Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness

Written by a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has also authored a book on attention deficit disorder, Change Your Brain contains dozens of brain scans of patients with various neurological problems, from caffeine, nicotine, and heroin addiction to manic-depression to epilepsy. These scans, often showing large gaps in neurological activity or areas of extreme overactivity, are downright frightening to look at, and Dr. Amen should know better than to resort to such scare tactics. But he should also be commended for advocating natural remedies, including deep breathing, guided imagery, meditation, self-hypnosis, and biofeedback for treating disorders that are so frequently dealt with by prescription only.

Dr. Amen was a welcomed guest on my Internet radio program, Coping with Caregiving.

Jacqueline Marcell, Author, Elder Rage


Your Brain on TOAST!   January 30, 2004
Lynn Magdalene (Altadena, CA United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Fascinating book, looking at physiological and functional problems in the brain due to trauma or drug use (both legal and illegal) - the SPECT images are *scary* !! Useful for self-examination as well as understanding odd behavioral patterns in others.


A fine book   November 2, 2003
LostBoyinNC (NC United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Dr. Daniel Amen, MD is a pioneer in the up and coming technology of functional neuroimaging. Using SPECT scans, functional MRI and PET scans Neuro oriented psychiatrists such as Dr. Amen are finally beginning to be able to see in images what mental illness looks like. Thanks to the computer and high technology, this sort of thing is possible for the first time ever.

Dr. Amen should be commended for his vision and imagination. He is trying to go against the grain of mainstream psychiatry by trying to improve diagnosis of serious mental illness via SPECT scans. This is a courageous thing that takes grit and guts. He is, for the first time ever trying to get psychiatry to actually look at the brain to diagnose.

This book takes Amen's experience with functional neuroimaging and allows him to make recommendations other psychiatrists cant really do. Because Amen diagnoses so differently, it can result in more precise and individualized psychiatric diagnosis, with more personalized treatment plans. Only SPECT scans can provide this sort of approach.

Read this book and demand that psychiatric services in your area begin incorporating functional neuroimaging into their diagnostic procedures. You will probably be impressed by the results.


Change your brain for the better   March 28, 2003
Avery Z. Conner (West Lafayette, IN)
This is a pretty good book that appeals to the broad audience of just about anyone who has suffered from at least mild mental distress, and that includes about everyone. I agree with the doctor's philosophy that most mental disturbances can be attributed to metabolic abnormalities in different regions of the brain, though there's nothing too earthshaking about this idea. Many of the cognitive therapy excercises seem to be derived from ideas that Aaron Beck and David Burns have had, though the doctor does a good job summarizing and presenting these ideas in a practical, easy to use manner. This book also is not anti-medication, in spite of presenting these non-medication methods for improving mental health. Overall, a good read for anyone suffering from any type of mild mental distress. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".


After I read this....   December 26, 2002
dean_from_sa (Plano,TX)
This book will make you want to change your brain! Surrendering caffeine was my answer. I would consume coffee or even caffeine pills to get going in the morning. I have surrendered these after reading the good doctor's book. I still consume it in lower doses but have reduced my gross intake considerably. I feel it has made a considerable difference for me. Perhaps it will for you as well.

The book presents the results of what was groundbreaking scanning techniques for studying brain function. Dr. Amen compares the brain function of ADHD, chemical abusers and "normal" brains. The images create a visable difference and that is where the Dr. develops his conclusions.