There are many heart-wrenching examples of how this can happen, including:
Veterans of war who witnessed the deaths of their fellow soldiers
First responders—like firefighters—having teammates perish in a fire they were fighting together
Losing family and friends during hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters
Acts of terrorism, such as the attacks of 9/11
Parents whose children died, or family members who lose siblings to hereditary illnesses or suicide
Losing a loved one, friend, or colleague in a pandemic
The Link to PTSD
These are the same types of events that can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, survivor’s guilt is often considered a serious symptom of PTSD. While not everyone who endures a traumatic event will develop PTSD, some research estimates that as many as 90% of people who lived through events where others died experience feelings of guilt. They may question their own survival and feel a sense of responsibility for what happened:
Why did my buddy get killed, but not me?
Why did I run away from it?
Why didn’t I do more to save others?
What could I have done to prevent this tragedy?
Other Symptoms to Look For
From the outside, it may be easy to think that a person is fortunate to have survived such a tragic event—and they are. However, on the inside, those with survivor’s guilt often have terrible remorse about what happened and may have a very difficult time coping with and processing the loss they survived. They are also likely to experience other symptoms of PTSD, such as:
Survivor’s guilt is very distressing, and some people may be more vulnerable to developing it because of their personal and developmental history. For example, those who suffered abuse during childhood may be especially triggered because the new traumatic event brings old ones to the surface again. Also, people who have mental health problems like anxiety and depression (or a family history of psychiatric disorders), or have substance use disorder may be at greater risk as well.
There is Hope for Healing!
Humans are remarkably resilient, and many people will recover from PTSD and survivor’s guilt within a year or so—even without treatment. However, research indicates nearly 30% of those suffering from PTSD will not recover quickly. They may become overwhelmed by their symptoms and have difficulty functioning because of what happened.
If you or someone you know is dealing with the anguish of survivor’s guilt and PTSD, it’s important to know that it is possible to heal so life can feel enjoyable again. It’s also critical to understand it was not your fault that others perished in a catastrophic event. Getting professional help can make all the difference in the world for you.
Symptoms of PTSD and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. Raising children has always been a challenge. Parenting in the age of COVID has made everything harder. How can you know if you’re doing it right or getting it all wrong? Based on 30-plus years of child psychiatrists treating children and their parents at Amen Clinics and on the science-backed techniques from Love & Logic, here are 7 parenting mistakes that can ruin your children’s lives and make your life miserable.
Raising children has always been a challenge. Parenting in the age of COVID has made everything harder. How can you know if you’re doing it right or getting it all wrong?
7 Parenting Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Children’s Lives
1. Notice what’s wrong.
When we get stressed or feel scared and depressed, we tend to zero in on the negative. Focusing on what your child is doing wrong is one of the worst things you can do to them. Kids crave attention, and if the only time you give them attention is when they’re doing something you don’t like, you’re basically training them to become a little monster.
The Fix: Notice what they’re doing right. Jim and Charles Fay of Love & Logic suggest writing down “I noticed that…” and then finding something positive about your kids that you can mention to them at least once a day. It could be, “I noticed that you like to draw” or, “I noticed that you shared with your sister.” Follow that up with eye contact, a smile, and a light touch.
2. React immediately any time your child makes you upset.
When your child has pushed your buttons and you’re feeling angry, frustrated, or highly emotional, it’s actually the wrong time to dole out consequences. In stressful times, you’re more likely to yell, scream, or make rash decisions. Modeling this behavior teaches your child to act out in similar ways.
The Fix: When your kid makes you crazy, take a deep breath and gather yourself. Let your child know that there will be consequences for their actions and that you’re going to think about what they will be. This way, when you do deliver those consequences, you’ll be in a calm and composed state.
3. Stay on top of their homework.
If you’re convinced it’s your job to ensure that your child’s homework is done, but if you do so, you’re sabotaging their development. When you hold all the anxiety for them, it derails their ability to develop independence and to take responsibility for their own lives.
The Fix: Let your children know that their homework is their responsibility, not yours. Inform them calmly that if they don’t do it, there will be consequences, such as their teacher being upset with them. This allows youngsters to hold the anxiety for their own homework and teaches them responsibility.
4. Be permissive.
You may think that letting your children be free to do as they please is a surefire way to make them love you. Wrong! Permissiveness is bad for developing brains. Children need routine and authority. The frontal lobes—which are involved in decision-making, judgment, and impulse control—aren’t fully developed until a person’s mid-20s.
The Fix: You need to act as your child’s frontal lobes until theirs develop by being firm and kind and creating structure.
5. Tell your child what to do.
Hey, parents, here’s a tip: you talk too much! So many moms and dads are constantly lecturing their kids and telling them what to think, what to say, and how to act. Sometimes more important than what you say to your young ones, however, is listening to what they have to say.
The Fix: As Charles Fay says, “If you don’t want a mess, say less!” At Amen Clinics, our child psychiatrists encourage parents to engage in active listening with your child. When they are speaking, don’t interrupt. Then repeat back what you heard to make sure you understood them correctly. This helps your child feel heard.
6. Skip self-care to cater to your kids.
During the pandemic, parenting has gotten so much harder. You may be tempted to avoid workouts, meditation, journaling, and other forms of self-care so you can focus all of your attention on your children’s needs. This is a big mistake because if you aren’t taking care of your own brain health and physical and psychological well-being, you won’t be at your best to care for them.
The Fix: Schedule time for yourself into your day. This will help you feel better, and it also models healthy behavior for your little ones. If they see you taking care of yourself, they will learn that self-care isn’t about being selfish.
7. Don’t worry about screen time.
If you use tablets, phones, or TVs as pseudo-babysitters, you’re in for trouble. Screen time has gotten out of control, and new research shows that using screens for long periods changes children’s brains in a negative way. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health performed brain scans of 4,500 children. Those who had daily screen time usage of more than 7 hours showed premature thinning of the cortex, the outermost brain layer responsible for processing information from the physical world. Other studies show that too much screen time is associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and other mental health issues.
The Fix: According to Charles Fay at Love & Logic, “Let your kids know that you allow screen time… as long as it doesn’t hurt relationships in the family.” Set limits on screen time and stick to those limits.If you need help raising healthy children or if your kids are struggling with anxiety, depression, or other issues, don’t wait. During these uncertain times, waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make problems and symptoms worsen over time. Amen Clinics has partnered with Love & Logic to bring you the best science-backed tools to help. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for parents and children. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
By Dr. Elissa Mendenhall N.D.
Meet my patient Ronnie. A retired sea captain in his sixties, he’s a cheerful and optimistic man. On first impression, you would never guess that he had been experiencing multiple panic attacks each day since before he was 16 years old. By the time he arrived in my office, he had been suffering with daily panic attacks for some 50 years.
Although he led a productive and active life and career, his panic disorder very much impacted his quality of life. In the past, he had tried a variety of anti-anxiety medications, such as escitalopram and fluoxetine, but he found no relief from them.
Ronnie also had an inflammatory bowel disease, collagenous colitis, which was symptomatic to some degree most days of the month. When it was very active, he would sometimes have 30 bowel movements a day. There were a number of foods and nutritional supplements that he couldn’t tolerate because they triggered diarrhea or painful cramping. In addition to the panic attacks, Ronnie had been having episodes of depression for days to weeks at a time without a known cause.
What Was Causing Ronnie’s Issues?
I postulated that Ronnie’s bowel disorder was increasing brain inflammation. In addition, the medication he was taking for the bowel disease—budesonide—was helpful at relieving his symptoms, but I was aware that it is in the glucocorticoid family of medications, known to trigger depression and other psychiatric issues.
I told him that it was possible this medication could be causing depression. That’s when we started tracking the times when he took the medication. Our sleuthing revealed that the times he was depressed did, in fact, correlate with the times he was using that medication.
Finding a Path to Healing
Pinpointing the medication as a contributor to Ronnie’s depressive episodes was only the first step. We also tested for hidden food allergies and changed his diet, which cooled down the inflammation in his brain and his digestive tract. After he changed what he was eating, not only did his bowel disease go into full remission for several months, but his panic attacks also became far less frequent. With his dedication and my guidance, he was able to reduce and eventually almost eliminate the use of budesonide, which resolved his depression.
The next step involved pharmacogenetic testing and found that he was incompatible with SSRI antidepressants and several other classic antidepressant medications. In fact, he had a genetic marker that is common in people with bipolar disorder. Even though he did not meet the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder, his psychiatric prescriber saw the results of the panel I’d ordered and suggested he try a mood stabilizer medication (lamotrigine). With this, Ronnie’s panic attacks stopped altogether.
I had the privilege of working with Ronnie over the course of the next several years. During this time, he remained stable with only a few flares of mild anxiety and gut issues. Finally, after five decades of struggling, he was able to focus on the retirement and life he had envisioned. Freed from the grips of anxiety and disease, the sea captain ventured out to new horizons and began traveling the world with his wife.
Dr. Elissa Mendenhall, ND practices at Amen Clinics, which offers in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Dr. Mendenhall is a naturopathic doctor who can prescribe both natural and prescription medications.
The National Police Association has begun encouraging all of its officers to support their brain health by following the research, advice, and books of 12-time New York Times bestselling author, psychiatrist, and founder of Amen Clinics, Daniel G. Amen, MD. A brain health expert, Dr. Amen has scanned the brains of many police officers as part of a full evaluation at Amen Clinics and has worked closely with some police departments to implement a program that promotes better brain health.
IMPACTS OF A CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ON BRAIN HEALTH
A wealth of research shows that a career in law enforcement exposes officers to a variety of stressors that can have a negative impact on brain health. Here’s what the National Police Association is recommending to its officers and what you can learn from Dr. Amen’s strategies to optimize the brain.
Head Injuries
There’s a concussion crisis in law enforcement. There’s a shortage of statistics on the number of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) suffered by law enforcement personnel, however, police officers are 3 times more likely to experience a nonfatal injury than all other U.S. workers, according to a 2018 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. According to Dr. Amen, mild TBIs are a major cause of mental illness but few people know it because traditional psychiatrists never look at the brain.
Optimizing brain health: The National Police Association now recommends that officers wear protective headgear more frequently in an effort to avoid head trauma. Dr. Amen also suggests avoiding playing contact sports, wearing a helmet when biking or skiing, and holding the railing when walking down stairs.
Emotional Trauma
Approximately 10% of first responders will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to 2018 findings from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). PTSD is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, anger, panic attacks, addictions, and other issues. The brain SPECT imaging work at Amen Clinics shows that PTSD is associated with too much activity in several areas of the brain, including the limbic system (the brain’s emotional center), basal ganglia (the brain’s anxiety center), and anterior cingulate gyrus (the brain’s gear shifter that helps you go from thought to thought or action to action). On SPECT scans, it typically resembles a diamond pattern. In a 2005 Amen Clinics evaluation of 6 police officers who had been involved in on-the-job shootings and who had developed PTSD, the “diamond pattern” was seen in all of their brain scans.
Optimizing brain health: The National Police Association recommends arming police officers with coping strategies for dealing with trauma and encourages seeing a mental health professional following traumatic events. One therapy Dr. Amen suggests for overcoming emotional trauma is EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), a non-invasive treatment intended to remove the emotional charges attached to traumatic memories.
Mental Health Issues
Law enforcement personnel are at greater risk of mental health problems, with research showing that approximately 30% of first responders will develop some type of behavioral health condition compared to just 20% of the general population. Brain SPECT imaging shows that issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD (see above) are associated with abnormal brain activity.
Optimizing brain health: Loving and caring for the brain are foundational steps for police officers—and for everybody—to reduce symptoms associated with psychiatric disorders.
Substance Abuse
Studies have shown that police officers are at risk for drinking problems and substance abuse as a way to cope with the stresses of the job. Alcohol and drugs are toxic for the brain and impair brain function.
Optimizing brain health: The National Police Association says that introducing officers to effective stress-management techniques and addressing trauma-related issues can help them avoid turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol and drugs. According to Dr. Amen, there is hope for recovery even if drugs or alcohol have negatively impacted brain function. Before-and-after SPECT scans of Amen Clinics patients with drug or alcohol addictions show some of the most dramatic improvements.
Sleep Issues
People in law enforcement often work rotating shifts, night shifts, and long hours that lead to fatigue or lack of quality sleep. Inadequate sleep is detrimental to brain health in many ways. During sleep, your brain cleans or washes by eliminating cellular debris and toxins that build up during the day (basically taking out the neural trash), consolidates learning and memory, and prepares for the following day. The brain processes that occur during sleep are also important for the health of your immune system, appetite control, and neurotransmitter production. Over time, sleep problems can lead to a higher risk of depression, ADD/ADHD, panic attacks, brain fog, memory problems, and dementia.
Optimizing brain health: The National Police Association is recommending that officers receive adequate time off to ensure they can get the sleep they need. According to Dr. Amen, everyone should aim for at least 7 hours of quality sleep each day. Creating a healthy sleep routine—shutting off electronics 2 hours before bedtime; making sure the bedroom isn’t too warm; and taking calming supplements like magnesium, melatonin, GABA, and 5-HTP—can be helpful.PTSD, concussions, addictions, and other mental health and brain health issuescan’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. Feeling depressed or anxious? If you seek help from a primary care physician or a traditional psychiatrist, you’re likely to walk away with a prescription for antidepressants or antianxiety medication and not much else. But pills aren’t enough to deliver optimal mental health. In fact, because most conventional healthcare provides make diagnoses based on symptom clusters alone, it’s not uncommon to be misdiagnosed or given the wrong treatment. This can make your mental health problems worse.
In order to have a healthy mind, you must first have a healthy brain. To do that you must optimize the 4 circles of a whole life—biological, psychological, social, and spiritual. Integrative psychiatry helps you do it.
In order to have a healthy mind, you must first have a healthy brain. To do that you must optimize the 4 circles of a whole life—biological, psychological, social, and spiritual. Integrative psychiatry helps you do it.
Integrative psychiatry, a form of integrative medicine or functional medicine, takes a whole-person approach to mental health by helping you enhance all these areas of your life to promote better psychological well-being and cognitive function. Integrative psychiatry is based on solid science, and as science advances, so does this form of mental health with more sophisticated diagnostic testing, more effective therapies, and more powerful solutions. Integrative psychiatrists assess, diagnose, and treat patients based on the most cutting-edge scientific findings.
Treatment may include standard-of-care options in addition to science-backed complementary and alternative therapies to foster healing. One study in the journal Psychiatric Services found that 35% of people use at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine for mental health, and that was over 10 years ago. That percentage is estimated to be much higher now as integrative psychiatry continues to grow in popularity.
Here are 7 ways integrative psychiatry can help your mental health.
1. Discover brain health issues that are holding you back.
Many people who are experiencing psychological issues have underlying brain health problems that are contributing to their anxiety, depression, lack of focus, memory loss, or brain fog. Integrative psychiatrists who use brain SPECT imaging can help identify undetected issues, such as traumatic brain injury, areas that are overactive, and areas that are underactive. With these insights, an integrative psychiatrist can provide precision treatment plans to enhance brain health.
2. Identify biological causes for mental health problems.
Issues such as mood swings, short attention span, and anxiousness can be related to physical issues. With integrative psychiatry, diagnostic lab tests can help root out biological problems that cause mental health symptoms. For example, Lyme disease, hormonal imbalances, and blood flow problems have been linked to psychiatric symptoms. In addition, comprehensive testing can reveal if there are any toxic substances that may be affecting your brain and mental health.
3. Find the best healing foods and nutritional supplements for your needs.
The foods you eat can either drive depression and anxiety or they can promote positive moods and calm. Psychiatrists who take an integrative approach to treatment evaluate your diet and assess any micronutrient deficiencies and make food and supplement recommendations based on your individual needs.
4. Provide strategies to improve the health of your mind.
For many people, negative thinking patterns and an undisciplined mind can fuel symptoms associated with mental illness. As part of a whole-person treatment plan, trained integrative psychiatrists provide patients with scientifically proven strategies to challenge the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) that steal your happiness and gain control of your mind. And sophisticated neuropsychological testing performed by integrative psychiatrists can provide valuable insights into your cognitive function.
5. Develop routines that help reduce stress.
A highly stressful lifestyle can keep you stuck in psychological hell. Integrative psychiatrists provide people with evidence-backed relaxation protocols that help your brain and your mind. Learning to manage stress is an important part of any integrative treatment plan.
6. Learn how to create a support network.
Integrative psychiatrists know that who you spend time with matters. If you surround yourself with people who are negative or conflict-driven, or who engage in bad habits such as heavy drinking or drug abuse, it can drag you down. Working with a professional to assess your social circle and identify the “accomplices” who harm your psychological well-being and the “friends” who support your brain healthy habits can make a big difference.
7. Find your “why.”
Experts understand that having a sense of purpose in life can provide the motivation to get and stay healthy. An integrative psychiatrist can work with you to pinpoint what gives your life meaning.
When you have a personalized integrative treatment plan that addresses all of your needs—biological, psychological, social, and spiritual—it helps put you on a faster path to a lifetime of healing.
Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. When you think of memory loss, you probably think about elderly people in nursing homes with Alzheimer’s disease. But forgetfulness can affect younger people too. It’s not uncommon for people in their 30s or 40s to start feeling the effects of faulty memory.
That’s what brought actress Jennie Garth to Amen Clinics.
Jennie is the co-host of a podcast about Beverly Hills 90210, the wildly popular 1990s TV show she starred in with her podcast co-host Tori Spelling, as well as Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, and the late Luke Perry. The 90210MG podcast has earned a healthy following, but it has brought to light an uncomfortable truth for Jennie: “My best friend who’s doing it with me can remember everything, and I can’t remember anything. And it’s really frustrating, and it’s upsetting to me.”
Throughout her long career, the actress has had to memorize thousands of scripts, which requires an excellent recall. But like many of the younger or middle-aged people who come to Amen Clinics for memory issues, Jennie says, “I feel like my short-term memory has taken over for my long-term memory.”
“I can’t remember anything. And it’s really frustrating, and it’s upsetting to me.”—Jennie Garth, actress, and 90210MG podcast co-host, who visited Amen Clinics for a brain scan to learn what’s causing her memory problems.
To address her concerns about her memory, Jennie had brain SPECT imaging studies at Amen Clinics, the global leader in brain health. As a way to help others who might be experiencing forgetfulness, the actress shared a video of her scan experience and evaluation with Daniel G. Amen, MD, the founder of Amen Clinics and 12-time New York Times bestselling author.
SPECT is a technology that measures blood flow and activity in the brain that shows 3 things:
Areas in the brain with healthy activity
Areas in the brain with too little activity
Areas in the brain with too much activity
Jennie underwent 2 SPECT studies, including a surface scan that shows blood flow, and an active scan that reveals activity levels throughout the brain. Here surface scan looked “beautiful” according to Dr. Amen, but it did show evidence of a possible head injury (perhaps from a past accident or fall?) and slightly lower blood flow near the hippocampus (an important region involved in memory).
The actress’s active scan, however, revealed a very busy brain with too much activity in areas such as the basal ganglia (a region associated with anxiety).
What does all of this mean in terms of memory?
CAUSES OF MEMORY LOSS IN YOUNGER PEOPLE
As Dr. Amen explained in his evaluation with Jennie, some things that can cause memory problems and brain fog regardless of a person’s age. Here are some of the most common.
Long-term chronic stress: Being overly stressed actually shrinks the hippocampus. In the healthy brain, 700 new nerve cells are created every day in the hippocampus, which is critical for memory formation. But being bombarded by stress can disrupt neurogenesis (the process of new cell growth), so you don’t make as many new nerve cells as you should.
Overactive basal ganglia: When this area of the brain works too hard, it is associated with anxiety and frequently feeling tense or keyed up. When emotional circuits are heightened, it can interfere with the formation of long-term memories.
Head injuries: Experiencing one or more traumatic brain injuries—with or without loss of consciousness—is a major cause of memory problems in younger people. Some of the most common causes of concussions and other types of head trauma include falls (off a ladder or a bike), playing contact sports, repeatedly hitting your head (such as heading soccer balls), getting into a motor vehicle accident, violent attacks, or explosive blasts.
Hormonal imbalances: If you’ve suffered a head injury, be sure to have a physician check your hormone levels, including thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA. Head trauma often damages the pituitary gland, which regulates hormone production. Hormonal imbalances are associated with memory problems in younger people.
SOLUTIONS FOR EARLY MEMORY PROBLEMS
In younger people who are experiencing brain for or memory issues, the following strategies may help.
Practice stress-management techniques: Meditation, prayer, exercise, and deep breathing strategies can help alleviate chronic stress.
Calm the brain: Nutritional supplements, such as 5-HTP, and saffron, can help calm a busy brain.
Heal traumatic brain injuries:Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can speed the healing process in areas that have been damaged by past head trauma.
Balancing hormones: Checking your hormone levels and optimizing them if they are off can be beneficial for recall.
Memory loss, chronic stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your relationships and symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. C’mon, admit it. Have you been diving headfirst into bottomless rabbit holes of depressing COVID statistics? Thumbing endless hateful political threads on Twitter that make you irritated and angry? Compulsively scanning your social media pages for posts that drive your anxiety?
Sounds like you’ve been “doomscrolling.”
The act of scrolling through your phone or computer for content that causes physical and mental distress is becoming more and more common these days. It’s so widespread now that the word doomscrolling has been recognized by Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com.
Spending hours doomscrolling for stress-provoking content causes changes in your brain that drive anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive behavior, and addictions.
Spending hours doomscrolling for stress-provoking content causes changes in your brain that drive anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive behavior, and addictions.
Think of doomscrolling like pouring toxic doom-and-gloom thoughts into your brain. The constant frightening images activate the brain’s fear circuits (amygdala), making you feel chronically anxious and afraid. Information is like crack. Brain-imaging research in a 2019 issue of PNAS found that information triggers the dopamine-fueled reward system in the same way as food, money, or even drugs. The authors suggest this neural mechanism explains why we are susceptible to clickbait.
Doomscrolling is like clickbait on steroids.
Neuroscience shows us that the human brain is wired for negativity and pays extra attention to anything that might harm us. That’s why all those scare-inducing headlines about spiking COVID cases, outrageous political maneuvers, looting, and rioting keep you glued.
In a survey from the American Psychological Association, 56% of people said that regularly following the news causes stress. That’s just “following” the news, not even close to the obsessive clicking and consumption that comes with doomscrolling. Over time, elevated stress hormones shrink the major memory centers in your brain, increase inflammation, and put excessive fat around your waist
With each click, you feel more anxious, more hopeless, more stressed. That fuels unhealthy behaviors.
HOW DOOMSCROLLING DRIVES UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR
When you’re stressed to the max, you’re more likely to stay up late and skimp on sleep, more inclined to indulge in sugary treats that increase anxiousness and bad moods, and more apt to reach for an alcoholic drink or marijuana to calm your nerves. But these behaviors backfire.
Lack of sleep: A night of staring at the ceiling can make you wake up feeling angry, irritable, sad, or stressed the next day; lower your ability to concentrate; and impair your judgment. For example, research shows that teenagers who on average get an hour less sleep at night were 38% more likely to feel sad and hopeless, 42% more likely to consider suicide, 58% more likely to attempt suicide, and 23% more likely to engage in substance abuse.
Not-so-sweet treats: Giving in to cravings for sugar or refined carbs causes blood sugar levels to spike and, subsequently, causes them to crash. This rollercoaster effect can impact your moods and mental wellbeing. Research shows that high-sugar diets and blood sugar issues are associated with anxiety, depression, irritability, anger, and trouble concentrating.
Alcohol:Alcohol lowers activity in the prefrontal cortex, which increases impulsivity, making you more likely to get caught up in a nasty Twitter debate, ignore your significant other while you continue doomscrolling, or to stay up until the wee hours of the morning even though you have a big presentation due at work the next day.
Marijuana: Research shows marijuana impairs short-term memory, contributes to learning and attention problems, reduces focus and coordination, and increases the risk for psychosis. In fact, a 2019 study in The Lancet Psychiatry found that potent cannabis may be associated with 10% of new cases of psychosis. That can make doomscrolling even more frightening.
Relationship problems: For every person who is addicted to doomscrolling and blurting out all the scary info they discover, there is likely a significant other who doesn’t want to hear it. Or your dysfunctional love affair with your devices may be keeping you from paying attention to your spouse or partner and causing marital conflict.
6 STEPS TO STOP DOOMSCROLLING
If you want to kick your doomscrolling habit, follow these steps.
Set time limits for scrolling. No more than 15 minutes at any one time.
Add good news to your daily scrolling. Make it a rule to start and end your day with some positivity, such as the inspiring stories you can find at the Good News Network.
Go on an intermittent information fast. Mentally unplug from your news sources on a regular basis.
If you’re tempted to send a snarky reply to a post, say “STOP” and count to 10 before hitting the send button.
Set up blocks and filters on your devices. If certain news sites or social media sites are particularly distressing, block them.
Make your bedroom a technology-free zone and don’t use any devices right before bedtime, or it may make it hard to sleep.
Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, mood swings, and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.By Kjell Tore Hovik, PsyD, PhD
At the cusp of a hopeful New Year, a book in the Amen Clinics library will help psychiatrists, psychologists, and other clinicians and therapists better organize their therapeutic toolbox into a more powerful weapon against mental illness.
The book is written as a guide to help individuals experiencing life crises get a grip on their situation and turn their life around for the better; but mental health professionals can use the 5 steps in their practice to help their patients identify their struggles and supervise them in their effort to adapt their thought, feeling and behavior patterns in the recovery process. The end goal is improved quality of life.
Experienced therapists who have read the book and tried out the 5-step methodology have written “Drs Love and Hovik give a wonderful framework and roadmap….it really gives a step-by-step process in situations where chaos would otherwise reign”.
The 5 steps have already been piloted in a university research project with individuals and in small groups. The feedback after the courses in 2020 has been impressive. Further research is planned for 2021.
Among the techniques featured in the model are elements reminiscent of techniques used in evidence-based therapeutic traditions ranging from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Illness Management and Recovery (IM) to sports and personality psychology, but key elements represent a fresh angle to behavior change and recovery based on recent advances in neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. The key overall organizing principle is the idea that a person’s reaction to stress and stressors is a central feature of all mental distress; it can not only trigger a mental vulnerability but will also aggravate an underlying mental condition. Identifying the stressors in one’s life and individual reactions to them is the start; then the work can begin to gain control over them and turn attentional focus to areas that will build self-confidence, a feeling of mastery, and a sense of balance.
An important feature of the model is the 8-session process approach centered around the patient setting his or her own goals and then scaffolding action on their inner motivation to make the needed changes in their daily lives to reach their desired outcome. To start with, there is a focus on what they are able to change on their own to make changes to thought, emotion, and behavior patterns, but then bring in help as needed to help them resolve struggles out of their control (for example, medication for a serious depressive or psychotic condition or EMDR for an intractable trauma condition).
Throughout, the emphasis is maintained on a person-centered care approach, and a focus on supporting the patient in avoiding avoidance and escape strategies that will only complicate their struggle to achieve their desired outcome. Among the mental health topics described in the book with concrete case examples are chronic illness, family crises, loss, trauma, and existential/spiritual crises.
The year ends with the world in the middle of a crisis of confidence, a crisis of trust, and pandemic pandemonium. But there is hope on the horizon. The time is right for When Crisis Strikes – 5 Steps to Heal Your Brain, Body and Life from Chronic Stress, Citadel Press.
The book is co-authored by Amen Clinics medical doctor Jennifer Love with three board certifications, including psychiatry, and clinical neuropsychologist Kjell Tore Hovik who is an associate professor of psychology with a Ph.D. in neurodevelopmental psychology. Do you typically travel for the holidays? Do you celebrate with a big gathering of family and friends? Do you get swept up in the holiday cheer? If so, this year may look very different for you.
With the numbers of COVID-19 infections spiking, we’re being cautioned to avoid unnecessary travel, stick to small gatherings, avoid indoor restaurants, and more. It makes you wonder what there is to celebrate.
The holidays are typically a joyous time. But the anxiety, stresses, isolation, job losses, and depression from the ongoing pandemic are threatening to squash holiday fun. So how can you find a little happiness this year?
Here are 7 strategies to add some cheer this holiday season.
1. Focus on what you CAN do.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what you can’t do this year. But brain imaging shows that when you get stuck on negative thoughts, it fires up the emotional centers of the brain and makes you more likely to feel stressed, anxious, and depressed. Make a conscious effort to be grateful for what you can do.
2. Keep traditions alive.
Although you might not be able to hop on a plane to visit family in another state, you are still able to engage in a host of holiday traditions. Go wild with decorations, build a gingerbread house, or get creative with a family photo for holiday cards.
3. Start new traditions.
With everything up in the air this year, it’s the ideal time to create new traditions. Try a virtual cooking competition with friends or family, set up a scavenger hunt for presents, or find new ways to volunteer.
4. Eat right to think right.
The holiday season is a time when guilt drives many Brain Warriors to fall back into old habits that drive anxiousness and negativity. Family get-togethers can make you feel obligated to indulge in your Grandpa’s famous mashed potatoes drenched in butter and gravy, your sister’s green bean casserole with condensed mushroom soup and fried onion strips or your Mom’s apple pie with whipped cream. This year, take advantage of staying home and cook up a brain healthy feast, even if it’s just for one or two. You can always put the leftovers in the freezer. Eating good-for-you foods can help you keep stress in check, soothe anxiety, and promote a cheerier mood.
Holiday gatherings often set the table for past hurts and emotional trauma to resurface, leading to arguments and drama. For some people, no matter how hard you try, the same stressful scenes play out each year. With big parties out of the picture this year, use this time to address unresolved issues from your past. Give yourself the gift of EMDR therapy, a non-invasive technique that helps overcome trauma, or work to get beyond your grudges.
6. Skip the eggnog.
Who says you have to drink alcohol to be merry? So many holiday events encourage drinking, and Americans typically double their alcohol intake over the holidays, according to a 2018 study. Drinking can help you feel better in the short-term, but in the long run, it ramps up anxiety, fuels depression, gives you brain fog, leads to poor decisions and bad behavior, makes you more likely to fight with loved ones, and is bad for brain health. Without all the parties this year, you won’t feel the pressure to drink seasonal cocktails.
7. Try a “Zoomsgiving” this year.
Can’t stand the thought of not seeing your favorite cousin, sibling, or granny? Connect quarantine-style on Zoom or another platform. Invite everyone to share some good news or to say what they’re grateful for this year. When you focus on what’s going right in your life, you’ll feel better fast, and it will last throughout the holiday season—and beyond.
Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever, and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you may be feeling stressed, anxious, and perhaps even traumatized. Are you still obsessively scrolling through your social media feeds searching for items that confirm your beliefs that the other side is WRONG? Are you arguing with loved ones who don’t share your views? Do you have a queasy feeling about the future?
You may be struggling with post-election stress trauma (PEST), a real “pest” that is affecting people of all political persuasions all across America. The brain SPECT imaging work at Amen Clinics—over 160,000 functional brain scans and growing—shows how your brain type plays a role in your vulnerability for PEST and offers valuable clues to the best ways to get past it.
First, it’s important to understand how harmful PEST can be.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF POST-ELECTION STRESS TRAUMA
KNOW YOUR BRAIN TYPE TO COPE WITH POST-ELECTION STRESS TRAUMA
To overcome PEST, you need to know your brain type.
The Spontaneous Brain Type (conflict seeking).
Don’t agree with some of your friends and family? If you know that talking about certain issues will upset others and you impulsively do it anyway, you may have this brain type. People with this brain type tend to be drama driven; they’re the ones who like to “poke the bear” to get a reaction. Brain SPECT imaging shows that this is associated with low activity in the brain’s frontal lobes, and people create conflict as a way to stimulate their sleepy brain. This type is common in those with ADD/ADHD.
The Spontaneous Brain Fix: Set boundaries for discussion topics when you get together whether it’s in person or virtually. For example, you may want to say that talking about politics is off the table. Instead, focus on what you have in common to keep relationships alive. To boost frontal lobe activity, eat a higher-protein diet, engage in daily aerobic activity, and consider nutritional supplements that stimulate the brain (including green tea, rhodiola, and ginseng).
The Persistent Brain Type (rigid thinking).
When you argue with reality, welcome to hell. If you’re stuck in rigid thinking patterns, such as “It’s my way or the highway,” you’re likely to feel extreme stress when elections don’t go your way or when others don’t agree with you. This can keep you locked into PEST, filling you with anger, depression, or relationship issues. SPECT scans show that cognitive inflexibility is often related to overactivity in the anterior cingulate gyrus (the brain’s gear shifter that helps you go from thought to thought or from behavior to behavior), along with low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This is often seen in people with obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and other types of anxiety disorders.
When you argue with reality, welcome to hell.
The Persistent Brain Fix: To calm an overactive ACG and enhance flexible thinking, boost serotonin in the brain by eating “smart carbs” (such as sweet potatoes and hummus), salmon, turkey, eggs, nuts, and seeds; taking supplements like 5-HTP and saffron; and doing activities like burst training.
The Sensitive Brain Type (overwhelmed by negative thinking).
People with this brain type struggle with moods, can feel overwhelmed, and are likely to have lots of automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). When you focus on what’s wrong in your life, it can make you feel depressed and gloomy. This type is associated with too much activity in the deep limbic system, the emotional centers of the brain. It is common in people with mood disorders, such as depression.
The Sensitive Brain Fix: Whenever you have a sad, anxious, or negative thought, write it down and ask yourself if it is true. Questioning your thoughts can help you clean up the mental mayhem. In addition, calm the emotional centers of the brain with healthy fats, such as avocado, almonds, and salmon; take omega-3 fatty acids, s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), and vitamin D; and do physical activities like dancing or team sports.
The Cautious Brain Type (fearful about the future).
Your brain is always listening and reacting to the inputs you’re feeding it. For people with this brain type, watching the news and scrolling through social media can fire up your brain’s anxiety center (basal ganglia) and trigger nervousness, panic, and fear. It is common in people with anxiety, panic disorder, and phobias.
The Cautious Brain Fix: One of the first steps to harnessing PEST is to pay attention to your news and social media consumption. Limit your daily diet of distressing news and inflammatory posts. Soothe the brain’s anxiety centers by avoiding caffeine, booze, and sugary sweets; supplement your diet with GABA, magnesium, and B6; and try calming activities like yoga.PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
