Here is an email from my friend Roberta Morgan on our recent conference and her before and after brain. Enjoy!
On December 3, the first day of Dr. Amen’s conference, I remained in Haddonfield to prounounce the death of a very dear patient. My condolences go out to the entire family, most of whom I have the priviledge of tendering. Please know you are in my heart and prayers.
Then, I dashed off to Virginia. Thank you Donna, my wonderful assistant who had a GPS, or I may still be rotating the beltway — around and around.
My patients know I have been studying the work of Daniel Amen, MD who is a neuropsychiatrist in California. You also know that the brain is my favorite organ, and that if the speciality of psychiatry was a bit more quantifiable, I would have been a psychiatrist. I actually started a Ph.D. program at Hahnemahn Medical College before deciding to attend medical school.
Dr. Amen had the amazing vision and courage to do brain scans about l5 years ago. I heard of Dr. Amen\’s work regarding the six types of ADD while listening to a lecture en route to office hours at the beach.
I thought it was fascinating that there could be six kinds of ADD, while I was taught that there was one type! I wonder what else I don\’t know about my favorite organ– the brain. We are our brain, as Dr. Amen says in his 22 books, all of which I have read. FYI, his 23rd is due in 2009. After listening to his lecture, I wondered what the heck he was talking about regarding brain scans, called a SPECT scan, which could tell you which parts of your brain were underworking, working well, or overworking. This information tweaked my fascination button and motivated me to revisit my original training in psychology.
After studying Dr. Amen\’s work for two years, I had my first brain scan in February 2007. If my plan is to be a healthy centenarian, and to see patients and ride my bike on the boardwalk the day I die — I should invest some time and revenue on my brain. I want to be the best I can be for myself, my family, patients, and ‘my’ lucky guy in the future.
There were about 50 physicians, mostly psychiatrists and neurologists. And me–Integrative Medicine Woman. Heretofore, I thought practicing Integrative Medicine was the top of the mountain. Dr. Amen’s conference helped my brain change once again. Perhaps Integrative Neuropsychiatry is the most panoramic way of doing all we can to help our patients. I always ask myself, “did I do all I could do for my patient?”
Aging is a beautiful thing. Especially if we are able to change, adjust, realign, unlearn, relearn…..I believe this is part of having sprezzatora – which in Italian means “effortless grace”. A fluid brain, able to grasp new ideas which may have been formerly foreign, is a beautiful thing.
In nearly two decades I have become really decent at getting my patients lean, hormonally balanced, immunoenhanced, regenerated, energized, having Dr. Oz bowel evacuations, limiting their number of medications, sleeping with pleasant dreams, regaining libido and memory, and becoming involved in their most precious asset — their health.
After studying Dr. Amen’s work, I realized I did a good job until I got to the tippy top — our brains. Many of you come to me on multiple psychotropic medications. Then I felt mildly frustrated, because my sense was you were not properly tucked in, as I call it. Your brains are so beautiful, and I thought there must be something I am missing. I thought, “would the hormones, nutrition, and all the other stuff we do work better if the brain was functioning optimally?”
So, finally, I was off to the Dr. Amen conference to read brain scans, to get ANOTHER brain scan, revisit psychiatry, and to meet many amazing physicians who are courageously seeking new information.
I was happier than a child at a birthday party, and I learned more than I expected. Medicine is my passion and I love learning. So does Dr. Amen. He graciously shared his knowledge of psychiatry, life, and his journey into the future of psychiatry with some quantification. Dr. Amen was interested in the hormonal modulation and nutritional biochemistry we presently do. Of course, he is a thinker. As were the physicians who were in attendance.
Having a man, whom you respect so very much, read your repeat brain scan takes amazing courage. Thank God I have courage. My brain was much more beautiful than the previous brain scan. The point is that our brains can heal. What an enlightening piece of knowledge.
I ballroom danced until three this morning. Dancing brings me such joy, and hemispheric synchronicity. International ballroom dancing is done with bodies totally connected.
This has something to do with the SPECT so stay with me please. The woman does not move until the man leads. The man is totally in charge, and my leg and body may not move until I feel my partner’s leg and body lead me. This training was worth watching Pollyanna times ten to the sixth power plus infinity. And I don’t have to wear a helmet!
My ballroom partner is Sergei and he has been kind over the years waiting for me to allow him to lead. Please stop laughing as I tell you I previously had difficulty following. My brain is getting so much better at surrendering, being in the now, not thinking — something Sergei calls being in the white room. Sergie wanted to know what happened to my brain after my scan last year. He said I started to follow, our lessons were embalazoned in my neuronal circuitry much more quickly, I was quiet, I was in the NOW — but still funny. We speak conversational Russian so explaining SPECT is a tad complicated. But Sergie realized we did something amazing. That is a beautiful thing.
I am grateful that your spunk, your mind, your passion for my favorite organ — entered our interconnected universe.
Your med head pal,
Roberta
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You are not telling us what Dr. Morgan did to improve her brainscan!!
Awesome! Dancing to make a better brain!
You are brave- and I thank you for putting yourself and experience out there!
Amazing…I’m excited about the changes and advancements that are being made in understanding the amazing BRAIN!
I always feel better after dancing – it’s a magic cure for me.
I would love to have Dr. Amen do my 11 year old daughters’ brain scan, as she is a complicated mystery to every doctor. We must have found at least a partial answer, as the sixth medication she tried for her lack of focus/attention problems combined with seizure disorder and high functioning autism (although I’m not sure it’s the right diagnosis even still after all these years and doctors) has atleast allowed her to function in a more normal manner at school. She’s four years behind in academics, but is finally learning to read.
Many books and lectures on Social Effects of learning disabilities have helped me to finally find one little “best” friend for her. I’d love to be able to help her with all the new technologies and cutting edge information…it’s why I buy a lotto ticket every week!
I think I missed the punchline…Were you purposely doing something different to change your brain between the first and second brain scans? Yes, you are brave!
Roberta:
I enjoy reading your letter, so much! Laughing, Dancing and Memories are excellent to enhance our brain. I laughed a lot and with your letter and it made me recall how much I enjoy Flamenco dance. Dancing the Sevillanas makes you feel good !!!
I want to thank you, all the way from the island of Puerto Rico.
PAZ, Melissa
I am not a professional writer, so the fact that you may have missed the punchline is important information for me as I am writing my second book. I thank you.
The purpose of the post was not to disclose the multitudinous things that I did to improve my brain. After the scan, mediciations are added or discontinued, depending on the results. However, there are many other changes a patient needs to make to heal their brain. Personally, I changed about twenty things in my life between the first and second brain scan.
Treating with the proper medications is globally important, but it will not get the ball over the net. Improving anyone’s brain requires good nutrition, pharmaceutical grade/molecularly distilled fish oil (on this issue alone, we could have a three hour discussion), quality sleep, healthy relationships, a passion for your work, physical exercise which you enjoy, biofeedback, becoming conscious…….the list goes on. And, of course, the proper medication is essential.
The point of my newsletter is that healing the brain is possible, and that there are physicians who are brave enough to think differently.
Thank you for your post.
Thanks Anna for asking the question – Im ASSUMING that Dr. Morgan was taking the supplements recommended by Dr. Amen based on her first brain scan and/OR she was doing exercises also recommended based on the data of her first brain scan. I am interpreting that the ability to ballroom dance was an outcome of her healed brain.
I’d love to know what changes you made between the first and second brain scan.