It’s one of the most gut-wrenching, horrifying, heartbreaking things you’ll ever see. The Netflix docuseries, “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez,” chronicles the 2013 brutal torture and murder of the 8-year-old boy at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.
The series details how the young boy was routinely beaten, forced to eat kitty litter, and shot in the face with a BB gun. Gabriel’s mother, Pearl, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, also repeatedly locked him a cabinet, pepper-sprayed him, burned him with cigarettes, called him “gay,” and performed other unconscionable acts. In the series, one of the first responders who arrived on the scene after Pearl called 911 on May 22, 2013, to report that her son had stopped breathing said it was the worst case of abuse she had ever seen.
It makes you wonder, how could anyone inflict such abuse on an innocent child?
Spoiler alert: The remainder of this article reveals information from later episodes of the docuseries.
In one of the episodes, viewers learn about Pearl’s turbulent background and discover that she herself had been a victim of abuse at a young age. She was beaten by her mother, gang-raped, and subjected to an attempted rape by one of her uncles. Pearl started using drugs (methamphetamine and crack cocaine) and drinking alcohol at a very young age, which likely altered her brain function.
Drug and alcohol abuse early in life interferes with brain development and a process called myelination. During this important maturation process that typically isn’t completed until a person’s mid-20s, a protective sheath coats neurons to help speed communication within the brain. It starts at the back of the brain and works its way forward. The prefrontal cortex (involved in judgment, empathy, decision-making, and impulse control), which is located behind the forehead, is the last area to gain this protective coating. When this process is disrupted, it can lead to lifelong dysfunction, poor decision-making, impulsivity, and a lack of empathy.
In fact, the series shows that according to a neurocognitive evaluation by a clinical psychologist, scans of Pearl’s brain showed abnormalities in the right frontal and parietal lobes. The evaluation also indicated that Pearl had a low IQ and no education beyond the 8th grade. In addition, she had been diagnosed with a litany of mental health disorders, including depression, eating disorders, developmental disability, PTSD, and possible personality disorder.
None of this excuses what she did to her sweet child, but it brings to light the fact that it is common for childhood abuse to repeat from one generation to the next.
Can this cycle be stopped?
What brain imaging and clinical psychiatric practice have shown us is that there is hope for putting an end to this destructive cycle. Here are 3 important steps in the process.
If you remember the pain and trauma from the past, it can help you break it for future generations. If, however, you repress it, you are more likely to repeat it.
Some forms of psychotherapy, such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) can be very helpful to eliminate or decrease the pain from past traumas (see www.emdria.org to find a therapist near you). Addressing other mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, or PTSD, can help improve the overall quality of life and the ability to have healthy relationships.
Because childhood trauma can get stuck in the brain’s emotional centers and prevent the brain from processing information normally, it is of the utmost importance to enhance overall brain function with a healthy diet, daily exercise, abstinence from alcohol and drugs, and other lifestyle strategies. Brain imaging studies show that you can change your brain and change your life, which in turn, will change the lives of your children and their grandchildren.
It’s impossible to know if Gabriel’s death could have been avoided if Pearl had sought treatment for her own abusive childhood and mental health problems and if she had adopted brain healthy habits. However, this tragic story should be a wake-up call for all of us to try to heal the traumas of the past that continue to haunt us today and that have a negative effect on our relationships with our children.
At Amen Clinics, we take a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating our patients. We perform sophisticated brain imaging to detect underlying brain dysfunction that may be affecting your quality of life and the ability to be an effective parent. We also perform lab work (when needed) and do an extensive assessment of your personal history to identify biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors that may be contributing to your symptoms. This allows our physicians to create a targeted treatment plan for your individual needs.
If you want to join the tens of thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health, overcome their symptoms, and improved their quality of life at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular strategies for losing weight, and it’s touted as having many physical health benefits. But what does it do to your brain? Let’s take a deep dive into the research to find out what “time-restricted eating” really does to your brain.
Intermittent fasting turns on an important process called autophagy, in which your brain “takes out the trash” that builds up during the day. This self-cleaning process helps detoxify the brain, clear out old and damaged cells, and sweep away debris. This nightly housekeeping promotes the regeneration of newer, healthier cells. A wealth of research has shown that problems with autophagy have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Restricting the hours when you eat has been shown to significantly improve memory, according to a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In this study, after 4 weeks of intermittent fasting, performance on a spatial planning and working memory task and on a working memory capacity test increased significantly. Additional research on animals has found that intermittent fasting improves learning and memory.
Research in the Journal of Nutrition Health & Aging found that after 3 months of intermittent fasting, study participants reported improved moods and decreased tension, anger, and confusion. Another study from 2018 that was investigating weight-loss strategies found that intermittent fasting was associated with significant improvements in emotional well-being and depression.
Chronic inflammation has been linked to many brain disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. According to a study in Nutrition Research, intermittent fasting decreases inflammation, which can have potent benefits for your brain health and mental well-being.
Research in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that intermittent fasting produces greater improvements in insulin sensitivity, which helps you prevent high blood-sugar levels and type 2 diabetes. The journal Neurology has published findings showing that high blood sugar is associated with a smaller hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped structure in your temporal lobes associated with mood, learning, and memory. Other studies show that anxiety and depression are 2-3 times higher in patients with type 2 diabetes than the general population.
Intermittent fasting helps reduce blood pressure while you snooze, which is beneficial for heart health, and anything that’s good for your heart is also good for your brain. Having hypertension or pre-hypertension lowers blood flow to the brain. Low blood flow on brain SPECT imaging scans has been seen with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADD/ADHD, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and more. In addition, low blood flow is the #1 brain imaging predictor that a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Intermittent fasting helps to burn more fat, which is good for brain health. Excess fat on your body is not your friend. A growing body of research, including studies in Archives of General Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, has found that obesity is detrimental to brain health and is associated with a greater risk of depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia (fear of going out), and addictions.
With so much research pointing to important brain health benefits, you may want to incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle. What’s the best way to do it? One of the most common methods is to do a nightly fast for 12-16 hours. The easiest way to do it is to begin fasting several hours before bedtime. For example, if you eat dinner at 6 p.m., don’t eat again until 6–10 a.m. the next day.
At Amen Clinics, we take a whole-body approach to helping people overcome debilitating symptoms and achieve peak performance. We perform comprehensive evaluations that include brain SPECT imaging, as well as looking at the many lifestyle factors, such as diet, that can contribute to mental health symptoms or hold you back from reaching your potential. Our wrap-around services focus on the least toxic, most effective solutions, including brain health nutrition coaching.
If you want to join the tens of thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health, overcome their symptoms, and optimized their performance at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Recognizing that you or a loved one has a problem isn’t easy. For many people, substance use disorders and behavioral addictions creep up gradually and the changes are hard to notice. Usually, by the time you realize that you, your significant other, your child, or your parent is in the grips of addiction, the brain has already been rewired to fuel the addiction, and it is harder to stop.
To find out if you might have a problem, take the following quiz. This questionnaire is called the CAGE Assessment and it has been used for decades in the addiction field to help identify problem drinking. These same questions can help you pinpoint problems with other substances—such as opioids, cocaine, or heroin—as well as with behaviors like gambling, compulsive shopping, or even overeating. In the quiz below, simply substitute the word “drinking” with “prescription drug use,” “cocaine,” “meth,” “gambling,” “compulsive shopping,” “internet porn,” “overeating,” or whatever your bad habit may be.
1. Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your drinking…or other behavior?
2. Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking…or other behavior?
3. Have you ever felt Guilty about your drinking…or other behavior?
4. Have you ever had a drink…or engaged in other behavior…first thing in the morning (as an “Eye opener”) to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
If you answered “yes” to 2 or more of these questions, then you may have a problem.
There is one more critical question to ask. It is not part of the CAGE Assessment, but it is often the most telling.
5. Do you drink…or engage in other behavior…despite the negative consequences of the behavior in your health, relationships, your money, or with the law?
If you answered “yes” to this question, then it is time to take a hard look at your behavior. Continuing to drink or engage in other harmful behavior despite negative consequences is one of the clearest signs that you have an addiction.
If you suspect a loved one may have a problem, you may think you know what to look for in terms of the signs and symptoms of addiction. Most people immediately think about finding drug paraphernalia, empty bottles of alcohol, receipts from casinos, or other physical evidence. But often the signs are far more subtle and can be mistaken for other issues or may co-exist with conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or ADD/ADHD.
Here are 11 common signs:
Noticing any of these signs should be a cause for concern. Addressing problem behaviors early is important because left untreated, addiction ruins lives, devastates families, destroys relationships, negatively impacts careers, decreases the ability to perform well in school, and causes health problems. People with addictions are more likely to get divorced, less likely to graduate from high school or college, less likely to get promoted at work, and more likely to develop diseases related to their addiction. And addiction affects our society as a whole and burdens us all.
Seeking treatment for yourself or a loved one is the first step to healing. Functional brain imaging with SPECT can be a very powerful tool in the recovery process because it helps:
In addition, when people with addictions see before-and-after brain scans of people with addictions, it shows that healing is possible and elevates hope that they can break the chains of addiction.
At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging as part of a comprehensive evaluation to help our patients see and understand any underlying brain dysfunction. This is often a powerful first step to breaking the chains of addiction. We use an integrated brain-body approach to healing the brain and treating any co-occurring mental health problems.
If you want to join the thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health and overcome their addictions and psychiatric symptoms at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Some people are calling it the biggest scandal to rock baseball since the steroid debacle. During the 2017 World Series, the Houston Astros engaged in a sign-stealing scheme that alerted their hitters to know what type of pitch to expect—fastball, breaking ball, change-up, and so on. The Astros went on to beat the Dodgers that year to win the World Series, but that title has been tainted since the cheating scandal came to light.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has slapped the team with punishments, including a $5 million fine and the loss of first- and second-round draft picks for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. But some say this doesn’t go far enough.
It all makes you wonder, why did they cheat?
Based on reviewing over 160,000 brain SPECT scans related to behavior from tens of thousands of patients at Amen Clinics, neuropsychiatrist Daniel Amen, MD, says, “Brain dysfunction is the number-one cause of bad behavior.” He suggests it’s likely that a combination of anxiety, obsessiveness, and a lack of a moral code are underlying factors when people engage in bad behavior. “From a neuroscience perspective, lower frontal lobe function often leads to cheating and lying,” he says.
Here are some specific findings based on SPECT imaging that show how abnormal brain activity is linked to cheating and lying.
The prefrontal cortex is the seat of impulse control, judgment, and empathy. When brain activity is low in this area, it leads to troublesome behavior, such as impulsively lying or cheating, poor decision-making, and a lack of empathy for anyone who may be hurt by your actions. It can also be associated with ADD/ADHD.
Anxiety often makes people fearful that they are not able to accomplish their goals on their own. Anxious types also have a tendency toward perfectionism, which makes you feel like you can only be valued (or loved) if you end up on top. When this type of anxiety takes hold, you may be more likely to lie or cheat to reach your lofty goals. Looking at the brain with SPECT imaging reveals that anxiety is often associated with abnormal activity in areas, such as the basal ganglia and the amygdala (the brain’s fear center).
Getting stuck on obsessive thoughts, such as the idea that winning at all costs is the only option, can cause you to get trapped in a course of action—even if deep down you know it isn’t the right thing to do. On SPECT, people with obsessive thinking patterns or compulsive behaviors often show unhealthy brain activity in an area called the anterior cingulate gyrus. Known as the brain’s gear shifter, it’s what helps you go from thought to thought. When it isn’t working right, you tend to get locked into looping thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
A 2011 study from USC found that the brain places a higher value on winning when you’re in a group than when you’re by yourself. In this trial, winning in a group setting increased activity in an area of the brain associated with rewards as well as an area involved in social reasoning. The study participants who won while in a group setting were more likely to engage in risky and competitive behavior to keep winning. This helps explain why people are more likely to try something stupid, such as cheating, in order to win when they’re with their friends (or teammates).
SPECT imaging shows that people who abuse alcohol, illicit drugs, or prescription medications tend to have brains that have a toxic appearance. Brain scans of people with addictions show lower overall activity, which is associated with poor judgment and impulse control problems.
A wealth of research shows that experiencing a blow to the head, say from a fastball to the temple, can lead to brain trauma that increases the risk of impulsivity, anxiety, poor judgment, drug and alcohol abuse, and more.
At Amen Clinics, we take a unique brain-body approach to diagnosis and treatment that includes brain SPECT imaging, as well as laboratory testing to check physical health, and other important factors that could be contributing to symptoms and bad behavior. By getting to the root cause of your symptoms and unwanted behaviors, we can create a more effective, personalized treatment plan for you.
If you want to join the tens of thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health, overcome their symptoms, and improved their quality of life at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Do you know someone who is annoyingly full of themselves or who seems to have absolutely zero remorse for their actions? You might call them a narcissist or a sociopath. Many people throw these terms around interchangeably, but they are two separate personality disorders. What’s the difference, and how can you tell if someone has one of these dangerous personality types?
In our “selfie” culture, it’s not unusual for people to seem self-absorbed, act like they’re very important, seek validation, or come off as entitled. Does that make them a narcissist or a sociopath? Not necessarily. It’s only when these characteristics are so extreme that they cause problems at work, at school, with the law, or in relationships—getting fired, flunking out, getting arrested, or losing loved ones—that they meet the diagnostic criteria for these disorders.
People with narcissistic personality disorder or sociopathy, also known as antisocial personality disorder, share many similarities. They both view themselves as special, think primarily of their own needs, and don’t consider other people’s feelings. And they can both be disarmingly charismatic, superficially charming, and frighteningly intelligent.
These personality disorders are more common than you might imagine. The number of people with narcissism is estimated to range from less than 1% to over 6% of the population, and research shows that the lifetime prevalence of antisocial personality disorder ranges from 2-4% in men and 0.5-1% in women. This means millions of narcissists and sociopaths are populating our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and churches.
1. Every sociopath is a narcissist, but not every narcissist is a sociopath.
2. They both hurt people, but with sociopaths it’s intentional. Narcissists can take advantage of people, but it’s often a consequence of their heightened focus on their own needs and desires and their lack of awareness of how what they do affects others. With sociopaths, however, exploiting or hurting others can actually bring them pleasure.
3. Sociopaths are more dangerous than narcissists. People with antisocial personality disorder are more likely to be engaged in an abusive or controlling relationship. They’re also more likely to be involved in illegal activities or financial fraud schemes. If dating someone like this, you’re in trouble. It could be a very dangerous situation. Most people who engage in domestic violence are narcissistic or sociopathic
4. Narcissists are actually insecure. Behind all their bravado, narcissists often have a fragile ego. They can’t handle criticism and will usually turn the tables on anyone who dares to point out a flaw or mistake. They are experts at gaslighting.
5. Sociopaths are masterful actors. These people are skilled chameleons, able to take on many forms based on what they want out of a relationship.
6. Sociopaths stay in touch with their exes. Antisocial personality types keep their exes around when they are beneficial to them, according to a 2017 study in Personality and Individual Differences. They maintain relationships with people from their past when it provides them something they want, such as information, money, sex, or admiration.
7. Narcissistic brains work differently. A 2013 brain imaging study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that narcissists have less gray matter volume in brain regions associated with empathy. Other brain imaging research has found that people with NPD also have hypersensitivity in brain systems associated with distress and social pain networks.
8. Sociopaths have brain abnormalities. Neuroimaging research in a 2017 issue of Scientific Reports suggests that people with antisocial personality disorder may have reduced white matter integrity. Another brain imaging study in the Journal of Neuroscience on prisoners found that those with antisocial personality disorder have reduced connections in areas of the brain related to empathy and guilt as well as areas associated with fear and anxiety.
9. The stress response system works differently in people with antisocial personality disorder. Research shows that the autonomic nervous system, which is what triggers the fight-or-flight system in stressful situations doesn’t function normally in these people. In people who don’t have the disorder, running a red light, telling a bald-faced lie, or stealing something from a friend’s home flips the switch on the fight-or-flight system and causes the heart to beat faster and breathing to quicken. Not in people with antisocial personality disorder. They simply don’t get stressed about the consequences of their actions.
If you’re in a relationship with a narcissist or sociopath, it may be a dangerous situation for you. Getting these people to seek treatment is challenging because they won’t admit anything is wrong with them. Getting treatment for yourself can be beneficial in helping you learn how to cope with these difficult personalities or how to walk away before it’s too late.
At Amen Clinics, we have helped thousands of people overcome personality disorders as well as spouses and significant others who need help living with these people. We use brain SPECT imaging to help people understand that their personality issues are brain-based rather than a character flaw. This can be a very important first step in the healing process. For more information on how we can help, call 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are helping others, you can or schedule a time to talk that is convenient for you.
If you think depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder are the mental illnesses most commonly linked to an early death, you’re wrong. Eating disorders—including anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating— are the most lethal mental health conditions, according to research in Current Psychiatry Reports.
How bad is it? The Eating Disorders Coalition reports that every 62 minutes, at least one person loses their life as a direct result of an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is linked to the highest mortality rate of all, and sadly, one in five individuals with anorexia who die take their own life, according to findings in Archives of General Psychiatry.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder in which people have a distorted body image and view themselves as overweight or obese even though they may be significantly underweight. People with AN tend to have intense fear about gaining weight, and they severely limit the amount of food they eat.
At least 30 million Americans will struggle with an eating disorder during their lifetime, and an estimated 0.9% of women will suffer from anorexia. Men also suffer from the disorder, but at a lower rate than women. Experts suggest eating disorders may be vastly underreported, and the actual numbers of people who are struggling may be much higher than the published statistics.
And the problem isn’t getting any better. In fact, hospitalization rates for eating disorders have been on the rise, jumping 18% from 1999 to 2006.
Anorexia is such a deadly disease because it ravages physical health. It’s well known that over time, it damages the cardiovascular system, strains the gastrointestinal system, and disrupts neurohormone production. What many people don’t realize is that it also has negative impacts on the brain, including the following:
Considering its devastating impact on physical and mental health, you might expect healthcare professionals to be vigilant about early diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.
Part of the reason why eating disorders, such as anorexia, are so deadly is that they aren’t always taken seriously. These conditions are often dismissed as insignificant. Family members and loved ones may think the person struggling is just “going through a phase” and will “snap out of it.” But eating disorders are deeply complex conditions that rarely just go away.
In the healthcare arena, a lack of training about eating disorders is contributing to too many avoidable deaths, according to a 2019 report in BMJ. In this paper, experts reveal that training on these deadly conditions is limited to “just a few hours.” This needs to change.
Another pressing issue lies in the fact that because most healthcare and psychiatric care providers don’t look at the brain, they can’t always effectively diagnose and treat co-occurring mental health conditions. And they often take a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment, which will never work because eating disorders and mental health conditions aren’t single or simple disorders.
Understanding any underlying dysfunction in the brain is critical to getting a complete and accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment plan to start the healing process. Brain SPECT imaging can help you see that your problems have a biological basis and that it isn’t your fault. The most beneficial treatment plans go far beyond nutritional counseling and include addressing psychiatric issues as well as assessing any other biological psychological, social, or spiritual factors that may contribute to the condition. With a comprehensive approach, even people who have long-term eating disorders can recover and get their life back.
At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging as part of a wrap-around evaluation and treatment plan for people struggling with eating disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions. We believe in using the least toxic, most effective therapies and strategies to optimize your brain function to help you regain control of your eating and learn to love your life again.
If you want to join the tens of thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health and overcome their symptoms at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Think of all the things you may have inherited from your parents, such as your height, hair color, and risk for heart disease. But what about your vulnerability to addiction? Research on families shows a strong connection between your genetic makeup and your risk of developing an addiction. Most experts agree that as much as 50% of your risk for substance abuse disorders or behavioral addictions, such as gambling, depends on your DNA.
A 2012 review of the existing research on twin studies found that heritability for substance use disorders can be even higher—ranging from 40% (for hallucinogens) to 70% (for cocaine). Other studies have found that children of alcoholics and drug abusers are 8 times more likely to develop an addiction compared with kids whose parents didn’t have a substance use disorder.
Genetics aren’t the only way your relatives influence your risk for addiction.
You have a genetic vulnerability.
You are more likely to have experienced lasting stress, because of the challenges in your family. For example, children who grow up with stress or abuse from a parent or relative who has addiction problems are significantly more likely to experience anxiety and depression. And people with anxiety and/or depression are twice as likely to abuse drugs and alcohol compared with the general population, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The stress of the addictions in prior generations changed your genes to become more vulnerable to trouble. Stress, poor diets, environmental toxins, and prenatal nutrition in earlier generations changed their genes (known as epigenetics) to be more likely to express trouble.
If your family members self-medicate with bad habits, you are likely to pick up those same behaviors, which increases your risk of substance use disorders. Plus, when a parent has a substance abuse problem, they are less likely to provide children with healthy meals on a consistent basis. A junk-food diet is linked to fatigue, fuzzy thinking, moodiness, and increased cravings. In addition, if your mother was one of the nearly 5% of women who abuse one or more substances while pregnant, this decreased your brain reserve. That’s the extra cushion of brain function you have to help you deal with whatever stresses come your way. The more brain reserve you have, the more resilient you are. The less reserve you have, the more vulnerable you are to stress and addictions.
If your family doesn’t care enough about their own health or about your wellbeing to change their behavior, it can be harder for you to learn to love yourself enough to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Although it’s becoming clearer that genetics plays a role in addiction, it’s important to understand that your genes are not your destiny. Knowing that a parent, grandparent, or close relative has a problem with substance abuse, or a behavioral addiction is not a death sentence; rather, it should be a wake-up call. It means you need to know your vulnerabilities and get serious about taking care of your brain.
Genes load the gun, but it’s your behavior and environment that pull the trigger. A growing body of evidence shows that our diets and lifestyle habits have the ability to either turn on or turn off the genes that predispose us to problems like addiction.
Food has an immediate effect on the moment-by-moment functioning of your brain. Ditching a junk-food diet in favor of foods that enhance brain health will boost your willpower, focus, craving control, and judgment.
Addiction isn’t just a brain disorder; it’s also a thinking disorder. Many of the negative things we tell ourselves—like “I have no control”—are lies that keep us locked in our unhealthy habits. Adopt healthy thinking patterns and learn how to eliminate ANTs.
Practice stress-relief techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, and hypnosis.
If your family engages in bad habits that promote addiction, find ways to spend time with others who are committed to leading a healthy life. Studies have shown that those who surround themselves with a support group are far more likely to have success in implementing major changes.
Functional brain imaging with SPECT shows how the brain works. It can reveal areas with too much activity or not enough activity, so you’ll have a better understanding of what you can do to balance brain activity. Brain scans also show if there is evidence of toxicity from substances, such as alcohol or drugs, and this can be a powerful step in overcoming addiction.
If you have addiction in your family history, it’s even more important for you to be a good role model for your children. Teach your children from a young age how to eat right, kill the ANTs, and manage stress. In doing so, you will increase their brain reserve and decrease their risk of addiction.
Based on the world’s largest database of functional brain scans related to behavior, people with addictions tend to have the worst-looking brains. But when these people follow a brain healthy program, they show some of the most dramatic improvements. Even if you have been bad to your brain, you can make it better.
At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging as part of a comprehensive evaluation to help our patients see and understand any underlying brain dysfunction. This is often a powerful first step to breaking the chains of addiction. We use an integrated brain-body approach to healing the brain and treating co-occurring mental health problems.
If you want to join the thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health and overcome their addictions and psychiatric symptoms at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
On Sunday, January 26, my brain got hijacked. The shocking news that Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash slammed into my brain’s emotional centers, the limbic system, with a thud. As a lifelong Lakers fan and former season ticket holder, I had the privilege of seeing Kobe grow up on the basketball court and witnessed some of his most glorious achievements. I only met Kobe a few times, but my brain doesn’t care about that. Like millions of other Lakers fans, I felt like I knew him.
That’s what’s so strange about how our brains process the way we feel about icons. When we see the famous people we admire on television, at a sporting event, or at a concert, our brains can register it as a real friendship. That’s why, when tragedy strikes, we can experience profound grief, as if a loved one died.
Sadly, the news of the crash, which occurred on the way to Kobe’s Mamba Academy basketball facility, just kept getting worse. Kobe’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna “Gigi,” a basketball phenom in the making, also perished in the accident. So did 7 other people—baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa who was one of Gigi’s teammates; Sarah Chester and her basketball-player daughter Payton; Christina Mauser, a Mamba Academy basketball coach; and the pilot Ara Zobayan.
They all leave behind family members whose lives—and brains—will never be the same.
The unspeakable loss of a loved one fires up the limbic system, especially the amygdala, the almond-shaped structure on the inside of your temporal lobes involved in emotional reactions. When the amygdala remains overactive, it can impair our ability to get past the pain. The grief we feel can become part of the story of our lives, the way we view ourselves and our place in this world. For some people, these stories can rob us of joy, hold us back, and lead to depression.
My friend Dr. Sharon May, a world-renowned relationship psychologist, calls the stories that interfere with our lives “dragons from the past” that are still breathing fire on your amygdala, which can drive anxiety, anger, irrational behavior, and automatic negative reactions.
She says, “All of us have dragons from the past influencing our present feelings and actions.” Unless you recognize and tame them, and consciously calm and protect your amygdala from overfiring, they will haunt your unconscious mind and drive emotional pain for the rest of your life. What blows from an ember, or small action of another, can turn into a destructive fire of anxiety and rage.
That’s how I’m feeling right now—like a dragon is breathing fire on my amygdala and igniting all my inner anxieties, fears, and negative thoughts. I know it is going to take time to calm my brain so I can process the grief and heal.
Here are 5 ways to calm the amygdala and support the grieving process:
Most people are able to overcome feelings of grief in time, but if you find yourself slipping into depression, Amen Clinics is here for you. If you need help, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
Many addiction treatment centers offer solid programs for overcoming addictions that ruin your life. So why do an estimated 40%-60% of people relapse? What’s missing?
The answer lies in your brain.
The brain is the supercomputer that runs your life. It plays a central role in your vulnerability to addiction and your ability to recover and maintain sobriety. Brain dysfunction is the #1 reason why people fall victim to addiction, why they can’t break the chains of addiction, and why they relapse. Understanding the brain’s role in addiction and recovery is the key to breaking free from your addictions.
Your susceptibility to addiction depends in large part on the biological makeup of your brain and your brain’s reward system. What is the brain’s reward system? It is an intricate network of brain systems and neurotransmitters that are critical to human survival. It drives us to seek out the things we need to stay alive and carry on the human race, such as sex and food.
Many things that are not necessarily crucial to our survival also activate the reward system in a healthy way, such as:
Then there are substances and behaviors that cause the reward system to become overactive in an unhealthy way, such as:
Let’s take a closer look at the neurotransmitters and brain systems involved in the reward system so you can see how it works and how it gets out of whack. First, let’s examine the role played by four neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters act as the brain’s messengers, relaying information within the brain. The strength or weakness of each of these neurotransmitters plays an important role in your ability to stop engaging in bad behaviors, such as compulsive gambling or shopping, or in driving you to addiction.
Dopamine—motivation, saliency, drive, stimulant
Serotonin—happy, anti-worry, calming
GABA—inhibitory, calms, relaxes
Endorphins—pleasure and pain-killing properties
Dopamine is a feel-good chemical. Whenever we do something enjoyable, it’s like pressing a button in the brain to release a little bit of dopamine to make us feel pleasure. Cocaine, methamphetamines, alcohol, and nicotine all cause dopamine surges that make these substances highly desirable—sometimes even more desirable than the things we need to survive like food, water, and sex. The amount of dopamine released when drugs are taken can be 2-10 times more than what your brain produces for natural rewards. When dopamine is in low supply, it is linked to depression, ADD/ADHD, addiction, and other mental health issues.
Serotonin is thought of as the happy, anti-worry, flexibility chemical. Many of the current antidepressants work on this neurotransmitter. When serotonin levels are low, people tend to be worried, rigid, inflexible, oppositional and argumentative, and they are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, obsessive thinking, or compulsive behaviors.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms or helps to relax the brain. If you have suffered an emotional trauma or you are under a lot of stress, GABA may be depleted and your emotional or limbic brain may become excessively active, which is associated with depression and stress. This can lead you to use substances in an attempt to self-medicate and calm your limbic brain.
Endorphins are the brain’s own natural pleasure and pain-killing chemicals. They are the body’s own natural morphine or heroin-like compounds. Substances like opioids trigger the release of endorphins, which are heavily involved in addiction and the loss of control.
The brain systems that drive you to seek out things that bring you pleasure and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which puts on the brakes when you are about to engage in risky behavior, work in concert to create your self-control circuit.
In a healthy self-control circuit, an effective PFC provides impulse control and good judgment while the deep limbic system offers an adequate dose of motivation so you can plan and follow through on your goals. You can say no to alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription opioids, gambling, and many other bad behaviors.
In the addicted brain, the PFC is diminished and the drive circuits take control. When the PFC is underactive, it can create an imbalance in the reward system and cause you to lose control over your behavior. When this is the case you are more likely to fall victim to relapse despite your desire to stay in recovery. Having low activity often results in a tendency for impulse-control problems and poor internal supervision, and is associated with ADD/ADHD.
To overcome addiction, stick with a recovery program, and avoid relapse, it’s critical to address any underlying brain dysfunction as well as any co-occurring mental health conditions.
At Amen Clinics, we use brain SPECT imaging as part of a comprehensive evaluation to help our patients see and understand any underlying brain dysfunction. This is often a powerful first step to breaking the chains of addiction. We use an integrated brain-body approach to healing the brain and treating co-occurring mental health problems. If you want to join the thousands of people who have already enhanced their brain health and overcome their addictions and psychiatric symptoms at Amen Clinics, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.
(Names have been changed to protect privacy.)
When someone in your family is struggling with a mental health condition—whether it’s anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, addiction, memory loss, schizophrenia, behavioral problems, or PTSD—it impacts the whole family and can create dysfunction. Most people want to blame all the stress and drama on that one person and believe that if they could just “fix” that individual, everything would be resolved. In reality, it’s rarely that simple. In many cases, other family members are contributing to the problems due to undiagnosed issues.
Here’s how one mother learned this important lesson first-hand.
Jackie was constantly butting heads with her daughter, Maya, a 16-year-old junior in high school who had been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Like many teens with this condition, Maya’s room at home was so messy it looked like it had been hit by a tornado. She had trouble focusing and was struggling to keep up with her schoolwork while also studying to take the SAT. Maya was having such a hard time, she started thinking she would never get into college, so why should she even bother studying so hard for the SAT?
Jackie was constantly hounding her daughter to study more and work harder and telling her she was being lazy, which only added to Maya’s discouragement. Jackie was a natural at taking charge and getting things done and expected everybody else to be just as good at powering through their to-do list, so she thought Maya was just being lazy with her study schedule.
On top of that, Jackie hated it when things were out of place, so she would get angry at her daughter for having so much clutter in her room. These negative thoughts would get stuck in Jackie’s head, and she would bring up things Maya did wrong years ago. It all added more stress to Maya’s situation and ratcheted up the mother-daughter tension.
Jackie was convinced that Maya’s ADD/ADHD was the source of all their troubles and if they could just get that under control then everything would be better between them.
Jackie decided to take her daughter for a brain SPECT scan and a comprehensive evaluation so Maya could be “fixed.” After learning more about their relationship, however, the psychiatrist suggested that both Maya and Jackie get scanned. Jackie didn’t think she really needed to have her own brain scanned, after all, it was Maya’s brain that was the problem. But she agreed, assuming the doctor could use her own scan as a healthy example to compare to Maya’s.
After going through the process, Maya’s scan showed low activity in her prefrontal cortex (consistent with ADD/ADHD) combined with increased activity in her basal ganglia and amygdala (a tendency for anxiety and predicting the worst).
The patterns of abnormal brain activity in Maya’s scan related to ADD/ADHD didn’t come as a surprise to Jackie. But she hadn’t realized that her daughter’s negativity was rooted in brain activity that revealed a vulnerability for anxiety disorder. She had always thought it was just a bad personality trait.
Then it came time to review her own scan. What she saw was shocking.
Jackie’s scan showed excessive activity in the front part of her brain in an area called the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), which is seen in people with obsessive compulsive disorder and in those who tend to be rigid and hold grudges. For the first time in her life, Jackie grasped that she had brain issues that were fueling the dysfunctional relationship she had with her daughter. “Fixing” her daughter wasn’t going to solve their problems. They both needed to enhance their brain health in order to have a peaceful relationship.
Seeing both of their brain scans also helped Jackie understand that her daughter’s brain simply worked differently from her own, so she stopped expecting Maya to tackle her studies the same way she had done when she was that age. It also helped her see how her parenting style had actually been making Maya’s issues worse. She realized that enhancing Maya’s brain was only part of the solution. She needed to optimize her own brain as well to be able to better support Maya.
With the help of their mental health professional, the two of them began personalized treatment plans using supplements and lifestyle interventions targeted to each individual brain. Maya’s treatment plan focused on boosting activity in the PFC and soothing the basal ganglia, while Jackie’s program aimed to calm her overactive ACG.
After a few weeks, Maya was able to get better organized and stay more focused while studying. And with her own brain calmed down, Jackie stopped getting so upset about things being out of place and quit harping on Maya about things that had happened years earlier. When it came time for the SAT, Maya did better than she had anticipated and eventually got into her top choice for college. And she and her mom now get along much better, so they are both less stressed in general.
At Amen Clinics, when we use brain SPECT imaging to scan entire families, we often discover that one or more family members have a diagnosable mental health condition that has gone undetected. Without this knowledge, the family unit would likely continue to struggle. Optimizing all of the family member’s brains can be the key to a more loving and supportive home life.
If you want to join the tens of thousands of family members who have already visited Amen Clinics and enhanced their brain health, overcome their symptoms, and healed their relationships, speak to a specialist today at 888-288-9834. If all our specialists are busy helping others, you can also schedule a time to talk.