Dr. Daniel Amen - How to Optimize Your Brain Health to Improve Your Well-being

How to Optimize Your Brain Health to Improve Your Well-being!!!

 

Today’s guest on the show is Dr. Daniel Amen. He is a physician, double board-certified psychiatrist, twelve-time New York Times bestselling author, and founder and CEO of Amen Clinics, with 9 locations across the United States.

 

Amen Clinics has the world’s largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 170,000 scans on patients from 150 countries.  Dr. Amen’s research team has published more than 80 scientific articles and Discover Magazine named his research as one of the Top Stories in Science for 2015.  Dr. Amen has also written, produced, and hosted 15 national public television shows about the brain that have aired over 125,000 times across North America. He is widely regarded as a gifted teacher.

 

Addiction, suicide and other mental health issues-are on the rise thanks to the pandemic and I wanted to get Dr. Amen on the show to talk about what the path forward is, if there is one. He said that early in the pandemic anxiety medication prescriptions were up 34% and fears they are much higher now.

 

He talks about why need to start by reducing the stigma and addressing mental illness as a brain issue and not a mental health issue. We also discuss what actually works to calm the brain when it’s in a heightened state of anxiety and how to overcome negative thoughts for good. One of the most fascinating things we discussed is his new revolutionary 12 step program that addresses the physical health of the brain which is part of his newest book Your Brain is Always Listening: Tame the Hidden Dragons that control your happiness, habits and hangups that is available for pre sale now and officially on sale on Tuesday March 2nd. 

 

Topics discussed:

 

Difference between mental illness and brain health issues

 

What are the few things that people tend to do to kind of get them on a path that leads them to having an optimal brain health?

 

Does vaping and smoking cigarettes give people’s brains the same response as what drugs do, based on Dr. Amen’s research?

 

The inspiration behind Dr. Amen’s new book

 

The reason why he used “dragons” as a representation in his latest book

 

Side effects of the anxiety medication

 

How changing habits can affect brain health

 

The best practices that Dr. Amen talked about in the book that can help people stop the automatic negative thoughts

 

The effects of social media in people’s brain

 

The importance of addressing the physical brain to improve brain health

 

Dr. Amen’s 12 step program

 

Things that actually work to calm the brain when it's in a heightened state

Takeaways:

 

“I have always hated the term mental illness. I would never want to be diagnosed with a mental illness. It shames people, it stigmatizes people, and it's wrong.” - Dr. Daniel Amen

 

The most psychiatric issues are not mental health issues at all. They’re brain health issues.

 

The real reason not to use drugs is they damage your brain. If they damage your brain, they damage everything in your life.

 

Discipline doesn't mean to beat your mind. It just means to teach your mind, and to train your mind.

 

If you don't admit you have a problem. You can't do anything to solve it. But you are not the problem.

 

Once you learn how to be healthy, you have to share it, because it is in the act of giving you create your own support group, making it more likely you're gonna stay on the program forever.

 

Life is complicated. That's why God gave us a big brain so that we can manage it.

 

You are not your mind.

Connect with Dr. Daniel Amen:

 

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Brain-Always-Listening-Happiness/dp/1496438205

 

Website: https://danielamenmd.com/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doc_amen/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drdanielamen

 

Get his new book here:

 

www.yourbrainisalwayslistening.com

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