It’s Official! 2021 is the Year of Better Brain Health
It’s that time of year again when you write down your New Year’s resolutions. You may have the best intentions, but let’s be real. Research shows that by February, nearly half of all resolutions have fallen flat. Whatever your 2021 goals are—“get in shape,” “start a business,” “stop smoking,” “be more focused,” “stop feeling so depressed and anxious”— there’s one foundational factor that will help you achieve it: better brain health. In fact, the only resolution that really matters is making a commitment to love and care for your brain.
Whatever your 2021 goals are—“lose weight,” “start a business,” “stop smoking,” “be more focused,” “stop feeling so depressed and anxious”— there’s one foundational factor that will help you achieve it: better brain health.
Here are 7 reasons why better brain health will help you stick with your resolutions, so you can achieve your dreams and handle whatever 2021 throws at you.
1. Your brain is involved in everything you do.
How you think, how you feel, how you act, and how well you get along with other people has to do with the moment-by-moment functioning of your brain. If you want to think faster, feel better, act more appropriately in any situation, and interact better with others to avoid relationship problems, you need a better brain. 2021 resolution: Make brain optimization a priority.2. When your brain works right, you work right. When your brain is troubled, you have trouble in your life.
When your brain is healthy, you tend to be effective, thoughtful, creative, and energetic—all of which help you stay on track to achieve your resolutions. When your brain is troubled—for whatever reason—you’re much more likely to have problems in your life, including issues with depression, anxiety, impulsivity, anger, inflexibility, and memory. Brain dysfunction, even when subtle, gets in the way of your ability to be successful in realizing your New Year’s goals. 2021 resolution: Assess areas of your life that are going well and areas that aren’t going well.3. Your brain is the most complicated organ in the universe.
With about 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) and about another 100 billion support cells, your brain has more connections than there are stars in the universe. Your brain accounts for only 2% of your body’s weight, yet it uses 20 to 30% of the calories you consume and 20% of the oxygen and blood flow in your body. 2021 resolution: Fuel your brain with foods that enhance its function.4. Your brain is soft, and it is housed in a very hard skull.
Your brain is about the consistency of soft butter, and it floats inside your head in a bath of cerebrospinal fluid. Inside your skull, there are sharp bony ridges that can easily damage your brain. Any head injury—even if you don’t blackout—can damage your brain and impact your ability to achieve your goals. 2021 resolution: Protect your brain. Wear a helmet when biking or skiing, don’t hit soccer balls with your head and be careful when climbing ladders.5. Know what hurts your brain and what helps it.
Many things are harmful to the brain, including low blood flow, lack of new learning, inflammation, head trauma, exposure to environmental toxins, infections and immune system problems, hormonal imbalances, being overweight and diabetic, and lack of sleep. 2021 resolution: Avoid the things that hurt your brain and do the things that help it.6. All “psychiatric illnesses” are not single or simple disorders. They all have multiple types that require their own treatments.
Taking a one-size-fits-all approach to treating mental health issues invites repeated failure and frustration. Depression, for example, is a symptom not an illness. The brain imaging work at Amen Clinics has identified:- 7 types of anxiety and depression
- 7 types of ADD/ADHD
- 6 types of addicts
- 5 types of overeaters
