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Praise for Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
“Cutting edge technology, clinical wisdom, and heart-
felt guidance come together to create a ‘user’s manual
for enhancing the human brain.’ Dr. Amen offers sim-
ple, direct, and immediately applicable prescriptions
that can change anyone’s life.”
—Emmett E. Miller, M.D., author of Deep Healing
The Essence of Mind/Body Medicine
“ Change Your Brain, Change Your Life is a pioneering
book. Dr. Amen provides clear and convincing evidence
that many behavioral disorders formerly considered
psychological actually have a biological basis. Through
the lens of exciting new brain imaging techniques, you
can see what depression, anxiety, temper, impulsive-
ness, and obsession actually look like in the brain. He
gives many practical suggestions for overcoming these
problems, and gives many tools for optimizing the brain
and improving life.”
—Rob Kohn, D.O., psychiatrist and neurologist,
University of Illinois at Chicago
“Dr. Amen’s groundbreaking work will forever change
the fi elds of psychiatry and psychology. A healthy brain
is prerequisite to a healthy life. Dr. Amen provides a
practical guide.”
—Earl Henslin, Ph.D., author of You Are Your
Father’s Daughter and Man to Man: Helping Fathers
Relate to Sons and Sons Relate to Fathers
“This book is brilliant. Dr. Amen is a pioneer.”
—Jonathan Walker, M.D., psychiatrist
“Dr. Amen’s exquisite documentation of brain function
is a unique contribution to this rapidly developing fi eld.
However, he adds a remarkable twist: dozens of ‘how to
help’ suggestions for patients and parents. This book is
by far the most complete and specifi c compendium of
suggestions patients and parents may learn and follow
to assist their own personal recovery efforts.”
—Corydon Clark, M.D., psychiatrist
Change Your Brain,
Change Your Life
The Breakthrough Program for Conquering
Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness,
Anger, and Impulsiveness
DANIEL G. AMEN, M.D.
T H R E E R I V E R S P R E S S
N E W Y O R K
With the exception of my nephew Andrew, Willie Williams, and
others who gave their express permission, I have changed the names
and identifying characteristics of all the patients described in this
book.
Copyright © 1998 by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York. Member of
the Crown Publishing Group.
Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
www.randomhouse.com
THREE RIVERS PRESS is a registered trademark and the Three
Rivers Press colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover and paperback by Times Books in
1998.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Amen,
Daniel G.
Change your brain, change your life : the breakthrough program for
conquering anxiety, depression, obsessiveness, anger, and
impulsiveness / by Daniel G. Amen
Includes index
1. Mental illness—Physiological aspects. 2. Brain—Pathophysiology.
3. Neuropsychiatry—Popular works. 4. Mental illness—
Chemotherapy.
I. Title.
RC455.4.B5A429 2000
616.89—dc21 99-20343
eISBN: 978-0-307-45333-4
v1.0
To Andrew,
who taught me how important it is
to continue to do this work
and to tell the world about it .
vi
Acknowledgments
So many people have been involved in the pro-
cess of creating this book. I am grateful to my
agent, Faith Hamlin, whose wisdom and love
helped focus and nourish the book. I also feel
blessed to have Betsy Rapoport as my editor at
Times Books. She truly understood the signifi -
cance of this book and helped me present the
ideas in a clear, accessible way. Also, I very
much appreciate the staff at Times Books, who
have been deeply committed to this project.
This book would not have been possible
without the staff at the Amen Clinic. From
the front-offi ce staff to the staff clinicians I
consider these people part of my family and
feel grateful to have their love, dedication,
knowledge, and wisdom. I am especially grate-
ful to Shelley Bernhard, the clinic manager,
who keeps all of us on track; to Lucinda Til-
ley, my assistant, who prepared all the images
in the book and spent many hours in research;
to Bob Gessler, who is always willing to help
and pitch in; and to the forward-thinking staff
physicians and clinical staff, Stanley Yantis,
Jennifer Lendl, Jonathan Scott Halverstadt,
Ronnette Leonard, Lewis Van Osdel, Cecil
Oakes, Matthew Stubblefield, Ed Spencer,
Brian Goldman, Jane Massengill, Lloyd King,
and Cora Davidson.
In addition, I so much appreciate my friends
and colleagues Earl Henslin, Sheila Krystal,
and Linda and Leon Webber for reading the
manuscript and giving feedback.
Finally, my gratitude and love go to my fam-
ily, who have lived through my brain research
for the past ten years. I know that many times
they were tired of listening about the brain
and SPECT imaging but nonetheless loved
me anyway and gave me the limbic connect-
edness necessary to live and make a difference
in the lives of others.
Acknowledgments
vii
Contents
Acknowledgments
vi
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
xi
Introduction
3
1. For Those Who Have Eyes, Let Them See
31
Images into the Mind
2. Carving Knives and Tooth Fairies
48
A Prelude to the Brain and Behavior
3. Looking Into Love and Depression
72
The Deep Limbic System
4. Enhancing Positive Thought Patterns and
Strengthening Connections
108
Deep Limbic System Prescriptions
5. Looking Into Anxiety and Fear
165
The Basal Ganglia
6. Mastering Fear
194
Basal Ganglia Prescriptions
7. Looking Into Inattention and Impulsivity
221
The Prefrontal Cortex
8. Becoming Focused
266
Prefrontal Cortex Prescriptions
ix
9. Looking Into Worry and Obsessiveness
299
The Cingulate System
10. Getting Unstuck
340
Cingulate System Prescriptions
11. Looking Into Memory and Temper 370
The Temporal Lobes
12. Enhancing Experience
404
Temporal Lobe Prescriptions
13. The Dark Side
419
Violence: A Combination of Problems
14. Brain Pollution
445
The Impact of Drugs and Alcohol on the Brain
15. The Missing Links
484
Drugs, Violence, and the Brain
16. I Love You and I Hate You, Touch Me,
No, Don’t, Whatever
506
Brain Patterns That Interfere with Intimacy
17. Help!
555
When and How to Seek Professional Care
18. Who Is Andrew Really?
587
Questions About the Essence of Our Humanity
19. Brain Dos and Brain Don’ts
594
A Summary of Ways to Optimize Brain Function
and Break Bad Brain Habits
Appendix: Medication Notes
603
Bibliography
615
Index
627
About the Author
647
x
Contents
xi
Introduction to the Paperback
Edition
Since Change Your Brain, Change Your Life was
fi rst published in January 1999, my clinic, the
Amen Clinic for Behavioral Medicine, has
had an overwhelming response from people in
the United States, Canada, and even Europe.
We have seen adults, teenagers, and children
as young as three years old who suffered with
depression, anxiety problems, aggression,
attention deficit disorder, bipolar disorder,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-trau-
matic stress disorder. Using the new imaging
technology, these patients and their families
were able to “see” the underlying brain prob-
lems 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.
All of us at the clinic have been so incredibly
gratifi ed to fi nd that the book has had such a
positive impact on people’s lives. Three experi-
ences from our clinic highlight how helpful this
book has already been to many, many people,
and how it might help you as well.
In early February 1999, I was sitting at my
imaging computer screen reading brain scans
when Dr. George Lewis, one of the psychia-
trists in my clinic, brought in a patient who
had fl own in from the Midwest to meet me.
The man, in his late fi fties, introduced him-
self to me with tears in his eyes. On January
14, he’d decided to kill himself. He’d been
feeling very depressed, unable to get along
with anyone, and hobbled by a terrible tem-
per. And he had no hope that things would
change, despite seeing a psychiatrist and tak-
ing medication. He was lying in bed
contemplating the best way to commit sui-
cide when by coincidence his girlfriend
turned on the Today show while I happened
to be on, discussing my book. He watched
me explain the brain scans of a person diag-
xii
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
nosed with depression and anger. He heard
me say that there was hope for people who
suffered from these problems, that many
“psychological problems” are in reality brain
problems, and that through new imaging
techniques we can see many of them and
create more targeted and effective treat-
ments. This patient went out and bought the
book, did the checklists, and discovered that
he probably had a left temporal lobe problem
(which is where his anger came from), a deep
limbic system problem (causing his depres-
sion), and a prefrontal cortex problem (which
gave him attentional and impulse control
problems).
He decided to come to my clinic on his own.
As part of our evaluation we ordered a brain
SPECT study. He had predicted his own scan
perfectly. He had very poor activity in his left
temporal lobe, too much activity in his deep
limbic system, and poor prefrontal cortex
activity. We often see this scan in patients who
have clinical symptoms of depression, anger,
suicidal behavior, and attentional problems.
Dr. Lewis put him on a combination of medi-
cations and followed him closely over the
telephone. Within three weeks, this man had
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
xiii
