When was the last time your stomach reacted before your mind caught up?
Maybe anxiety made you feel nauseated. Maybe excitement gave you butterflies. Or maybe stress tied your gut in knots.
Those sensations are not imaginary. They are biological.
Science is increasingly confirming what you have likely felt for years: gut health and mental health are deeply connected. Your digestive system and your brain are in constant communication through what researchers call the gut-brain axis. This two-way messaging system helps explain why digestive problems often show up alongside anxiety, depression, brain fog, and mood swings.
In this blog, we’ll break down what the gut-brain axis is, how the gut microbiome influences mental health, signs of a healthy versus unhealthy gut, and practical ways to improve gut health to support better mood, focus, and emotional resilience.
A diverse, balanced gut microbiome supports emotional resilience. But disruptions caused by poor diet, stress, antibiotics, or illness can negatively impact mood, sleep, and focus, leading to emotional and cognitive challenges.
In simple terms, the gut-brain axis is the communication system between the gut and the brain. These two areas of the body are connected through:
These areas engage in bidirectional communication, from the brain to the gut, and from the gut to the brain. It’s no surprise that researchers are increasingly finding that the gut microbiome health and mental health are closely linked.
A diverse, balanced gut microbiome supports emotional resilience and reduces inflammation. But disruptions, which can be caused by poor diet, stress, antibiotics, or illness, can negatively impact mood, sleep, and focus, leading to emotional and cognitive challenges.
Related: Gut Health and Mental Stability
With the gut constantly “talking” to your brain, maintaining a healthy gut is critical for healthy brain function and a sound mind. For optimal health, the gut needs an abundance of healthy bacteria. Specifically, the gut needs roughly 85 percent beneficial bacteria, with harmful bacteria making up no more than about 15 percent in order to maintain good health overall. For years, research has noted the strong link between microbiota, mood, and mental health.
Your brain relies on an intricate system of chemical messengers that affect everything from mood to memory: neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters play a key role in both gut and mental health. Interestingly, your gut microflora have a key part in synthesizing neurotransmitters and influencing critical hormones. For example, certain beneficial gut bacteria produce calming neurotransmitters, such as GABA, while others influence cortisol levels and the body’s stress response.
Neurotransmitters may serve several roles, including ones tied to your mental health. For example, serotonin (often called the “feel-good” neurotransmitter) influences mood, digestion, sleep, and cardiovascular function. Higher serotonin levels are linked to happiness and emotional well-being.
Meanwhile, the neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in about 65 percent of the brain’s decision-making process, thanks to its important role in motivation and achieving goals. This neurochemical helps control behavior, cognition, and emotion, specifically regarding pleasure and reward.
What is the gut microbiome? The term describes the ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Gut microbiome health is dependent on bacterial diversity, while imbalances in the gut’s bacteria are associated with a variety of physical and mental health symptoms.
When there’s a microbiome imbalance, it can set off a host of problems. Chronic gut inflammation can contribute to physical health issues such as leaky gut syndrome and toxins entering the bloodstream. But it can also impact cognitive function, leading to:
Gut inflammation is linked to chronic stress and several mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), along with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism.
If you have an unhealthy gut, a variety of symptoms may affect both your physical and mental health.
The following warning signs may point to gut health issues:
Persistent and/or severe symptoms, especially if they are affecting your quality of life, are clear indicators that you need to consult a medical doctor.
Thanks to the gut-brain axis, gut health issues are often connected to brain health (and therefore mental health) and vice versa.
Research from 2023 noted that disruption of the gut’s microbiota (known as dysbiosis) is associated with schizophrenia, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. Because gut microbiota are involved in modulating neurotransmitters like dopamine, GABA, and glutamate, they have implications for both neuropsychological disorders and GI conditions.
Additional research published in 2023 pointed to significant evidence linking anxiety and depression disorders to gastrointestinal microbes. Stress-related conditions can also affect gut health, while GI conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) carry their own stigma and social impact. Any of these issues can diminish an individual’s quality of life.
Here are five psychiatric conditions that have been linked to the microbiome:
A growing body of evidence suggests that symptoms of anxiety are related to gut dysbiosis. A 2025 review determined that individuals with anxiety disorders often exhibit alterations in gut microbiota. These include reduced microbial diversity and fewer short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria.
A study published in 2022 analyzed microbiome diversity and depressive symptoms in more than 1,000 subjects. Findings suggested that gut microbiome composition may play a key role in the development of depression.
Increasingly, science points to a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), also called attention deficit disorder (ADD), and gut dysbiosis. A 2025 review established that differences important to key gut-brain axis pathways may contribute to the inflammation, brain functioning differences, and symptoms associated with ADHD.
A growing number of researchers are finding that the microbes that live in our gastrointestinal tract may play a role in schizophrenia. A 2022 review noted that studies have found significant differences in the gut microbiome of schizophrenic subjects compared to healthy controls. An altered microbiome is believed to contribute to the development, symptom severity, and prognosis of psychosis.
Problems in the gut are also linked to memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Several studies have explored the links between gut health, the microbiome, and Alzheimer’s.
Related: Fermented Foods: Nature’s Mental Health Booster
With so much research connecting mental health to the gut microbiome, experts are calling for more investigation into how the gut can offer a pathway to more effective treatment options.
Here are some ways to promote gut health in support of your mental well-being.
Following these recommendations may help to improve your gut health:
Of course, before making any changes to your diet, it is best to consult your primary care physician.
Movement improves digestion and encourages beneficial gut bacteria production. Any type of exercise helps, from walking and yoga to strength training and cycling. Exercise helps create a positive cycle between the gut and the rest of the body while boosting brain and mental health.
If you’ve ever felt an “upset stomach” as a result of stress, you have experienced firsthand the stress-gut connection. Research shows that stress can have short- and long-term effects on the functions of the gastrointestinal tract and alter the gut-brain axis.
To prevent the damaging effects of severe or chronic stress, implement stress management techniques such as:
Probiotic and prebiotic foods and supplements help restore the balance of healthy gut bacteria.
For example, fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, unsweetened yogurt, kefir, kombucha tea, and miso soup, contain live bacteria. You can also get a quality probiotic supplement. However, keep in mind that more research is needed to understand the impact of probiotic supplements on gut and mental health, and the FDA does not regulate dietary supplements.
Prebiotics are fiber-rich, non-digestible carbohydrates that fuel beneficial gut bacteria. Some key sources include onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, apples, bananas (slightly unripe are even better), oats, flaxseeds, chicory root, dandelion greens, and Jerusalem artichokes. If you choose to take a prebiotic supplement, it should target Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains of bacteria.
Be sure to choose reputable sources for probiotic or prebiotic supplements. Consult a healthcare provider to find the best options for you.
Water plays a significant role in digestion as well as brain health. Even mild dehydration can have numerous effects on your well-being, including:
Your recommended daily water intake varies depending on your age, physical activity level, and even the weather. As a general rule, aim for eight to ten 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
Antibiotics can disrupt your balance of gut bacteria. A 2022 study established that antibiotic-induced changes in microbial composition can have negative impacts.
These effects include reduced microbial diversity, changes in functional attributes of the microbiota, and the formation of antibiotic-resistant strains, which increases susceptibility to infection. Follow medical advice regarding antibiotic use to minimize risk.
Reduce or eliminate factors that can detract from your gut health, including:
When you notice gut-health symptoms, especially if they are interfering with your daily life, it’s important to pay attention.
Having regular digestive health screenings, such as receiving a regular colonoscopy starting at age 45, is a great way to protect against colorectal cancer and other digestive health issues. Early-onset colorectal cancer is rising dramatically among people under 50, believed to be driven by diet and lifestyle.
You may need to work with specialists, such as a gastrointestinal doctor, a nutritional psychiatrist, or a brain health nutritional coach, to optimize gut health.
A whole-body approach, like the one practiced at Amen Clinics, offers precision medicine with targeted, personalized care for your specific gut and mental health symptoms. Our clinicians practice holistic psychiatry, using natural ways to treat mental health conditions and digestive issues, and medication only when necessary.
An absence of gut health problems is your best indicator that your gut is healthy. But there are other signs too.
Here are some markers of good gut health:
When it comes to gut health, no news is good news. In other words, not thinking about your gut constantly, because it isn’t causing you significant issues, is a positive sign!
The gut-brain axis is a highly complex, intricate system allowing for constant communication between your brain and your gut. That’s why a whole-body approach is so important, as all systems and parts of the body work together and affect the others.
Taking action to promote gut health now, rather than waiting for mental or physical symptoms or conditions to arise, is easy. Start with one small change. Whether it’s adding more fiber and water to your diet or introducing a new stress-relieving practice, you can take steps to promote better health of the gut, mind, and entire body.
And, if needed, consult a healthcare professional to investigate persistent gut or mental health issues. Clinicians at Amen Clinics are trained in offering holistic support that will promote optimal gut-brain health, reducing the chance of GI or mental health issues interfering with your everyday life.
The gut-brain axis describes the constant communication that takes place between the gut and the brain. When the gut’s microbiome (the vast collection of microorganisms in the digestive tract) is out of balance, it directly impacts brain chemistry. This can lead to emotional and cognitive challenges.
Diet, exercise, stress-relieving practices, probiotics, prebiotics, and staying hydrated are some easy steps you can take every day to boost gut health. Also be aware of outside influences that can disrupt the gut microbiome, such as antibiotics or alcohol, and monitor their effects.
If you have persistent or severe gastrointestinal symptoms, seek help from a medical doctor as soon as possible. Likewise, seek help for mental health symptoms such as mood changes, depression, and anxiety, especially if they are impacting your daily life. Amen Clinics offers a whole-body approach and is staffed with qualified medical professionals to help with both digestive health and mental health issues.
Gut health issues and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
Just like physical health care can range from routine check-ups to hospital stays depending on the severity of the condition, mental health support is organized into different levels that are well designed to meet individuals where they are in their recovery journey.
Some people need intensive, round-the-clock care, while others may benefit most from options like an intensive outpatient program (IOP) that allows them to get the required treatment as they continue with daily responsibilities like school, work, and family life.
If you are wondering, what is IOP in mental health, this blog is your guide. It will discuss what an IOP includes, who it benefits, and how it aligns with the broader spectrum of mental health treatment.
Related: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What Is It and Who Can Benefit
IOP is a structured treatment program for mental health that provides patients with several hours of therapy every week—more care than one weekly therapy session but less restrictive than inpatient treatment.
An intensive outpatient program offers focused, evidence-based treatment without requiring overnight stays. Typically, IOPs includes multiple sessions of therapy every week, psychiatric support, and skill-building strategies to help individuals stabilize their symptoms and strengthen their brain health.
An IOP is a structured treatment program for mental health that provides patients with several hours of therapy every week. It provides more care than traditional outpatient therapy but is less restrictive compared to residential or inpatient treatment.
This program allows individuals to stay in their homes while they attend to other responsibilities in their lives. IOPs help many individuals manage challenges like addiction, anxiety, trauma, depression, or transitions between different levels of care.
Through a combination of individual therapy, skill building strategies, and group sessions, IOPs have a focused, flexible approach to treatment. Individuals who participate in this level of treatment gain tools that help them stabilize their symptoms and strengthen their coping skills while they maintain their daily responsibilities and routines.
An intensive outpatient program supports individuals who are facing challenging mental health issues where weekly therapy alone is not enough. Examples of scenarios that might call for IOP include:
Persistent symptoms despite weekly therapy: There are individuals who continue to experience anxiety, depression, or other mental health symptoms even after weekly therapy. IOP gives them sessions that are more frequent to address those symptoms effectively.
Mood and anxiety disorders: Research shows that people who are struggling with conditions such as generalized anxiety, panic disorders, or major depression benefit largely from skill-building exercises and structured therapy provided by IOPs.
Related: When Talk Therapy Doesn’t Work, What to Do Next
Substance use concerns: Studies have shown that people dealing with addiction or the risk of relapse can benefit from coping strategies, targeted support, and accountability in a flexible outpatient setting.
Trauma-related symptoms: Individuals who have survived trauma may be in need of more consistent support to help them process their experiences safely, according to research. IOP provides both individual and group therapy to help the affected persons manage triggers and become more resilient.
Support during step-down from inpatient or residential care: After patients have gone through more intensive treatment, they can rely on an IOP to have a smooth transition while they maintain their daily routines and ongoing symptom management.
At Amen Clinics, we refer individuals to IOPs when they need frequent support and additional structure beyond weekly visits. This helps them stabilize their symptoms and strengthen coping skills.
An intensive outpatient program delivers mental health care through a combination of organized, evidence-informed treatment services. Its components include:
These components work hand in hand to provide comprehensive and flexible support, allowing participants to continue staying at home.
Decisions about mental health treatment become clearer when an individual understands the differences between levels of care. In many cases, individuals often select the intensive outpatient program because it bridges the gap between inpatient and conventional outpatient therapy.
Consider the following to determine what level of support is most appropriate:
With inpatient care, patients receive the highest level of support. They undergo twenty-four-hour supervision in a hospital facility or a residential setting. Typically, inpatient care is recommended for individuals who experience severe symptoms or have safety concerns that would require constant monitoring.
By contrast, an IOP provides several hours of structured treatment every week while allowing patients to live in their homes. That makes it a more flexible option for individuals who need consistent support but don’t need round-the-clock care.
Usually, standard outpatient therapy provides one therapy session a week. Although it is helpful for a lot of people, it may not offer enough structure to help individuals with complex or persistent symptoms.
On the other hand, an IOP provides multiple hours of therapy per week and a structured support that offers a more intensive but coordinated way of care.
| Level of Care | Time Commitment | Care Setting | Level of Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inpatient Care | Twenty-four hours/seven days a week | Facility-based | Highest |
| IOP | Several hours per week | Live at home | Moderate to high |
| Standard Outpatient | One session per week | Live at home | Lower |
Typically, an IOP offers approximately nine to twelve hours of care each week. This depends on the needs of the individual and the program, too. The provider spreads these hours across three to four days of treatment per week, rather than delivering them all at once.
These schedules may vary; however, most IOPs usually include a combination of individual sessions, group therapy, and skills-based programming in every treatment day. Sessions can be provided in the day or evening. Mixed schedules are also offered to accommodate different lifestyles.
One of the most important benefits of an IOP is how flexible it is. Since participants live in their homes, many have the leeway to balance family responsibilities, school, and work while still receiving structured and consistent mental health support.
This is why an IOP is a practical option for individuals who may need more care than weekly therapy but are not able to commit to full-time or inpatient treatment.
Intensive outpatient programs for mental health care are designed to offer support for individuals as they work towards gaining their confidence, stability, and long-term mental wellness.
Stabilizing symptoms: One of the key objectives of IOPs is to stabilize symptoms so that individuals can gain greater emotional balance, as well as reduce the emotional distress that usually interferes with their daily lives.
Building coping skills: An IOP also focuses on building practical coping skills. Through skill-based support and therapy, participants are able to learn healthier ways of managing stress, regulating their emotions, and responding to challenges.
Improving daily functioning: Over time, those skills can lead to an improvement in daily functioning, which in turn will make it easier for participants to maintain routines, relationships, and responsibilities at home, work, and school.
Reducing the risk of relapse: For individuals dealing with substance-related or mood-related concerns, IOPs provide structure and ongoing support to lower the risk of symptoms returning. They do so by strengthening insight, consistency, and support
Creating momentum toward long-term recovery: An IOP reinforces skills and confidence to help participants continue making progress far beyond the program itself.
For individuals who require a higher level of support than standard outpatient therapy but want to maintain a level of autonomy in home and work life, intensive outpatient programs can be a helpful option.
The criteria below can guide you if you are wondering whether this level of support is appropriate.
IOPs are designed to support individuals who can manage their daily lives outside a medical facility without the need to be constantly supervised. These are individuals who are not in immediate danger of harming themselves or others – such as those who struggle with suicidality or individuals in active withdrawal from substances. Here, individuals can attend scheduled treatment sessions while they continue living their lives at home.
Some individuals need more frequent contact and structure, not just what one therapy session per week can offer. An IOP provides multiple hours of treatment a week to help individuals address their ongoing challenges with consistency.
An IOP can work best for people who have the desire to take part in therapy as well as practice skills between sessions. Follow-through and engagement play a key role in progress.
After residential or inpatient treatment, many individuals benefit largely from a step-down level of care. Studies show that the intensive outpatient program offers continued structure while encouraging and supporting participants in gaining greater independence.
These are individuals who have been going through conventional care alone, but their symptoms remain difficult to manage. IOPs provide additional tools that they can use to gain stability.
Although these guidelines may be helpful, a comprehensive evaluation with a qualified clinician is needed to properly assess your personal needs, safety, and treatment goals.
At Amen Clinics, we look beyond symptoms alone. Our clinicians rely on a brain-based approach to make decisions regarding treatment. By looking at your brain activity patterns, our clinicians can better understand why certain challenges have been persistent and determine the level of care that can be most helpful at that particular time.
Through the use of tools like brain SPECT imaging, our clinicians can identify patterns of brain activity that are connected to attention, mood regulation, trauma response, and impulsivity.
These patterns can help explain why you may have been struggling with emotional regulation, focus, stress, or anxiety, even when you’ve been going through treatment. This added insight can help you make more informed decisions concerning structure, therapeutic focus, and intensity.
It is important to note that brain imaging isn’t a standalone answer. It is used at Amen Clinics as one part of a more comprehensive and personalized evaluation that puts other factors like clinical history, symptoms, and individual goals into consideration.
This helps our clinicians to have greater clarity while creating effective treatment plans that may include therapy, lifestyle recommendations (exercise, diet, sleep, nutritional supplements, relaxation, etc.), medication when necessary, and follow-up.
If you are looking for structured support that is flexible and offers more care than what weekly therapy sessions provide, an IOP might be a good choice for you.
These programs serve as a crucial middle ground in the mental health care system. They offer consistent therapy, skill-building, and professional guidance while still allowing participants to stay at home.
One of the most important steps toward healing is choosing the right level of care. When mental health care matches the needs of an individual, it can build confidence, create stability, and support long-term recovery.
If you need clarity concerning your symptoms or you’re wondering which treatment plans are most appropriate, our team at Amen Clinics can be of help. You don’t have to navigate this process alone.
Anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
An intensive outpatient program (IOP) is a mental health care option structured to provide therapy for several hours per week, while it also allows participants to live at home. IOPs offer more support than the weekly outpatient therapy, but with less intensity than inpatient care.
No. An intensive outpatient program is not the same as inpatient rehab. Although some IOPs help participants struggling with substance abuse, they are still outpatient programs and do not offer twenty-four hour residential care.
IOPs usually last for eight to twelve weeks, although this duration can vary depending on individual needs and progress. The length of treatment is normally adjusted as the symptoms stabilize and the skills improve.
Yes. Most people are able to continue working, taking care of their families, and attending school while participating in an IOP. The programs are usually scheduled to easily accommodate daily responsibilities.
Mostly, IOPs support individuals who are managing anxiety disorders, depression, trauma-related conditions, and substance use concerns. They are also of great help during transitions from the higher levels of care.
Typically, progress is evaluated through clinical assessment. Symptom tracking and ongoing feedback from therapy sessions. Goals are regularly reviewed to guide treatment adjustments.
Amen Clinics relies on a brain-based approach that helps determine how brain function can influence symptoms and treatment needs. Tools such as SPECT imaging are used alongside clinical evaluations to provide support for more personalized treatment planning.
Freeman AM, Acevedo LA, Pennings N. Insulin Resistance. [Updated 2023 Aug 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507839/
Ma, X., Nan, F., Liang, H., Shu, P., Fan, X., Song, X., Hou, Y., & Zhang, D. (2022). Excessive intake of sugar: An accomplice of inflammation. Frontiers in immunology, 13, 988481. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.988481
Rahman, M. S., Hossain, K. S., Das, S., Kundu, S., Adegoke, E. O., Rahman, M. A., Hannan, M. A., Uddin, M. J., & Pang, M. G. (2021). Role of Insulin in Health and Disease: An Update. International journal of molecular sciences, 22(12), 6403. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22126403
Julian M Yabut, Justin D Crane, Alexander E Green, Damien J Keating, Waliul I Khan, Gregory R Steinberg, Emerging Roles for Serotonin in Regulating Metabolism: New Implications for an Ancient Molecule, Endocrine Reviews, Volume 40, Issue 4, August 2019, Pages 1092–1107, https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2018-00283
Abdelfattah, H.E., Bekhet, M.M.M., Tawfik, F.A. et al. The association between insulin resistance and risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders in a sample of Egyptian population. Egypt J Intern Med 37, 56 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43162-025-00434-9
Shin, M., Crouse, J.J., Weger, M. et al. Insulin resistance as an early marker in youth with mood disorders. Nat. Mental Health 3, 969–971 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00472-w
Mathew P, Thoppil D. Hypoglycemia. [Updated 2022 Dec 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534841/
Berridge, K. C. (2018). Evolving concepts of emotion and motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1647. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01647
Choi, S. E., Roy, B., Freeby, M., Mullur, R., Woo, M. A., & Kumar, R. (2020). Prefrontal cortex brain damage and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Journal of diabetes, 12(6), 465–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-0407.13019
Zhang, X., Zhang, L., Zhang, B., Liu, K., Sun, J., Li, Q., & Zhao, L. (2022). Herbal tea, a novel adjuvant therapy for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus: A review. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 13, 982387. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.982387
American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control. https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/non-starchy-vegetables
Calvano, A., , Izuora, K., , Oh, E. C., , Ebersole, J. L., , Lyons, T. J., , & Basu, A., (2019). Dietary berries, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes: an overview of human feeding trials. Food & function, 10(10), 6227–6243. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9fo01426h
Verkouter, I., Noordam, R., le Cessie, S., van Dam, R. M., Lamb, H. J., Rosendaal, F. R., van Heemst, D., & de Mutsert, R. (2019). The Association between Adult Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance at Middle Age: Mediation by Visceral Fat and Liver Fat. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(10), 1559. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8101559
Fritschi, C., Park, C., Quinn, L., & Collins, E. G. (2020). Real-Time Associations Between Glucose Levels and Fatigue in Type 2 Diabetes: Sex and Time Effects. Biological research for nursing, 22(2), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800419898002
Zhao, H., Zhang, J., Cheng, X. et al. Insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome across various tissues: an updated review of pathogenesis, evaluation, and treatment. J Ovarian Res 16, 9 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-01091-0
Jiao, Y., Butoyi, C., Zhang, Q. et al. Sleep disorders impact hormonal regulation: unravelling the relationship among sleep disorders, hormones and metabolic diseases.Diabetol Metab Syndr 17, 305 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-025-01871-w
Mary C. Gannon, Frank Q. Nuttall; Effect of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Blood Glucose Control in People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes 1 September 2004; 53 (9): 2375–2382. https://doi.org/10.2337/diabetes.53.9.2375
Sellami, M., Almuraikhy, S., Naja, K. et al. Eight weeks of aerobic exercise, but not four, improves insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular performance in young women. Sci Rep 15, 1991 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86306-2
Amen, D. G., & Easton, M. (2021). A New Way Forward: How Brain SPECT Imaging Can Improve Outcomes and Transform Mental Health Care Into Brain Health Care. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12, 715315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.715315
Tomasik J, Lago SG, Vázquez-Bourgon J, et al. Association of Insulin Resistance With Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score and Response to Antipsychotic Treatment. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(8):864–867. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0304
Guest PC. Insulin Resistance in Schizophrenia. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1134:1-16. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-12668-1_1. PMID: 30919329.
Do you or your child have sensory sensitivities or a strong aversion to change? Has your child experienced speech delays or significant language challenges? Does your loved one struggle to read facial expressions or understand nonverbal social cues?
Autism has many faces. These are just a few of the signs associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Even as awareness continues to grow, confusion remains about how autism should be classified. Is it a mental health disorder, a developmental disability, or something else entirely?
Adding to the complexity, autism often overlaps with other brain-based conditions, including anxiety, obsessive-compulsive traits, and mood symptoms. Because of this overlap, ASD may go undiagnosed or be misdiagnosed. At the same time, co-occurring conditions can be overlooked and left untreated.
With decades of experience working with individuals on the autism spectrum, Amen Clinics has built one of the world’s largest databases of brain SPECT imaging scans. This research helps bring greater clarity to a condition that is frequently misunderstood.
In this blog, you’ll learn how to separate fact from fiction about ASD, including its symptoms, underlying brain patterns, and evidence-based treatment options.
Even as awareness continues to grow, confusion remains about how autism should be classified. Is it a mental health disorder, a developmental disability, or something else entirely?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, classified in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) under neurodevelopmental disorders, not mental health disorders.
Autistic brains are developed differently. They are neurodivergent. Neurodivergence is the general term for brains that function, process, and learn information differently from what is considered typical (neurotypical).
Autism affects communication, sensory processing (such as visual processing), and flexibility of thinking. It is characterized by deficiencies in social and communication skills, repetitive behaviors, and limited interests.
Many, but not all, cases of autism include developmental disabilities, such as intellectual and language impairments. Autism symptoms can range from mild to severe.
However, ASD affects each person differently. One person may struggle with eye contact, another with sensory overload, another with changes in routine. Core symptoms of autism include:
The signs of autism spectrum disorder typically appear by childhood (age 2 or 3). In cases of more severe developmental delays, autism symptoms may become evident earlier, before age 1.
Due to rising awareness only in recent years, many people with ASD have not received a diagnosis until adulthood. Many others remain undiagnosed. In fact, a 2022 study estimated that 1 in 45 U.S. adults from ages 18 to 84 are now living with ASD.
Related: What Is Life Like for Adults With Autism?
When children with autism spectrum disorder are untreated, misdiagnosed, or have a delayed diagnosis, they are at greater risk for other medical conditions and mental disorders. These include:
Autism is not a mental health disorder. Mental health disorders involve changes in mood, thought patterns, or behavior. Autism relates to development, neural wiring, sensory processing, and communication differences.
However, many autistic individuals do experience mental health conditions. But those conditions are separate, not inherent to autism.
Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that nearly 78 percent of children with ASD had at least one mental health condition. Nearly half of them had two or more. The most common co-occurring conditions were behavior/conduct problems, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression.
People with ASD may also experience additional medical issues, including epilepsy, gastrointestinal problems, and sleep disturbances.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ASD is recognized as a neurological developmental disability that affects communication, behavior, and social interaction.
That said, having a disability does not mean that a person is “incapable.” This term refers to needing specific support in certain environments.
Thus, not every individual with ASD automatically qualifies for disability benefits or formal legal accommodations. Even with the ADA recognition, benefits and accommodations depend on demonstrating significant functional limitations that hinder daily living, work, or school, rather than just an ASD diagnosis. Therefore, some autistic individuals qualify for disability accommodations; others do not.
In the past, those with autism requiring less support were often given labels such as “high functioning,” but these labels are increasingly considered misleading or outdated. Instead, individuals with autism can be considered as having different support needs. These supports include sensory accommodations, structured routines, or tools to aid in their communication.
The National Institute of Mental Health notes that autism is called a spectrum disorder because individuals can present a “range of characteristics, needs, strengths, and challenges.”
Furthermore, autism may change over time, making it important to monitor symptoms and make adjustments as needs change. The DSM-5-TR classifies autism spectrum disorder based on the amount of support an individual needs rather than their ability to function. The three levels are:
Because autism can overlap with a variety of mental health disorders, there has been confusion among the general public about this neurodevelopmental condition. However, autism and mental health disorders should be considered distinct issues.
For example, anxiety and depression are common in autistic individuals. Autism’s OCD-like patterns (such as rigidity and repetitive thinking) may mimic mental health symptoms. And emotional burnout or overwhelm can resemble symptoms found in mood disorders.
Furthermore, misdiagnosis or late diagnosis in adults can blur the categories of conditions within a single individual. Tools like SPECT brain scans help determine the underlying brain patterns behind symptoms and behavior to rule out or confirm co-occurring disorders.
Brain SPECT imaging also helps to show clinicians and patients alike that conditions such as autism, like mental health disorders, are not moral failings or weaknesses. They are simply a result of a brain that develops and functions differently.
There are some ways in which autism and mental health can affect behavior. While serving clients with autism over decades, Amen Clinics has seen a wide variety of symptoms and severity levels that can influence behavior. Here are some examples:
An autistic person might leave a loud room abruptly, not due to anxiety, but due to sensory discomfort. Research has found that sensory processing issues are very common in ASD. In one study, 94.4 percent of participants with autism reported extreme levels of sensory processing abnormalities.
When stressed, a person with autism might speak less or avoid eye contact, because these actions can contribute to sensory overwhelm, research indicates. Experts believe this is due to the increased cortical excitability of the autistic brain, which can increase cognitive load during sensory processing.
Among those with autism, cognitive overload can make transitions more difficult, which influences behavior. They may make repetitive movements, stick to rigid routines and habits, or make repetitive use of objects. These are not acts of defiance, but coping mechanisms.
Feeling anxiety or sadness, which are separate from but often co-occur with autism, can influence the individual’s response to social situations. Those with autism may then shut down and withdraw from conversations or seek isolation to recover.
At Amen Clinics, SPECT brain imaging has shown that clients with autism have unique activity patterns in the brain. But autism doesn’t point to only one brain difference. There are eight to ten suspected factors that can influence abnormal brain function leading to this developmental disorder.
Amen Clinics has worked with more than 1,000 children and adults with autism. SPECT imaging studies of these patients reveal that their brain patterns tend to have areas of high activity, low activity, or areas of both in some cases.
Because brain patterns in autism spectrum disorder can vary, looking at the brain with imaging tools is crucial to create the most effective autism treatment plan. These tools can also help monitor the effectiveness of treatment over time.
In ASD, abnormal activity is often seen in the cerebellum, anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), amygdala, and the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. There is frequently increased activity in the ACG, the brain’s “gear shifter,” which explains symptoms of rigid, obsessive behavior.
Meanwhile, there is often decreased activity in the temporal lobes (associated with language and deficits in social interactions), and in the cerebellum, which assists in learning and physical coordination.
Increased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and lateral prefrontal cortex is linked to symptoms such as:
An overall increase of activity throughout the brain, which may be associated with inflammation, can contribute to symptoms of:
On the other hand, low activity patterns are also observed in ASD. For example, a smaller, less active cerebellum is associated with:
Overall decreased activity on the surface of the brain, as well as in the parietal and temporal lobes, contributes to:
The patterns associated with anxiety, ADHD, OCD traits, or sensory processing differences may also appear on scans. Brain imaging helps differentiate autism from co-occurring mental health conditions and supports targeted, personalized care.
Related: Autism vs ADHD: Know the Differences
As mentioned earlier, there are a number of co-occurring mental health conditions with autism, including:
More than three-quarters of individuals with autism have a co-occurring condition. But these conditions affect behavior independently of autism and may require their own specific treatment. Determining the presence of co-occurring conditions helps create a comprehensive treatment plan for optimal results.
While there is no cure for autism spectrum disorder, numerous treatments can help reduce its negative impacts on everyday tasks, relationships, and responsibilities. Effective treatment options can include:
At Amen Clinics, patients have shown remarkable progress after understanding both their autism and co-occurring mental health patterns. Many, especially parents seeking help for their children, have struggled with traditional medical routes and felt frustrated with a lack of effective help. But with an individual, customized approach, they can experience significant improvements.
The most effective treatment options for each patient vary widely. But the proper combination can be life changing for individuals with autism. When autism is left untreated, an individual is at higher risk for additional physical and mental health issues.
If you or your loved one is experiencing any of the following, seek a professional evaluation:
And, if you’re uncertain whether symptoms relate to autism or a mental health condition, it’s also a good idea to ask for help.
Remember that reaching out is a positive, proactive step, not a sign of failure or weakness. We now know that autism and mental health conditions are brain health issues, and there is hope for treatment and improvement.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, not a mental health disorder. It may be considered a disability, depending on support needs, but not always. Having a disability never means and individual is “incapable,” just differently wired.
Because mental health conditions commonly co-occur with autism, it’s even more important to get attention and seek professional help. Treatment is particularly important when ASD symptoms interfere with daily life tasks and relationships.
Fortunately, brain-based evaluations offer clarity, direction, and hope thanks to their assistance in accurate diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing assessment. Look for customized, holistic, and brain-based care for autism and any co-occurring conditions for the best results.
Autism spectrum disorder and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition, not a mental health disorder. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ASD is recognized as a neurological developmental disability that affects communication, behavior, and social interaction. As a spectrum disorder, ASD may be considered a disability, but it isn’t always when it comes to benefits and accommodations. The determination of disability depends on symptoms’ severity and the individual’s support needs.
Individuals with autism have a wide range of symptoms and severity of symptoms. But some common behavioral indicators include sensory overload (which can lead to shutdown or social withdrawal), difficulty with communication, and rigid thinking or behaviors.
Receiving a SPECT brain scan at Amen Clinics is a helpful first step toward accurate diagnosis and treatment of autism as well as any co-occurring conditions. Treatment options can include life skills training, dietary changes, behavior modifications, sensory supports, emotional regulation tools, and more.
The idea that alcohol kills brain cells has echoed through health classes, college campuses, and public service campaigns for decades. The belief took hold after scientific studies in the mid-twentieth century suggested alcohol was directly toxic to the brain, and the idea has stuck ever since.
It turns out that modern brain science tells a more nuanced story. While alcohol may not instantly “kill” brain cells in the way many people imagine, that doesn’t mean it’s harmless.
Research shows that alcohol can shrink brain volume, disrupt communication between brain cells, impair memory, and damage critical areas responsible for judgment, mood regulation, and decision-making. The real impact depends heavily on how much you drink, how often you drink, and your individual brain health.
For many people, alcohol offers a way to cope with stress, unwind after a long day, or feel more comfortable in social settings. They don’t consider that your brain controls how you think, feel, behave, and remember. Anything that affects your brain affects your life. If you enjoy drinking alcohol, the brain effects of alcohol are important to know.
So, does alcohol kill brain cells or is the truth more complicated? In this blog, you’ll learn what current research reveals about alcohol and brain cells, how different drinking patterns influence brain function, and what alcohol-related brain damage actually looks like over time.
Related: 5 Scary Ways Alcohol Damages the Brain
Alcohol can shrink brain volume, disrupt communication between brain cells, impair memory, and damage critical areas responsible for judgment, mood regulation, and decision-making. The impact depends on how much and how often you drink, as well as your individual brain health.
The question, “Can alcohol decrease the number of brain cells?” has puzzled many people over the years. In reality, the answer is no. Alcohol can’t kill your brain cells on contact. However, it can cause significant damage to them in the long run and interfere with how they communicate.
Studies have shown that, as a neurotoxin, alcohol can impair normal functioning of the cells. It can disrupt your neural connections and lead to structural changes in your brain as well.
Excessive drinking can reduce the level of efficiency in your neurons and increase the risk of alcohol brain damage without directly killing brain cells. In essence, alcohol may decrease the ability of your brain cells to function effectively, but not eliminate them.
Alcohol has both immediate and long-term effects, influencing neurotransmitters, neuron function, and communication between the regions of the brain.
Studies show that when you drink alcohol, it quickly enters your blood stream and crosses your blood-brain barrier, and within minutes, it reaches the brain. It becomes a central nervous system depressant, whereby it slows down communication between neurons and alters your normal brain activity.
It then boosts GABA (whose work is to calm your brain) and reduces glutamate (which excites neurons). That explains why you are likely to experience slowed reaction time, drowsiness, relaxation, and impaired judgment. These effects intensify as the level of alcohol in your blood rises.
Nearly simultaneously, alcohol increases dopamine in the brain rapidly, often within minutes of the first sip or even simply by thinking about drinking. It activates the brain’s reward system (mesolimbic pathway) almost immediately, causing a surge in dopamine that produces feelings of relaxation and pleasure, creating the rewarding, euphoric “high.”
In your brain, neurons use neurotransmitters to send signals across synapses. This is why your brain is able to control movement, thinking, memory, and emotions. Alcohol can interfere with this system by altering how those chemical messengers work.
As mentioned, alcohol enhances GABA, your brain’s primary inhibitory chemical. This slows your neuroactivity, producing feelings of drowsiness, relaxation, and reduced self-control. The release of dopamine in your brain’s reward system reinforces drinking behavior.
After a single session of drinking, alcohol temporarily affects your brain function, which leads to impaired judgment, slower reaction time, and memory lapses. These are the acute effects that occur because alcohol has disrupted your neuron communication and neurotransmitter balance.
Due to chronic alcohol use, these effects can last longer. Repeated heavy drinking can disrupt neuron structure and signaling and increase the risk of problems with focus, memory, and emotional regulation.
This cumulative damage can, over time, weaken your brain networks and increase the likelihood of behavioral and cognitive changes even after you’ve stopped drinking.
Alcohol produces free radicals that may damage your cell membranes and DNA, and that increases oxidative stress. It promotes inflammation in the brain tissue, interfering with normal repair and increasing the risk of neuronal injury.
Chronic drinking disrupts the absorption of nutrients, especially vitamin B1 (thiamine), which is important for neuron metabolism and survival. Alcohol can also trigger toxicity, particularly during withdrawal when glutamate activity surges. That can overstimulate neurons and cause cellular damage.
Again, alcohol can also interfere with the synthesis of protein, which can limit your brain’s ability to repair and also maintain cells. It could also impair mitochondrial function and reduce the energy needed for neurons to survive and have effective communication.
Alcohol doesn’t cause widespread immediate death of your brain cells. Rather, most studies assert that alcohol, in most cases, facilitates cell damage and not outright neuronal death particularly with repeated exposure.
Alcohol can shrink dendrites, which can disrupt how neurons share signals or communicate. That can cause neuron atrophy, whereby your cells lose size and function instead of being permanently destroyed. In the long run, these structural changes may impair your brain’s communication and efficiency.
Imaging work has linked prolonged or heavy use of alcohol to white matter damage, which disrupts communication between your brain regions. There is also the gray matter reduction, especially in the regions that are involved in memory, judgement, and emotional regulation.
The effects of alcohol are not uniform. Some regions of your brain are more vulnerable than others. For example, the hippocampus is particularly sensitive, which can impair memory and learning. The cerebellum is often affected early on, disrupting coordination, balance, and motor control.
Your prefrontal cortex may also show decreased activity, leading to weakened judgment, poorer impulse control, and difficulty regulating personality and behavior. Alcohol can also alter the limbic system, interfering with mood regulation and emotional stability. This disruption is one reason alcohol use is linked to emotional volatility.
Alcohol can damage the corpus callosum as well, interfering with communication between the two hemispheres of your brain. With chronic drinking, even the brainstem can be affected, potentially threatening vital, life-sustaining functions such as breathing and heart rate.
That said, the brainstem is generally considered more resistant to the inhibitory effects of alcohol compared to many other brain regions, though prolonged and excessive exposure can still cause harm.
The effects of alcohol related brain damage vary depending on the amount, duration, timing of exposure, and the vulnerability of the individual.
Chronic use of alcohol has been associated with reduced brain volume, especially in the gray and white matter.
According to imaging studies, there is evidence of shrinkage in the regions involved in decision making, memory, and coordination. A large MRI study found that drinking more than fourteen alcoholic drinks per week was linked to an average 1.6 percent smaller brain volume compared with non-drinkers, with brain size decreasing progressively as drinking increased.
Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome results from a deficiency in vitamin B1 (thiamine), which is common with chronic alcohol use. The acute phase of the syndrome is called Wernicke’s encephalopathy, and it’s characterized by poor coordination, confusion, and abnormal eye movement.
If not treated, this can progress to Korsakoff’s psychosis, which causes severe loss of memory and confabulation. Confabulation is the unintentional creation of false, distorted, or misinterpreted memories, often used by the brain to fill in gaps in memory. With early thiamine treatment, the outcomes can improve. However, there is a higher likelihood of long-term deficits.
Individuals may experience alcohol related dementia, which is different from Alzheimer’s disease, even though their symptoms may overlap. This kind of dementia primarily affects attention, memory, and executive function.
Its diagnosis is based on cognitive testing and drinking history. The risk of alcohol related dementia increases with poor nutrition, repeated withdrawal episodes, and long-term heavy use of alcohol.
When experiencing a blackout, a person can remain conscious but may fail to form new memories. Individuals may experience confusion, gaps in memory for the events that took place during drinking, and they may also be unable to recall their actions afterward.
This is diagnosed based on an individual’s history and reported memory loss, either during drinking episodes or afterwards. With repeated blackouts, there is a higher likelihood of long-term cognitive impairment.
FASD usually results from prenatal exposure to alcohol, which can interfere with brain development. Its effects are structural brain changes, behavioral problems, and learning difficulties that can persist throughout the life of the child. Due to the fact that no safe level of alcohol in pregnancy has been established, it’s important for pregnant mothers to abstain.
With regard to alcohol, brain damage depends on individual vulnerability, amount, and frequency. Although there are standard guidelines for moderate drinking, at Amen Clinics, we recommend minimizing your intake of alcohol whenever possible to protect your brain health. Even moderate drinking can affect your neuron function and communication, especially if you have personal or family risk factors.
Blood alcohol concentration refers to the measurable alcohol in your bloodstream, whereby a higher BAC can increase the likelihood of neuron damage.
More alcohol equals brain damage. Binge patterns or repeated heavy drinking can significantly raise the risk. Experts assert that there is no level of alcohol that is completely safe for brain health.
Factors that can make someone more vulnerable to alcohol related brain damage include:
Human brain development continues into the mid-twenties, when the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus fully mature. During this period, the brain is especially sensitive to alcohol, making adolescents and young adults more vulnerable to both functional and structural damage.
Exposure to alcohol at this age can cause long-term cognitive consequences such as attention deficit, decreased executive function, and impaired memory. Drinking can also amplify impulsivity and other risk-taking behaviors that may further compound the harm or increase vulnerability to risky decisions and accidents.
In general, women are more vulnerable to alcohol-related brain damage than men. Differences in body composition and hormones, including lower total body water and higher body fat, can lead to higher blood alcohol concentrations even when consuming the same amount as men.
As a result, women may experience a faster progression to brain changes and damage with repeated exposure, even at lower levels of drinking.
People living with mental health disorders like anxiety or depression can experience amplified emotional or cognitive effects from alcohol. Additionally, liver disease lowers the body’s ability to metabolize alcohol, which can increase neurotoxicity.
Poor nutrition that could cause thiamine deficiency can heighten vulnerability to the damage of neurons. If an individual combines alcohol with other substances, the risk of cumulative brain damage increases significantly.
Alcohol-related brain damage can affect physical function, thinking, and emotional regulation. Symptoms may appear suddenly or develop gradually over time.
Seek medical evaluation if you begin experiencing symptoms such as balance problems, personality changes, persistent memory loss, or confusion. Emergency warning signs include severe disorientation, seizures, loss of consciousness, or sudden changes in vision.
Recovery from brain damage may be possible depending on the duration of alcohol use, individual health factors, and the severity of the damage.
Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to heal and adapt. Even if you have suffered brain damage, existing neurons can sometimes compensate for lost functions, helping support recovery. Over time, the brain can also form new pathways that promote functional improvement after reducing or eliminating alcohol use.
During recovery, you may experience partial restoration of brain volume, better memory, improved cognitive function, and a stable mood. The recovery time can vary, ranging from weeks to months. In some cases, it can take years depending on how severe the damage is.
Prolonged or severe alcohol exposure can create lasting damage. Also, conditions like advanced alcohol-related dementia, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and structural brain changes may not reverse fully for long-term, heavy drinkers.
Your recovery can be influenced by:
Quitting drinking completely will provide the greatest brain-health protection. However, if abstinence isn’t possible, follow the moderate drinking guidelines of no more than two drinks per day for men and only one for women.
Practice harm reduction strategies like spacing drinks over time, avoiding binge drinking, stopping drinking before impairment occurs, and choosing alcohol free days each week.
Support your nervous system with thiamine (vitamin B1) and a high-quality B-complex supplement. Also, enriching your diet with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants may help to calm inflammation caused by alcohol consumption. As alcohol is dehydrating, consuming plenty of water is important too.
Engage in regular exercise to promote brain resilience and neurogenesis. Stress management, quality sleep, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation can help strengthen your emotional regulation and brain networks.
Embrace ongoing medical checkups to monitor your brain and overall health. Through addiction treatment programmes, medication-assisted treatment, therapy, and support groups like SMART Recovery or Alcoholics Anonymous, you can reduce the risk of a relapse and improve your outcomes.
Alcohol can disrupt your brain structure and function, whereby the damage increases as exposure becomes heavier.
Indeed, imaging studies (such as MRI, SPECT, PET, and DTI) have revealed compromised white matter integrity, a reduction in the gray matter, and altered blood flow in regions that facilitate memory, emotional regulation, and judgment.
A study conducted by The Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic sought to understand the pathology behind reduced hippocampal mass and cognitive dysfunctions associated with heavy alcohol use. Using an animal model, the researchers found reduced proliferation of neural stem cells and survival rate of newborn neurons, as well as poor synaptic connectivity, which disrupted multiple steps of neurogenesis, leading to cognitive deficits. Why not “killing” brain cells, alcohol negatively impacts neuronal growth and function.
Research shows that heavy alcohol use is highly associated with thinning of the cerebral cortex, referred to as “cortical thinning.” The cerebral cortex is the brain’s outer layer of gray matter responsible for higher-level cognitive functions such as memory, attention, perception, and thought. Cortical thinning also indicates a decrease in the volume of brain cells and synapses.
(On a brighter note, research on individuals with alcohol use disorder and cortical thinning found that partial recovery of the cerebral cortex was observed in the weeks and months following total abstinence.)
Studies have linked even moderate alcohol use to subtle changes in the brain, suggesting that there may be no completely safe level of alcohol. With all these advances, scientists haven’t fully established why some people recover better than others, how lifestyle factors and genetics modify risk, and the precise threshold for irreversible damage.
Alcohol can disrupt your brain structure and function, whereby the damage increases as exposure becomes heavier.
Indeed, imaging studies (such as MRI, SPECT, PET, and DTI) have revealed compromised white matter integrity, a reduction in the gray matter, and altered blood flow in regions that facilitate memory, emotional regulation, and judgment.
A study conducted by The Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic sought to understand the pathology behind reduced hippocampal mass and cognitive dysfunctions associated with heavy alcohol use. Using an animal model, the researchers found reduced proliferation of neural stem cells and survival rate of newborn neurons, as well as poor synaptic connectivity, which disrupted multiple steps of neurogenesis, leading to cognitive deficits. Why not “killing” brain cells, alcohol negatively impacts neuronal growth and function.
Research shows that heavy alcohol use is highly associated with thinning of the cerebral cortex, referred to as “cortical thinning.” The cerebral cortex is the brain’s outer layer of gray matter responsible for higher-level cognitive functions such as memory, attention, perception, and thought. Cortical thinning also indicates a decrease in the volume of brain cells and synapses.
(On a brighter note, research on individuals with alcohol use disorder and cortical thinning found that partial recovery of the cerebral cortex was observed in the weeks and months following total abstinence.)
Studies have linked even moderate alcohol use to subtle changes in the brain, suggesting that there may be no completely safe level of alcohol. With all these advances, scientists haven’t fully established why some people recover better than others, how lifestyle factors and genetics modify risk, and the precise threshold for irreversible damage.
| Myths | Facts |
|---|---|
| Alcohol kills brain cells directly. | Alcohol primarily damages brain cells and their connections, rather than immediately killing neurons in most cases. |
| A few drinks won’t hurt your brain. | Even moderate drinking can affect brain communication, memory, and judgment, especially with repeated use. |
| Brain damage from alcohol is always permanent. | Many alcohol-related brain changes can improve with abstinence, thanks to the brain’s ability to adapt and recover. |
| Only alcoholics get brain damage. | Binge drinking and heavy drinking, even without alcohol dependence, can cause measurable brain damage. |
| Red wine is good for your brain. | Recent research challenges this belief, showing that any potential benefits do not outweigh alcohol’s risks to brain health. |
| Young people’s brains can handle alcohol better. | Adolescent and young adult brains are more vulnerable, as brain development continues into the mid-20s. |
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition in which an individual is unable to control their use of alcohol despite experiencing negative consequences. AUD develops as a result of repeated drinking, changing brain circuits responsible for judgment, reward, and self-control.
If you suspect such a problem, seek early help. Treatment options here may include therapy, medical care, structured support programmes, and medication-assisted treatment.
Here’s what’s important to remember. Alcohol can cause damage to your brain cells, but it doesn’t always kill them. The level of damage depends on the amount you drink, individual factors like age, as well as frequency. On a brighter note, although repeated heavy drinking can increase the risk, your brain can recover, thanks to neuroplasticity, particularly if you’ve stopped or reduced alcohol.
The good, take-home news here is that with proper nutrition, exercise, cognitive stimulation, and sleep, you can enhance your brain’s resilience and recovery. Seeking help from a medical professional is key if you notice judgment changes, memory problems, or other symptoms.
Abstinence or moderation is the best way to protect the health of your brain.
Monitor your drinking, consult a healthcare provider, and take steps today to preserve your memory, mind, and emotional well-being for the future.
There’s no specific number. Alcohol doesn’t kill brain cells outright. Rather, it damages the neurons and their connections. Over time, this interferes with normal functioning and communication between cells.
No. One night of binge or heavy drinking doesn’t kill brain cells; however, it can cause acute disruptions in brain function like impaired judgment, memory, and coordination. The brain can potentially recover, but repeated episodes can worsen brain damage.
In certain regions of the brain, abstinence can support neurogenesis and also allow the healthy neurons to adapt and create new connections. Recovery can start within and continue for months and years. That said, severe long-term damage may not reverse fully.
Timelines can vary from weeks to months, and even years, but that depends on age, the severity of damage, drinking history, and overall health. Improvements in cognitive function, memory, and mood are gradual and ongoing.
Alcohol is alcohol. No type of alcoholic beverage is safe for the brain. The amount and frequency at which you drink matter more than the type.
With heavy or prolonged drinking, you risk having alcohol related dementia, particularly with risk factors like nutrition deficiencies.
Yes, through cognitive assessment and brain imaging (SPECT, DTI, MRI, PET) that evaluate attention, executive function, and memory. Those tools help detect structural and functional changes resulting from alcohol.
Brain health problems, alcohol use disorders, and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
Do you feel like your loved one always needs the spotlight, constant reassurance, intense emotions, and nonstop validation? One moment everything feels fine, and the next, you’re walking on eggshells, unsure what reaction you’ll trigger.
Loving someone with dramatic emotional swings can be draining, confusing, and deeply exhausting. When those patterns become extreme and persistent, your loved one may be dealing with histrionic personality disorder (HPD).
This mental health condition is marked by overwhelming emotions, attention-seeking behaviors, and a powerful sensitivity to criticism. These emotional highs and lows don’t just affect the person experiencing them. They can take a serious toll on the people closest to them.
The good news? You’re not powerless. With greater awareness, clear boundaries, and practical coping strategies, it’s possible to support your loved one without losing yourself in the process.
Whether you’re a partner, parent, sibling, or close friend, and whether you’ve already heard the term HPD or are just trying to make sense of a relationship that feels emotionally overwhelming, this blog will help you understand what’s happening and how to cope in healthier, more sustainable ways.
Do you feel like your loved one always needs the spotlight, constant reassurance, intense emotions, and nonstop validation? Loving someone with dramatic emotional swings or histrionic personality disorder (HPD) can be deeply exhausting.
The word “histrionic” is defined as overly dramatic or emotional, even theatrical. Others may view people with HPD as the life of the party, since they tend to be extroverted and flirtatious, with a flair for the dramatic.
But, behind those first impressions, they can also be narcissistic and self-indulgent. Their extreme emotional ups and downs can strain relationships and create instability at home.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) describes HPD as “a chronic, enduring psychiatric condition characterized by a consistent pattern of pervasive attention-seeking behaviors and exaggerated emotional displays.”
Constantly seeking approval is another key feature of histrionic personality disorder. To get that approval, these individuals may work their charm, seduce, and manipulate. They are experts in drawing attention to themselves and can feel upset or depressed when they’re overlooked or aren’t in the spotlight.
Histrionic personality disorder can manifest in a variety of ways. Traits include:
HPD is one of 10 types of personality disorders recognized by mental health experts. Histrionic personality disorder is placed within the “Cluster B” category of personality disorders.
Cluster B Personality Disorder Conditions
Histrionic personality disorder affects an estimated 2-3 percent of the population, with women four times as likely to have the condition than men. However, this condition may be more likely to be diagnosed in women, meaning that men are underrepresented in these statistics.
The NIH adds that HPD typically emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood. Moreover, the condition has been considered lifelong and is often treatment-resistant. Psychotherapy, however, is a possible treatment option. Finally, HPD symptoms may overlap with other conditions, which can interfere with proper diagnosis.
What causes histrionic personality disorder? Childhood trauma often plays a role. A 2023 study noted that child sexual abuse is the strongest predictor of HPD symptoms in adulthood.
But the study found that this differs between women and men. In women, physical neglect is also associated with histrionic personality disorder, whereas men with HPD may have been affected by physical and emotional abuse as well as emotional neglect.
Mental health experts have noted several additional factors—both inherited and environmental—that can contribute to this condition. These include genetics, over-indulgent or inconsistent parenting, or having an overly dramatic parent.
HPD symptoms, which can range from mild to severe, often interfere with daily life, work, and school. Other mental health problems may also be present, such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. People who have HPD may even threaten or attempt suicide, with the hopes of gaining attention.
Moreover, various characteristics of HPD can complicate relationships. These include:
Navigating relationships is often difficult when you have a loved one with HPD. Even simply supporting someone with HPD or living with histrionic personality disorder in your environment (such as with a co-worker) can be challenging.
Managing their dramatic highs and lows may even lead to emotional exhaustion. That’s why it’s important to practice agency and self-care, rather than blame.
First, it’s important to understand that, like with any mental health condition, the brain of someone with HPD works differently. For example, researchers found decades ago that Cluster B personality disorders such as histrionic personality disorder are associated with significant neurocognitive impairment when it comes to multi-step behavior planning.
In recent years, a 2021 functional brain imaging review published in the Journal of Neuroimaging examined brain patterns behind personality disorders. Each one was found to be associated with unique patterns of activity in certain brain structures and neural networks.
Several personality disorders reflected abnormal activity within the limbic and paralimbic systems, referred to as the emotional centers of the brain. But the study’s authors called for further neuroimaging studies to explore the specific brain changes associated with conditions such as histrionic personality disorder.
One of the challenges of having a loved one with HPD is that they often do not know they are affected. When they believe their behavior is normal and have a hard time admitting they have a problem, they do not seek treatment.
People who love someone with HPD must then cope with their overly dramatic, highly emotional behavior. In fact, many family members and spouses are the ones who seek psychotherapy, due to the stressors of interacting with their loved one. They want to know how to better deal with someone with histrionic personality disorder.
Fortunately, certain steps can help you cope with a loved one’s histrionic personality disorder. Here are five HPD support strategies to encourage relationship repair and promote your own well-being:
Knowledge is power. Try to learn as much as you can about histrionic personality disorder. Educating yourself may not change the behavior of your loved one, but it can help you put their actions into perspective.
This information will support you when your loved one is escalating drama with their extreme emotions. You will better understand why they are acting the way they do. For example, as a result of the brain differences noted above. You are less likely to take their behavior personally when you understand the mechanisms behind it.
While you may not be able to convince your loved one that they have a personality disorder, they could be open to avenues like marital therapy. To encourage them, position yourself as the one who can benefit from outside help. Frame it as a mutual support strategy rather than directly targeting them or their behavior.
Once you are in a therapist’s office, you will ideally find a safe space and an impartial third party to address your loved one’s symptoms. With patience, you can explore handling their difficult behaviors and find additional ways to cope with HPD in your home.
Chances are, your loved one with histrionic personality disorder always wants the spotlight. Over time, this can leave you feeling unseen, unheard, and unappreciated. But protecting your own emotional space and identity is important to preserve your own mental health.
Make sure that you set aside time to spend with friends or other family members who can appreciate your contributions. Schedule these sessions to take place without your HPD-affected loved one present. Such situations allow you to step out of the shadows and into the light.
If you are co-parenting with someone who has histrionic personality disorder, be aware of how it may affect your children. Set appropriate boundaries to reduce their exposure to any drama stirred up by the affected parent. Be explicit about outlining your limits and consequences, then stick to them.
Meanwhile, you can model healthier behaviors to counteract the other parent’s instability. Demonstrate healthy ways to regulate emotions and provide a stable presence for your children. Also keep open lines of communication with your kids so that they know they can come to you with any questions or concerns.
Ending a relationship is never an easy decision. You may feel guilt when it’s clear that you can’t help them, or when you decide to walk away from your HPD-affected loved one. Their disorder isn’t their fault, but knowing your threshold for emotional and mental health preservation is also important.
If your loved one’s erratic behavior is severely affecting your own physical and mental health, you might consider ending the relationship. If you are left so physically exhausted and emotionally depleted that you can’t properly parent your children, practice self-care, or perform at work or school, this may be the best option.
To further optimize the relationship with your loved one with HPD, you can practice validating their feelings, even if you don’t validate their every behavior. This requires an empathetic but firm approach.
At the same time, it’s best to avoid reinforcing attention-seeking behaviors. Don’t reward every drama your loved one creates. Remain calm in your interactions with them.
Then practice emotional regulation skills yourself. Mindfulness, gentle movement (such as yoga or tai chi), journaling, prayer, chanting, meditation, and deep breathing are all powerful stress relievers.
You can also boost your own self-care by joining networks that provide help, such as support groups or therapy. Supporting a loved one with histrionic personality disorder is only possible if you are also maintaining optimal health—mental and physical.
Finally, part of that self-care is knowing when to limit your exposure or distance yourself from the person with HPD. Making self-care a priority is crucial when you’re coping with a loved one who has a personality disorder.
Because some HPD symptoms overlap with symptoms of other conditions, a proper diagnosis is the first step to creating an optimally effective, targeted treatment plan. At Amen Clinics, brain-based assessments provide valuable insights into conditions, such as histrionic personality disorder, while therapy services promote recovery.
Encouraging your loved one with HPD to consider psychotherapy is a supportive step. Modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and supportive therapy may improve symptoms.
Related: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What Is It and Who Can Benefit
A 2022 study that examined psychotherapy’s effects on people with histrionic personality disorder (HPD) pointed to positive results. After receiving clarification-oriented psychotherapy, patients with HPD showed reductions in both general symptoms and HPD-specific symptoms.
The study added that improvements in the therapeutic relationship—how patients and therapists related to and engaged with each other—were strongly linked to better outcomes. This suggests that, for individuals with HPD, it’s especially important to develop and maintain high-quality therapist-patient interactions.
In addition, joint or couples therapy can create a safe, neutral space for you to work out any issues as they arise. And, if the emotional toll becomes too high, consider individual counseling for yourself—or even separation.
Coping with a loved one’s HPD can be a challenging task. But, while it presents numerous obstacles, including strained relationships, there is hope. Obtaining knowledge about the condition, setting and sticking to appropriate boundaries, and practicing self-care will help improve the dynamics between you and your loved one with HPD.
And, if histrionic personality disorder has taken control of your loved one’s behaviors, seek professional support.
While earlier research hypothesized that HPD is treatment-resistant, histrionic personality disorder symptoms may improve with psychotherapy. One recent study suggests that establishing a quality relationship with a therapist can improve outcomes.
Setting boundaries is key for any relationship, but it’s especially important when interacting with someone affected by HPD. Not indulging their extreme behavior while remaining empathetic to their emotions can create a healthy balance.
This condition can be difficult to treat, but there is hope for people with HPD. Receiving a proper diagnosis and treatment plan, as provided at Amen Clinics through brain-based assessments, offers the best hope for improvement.
While you can be supportive, firm, and understanding about your loved one’s HPD symptoms, you can only manage your own behavior. Prioritize self-care, set healthy boundaries, and seek professional help for your own mental wellness if needed.
Personality disorders and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
Freeman AM, Acevedo LA, Pennings N. Insulin Resistance. [Updated 2023 Aug 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507839/
Ma, X., Nan, F., Liang, H., Shu, P., Fan, X., Song, X., Hou, Y., & Zhang, D. (2022). Excessive intake of sugar: An accomplice of inflammation. Frontiers in immunology, 13, 988481. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.988481
Rahman, M. S., Hossain, K. S., Das, S., Kundu, S., Adegoke, E. O., Rahman, M. A., Hannan, M. A., Uddin, M. J., & Pang, M. G. (2021). Role of Insulin in Health and Disease: An Update. International journal of molecular sciences, 22(12), 6403. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22126403
Julian M Yabut, Justin D Crane, Alexander E Green, Damien J Keating, Waliul I Khan, Gregory R Steinberg, Emerging Roles for Serotonin in Regulating Metabolism: New Implications for an Ancient Molecule, Endocrine Reviews, Volume 40, Issue 4, August 2019, Pages 1092–1107, https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2018-00283
Abdelfattah, H.E., Bekhet, M.M.M., Tawfik, F.A. et al. The association between insulin resistance and risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders in a sample of Egyptian population. Egypt J Intern Med 37, 56 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43162-025-00434-9
Shin, M., Crouse, J.J., Weger, M. et al. Insulin resistance as an early marker in youth with mood disorders. Nat. Mental Health 3, 969–971 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00472-w
Mathew P, Thoppil D. Hypoglycemia. [Updated 2022 Dec 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534841/
Berridge, K. C. (2018). Evolving concepts of emotion and motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1647. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01647
Choi, S. E., Roy, B., Freeby, M., Mullur, R., Woo, M. A., & Kumar, R. (2020). Prefrontal cortex brain damage and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Journal of diabetes, 12(6), 465–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-0407.13019
Zhang, X., Zhang, L., Zhang, B., Liu, K., Sun, J., Li, Q., & Zhao, L. (2022). Herbal tea, a novel adjuvant therapy for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus: A review. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 13, 982387. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.982387
American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control. https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/non-starchy-vegetables
Calvano, A., , Izuora, K., , Oh, E. C., , Ebersole, J. L., , Lyons, T. J., , & Basu, A., (2019). Dietary berries, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes: an overview of human feeding trials. Food & function, 10(10), 6227–6243. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9fo01426h
Verkouter, I., Noordam, R., le Cessie, S., van Dam, R. M., Lamb, H. J., Rosendaal, F. R., van Heemst, D., & de Mutsert, R. (2019). The Association between Adult Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance at Middle Age: Mediation by Visceral Fat and Liver Fat. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(10), 1559. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8101559
Fritschi, C., Park, C., Quinn, L., & Collins, E. G. (2020). Real-Time Associations Between Glucose Levels and Fatigue in Type 2 Diabetes: Sex and Time Effects. Biological research for nursing, 22(2), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800419898002
Zhao, H., Zhang, J., Cheng, X. et al. Insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome across various tissues: an updated review of pathogenesis, evaluation, and treatment. J Ovarian Res 16, 9 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-022-01091-0
Jiao, Y., Butoyi, C., Zhang, Q. et al. Sleep disorders impact hormonal regulation: unravelling the relationship among sleep disorders, hormones and metabolic diseases.Diabetol Metab Syndr 17, 305 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-025-01871-w
Mary C. Gannon, Frank Q. Nuttall; Effect of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Blood Glucose Control in People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes 1 September 2004; 53 (9): 2375–2382. https://doi.org/10.2337/diabetes.53.9.2375
Sellami, M., Almuraikhy, S., Naja, K. et al. Eight weeks of aerobic exercise, but not four, improves insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular performance in young women. Sci Rep 15, 1991 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86306-2
Amen, D. G., & Easton, M. (2021). A New Way Forward: How Brain SPECT Imaging Can Improve Outcomes and Transform Mental Health Care Into Brain Health Care. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12, 715315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.715315
Tomasik J, Lago SG, Vázquez-Bourgon J, et al. Association of Insulin Resistance With Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score and Response to Antipsychotic Treatment. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(8):864–867. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0304
Guest PC. Insulin Resistance in Schizophrenia. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1134:1-16. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-12668-1_1. PMID: 30919329.
Do you wonder what people mean when they talk about their mental health? Does mental health have more than one meaning? Is emotional health the same as mental health?
If so, you are not alone. The term mental health can have different meanings. And the terms mental health and emotional health are often conflated and misunderstood.
Let’s clarify a few things right away.
At Amen Clinics, we define mental health in a broad sense. Mental health is the overarching term that includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects every area of your life including how you think, feel, and act.
But there’s a more specific use of the term “mental health,” which is likely the source of some confusion.
Mental health, in this specific sense, refers to cognitive functions like thinking, reasoning, judgment, attention, memory, decision-making, and problem-solving, This specific aspect of mental health plays an important role in your overall mental health.
On the other hand, emotional health is the feeling aspect of your greater mental health. It refers to awareness, expression, empathy, and emotional regulation.
When you have good emotional health, you can recognize, understand, and manage your feelings and reactions to life events in a relatively healthy and balanced manner. Emotional health is a major component of your greater mental health.
Thoughts (mental health) and feelings (emotional health) also strongly influence each other, and brain function affects both, but in different ways. Through decades of performing brain SPECT scans and working with thousands of clients, Amen Clinics has studied each of these facets.
This blog will compare and contrast mental health (the thinking definition) and emotional health, including their differences, overlaps, and how they intersect with brain health and behavior.
Mental health is tied to thought patterns; emotional health relates to feeling patterns. Mental health affects reasoning; emotional health affects mood. Different brain regions and circuits are involved with emotional vs. mental health.
In the broad sense, mental health is the term used to describe your overall psychological well-being. It is determines how you think, feel, and act when faced with life challenges.
Good mental health includes sound judgment, clear thinking, emotional well-being, healthy behavior, freedom from disabling symptoms, strong relationships, and the ability to handle everyday life demands and stressors.
Your mental health is essential for leading a healthy, balanced life, and brain health is the foundation of good mental health.
The brain’s interconnected regions and related networks contribute to its daily functioning and your overall mental health.
Some of the brain’s crucial parts and their associated tasks include:
| Brain Region | Responsible For: |
|---|---|
| Prefrontal Cortex | Judgment, forethought, planning, and impulse control |
| Temporal Lobes | Memory, mood stability, and temper issues |
| Parietal Lobes | Sensory processing and direction sense |
| Occipital Lobes | Vision and visual processing |
| Cerebellum | Motor and thought coordination, processing speed, and judgment |
| Basal Ganglia | Integrates thoughts, feelings, and movements; involved with pleasure |
| Anterior Cingulate Gyrus | Shifting attention |
| Amygdala and Limbic Areas | Sets emotional tone; involved with mood and bonding |
As mentioned, especially in academia and research, mental health also refers to the thinking aspect of your brain functioning. For the remainder of this blog, we will primarily be referring to mental health in this specific way.
When this aspect of mental health is compromised, thinking-related symptoms may arise. These include challenges with concentration, negative thinking cycles, impulsivity, or cognitive fatigue.
In simple terms, emotional health is the ability to name, understand, and respond to emotions. As noted above, the limbic system (including the amygdala and hippocampus) influences emotional intensity.
Functions such as emotional resilience, emotional expression, and recovery after stress are governed by emotional health. When it is compromised, an individual might feel overwhelmed by small triggers or have difficulty calming down. Alternatively, they may emotionally “shut down” altogether.
In other words, emotional health involves how a person feels, while the cognitive aspect of mental health involves how a person thinks. Both are necessary aspects of well-being, and they interact with each other in both subtle and obvious ways every day.
While mental and emotional health are different, they also share overlaps. Here are some key ways in which they differ:
Here are areas in which they overlap:
Therefore, though the two can intersect, they function independently. For example, a person may be thinking clearly (mental health) yet feel overwhelmed emotionally (emotional health), or vice versa.
Mental and emotional health have a strong impact on behavior. Here are three examples based on thousands of patients treated at Amen Clinics:
Racing thoughts, also called “overthinking,” affect a large percentage of the population. This symptom may appear alongside anxiety disorders, or as a result of major life changes or lifestyle habits.
Racing thoughts can interrupt sleep, destroy focus, and erode peace of mind. A person with mental overload or worry cycles may avoid tasks, appear distracted, or procrastinate. This can create problems with work, school, or relationships.
Related: 5 Natural Ways to Calm Racing Thoughts
Occasionally feeling strained by life’s demands and stressors is normal. But people with particularly high stress levels can experience symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, as well as weight changes and problems with sleep.
These conditions, as well as others, often accompany emotional overwhelm. In prolonged or severe cases, someone experiencing strong emotional reactions may withdraw from social situations or become irritable.
Combinations of emotional and mental health symptoms are common among patients who visit Amen Clinics. Because these symptoms are so closely related, clients often struggle with both, and one easily impacts the other.
Symptoms of a combined pattern include difficulty managing both thoughts and emotions. This can lead to impulsive decisions, conflict with loved ones, or trouble completing daily responsibilities.
Amen Clinics uses brain SPECT imaging to determine the underlying brain patterns that correspond with mental and emotional health symptoms. Because many conditions and symptoms overlap, brain imaging can help pinpoint root causes, thereby optimizing treatment and recovery.
Among its many possibilities, SPECT imaging can reveal:
Various factors may influence emotional health, mental health, or both. Here are some common culprits behind imbalances in these areas:
Mental and emotional health significantly influence thoughts and actions. When an individual’s emotional or mental health is compromised, they can experience:
Maintaining optimal mental and emotional health, both byproducts of optimizing brain health, are crucial to maximizing your daily life, well-being, and relationships. Without a solid foundation in these areas, it’s very challenging to perform at your best.
When emotional and/or cognitive mental health symptoms arise, seeking professional help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. Because mental and emotional health relate to brain health, they must be treated as legitimate medical problems, not moral failings.
If you are experiencing any of the signs below, it’s a strong indication to seek evaluation from a professional:
If you or a loved one is experiencing any of these mental or emotional health symptoms, seeking help from a qualified mental health professional can help. Our clinicians at Amen Clinics conduct a comprehensive evaluation, which includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical assessments, and diagnostics as part of holistic, brain-based approach.
However, if you are in immediate need of assistance, go to your local emergency room or call 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Hotline, a national hotline that offers one-on-one mental health support for anyone in crisis at any time of day or night.
Remember that reaching out is a positive step. Many basic lifestyle changes can improve outcomes, and seeking help can pinpoint or rule out specific root causes so that symptoms don’t worsen over time. Being proactive about your brain health will benefit both your mental and emotional health, as well as every area of your life.
Amen Clinics’ brain SPECT imaging helps reveal brain function and patterns and, importantly, how those patterns affect mental and emotional health. It allows clinicians to see three critical things:
Traditional psychiatry too often treats mental health without directly examining the organ involved: the brain. Without objective insight into brain function, diagnoses are frequently based on clusters of symptoms, and treatment decisions may rely on trial and error, especially when medication is involved.
Related: SPECT Research Overview
At Amen Clinics, brain SPECT imaging adds a deeper level of clarity. Along with a thorough evaluation of lifestyle factors, personal history, and symptoms, SPECT scans reveal brain activity patterns that influence thoughts, emotions, and behavior. This information helps guide more precise, personalized treatment.
Rather than relying on opinion or guesswork, treatment plans are built around how an individual’s brain is functioning. These plans may include targeted lifestyle strategies (such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress management), evidence-based therapies and interventions, nutritional supplements, and medication when appropriate, which are all tailored to the person.
Over the decades, brain SPECT imaging at Amen Clinics has helped uncover underlying issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, including past brain injuries, infections such as Lyme disease, and the lasting effects of emotional trauma. For many people, seeing these patterns helps them finally make sense of long-standing symptoms, such as difficulty regulating emotions or persistent mood struggles.
While emotional and mental health (related to cognition) are closely linked, and both intersect with brain health, understanding the difference between them helps people recognize what they’re experiencing.
Whether you’re dealing with brain fog or attention issues, emotional outbursts or mood swings, it’s also important to examine the brain patterns underlying your symptoms.
As both mental and emotional health influence behavior in meaningful ways, taking steps to optimize them will ensure you feel your best as you carry out your daily tasks. If needed, seeking the help of a qualified mental health professional can help create lasting change in these areas.
To learn more about your mental, emotional, and brain health, explore the evaluations and imaging options available at Amen Clinics. Being proactive about your mental and emotional health is one of the best ways to improve your overall well-being and life satisfaction, which positively impacts everyone around you.
While both are related to brain health and function, mental health relates to thoughts and cognitive performance. Emotional health relates to feelings and emotions. Both are closely interrelated, however, and each one can affect the other.
At Amen Clinics, a brain SPECT scan determines the underlying brain patterns associated with different mental and emotional health symptoms. Then a targeted treatment plan is designed to treat the whole person, from diet and exercise to sleep hygiene and stress-reducing practices, as well as appropriate therapy, medication when necessary, and other integrative interventions. A holistic strategy promotes lasting results for greater overall well-being.
If your mental or emotional health symptoms are interfering with your daily functioning, including work and relationships, consider seeking professional help. Many all-natural, non-pharmaceutical interventions will boost brain health, making a positive impact on both mental and physical health.
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, 2023. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Seeking help for mental health issues should feel safe and empowering, but a sense of shame often gets in the way for many. What is stigma in mental health, and why does it matter so much when it comes to healing and recovery?
Stigma largely influences how individuals and society perceive mental health challenges. It discourages open conversations, shapes self-worth and creates hesitation when it comes to seeking care.
The impact of stigma extends beyond words and labels. It affects whether an individual feels understood, whether they feel deserving of care, and whether they believe that help can actually make a difference.
Many minimize their symptoms and postpone treatment because stigma has taught them to judge themselves so harshly. This can negatively affect their long-term mental wellness.
In this blog, we explore stigma in three key forms: public stigma, structural stigma and self-stigma. We’ll help you understand how it affects the brain, behavior, and recovery process, and we’ll help you empower you to replace shame with knowledge, hope, and self-compassion.
Amen Clinics is at the forefront of uncovering how lifestyle changes, targeted supplements, and gut-brain strategies can support better outcomes for people with ADHD.
Stigma is a set of negative beliefs that includes assumptions, stereotypes, and judgments about mental health challenges. It involves labels, judgments, and misconceptions that can influence how people treat individuals struggling with such conditions.
Stigma also influences how these individuals view themselves, as it creates shame, self-doubt, or hesitation to seek help. According to research, this pattern is linked to reduced confidence in seeking support, decreased self-esteem and a lower likelihood of engaging in treatment.
Related: End the Stigma, Stop the Shame—NOW!
What is a stigma in mental health? It’s important that you recognize that stigma can appear in different forms. You may experience it through society, in systems, and also within your own mind. Each form can affect your self-esteem, behavior, and recovery in different ways.
Public stigma represents the negative beliefs, stereotypes, and judgments that are held by the general population concerning individuals with mental health issues.
For instance, a person can assume someone is unstable, label them as weak, or misunderstand the nature of their treatment process.
Such assumptions can cause social avoidance, discrimination, and exclusion, making it harder for the affected individuals to feel accepted in society or safe when seeking help.
Studies show that public stigma can block social inclusion, shaping how people are treated. Public stigma affects not only the attitudes but also the way society may respond to mental health conditions.
Structural stigma occurs when institutions, policies, or systems unintentionally reinforce negative beliefs about mental health. In some cases, this shows up in workplaces that haven’t set up structures that support employees going through mental health challenges.
It could also be healthcare systems that have limited access to care, or insurance policies that make it difficult for mental health patients to obtain treatment. Studies show that structural stigma can limit opportunity and access to quality care for people with mental illness.
Structural stigma can cause delays in diagnosis, reduce participation in treatment, and create additional barriers for individuals who are struggling.
Even systems that are well-meaning can unintentionally contribute to stigma. This makes it important to identify and address these patterns.
Self-stigma usually happens when an individual absorbs society’s negative beliefs concerning mental health and applies them to themselves. It can result in self-blame, shame, or the belief that they are supposed to cope alone.
People who experience self-stigma can hide their symptoms, avoid treatment, or feel undeserving of care, which can end up worsening their emotional distress and slowing recovery.
At Amen Clinics, we recognize the fact that self-stigma can cause a delay in treatment and negatively affect your quality of life.
By helping you understand the brain-based aspects of your mental health, we work to replace shame with self-compassion to empower you to take the right steps toward healing.
Apart from stigma affecting how people treat others, it has a profound impact on the brain and mind. According to research, chronic experiences of stress, fear of judgment, and shame can create ongoing emotional strain, heighten anxiety, and deepen the symptoms of depression.
Over time, the constant stress can affect your brain’s ability to maintain focus, regulate emotions, and respond to daily challenges. Long-term stress can alter your brain activity patterns, especially in the areas that are involved in decision-making and emotional regulation.
Individuals who experience stigma repeatedly can get caught in cycles of avoidance, negative thinking, and self-criticism, making it harder for them to reach out for help and get fully engaged in treatment.
Through brain SPECT imaging, clinicians at Amen Clinics have identified brain activity patterns associated with trauma and other issues. These observations are an indicator of how ongoing stigma and internalized shame can affect thought processes and emotional responses.
SPECT offers valuable insights into how stigma can keep people stuck in unhealthy patterns and reinforce negative feelings such as hopelessness or isolation.
When you understand how stigma can affect your brain, you can recognize these cycles, develop healthier coping mechanisms, and take the right steps toward improving your emotional resilience and overall wellness.
Stigma creates barriers that may hinder people from getting the support they really need for mental health challenges. Those barriers may affect decisions at every stage of seeking help, which often leads to unnecessary delays or setbacks.
Some of the common ways in which stigma can interfere with care include:
Seeking support earlier can positively influence your long-term outcomes. When you are able to identify stigma and address it promptly, you get an opportunity to improve your emotional well-being, feel more comfortable engaging in care, and support your long-term healing.
Stigma can be subtle, which can make it easy to miss, particularly because it usually shows up in everyday thoughts and behaviors. Being able to recognize these signs is a crucial step toward reducing shame and being able to seek support.
Some of the common indicators that someone could be experiencing self-stigma include:
Stigma can feel like it’s deeply rooted, but it’s not permanent. It can be reduced through awareness, support, and intentional change. Affected individuals need the right tools and perspectives to strengthen self-compassion, challenge harmful beliefs, and move towards healthier thinking patterns and behavior.
Studies show that gaining the necessary knowledge about mental health challenges can significantly help reduce misunderstanding, misinformation, and fear. Education is important as it helps replace myths with facts.
It makes it possible for people to view mental health challenges as real, manageable experiences and not personal failures. When individuals and the community at large understand how mental health works, stigma begins to lose much of its power. When they learn that mental health challenges are as a result of life experiences, biology, and environment, stigma begins to fade.
Normally, self-stigma takes the form of a harsh inner dialogue. This is negative self-talk that goes unexamined. To challenge these internal narratives, you need to learn to recognize the distorted or unhelpful beliefs and reframe them in a more balanced way.
Cognitive reframing will encourage you to question thoughts like the represent self-blame and hopelessness and replace them with perspectives that are more accurate and compassionate.
Positive connections play an important role in reducing both stigma and self-stigma. The support individuals get from their therapists, community organizations, family members, or peer groups provides understanding and reassurance.
With such relationships, individuals dealing with mental health challenges feel seen and supported. This reinforces that seeking help is a proactive step toward mental well-being.
Learning how your brain influences your emotions, thoughts, and behavior can help reduce shame and encourage self-compassion. When individuals are able to view mental health challenges through a brain-based framework, they are in a better position to understand their experiences without self-blame.
At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized brain-based care to help individuals better understand their symptoms and support a more compassionate approach to their healing.
Stigma can form barriers that make it difficult for people to feel safe enough to seek the help they need or to speak openly about what they are going through. The care provided at Amen Clinics is grounded in empathy and understanding. It emphasizes creating a space in which individuals feel acknowledged and not judged.
Support starts with compassionate evaluations that are evidence-informed and focus on understanding every individual’s concerns in context. These evaluations are created to better understand the symptoms and experiences of each individual rather than depending on labels and assumptions.
Through this approach, people feel validated. The approach also reduces the sense of judgment that is usually associated with stigma.
At Amen Clinics, we also use brain SPECT imaging as an educational tool that helps individuals to have a better understanding of the symptoms they are experiencing from a physiological perspective.
This actually means that an individual can understand their mental health symptoms in relation to how their brain and body function, rather than view them as personal failures or flaws.
One Amen Clinics patient, Katie had struggled with ADHD and anxiety since childhood. Getting a brain scan helped change the way she viewed her mental health issues.
“It’s taken away all the shame and stigma of all the years of feeling absolutely crazy,” Katie says. “To actually be able to say it’s not you, it’s your brain, and the brain can heal. It just gives you so much hope.”
Patients at Amen Clinics are also guided to look at factors like brain activity, neurological patterns, and stress responses, which allows them to see their challenges as rooted in life experiences and biology.
With that understanding, we are able to shift conversations away from blame and toward insight. The fact that they can view their symptoms through this lens can help reduce shame, encourage self-compassion, and support more thoughtful, individualized care.
Each individual’s care plan is tailored to align with their needs, having in mind that no two individuals face mental health challenges in the same way.
Throughout this process, a supportive clinical environment focuses on listening, understanding, and collaboration, which helps individuals feel empowered as they take the necessary steps toward their healing.
For people dealing with mental health conditions, stigma can quietly delay care, increase feelings of anxiety and depression, and contribute to feelings of isolation.
When it comes from systems, society, or internal beliefs, it can create barriers that can interfere with a person’s understanding, healing, and long-term recovery. But the good news is that this isn’t permanent. Stigma can be identified, challenged and gradually replaced with awareness and self-compassion.
If you’ve been facing difficulties trying to seek support due to stigma, just know that help is available. Learning and understanding how mental health conditions like depression relate to the brain and emotional regulation can be a crucial step toward feeling empowered rather than ashamed.
Explore supportive, brain-based care to gain insight into your symptoms, build self-compassion, and move forward with greater confidence in your mental wellness.
Stigma can increase emotional distress, delay treatment, and reduce engagement for individuals seeking support. These barriers can interfere with the healing process by preventing individuals from accessing early and consistent support.
Yes. Stigma can be reduced when individuals acquire education that helps them gain understanding, receive support from others, and challenge the negative self-beliefs.
Viewing mental health struggles from a compassionate, brain-based perspective can also help people replace shame with self-understanding.
Education is effective in correcting misconceptions on mental health and reducing judgment and fear.
When people can understand the effects of mental health conditions on the brain and behavior, they are more likely to respond to the affected individuals with empathy and support.
Amen Clinics addresses mental health stigma by supporting people through a compassionate, brain-based approach that guides them in understanding their symptoms without shame.
Through our personalized evaluations and education, we encourage self-awareness, engagement in care, and emotional healing.
Though many of us wish it did, mental health struggles don’t have one simple answer for treatment. Treatments are as varied as people. Anxiety can show up as racing thoughts in one person or as physical tension in another. Depression may feel like numbness, exhaustion, or persistent self-criticism. Trauma may linger over you like a weighted cloud even after years.
Therapy comes in many forms with each one designed to address different emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and neurological needs. Some approaches focus on practical skill-building, while others help you process past trauma and regulate your nervous system.
When you understand the different types of therapy for mental health, you can make more informed decisions about your care. At Amen Clinics, therapy selection is guided by brain-based insights, allowing our clinicians to better match you with the most effective type for your unique needs.
The important message here? Finding the right therapy matters. Here’s a closer look at the most common and effective forms of therapy.
Therapy comes in many. Some approaches focus on practical skill-building, while others help you process past trauma and regulate your nervous system.
Below is a snapshot of the most widely used and evidence-based types of therapy for mental health, each serving a distinct purpose:
| 10 Main Types of Therapy for Mental Health |
|---|
| Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured psychotherapy that helps people identify and change unhelpful thought and behavior patterns. |
| Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotional regulation and distress-tolerance skills for managing intense emotions. |
| Exposure Therapy is a type of CBT that helps overcome fears and anxiety disorders by gradually and safely confronting avoided behaviors, situations, or memories. |
| Trauma-Focused Therapies (such as EMDR) are structured therapies designed to help reprocess traumatic events, memories, thoughts, and feelings. |
| Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes building psychological flexibility through mindfulness and values-based action. |
| Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is a time-limited talk therapy focused on improving relationships and communication. |
| Psychodynamic Therapy helps individuals explore unconscious patterns and early life experiences. |
| Family or Couples Therapy addresses mental and emotional disorders within relational dynamics in families or partnerships. |
| Mind–Body Therapies use integrative techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, breathwork, and somatic awareness to strengthen the connection between mental and physical well-being. |
| Neurofeedback or Brain-Based Interventions are non-invasive, drug-free techniques that support self-regulation by targeting imbalanced brain activity patterns. |
Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you to recognize distorted thinking patterns, such as catastrophizing or all-or-nothing thinking, and to replace them with more balanced, evidence-based thoughts.
CBT directly targets that negative thought-behavior cycle that fuels many mental health conditions, making it especially effective for anxiety disorders, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and chronic stress.
Through structured exercises, CBT helps people practice new responses to triggers, reducing relapse and improving long-term resilience. Over time, your skills become more automatic, which allows you to interrupt those negative thought patterns before they escalate, according to research from the BioPsychoSocial Medicine Journal.
CBT also emphasizes self-monitoring, which helps people recognize the early warning signs of mental disturbance and respond proactively rather than reactively. This combination of awareness and practice supports lasting change beyond the therapy setting.
Originally developed to treat emotional dysregulation and self-harm behaviors, research shows that dialectical behavior therapy is a structured approach that blends acceptance with change. It’s especially helpful for people who experience emotions intensely and feel overwhelmed by them. The Core DBT skills include:
Research shows that DBT is often beneficial for those with a history of trauma, borderline personality traits, mood instability, or chronic relationship challenges.
Exposure therapy works by retraining fear pathways in your brain. Instead of avoiding anxiety-provoking situations, people gradually and safely face them with professional guidance. Over time, the brain learns that the feared outcome is not as dangerous as expected and nothing horrible will happen if you break the cycle. This approach is highly effective for:
A 2022 study showed that structured, gradual exposure can reduce avoidance patterns in individuals with these diagnoses.
Trauma-focused therapies help you process distressing memories without becoming too overwhelmed. These approaches prioritize safety, pacing, and nervous system regulation on your time and with your specific experience in mind.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) aims to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they no longer trigger intense emotional reactions. EMDR has been shown to support people with:
By supporting your brain’s ability to safely reprocess stored trauma, EMDR can reduce the emotional intensity of past experiences, helping you to retain the memory but without requiring you to relive the traumatic experience over and over.
Acceptance and commitment therapy emphasizes psychological flexibility rather than symptom elimination. Instead of fighting uncomfortable thoughts or feelings, ACT can teach you how to notice them without self-judgment and, instead, choose actions aligned with your values. Some of the elements ACT combines include:
This type of therapy has been shown to help with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and persistent negative thought patterns.
Interpersonal therapy focuses on improving communication, relationships, and social functioning. Research shows that it is commonly used to treat depression, grief, role transitions (such as divorce or career change), and interpersonal conflict.
Rather than exploring deep past experiences, IPT concentrates on present-day relationships and practical solutions. It can offer a comprehensive approach if you are facing both personal and professional challenges.
Psychodynamic therapy explores unconscious patterns, emotional conflicts, and early life experiences that influence present-day behavior. This type of talk therapy approach helps you recognize recurring themes in relationships, decision-making, and emotional responses.
By increasing self-awareness, psychodynamic therapy supports long-term insight and emotional growth with studies showing particular benefits found for complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
Family and couples therapy helps you examine your communication patterns, roles, and conflict cycles within your personal relationships. Rather than focusing on one individual issue, it views challenges through a systems-based lens. This approach can support households navigating multiple different mental health challenges, including:
Mind–body therapy approaches recognize that mental health lives in both the brain and the body. Using physical awareness and intentional practices, you can learn to support emotional balance and nervous system regulation. Here are a few common examples of these types of therapies:
A 2025 study shows that these types of therapies support stress reduction and trauma recovery by calming the parasympathetic nervous system. Ideally, you’d focus on being consistent throughout your life with a specific modality in this therapy to keep your stress levels down and your mental and emotional health thriving.
Related: How Can Stress Affect Your Mental Health: 9 Key Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
At Amen Clinics, brain SPECT imaging tools are used to identify patterns of brain activity that may underlie symptoms such as anxiety, impulsivity, or low mood. These insights help clinicians tailor therapy and lifestyle recommendations more precisely.
Neurofeedback and other brain-directed strategies may support self-regulation and complement traditional talk therapy. Most importantly, these tools are designed to enhance therapy, not replace it, supporting a more holistic approach to mental health.
With the help of a qualified mental health professional, you can find the therapy that is best suited for your specific mental health symptoms. For example, CBT may be effective for anxiety, while studies show that DBT helps reduce emotional overwhelm.
You can start right now by noticing your most persistent symptoms, such as intrusive thoughts, mood swings, avoidance behaviors, or relationship challenges.
This will help you to be prepared for when you connect with a clinician. At that time, your clinician will help determine if your symptoms point toward anxiety-based, trauma-related, or mood-driven support.
Some people benefit from skill-building, while others need trauma processing or deeper insight work. Ask yourself whether your goal is to manage symptoms right now or to explore underlying causes over time.
Keep in mind that skills-based therapies often offer practical tools you can use immediately, while trauma-focused approaches may involve slower, deeper emotional work. Both are valid and often complementary, depending on where you are in your mental healing journey.
The best therapy is one that aligns with your needs, preferences, and capacity for change. It’s important to choose an approach that feels emotionally safe and manageable, especially early in treatment.
Therapy should challenge you without overwhelming you, allowing progress to unfold at a sustainable pace. Trust that readiness can shift over time, and your therapy approach can evolve with it.
There is no single “best” therapy. There’s the right approach for the right person at the right time. With so many effective types of therapy for improving mental health, you don’t have to settle for trial-and-error care.
A comprehensive evaluation and accurate diagnosis will help you better target the right treatment and therapy.
Amen Clinics takes a multi-modal, holistic approach to evaluation and treatment. Our clinicians assess your brain and mental health in the context of your life, which includes spiritual, psychological, biological, and social influences.
The full evaluation uses brain SPECT imaging to examine your brain function before and after intervention—plus a thorough personal history and detailed clinical assessments. Sometimes diagnostic testing is also needed for underlying biological issues.
Such a comprehensive approach leads to a clearer diagnosis and more effective, targeted treatment plan, which includes recommendations for the appropriate types of therapy for your specific needs.
Therapy is usually one important aspect of treatment. For lasting brain, body, and mental health, our clinicians also include lifestyle recommendations (diet, exercise, relaxation techniques, sleep, etc.), appropriate medication (when necessary), targeted nutritional supplements, integrative medicine, and more.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), trauma-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), psychodynamic therapy, and mind–body approaches are among the most common modalities. They cover a wide variety of diagnosis and symptoms. Talk to a qualified mental health professional to learn about your options.
CBT, which teaches you to challenge and reframe negative thoughts, is often considered the gold standard for reducing anxiety symptoms. CBT is also widely considered the most effective, evidence-based psychotherapy for treating depression, often matching antidepressants in efficacy. Exposure therapy, ACT and trauma-informed therapies are also helpful in treating anxiety. IPT and ACT have proven to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms.
Talk therapy focuses on thoughts and emotions to uncover any underlying root causes, while brain-based therapy incorporates neurological insights to personalize care.
First, consider your symptoms, goals, and comfort levels as you talk with your doctor. Then, discuss whether you need skills, insight, or trauma processing support to know which route to take for your mental health healing journey. A comprehensive evaluation from Amen Clinics will provide additional brain-based data to help better target the best therapy for you.
Our team develops personalized treatment plans that may include dietary guidance, nutritional supplements, psychotherapy, and medical care when needed. We focus on the least toxic, most effective solutions to restore balance and improve mental health.
Anyone who has experienced a panic attack knows how intense and frightening they can feel. But panic attack aftereffects, also known as a panic attack hangover, can be just as disorienting.
After a panic attack ends, many people still feel “off.” Because so few people know that there are effects-post panic attack, symptoms can come as a surprise.
So, what is this lingering state? This blog will tell you exactly what it is, including symptoms, why an anxiety “hangover” happens, and eight ways to promote a faster recovery.
In contrast with the panic attack itself, which tends to have short-term effects, the resulting panic attack hangover refers to lingering effects after the event.
A panic attack hangover can be called many names: an adrenaline hangover, panic attack aftereffects, post-panic symptoms, or an anxiety hangover. In contrast with the panic attack itself, which tends to have short-term effects, the resulting panic attack hangover refers to lingering effects after the event, which can last hours or days.
Panic attacks are acute events. They happen suddenly, either “out of the blue” or in response to a trigger, such as a phobia or fear. There is often no real danger present. Those who experience recurrent panic attacks may be diagnosed with panic disorder, which affects 2-3 percent of the U.S. population.
However, about one in ten American adults experience at least one panic attack in a given year. And an estimated one-third of all Americans will have at least one during their lifetime.
A panic attack involves sudden feelings of intense fear and worry as well as overwhelming physical symptoms. Though panic attacks are not life threatening, they can present alarming side effects, including the following:
Fortunately, panic attacks are usually short-lived, lasting about 10 minutes. Multiple panic attacks can occur consecutively, but these are unique, separate events, as opposed to lingering aftereffects.
Over time, an individual can start to live in fear of having another panic attack. They may avoid certain places or situations, interfering with their quality of life, work, or relationships. When an individual experiences recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and has a persistent fear or worry about having more attacks, they have a panic disorder, which is a type of anxiety disorder.
Because panic attacks are acute, they create a cascade of experience. After the fight-or-flight activation, the body naturally reverts to a recovery or rebound state. This occurs because of various biological and nervous system mechanisms.
The autonomic nervous system is comprised of the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. When faced with a perceived threat, the sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight response. The adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol.
After the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system then enables the body’s “rest and digest” period. But this process of relaxation, unlike the fight-or-flight response, doesn’t happen instantly, which can cause lingering physical and emotional side effects: the panic attack hangover.
Indeed, stress impacts many systems of the body, including neurotransmitters, energy systems, and brain circuits. Over time, research has shown, stress can even affect memory, cognition, and learning, due to its effects on brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and temporal lobes. The period following the panic attack is when these systems recalibrate.
Panic attack hangovers are the lingering effects experienced after the panic attack has passed. You may have any of the following symptoms:
The aftereffects of a panic attack can last for as little as a couple of hours or as long as a week. The length of time varies for each individual. When other chronic health conditions are present, you might also experience a flareup of those symptoms.
When a panic attack strikes, it’s important to recognize that your body may need a little extra time to return to its normal state. This is the first step toward healing. Acceptance of this fact helps prevent unnecessary additional stress.
Here are eight ways to assist after panic attack recovery:
After a panic attack, give your body a chance to recover. Allow for ample downtime, possibly aided with soothing music, dim lighting, or a quiet environment. Avoid overstimulation in the aftermath.
Bring your body back into the present moment by using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique: Name five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
Alternatively, try a body scan. Lying or sitting down, slowly move your awareness up your body, working from your feet to the top of your head.
While you don’t want to throw yourself into vigorous activity, gentle movement can help restore flow and ease while releasing tension. Exercise helps regulate mood, reduces stress hormone levels, and promotes feelings of calm.
Tactics like diaphragmatic breathing can also promote relaxation. Try the 4-7-8 method: Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds. This stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system’s “rest and digest” response and lowers cortisol levels.
Food and water are the building blocks for wellness, fueling the body for a healthy stress response. Aim for balanced meals with lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. Drink plenty of water and avoid destabilizing substances like caffeine, sugar, and alcohol.
After a panic attack, take time to recalibrate and process your emotions. Relax with activities like prayer or journaling. Or talk out your feelings with a trusted friend or therapist. These actions help reduce residual anxiety and may highlight any patterns around the onset of your attacks.
You may feel tired and depleted after a panic attack. If possible, take a short nap. Then, to ensure proper recovery in the hours and days after the attack, make sure you get restful sleep. Good sleep hygiene helps reduce inflammation and strengthens immune function.
Therapeutic approaches can be effective for managing anxiety, panic attacks, and panic disorders. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) help with issues like anxiety and trauma.
If you’re taking any medications, review them with your doctor to ensure they are not contributing to panic attacks.
Panic attacks and their aftereffects can be frightening. Understanding the process helps you to be prepared by lowering uncertainty that can increase already elevated anxiety levels.
Still, watch out for certain red flags after panic attacks. Seek help if symptoms persist beyond a few days or escalate in intensity. Also seek help if thoughts of harm, persistent panic, or impairment pervade your daily life.
In these cases, consulting a mental health provider or physician can help. At Amen Clinics, SPECT brain imaging demonstrates that panic attacks and panic disorder are not character flaws or personal weaknesses. They are simply associated with biological changes in the brain.
For example, those with anxiety and panic attacks often show overactivity in the basal ganglia. Individuals with panic disorder may also experience abnormal activity in other brain regions.
Panic attacks and panic disorder can be misdiagnosed for PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. SPECT imaging helps to ensure more accurate diagnosis and serves an important role in a full neuropsychiatric evaluation. Combined with a detailed personal history, clinical labs, and cognitive testing, Amen Clinics’ clinicians are able to create a personalized treatment plan geared to address and treat the root causes of panic disorder or other related mental health conditions.
Getting help for panic attacks may also aid in preventing additional impacts over the long term. Decades ago, researchers established that individuals who experienced past panic attacks were more likely to experience lasting negative effects, compared to those who never had them.
These effects included significantly higher anxiety and depression scores on psychological tests, as well as significantly more social phobias and avoidance behaviors.
While panic attacks feel intense, their lingering effects can add another layer of disturbance. Knowing that they are common and manageable with proper care helps you practice patience and self-compassion when faced with panic attack hangovers.
By using the recommendations outlined above, you can better ease your body’s transition from fight-or-flight to a more relaxed, resting state. These strategies will help reduce recovery time and better prepare you to face future panic attacks if they arise.
Panic attacks differ from anxiety attacks. Anxiety tends to build up over time, in response to a stressful event. Panic attacks are less predictable, often seeming to occur “out of the blue,” with more intense symptoms.
Residual symptoms after a panic attack can last for as little as a couple of hours or as long as a week. If symptoms persist for a lengthy period or worsen over time, don’t hesitate to seek professional help.
After a fight-or-flight response, the body will naturally move to the “rest and digest” stage, which is a function of the parasympathetic nervous system. While this process takes time, you can aid your recovery using strategies such as deep breathing, mindfulness, rest, proper nutrition, and gentle exercise.
A panic attack happens suddenly and usually peaks after 10 minutes, then subsides. The most severe symptoms last about 5 to 20 minutes. Residual symptoms can be intense, but they will not likely be as strong or sudden as a new panic attack.
Panic attack hangovers, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, and other mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
Have you ever struggled to explain why you feel exhausted, even on days that don’t look especially demanding? Or have you wondered why simple tasks can feel overwhelming, while others seem to move through the day with ease?
For many people managing mental health challenges, this experience is deeply familiar, and often misunderstood.
This is where a concept called Spoon Theory resonates. At its core, Spoon Theory is a simple way to describe limited daily energy. Limited daily energy refers to the mental, emotional, and physical fuel required to get through everyday life. It gives people a shared language to explain why energy can run out quickly, why priorities must shift, and why “pushing through” isn’t always possible.
Importantly, Spoon Theory is not a medical diagnosis. It doesn’t label or define a condition. Instead, it’s a communication tool that helps individuals express their needs, set boundaries, and make thoughtful decisions about how to use their energy.
It also helps caregivers, loved ones, and coworkers better understand invisible struggles that aren’t always obvious from the outside.
By putting words to unseen fatigue, Spoon Theory transforms frustration into clarity. It creates space for compassion, support, and healthier daily choices.
One of the most valuable aspects of the mental health Spoon Theory is its ability to facilitate communication. It gives individuals a simple shared language that helps explain their limits without feeling the need to justify or defend them.
Spoon Theory is a simple metaphor that explains how people with limited energy can manage their lives. This concept was originally created by Christine Miserando, a lupus patient advocate, to describe her own experience of living with lupus. “Spoons” in this framework represent units of energy. Every physical, emotional, or mental task requires one or more spoons.
The main aim of this metaphor is to explain that energy is finite and that people must use it thoughtfully. The actions that people engage in every day (for instance, making decisions, socializing, or working) can quickly reduce the energy available, especially for people living with mental health issues.
According to research, people with elevated depression or anxiety often need increased cognitive and emotional effort, which contributes to quicker exhaustion and mental fatigue.
Although this metaphor originated in the context of chronic illness, it resonates with the people who are living with mental health challenges like depression or anxiety. This is because it clearly illustrates how such conditions can quietly drain someone’s energy even when the symptoms aren’t visible.
Spoon Theory is widely used in the context of mental health because it explains the challenges that aren’t visible to other people.
Indeed, studies highlight that mental health conditions may affect emotional regulation, attention, and mental stamina. This makes routine activities require greater effort than they appear from the outside.
When applied thoughtfully, the Spoon Theory analogy effectively communicates this important understanding to struggling individuals. They comprehend in a new way why daily life can feel more demanding. As a result, they can manage their energy more efficiently.
For the people living with conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, or unresolved trauma, daily tasks usually require far more emotional and cognitive effort than they seem to on the surface. This is referred to as the “mental load.” Activities like staying focused, making daily decisions, managing emotions, or navigating social interactions can silently drain someone’s energy throughout the day.
Everyday life experiences can cause mental fatigue that stems from:
The Spoon Theory helps to explain why these unseen demands can consume energy quickly, usually before the activities of the day are fully underway.
Energy levels can significantly vary from day to day. This is due to factors like:
Challenges in mental health have an effect on how your brain processes information and responds to stress. Research asserts that conditions like depression and anxiety can alter emotional regulation, attention, and stress response systems, which can diminish your brain capacity. It can also influence your motivation, stress levels, and stamina.
Amen Clinics puts more emphasis on the brain-health approach to mental wellness. It recognizes that factors like stress, sleep, and emotional regulation have a significant effect on daily energy levels.
Such fluctuations do not reflect personal failure. They are a representation of how your brain and nervous system respond to life’s ongoing demands. The Spoon Theory helps to normalize these shifts by showing why some days may feel manageable while others may feel overwhelming, even when the responsibilities are similar.
According to research, individuals dealing with mental health challenges usually face difficulty trying to describe their internal experiences. Some go through rapid energy depletion due to the uncertainty of their symptoms or the fear of being misunderstood. This kind of struggle is not visible to others and is difficult to explain.
One of the most valuable aspects of the mental health Spoon Theory is its ability to facilitate communication. It gives individuals a simple shared language that helps explain their limits without feeling the need to justify or defend them.
Through the use of the Spoon Theory as a point of reference, people can set clear boundaries, reduce feelings of guilt, and help others to develop expectations that are more realistic. This can help improve the relationship and understanding among patterns, with family members and coworkers. It can also create space for support, empathy, and healthier daily interactions.
Spoon Theory offers a useful way to help individuals to understand what everyday life can feel like when energy is unpredictable or limited. Every morning comes with a specific number of “spoons”. The number of spoons you start with each day is up to you.
To gauge an appropriate number, someone without chronic health issues or ongoing mental health conditions, would start with about 10–12 spoons on a typical day. These spoons represent total available physical, mental, and emotional energy for the day.
By contrast, people managing mental health conditions, chronic stress, or illness may:
Unlike time and money, the number of spoons you have are not the same every day. They vary from one day to another, and when they are spent, they cannot be easily replenished.
For an individual who is managing mental health challenges, simply waking up can use a significant portion of these spoons. Lingering stress, poor sleep, or emotional overload may reduce the energy that is available even before the day begins.
For example, studies have shown that sleep deprivation, even for 24 hours, can lead to an increase in cognitive impairments like confusion and decreased vigilance. On such days, the tasks that would once feel manageable can suddenly feel overwhelming. This isn’t because the individual is lazy or lacks effort. It is because the spoons available are fewer.
Different tasks require varying amounts of spoons. Again, the cost can differ from one person to another.
For some people, responding to messages, getting dressed, making breakfast, or having a short phone call can use only one spoon. For others, it may require several spoons. Decision making, emotional effort, and social interactions usually drain more energy than you may expect, especially if you are having mental health symptoms.
Here’s what using Spoon Theory might look like with different mental health conditions.
If you are living with anxiety challenges, worry and anticipation can use your spoons even long before you begin to do any task. Preparing for conversations, commuting, or handling the uncertainties of life can require a significant amount of mental energy. Even events that are positive may feel draining, especially if they involve constant alertness or overstimulation.
If you’ve been dealing with depression, you may wake up with fewer spoons because of disrupted sleep or emotional heaviness. Basic routines such as getting out of bed, dressing up, preparing a meal, responding to messages, and tidying up can quickly drain your energy. By midday, most of your spoons may already be used, which makes it difficult for you to focus, socialize, or complete additional responsibilities.
For someone with PTSD, hypervigilance, triggers, or emotional flashbacks may consume large amounts of energy without warning. Everyday environments or interactions may feel exhausting, which may leave fewer spoons for routine tasks or social engagement.
People living with ADHD usually spend extra spoons on focus, organization, and task initiation. Managing distractions, switching between tasks, or keeping up with deadlines can quickly deplete their energy, even though they seem productive externally.
These scenarios are a demonstration of how Spoon Theory makes the struggles that are invisible easier to understand. By recognizing how energy is spent differently, people and those close to them can set realistic expectations, plan their days in a more intentional way and approach mental health with a lot of empathy.
When your mental and emotional energy is limited, you don’t need to worry. Spoon Theory provides a simple and flexible way to help you plan your daily life effectively. Once you are able to recognize your energy limits early enough, you can structure your day in ways that reduce the strain and support balance.
Start by noticing how your body feels when you wake up. Consider important factors like how well you slept, your current stress levels, and your emotional state. During the days when your energy feels low, it’s important that you assume that you have fewer spoons available and plan accordingly. This is a simple mental check that can help you prevent overcommitment.
First, use your spoons on essential tasks like medical needs, work responsibilities, or caregiving. You can then simplify or postpone the activities that are less urgent. When you prioritize, you ensure that your limited energy is spent where it is needed most.
Instead of pushing through fatigue or waiting until you are feeling drained, schedule short breaks throughout the day. Occasionally resting before your spoons are fully depleted can help stabilize your energy and reduce your mental overload.
Creating routines that you follow consistently lowers the number of spoons you need for making daily decisions. You can conserve your time and energy by preparing meals in advance, setting several reminders, or creating predictable schedules.
As mentioned earlier, this analogy offers a simple way for you to communicate your limits. For instance, saying “I’m low on spoons today” can help the people around you understand when you need flexibility, rest, or support even without further explanation.
Spoon theory can be a helpful tool through which individuals can increase awareness and help the vulnerable manage their daily energy in a more thoughtful way. That said, there are situations whereby tracking spoons may not fully address the challenges individuals are facing.
Whenever mental strain, fatigue, or emotional depletion disrupt daily functioning, it may be an indicator of concerns that go beyond everyday energy management.
Emotional overload, persistent exhaustion, or mental fatigue that continues to worsen over time or feels unexplained can indicate that something more is happening at a deeper level.
In such cases, depending only on coping strategies can leave important questions unanswered. Sometimes, understanding why your energy is depleted is as crucial as learning how to conserve it.
In cases like these, you may need a more comprehensive evaluation to gain more clarity. At Amen Clinics, we use brain-based assessments to have a better understanding of how different regions of the brain can influence your energy levels, mood, and focus.
Through this approach, individuals can move beyond surface-level coping strategies and explore a personalized plan to optimize brain function and improve mental health
There’s a close relationship between mental energy and how the brain operates.
At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging to observe brain blood flow patterns of activity. They help to explain why some people may experience emotional exhaustion, ongoing fatigue, or difficulties in maintaining focus. The scans do not diagnose mental health conditions on their own; however, they provide valuable insights into how various regions of the brain are working.
For some people, imaging can show areas with overactivity, which are usually associated with conditions like anxiety, obsessive thinking, or PTSD. In other individuals, underactivity can be present, a pattern that is commonly witnessed in ADHD, depression, or the effects of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).
Both patterns may have an influence on how much mental energy an individual has available for the tasks they are expected to handle every day.
By recognizing such activity patterns, clinicians better understand how brain function can affect mood, focus, and energy levels Combined with a personal health history, neuropsychiatric assessments, and clinical labs, our clinicians can created a tailored treatment plan as part of a comprehensive evaluation.
Spoon Theory offers a simple way to describe the energy limits that are usually invisible to others, and sometimes even to oneself.
Recognizing energy limits opens a door to healthier daily choices. The use of strategies like building consistent routines, pacing tasks, taking restorative breaks, and setting clear boundaries can help support focus, emotional well-being, and physical health.
If you are dealing with a mental health disorder or cognitive issues, let Spoon Theory help you to be kinder to yourself and better manage your energy.
Originally, Spoon Theory was created to describe the lives of people living with chronic physical illnesses, but now, it is widely used in mental health. This theory explains how conditions such as depression, anxiety, or ADHD affect daily energy.
There’s no fixed number of spoons because energy levels can vary from one person to another or from day to day. Factors like stress, sleep, and emotional load may change how many spoons someone can have available.
Absolutely. Spoon Theory can help in explaining how tasks such as planning, focusing or even switching between activities can feel more demanding for the people who are living with executive dysfunction or ADHD. It provides a simple way to describe the mental effort that is not always visible.
Begin by describing spoons as units of energy. Explain that every task utilizes some of that energy. Allowing family to know when spoons are low can help them to understand your needs and limits better.
If you’re constantly feeling low on energy and it keeps getting worse, you may need to look beyond daily coping strategies. Seek a deeper evaluation, as it can offer insight into the underlying factors affecting your mental energy.
Feeling mentally drained is common for people managing mental health challenges. At Amen Clinics we use advanced brain imaging and clinical assessments to uncover why energy may fluctuate and provide personalized strategies to help protect and optimize your daily mental energy.
Managing daily life with brain health issues and mental health conditions can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we provide personalized, science-backed treatment plans designed to target the root causes of your symptoms. Our 360-approach includes brain SPECT imaging, clinical evaluations, innovative therapeutic techniques, medications (when necessary), and holistic lifestyle recommendations to promote the health of your brain, body, and mind. Speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
