Affecting more than 18 million Americans each year, depression is now the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and according to government statistics, more than half of people with depression are also plagued by insomnia.
A report from a series of sleep and depression studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that addressing and curing insomnia may double one’s ability to fully recover from depression.
Relieve Insomnia, Cure Depression
The report originated from a team at Ryerson University in Toronto, where 66 patients were studied over a treatment period of 8 weeks, using talk therapy to resolve insomnia, rather than sleep medication.
The results were outstanding and further confirmed the findings of a similar pilot study:
• 87% of those who relieved insomnia through biweekly talk therapy sessions also resolved their depression, supported by either an antidepressant drug or placebo.
• Participants who were unable to relieve their insomnia were half as likely to resolve their depression.
How Did the Participants Relieve Insomnia?
Along with talk therapy, researchers taught participants a technique called cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), and according to the study’s author, Dr. Colleen Carney, the objective is to, “Curb this idea that sleeping requires effort, that it’s something you have to fix. People get in trouble when they begin to think they have to do something to get sleep.”
CBT-I teaches patients to:
• Establish a regular wake-up time and stick to it.
• Get out of bed during waking periods.
• Avoid eating, reading, watching TV or similar activities in bed.
• Avoid daytime napping.
Treating Underlying Issues
Similar studies and our own experience treating patients has shown us that rumination, or replaying the same thoughts over and over in your head, plays an important role in both depression and insomnia. Rumination, insomnia, and depression are totally interconnected.
We have seen that this type of rumination is extremely common in those with untreated and undertreated overfocused ADD, anxiety, and depression along with having a brain type that leans toward compulsive, or repetitive behaviors and beliefs, often times negative. Having enough repetitive negative thoughts will successfully sow the seeds of depression over the long-term.
We Can Help
The Amen Clinics Method takes the time to address depression, insomnia, and sleep disorders with the right kinds of treatment – instead of masking the symptoms with a medication alone – producing far better recovery rates. Call us today at 888-288-9834, or tell us more about your situation to learn if treatment at Amen Clinics may be right for you.
Addiction is vicious. Not only does substance abuse rewire our brains for the worse, it is also a relationship killer.
Instead of handing down the classic car or the childhood home, some parents are bequeathing their children a future of internal torment. Is the cause physiological or psychological? The answer is unclear. What is clear is that when it comes to addiction, we need to be thinking about our children’s future as much as our own.
In brain SPECT scans of patients struggling with addiction we often see global damage to the brain, including the frontal lobes (which control executive functioning skills like planning, attention span, and impulse control) and in the temporal lobes (which are involved in memory, mood, and understanding speech). Depression is a brain illness, and SPECT scans of patients suffering from anxiety and depression demonstrate several different patterns of brain activity.
Time and again we have seen the generational toll of addiction. We have compassion for all who are involved. The question is, how can you intervene and break the cycle of not only addiction, but also depression, which so often leads to addiction?
Our Recommendations
We have three immediate recommendations to any parent and their adult children who are ready to break the cycle of addiction and depression and start reversing damage that has been done.
Get an Assessment of Your Brain
At Amen Clinics, our full evaluation includes a detailed history, cognitive testing and two brain SPECT studies (at rest and during a concentration task). SPECT (single-photon emission computerized tomography) is a special kind of image of the brain that gives doctors crucial information. How can you change your brain if you do not know anything about it?
Get The Support You Need
You don’t have to be an addict or a manic to have a hard time making change. Major life changes are very difficult for many people. Studies have shown that those who surround themselves with a support group are far more likely to have success implementing major changes.
Accept Hope
In our thirty years, we have collectively performed over 150,000 scans on patients from 120 countries, we have seen many cases of addiction, depression, brain trauma, and illness. But you must know that we have seen an equal or greater amount of recovery, repair and re-engagement with life in patients who had almost given up on the possibility of getting better. The brain is complicated and delicate, but it is also resilient beyond explanation.
We Can Help
We urge you to accept that there is hope. When you do that, taking action to break the cycle is the natural next step. The Amen Clinics biomedical evaluation is part of The Amen Clinics Method approach to mental and physical health. We treat each patient as an individual, and take a full personal history before beginning SPECT imaging or recommending any treatment program. Call us today at 888-288-9834 or schedule an appointment online. Even though combat action in Afghanistan is decreasing for most soldiers, it’s not translating to less stress. Members of the military committed suicide at a record pace in 2012 — almost one per day — and some experts think the trend will grow worse this year.
What Research Says
Pentagon figures obtained by The Associated Press show 349 suicides among active-duty troops last year, up from 301 the year before and exceeding the Pentagon’s own internal projection of 325. Last year’s total is the highest since the Pentagon began closely tracking suicides.
The Pentagon has struggled to deal with suicides, which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others have called an epidemic. The problem reflects severe strains on military personnel burdened with more than a decade of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq and is increasingly complicated by anxiety over the prospect of being forced out of uniform as defense budgets are cut.
“Now that we’re decreasing our troops and they’re coming back home, that’s when they’re really in the danger zone, when they’re transitioning back to their families, back to their communities and really finding a sense of purpose for themselves,” said Kim Ruocco, whose husband, Marine Maj. John Ruocco, killed himself in 2005. She directs a suicide prevention program for a support group, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS.
One such case was Army Spc. Christopher Nguyen, 29, who killed himself in August at an off-post residence he shared with another member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., according to his sister, Shawna Nguyen. “He was practically begging for help, and nothing was done,” she said in an interview.
She said he had been diagnosed with an “adjustment disorder” — a problem of coping with the uncertainties of returning home after three deployments in war zones. She believes the Army failed her brother by not doing more to ensure that he received the help he needed before he became suicidal. “It’s the responsibility of the military to help these men and women,” she said. “They sent them over there (to war); they should be helping them when they come back.”
Finding Help for Service Members
Officials say they are committed to pursuing ways of finding help for service members in trouble. “Our most valuable resource within the department is our people. We are committed to taking care of our people and that includes doing everything possible to prevent suicides in the military,” Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said Monday.
The Army, by far the largest of the military services, had the highest number of suicides among active-duty troops last year at 182, but the Marine Corps, whose suicide numbers had declined for two years, had the largest percentage increase — a 50 percent jump to 48. The Marines’ worst year was 2009, with 52 suicides. The Air Force recorded 59 suicides, up 16 percent from the previous year, and the Navy had 60, up 15 percent. All the numbers are tentative, pending the completion later this year of formal pathology reports on each case.
Suicide Prevention
Suicide prevention has become a high Pentagon priority, yet the problem persists. “If you have a perfect storm of events on the day with somebody who has high risk factors, it’s very difficult to be there every moment, fill every crack, and we just have to continue to be aware of what the risk factors are,” Ruocco said.
Two retired Army generals, Peter W. Chiarelli and Dennis J. Reimer, have spoken out about the urgency of reversing the trend. “One of the things we learned during our careers,” they wrote in The Washington Post last month, “is that stress, guns and alcohol constitute a dangerous mixture. In the wrong proportions, they tend to blow out the lamp of the mind and cause irrational acts.”
A study also found that most service members who attempted suicide — about 65 percent — had a known behavior disorder such as depression, whereas 45 percent of those who actually completed the act and killed themselves had such a history.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
We Can Help
If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD, Amen Clinics can help. We will help you learn more about your brain and assist with early diagnosis and intervention. Call us today at 888-288-9834 or visit our website to schedule a visit. If you’ve suffered a stroke, taking steps to improve your brain health and mood are critical. A study has found that people who become depressed after a stroke may have a tripled risk of dying early and four times the risk of death from stroke compared to people who have not experienced a stroke or depression.
“Up to one in three people who have a stroke develop depression,” said study author Amytis Towfighi, MD, with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “This is something family members can help watch for that could potentially save their loved one.” Towfighi also noted that similar associations have been found regarding depression and heart attack, but less is known about the association between stroke, depression and death.
What Research Says
The research included 10,550 people between the ages of 25 and 74 followed for 21 years. Of those, 73 had a stroke but did not develop depression, 48 had stroke and depression, 8,138 did not have a stroke or depression and 2,291 did not have a stroke but had depression.
After considering factors such as age, gender, race, education, income level and marital status, the risk of dying from any cause was three times higher in individuals who had stroke and depression compared to those who had not had a stroke and were not depressed. The risk of dying from stroke was four times higher among those who had a stroke and were depressed compared to people who had not had a stroke and were not depressed.
“Our research highlights the importance of screening for and treating depression in people who have experienced a stroke,” said Towfighi. “Given how common depression is after stroke, and the potential consequences of having depression, looking for signs and symptoms and addressing them may be key.”
The Risk
The risk of developing serious brain problems in a person who has a stroke is six to ten times greater than that in the general population. Even a stroke smaller than a pencil-head eraser increases the risk for dementia four to twelve-fold.
How to Reduce Your Stroke Risk
A stroke is a single, damaging attack, but the risk factors that lead to a stroke, such as high blood pressure, smoking, heart disease, and diabetes, develop over a long time. You can reduce your stroke risk by taking the following simple steps:
• Keep blood pressure under control. Check your blood pressure often and if it’s high, follow your doctor’s advice on how to lower it. Treating high blood pressure reduces the risk of both stroke and heart disease.
• Stop smoking. Cigarette smoking is linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. The risk of stroke for people who have quit smoking for two to five years is lower than that for people who still smoke.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise makes the heart stronger and improves circulation. It also helps control weight. Being overweight increases the chance of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and adult-onset (type 2) diabetes. Physical activities like walking bicycling, swimming, and tennis lower the risk of both stroke and heart disease. Talk with your doctor before starting a vigorous exercise program.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet and control diabetes. If untreated, diabetes can damage the blood vessels throughout the body and lead to atherosclerosis.
We Can Help
There are many ways to optimize your brain and your mind. You CAN create a brain healthy life by learning how to love and care for your brain and body. If you, or someone you love, could benefit from an evaluation at Amen Clinics, call our brain health advisors today at 888-288-9834 or tell us more online to schedule an appointment. In May 2012, former all-star NFL linebacker Junior Seau tragically took his own life. This came as a shock to everybody as Seau was loved by family, friends and fans alike. The circumstances of his death at the young age of 43 also carry many questions surrounding his struggles with depression and its connection to playing football.
What Research Says
Researches from the National Institutes of Health sought to answer some of these questions in the report they release that confirmed that Junior Seau suffered from a degenerative brain disease often linked with repeated blows to the head.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a neurodegenerative condition that can lead to memory loss, dementia and depression. Seau’s family donated his brain to the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., to find out if he was one of many players whose time in the NFL led to CTE.
“It was important to us to get to the bottom of this, the truth,” Gina Seau added, “and now that it has been conclusively determined from every expert that he had obviously had CTE, we just hope it is taken more seriously. You can’t deny it exists, and it is hard to deny there is a link between head trauma and CTE. There’s such strong evidence correlating head trauma and collisions and CTE.” “It’s important that we take steps to help these players. We certainly don’t want to see anything like this happen again to any of our athletes.”
Junior Seau’s Diagnosis
Dr. Russell Lonser, the former Chief of Surgical Neurology at the NIH, said that because of the publicity surrounding Seau’s death, Seau’s brain was “blinded” during research so that nobody doing the diagnosis would know whose brain they were studying.
“The neuropathologists each examined tissue samples from three different unidentified brains. The official, unanimous diagnosis of Mr. Seau’s brain was a ‘multi-focal tauopathy consistent with a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy,’ the NIH said in its statement. “In addition, there was a very small region in the left frontal lobe of the brain with evidence of scarring that is consistent with a small, old, traumatic brain injury.”
“Specifically, the neuropathologists found abnormal, small clusters called neurofibrillary tangles of a protein known as tau within multiple regions of Mr. Seau’s brain. Tau is a normal brain protein that folds into tangled masses in the brain cells of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and many other progressive neurological disorders. The regional brain distribution of the tau tangles observed in this case is unique to CTE and distinguishes it from other brain disorders.”
“The type of findings seen in Mr. Seau’s brain have been recently reported in autopsies of individuals with exposure to repetitive head injury, including professional and amateur athletes who played contact sports, individuals with multiple concussions, and veterans exposed to blast injury and other trauma.
Behavior Swings
In the final years of his life, Seau had wild behavioral swings, according to ex-wife, Gina, and 23-year-old son, Tyler, along with signs of irrationality, forgetfulness, insomnia and depression. He hid it well in public, they said, but not when he was with family or close friends.
Gina Seau said that the diagnosis was not a surprise. “We saw changes in his behavior and things that didn’t add up with him, but (CTE) was not something we considered or even were aware of. The difference with Junior … from an emotional standpoint [was] how detached he became emotionally,” she said. “It was so obvious to me because early, many, many years ago, he used to be such a phenomenal communicator. If there was a problem in any relationship, whether it was between us or a relationship with one of his coaches or teammates or somewhere in the business world, he would sit down and talk about it.”
Was CTE To Blame?
In his 20-year NFL career, Seau was never listed as having a concussion on any medical or injury report, but he joins a list of several dozen football players who were found to have CTE. Boston University’s center for study of the disease reported last month that 34 former pro players and, nine who played only college football, suffered from CTE.
Seau is not the first former NFL player who killed himself and later was found to have had CTE. Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling are others. Before shooting himself, Duerson, a former Chicago Bears defensive back, left a note asking that his brain be studied for signs of trauma. His family filed a wrongful-death suit against the NFL, claiming the league didn’t do enough to prevent or treat the concussions that severely damaged his brain. Easterling played safety for the Falcons in the 1970s. After his career, he suffered from dementia, depression and insomnia, according to his wife, Mary Ann. He committed suicide last April.
Your Brain on Football
Given how football is played, the problem the NFL is going to face is there is really no way to prevent these types of injuries. Helmets only prevent skull fractures. Your brain is very soft; composed of about 80 percent water and is the consistency of soft butter. Your brain is housed in a hard skull surrounded by fluid. When these hits happen on the football field, the head comes to an abrupt stop, but the brain which is suspended within the skull, continues in the path of motion where the head and helmet stopped. The brain then strikes that portion of the skull. Every time this happens neurons are being ripped and damaged. Over time these areas can lose function causing emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems. It is imperative to bring this information to light so that more people understand the dangers of these contact sports and the detrimental effect it can have on their mental health.
We Can Help
If you are having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Amen Clinics has helped thousands of people heal their brains and we can help you, too. With targeted treatment, you can change your brain and change your life. If you or a loved one is struggling with behavior issues or want to learn more about the effects of brain injury, please call us today at 888-288-9834 or visit our website to schedule an appointment.
Do you often feel stirred up, worried, or nervous? Do you feel uncomfortable in your own skin?
Have you ever experienced a feeling like you could “climb the walls” or that you are “crawling out of your skin”? Are you plagued by feelings of panic, fear, and self-doubt?
Do you ever experience any of the following physical symptoms that can be consistently disruptive or come in unexpected waves?
• Muscle tension
• Muscle soreness
• Nail biting
• Headaches
• Abdominal pain
• Shortness of breath
• Heart palpitations
If you answered yes to any combination of these, you might be suffering from a psychiatric disorder that affects over 38 million Americans every year.
The Anxiety Epidemic
Anxiety is a major public health problem that is reaching epidemic levels in the United States. The loss to our society from these illnesses is staggering in terms of individual pain, family strife, school and relationship failure, lost work productivity, and death.
Anxiety is a Brain Illness
Our work and the research of many others has demonstrated that anxiety is a brain illness, not the result of a weak will or character problem. In addition to the common symptoms listed in the questions above, anxiety can cause irrational fears or phobias that become a burden. People with “pure anxiety” tend to avoid anything that makes them anxious or uncomfortable, such as places or people that might trigger panic attacks or interpersonal conflict. People with this type tend to predict the worst and look to the future with fear. They may be excessively shy or startle easily, or they may freeze in emotionally charged situations.
Having “untreated” anxiety affects nearly every aspect of a person’s life and has been associated with school underachievement, family conflict, drug abuse, legal difficulties, and poor work performance.
Treatment for Anxiety
The standard treatment for anxiety is anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax. This medication may be helpful for many people, but it can also make many others much worse. Sometimes negative reactions to these types of medications can be extreme, such as hallucinations, violent outbursts, volatile temperaments, psychosis, and suicidal behavior.
Anxiety & SPECT
Shortly after Dr. Daniel Amen began brain SPECT imaging work in 1991, he realized that anxiety is not just a single or simple disorder. Just as there are many different causes of chest pain, there were different brain SPECT patterns in his anxious patients. Dr. Amen has identified seven different types of anxiety and knowing your type is essential to getting the right help.
How We Can Help
Amen Clinics has pioneered the use of brain SPECT imaging in clinical practice and research shows its use significantly impacts the accuracy of diagnosis and the ability to target effective treatments. SPECT imaging helps personalize treatments specific to what your brain needs, and, when used in combination with our full evaluation and clinical assessment, has demonstrated very high success rates.
At Amen Clinics, we are dedicated to improving the lives of every patient and family we serve through education, the latest advances in neuroimaging, laboratory testing, and individualized treatment plans. We use the least toxic, most effective treatments for our patients, and use a wide variety of interventions from natural supplements, medications, dietary interventions and targeted forms of psychotherapy.
Our Full Evaluation of your biological/psychological/social/spiritual history, coupled with two brain SPECT imaging scans (at rest and at concentration), cognitive testing, and clinical assessment is designed to address your unique needs and offer targeted treatment options. We invite you to call today, 888-288-9834 or visit us online. Did you know that at any point in time, about 6 percent of the population will have a significant depression? And only 20 to 25 percent of these people ever seek help.
Given those statistics it’s no surprise that the World Health Organization (WHO) named depression the number one cause of disability in the world, in terms of years lived with disability (YLDs).
Depression Statistics
Facts from the World Health Organization (WHO)
• Depression is common, affecting about 121 million people worldwide.
• Depression is among the leading causes of disability worldwide.
• Depression can be reliably diagnosed and treated in primary care.
• Fewer than 25 percent of those affected have access to effective treatments.
What Research Says
Muñoz and co-authors William Beardslee, MD, professor of child psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Yan Leykin, PhD, assistant adjunct professor in the department of psychiatry at UCSF, are calling their article a “call to action for the health care system.” The article builds on a 2009 Institute of Medicine report on prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, which provided evidence that mental disorders can be prevented.
“Very few people are aware that depression can be prevented, including professionals in the field, and there are very few preventive services,” said Muñoz in a press release from UCSF.
“The healthcare system is set up to pay providers for treatment. It has not been set up to pay providers for prevention of mental disorders,” said Muñoz. “Without financial incentives for prevention, few professionals will engage in preventive interventions. It’s a major structural obstacle.”
The Results
In addition to cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal psychotherapy methods, one of the “nontraditional” mood management interventions mentioned in the article is an internet-based program using cognitive-behavioral tools. At six months the intervention was found to reduce relapse in the experimental group to 10.5 percent of the participants, versus 37.8 percent in the control group.
Guidelines for Depression
The article offers a set of guidelines to help decrease the number of people affected by depression, which includes identifying high-risk individuals and ultimately striving to reduce new cases of depression by half.
Those at high risk for depression include:
(1) people who have already had a major depressive episode – the likelihood of having a repeat episode is increased and can lead to chronic or recurrent depression
(2) recognizing that depression may be a family illness – parents who have had depressive episodes should consider the needs of their children
(3) stressful life events often trigger depression -therefore, managing stress in an effective way through mood management techniques can be beneficial.
How Brain Imaging Can Help Depression
Our SPECT studies provide a useful window into the brain of these patients and help bring together the diversity of biological findings. We have studied hundreds of children, teenagers, and adults who exhibited depressive behavior.
It is very important to determine the nature and origin of these behaviors because that will predict appropriate treatment. If you or someone you know is suffering from depression we would love to speak with you today. Please reach out at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit.
