time in over a decade. I have to admit that I first took it from the shelf in the "new books" section of the library because it struck me as having (my apologies to the designer) the ugliest cover I had ever seen! In spite of my having been on Prozac since 1996, I have experienced continual mental problems which resulted in periods of severe depression. The first sentence on the inside cover grabbed me: "Do you panic at the thought of walking into a room full of people you don't know?" I checked out the book. I am, as I write this, in the process of ordering my own copy and one to send to my sister. I am a 45 year old male teacher/ actor/writer. I hold a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater Arts and have previously made my living as a working actor as well as having had books, plays and songs published since 1976. My spouse of twelve years died in 1994. Suicidal, I returned to my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, after living fifteen years in New York City and Los Angeles. I have not been able to work on a regular basis since. Going back on stage and working as an actor was not even a consideration. Since 1995, I have only been successful at doing sporadic tutorial work with English Composition students at local colleges and universities.

The suicidal tendencies I was suffering stopped with the administration of Prozac, but I have spent the past two and one-half years wondering what was wrong with me because I could not focus long enough to complete any of the dozens of projects I would start. I had no patience and could not even keep still long enough to attend a film. I have been in grief counseling during this period, but have not seen a psychiatrist (poor insurance). Fortunately, my regular physician is very receptive and listens to his patients.

I did not know adults suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. I thought it was something children suffered but outgrew (I have no children, but have four out of nine neices and nephews on Ritalin). I took the test for Cingulate problems at the end of Chapter 9 in Dr. Amen's book by asking myself what I had been like, before I began taking Prozac, compared to my present state of mind. I went from almost all 3s and 4s, indicating serious problems with worry and obsessiveness, to 0s, 1s, and 2s. This was an obviously improved state, and very much in line with Dr. Amen's findings. I read the entire book in two nights, and did the remaining four checklists. I had very few 3s and 4s with the exception of a huge majority of those numbers on the Prefrontal Cortex Checklist. Not only did I discover adults can have ADD, but that there may be a genetic tendency. I spoke with my Mother who said the pediatrician had her give my brother and myself coffee in the early sixties before sending us to school and it seemed to help, to a small extent, with our behavioral problems. I immediately made an appointment with my doctor and showed him where Dr. Amen had used the combination of Prozac and Ritalin. He prescribed Adderall and I began to see results in only two or three days. My doctor immediately ordered a copy of the book from Amazon.com. He was going to have his daughter read it. Her son is on Ritalin. She is on Prozac, but suffers many of the same problems I described.

I began taking the Adderall with the Prozac three weeks ago. During that time I have submitted lyrics to the composer with whom I had written songs, but not been in touch for several years. I have completed a play upon which I began working in 1992, and it is being produced at the local University in May.. I had been offered a number of stage roles by local directors since my return to Birmingham, but turned them down. As previously mentioned, I have just agreed to perform in a musical this summer for the first time since 1988.

Dr. Amen offers many, many suggestions for ways to change your brain and your life which have nothing to do with prescription medication, but he convinced me to explore every possible avenue available, without any of the reservations I originally had about going on Prozac. Just knowing my debilitaions can be physiological instead of "all in my head" has made me view my total self differently than at any time since realizing I was "different" around the age of twelve years. I have, at this point in time, had the most productive, fulfilling three weeks of my adult, possibly entire, life. I am literally able to maintain a peace of mind I truly believed impossible.

Dr. Amen's writing style is most accessible to the "lay-reader". The book is a blessing. Anyone who has ever doubted his or her "sanity" should read this work, and find a doctor willing to listen to its message!

Very interesting and insightful.
This is a well written book and did not bog me down like some self-help books that I have read in the past. The information seems very practical and pertinent.

Fascinating and useful!
If you've doubted that psychological difficulties can be quantified physiologically, read Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. The brain scan results are impressive and suggest that mental imbalances can be treated by a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication and nutritional changes. Particularly fascinating is the evidence that people prone to angry outbursts, irrational behavior and violence (in short, behavior that is typically associated with the delinquent or criminal personality) can be treated effectively, as can those prone to lesser disturbances.

If you or anyone you know suffers from depression; anxiety; obsessive-compulsive disorder; manic depression; attention deficit disorder; severe premenstrual syndrome; alcohol or drug abuse; poor impulse control; suicidal or homicidal thoughts; or angry or violent outbursts, read this book. If you're already being treated for one of these conditions, read this book and share it with your therapist. It will give you a good idea of what is happening to you physiologically and outline potential treatment options. In that numerous treatment protocols are discussed for various mental imbalances, this book is both helpful and hopeful.

Note that this book should be useful for mental health professionals as well as for their patients. The brain scans are compelling, and the author does a good job of detailing numerous medications, cognitive-behavioral therapies and nutritional approaches to treating psychological problems.