As a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern one of the things I do is to use talk therapies to help people dealing with emotional and mental problems such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, substance abuse problems, etc. Mental Health Counselors treat these problems with many therapies that involve changes in thinking and behavior that can not necessarily be 'seen'. What is fascinating in regards to this book is that Dr. Amen, a clinical neuroscientist and psychiatrist, gives an explanation of these problems as 'brain disorders' that can actually be scientifically detected with imaging tools. His work gives a window into the metaphysical reality that is the age old mind-brain problem philosophers and scientists have wondered over for centuries. Dr. Amen writes, "I always believed there was a strong connection between spiritual health and mental health (Amen, 4)."
Go through your closets and discard clothing you have not worn in the past year - it might not even fit you now. Consider how many shoes a person really needs. Most people do not really need more than three or four pairs of shoes. Discard that which you do not need and make room for something else - you'll feel better if you do.Similarly, go through your refrigerator. When's the last time you cleaned that out? Do you really need to keep that near empty bottle of Soy sauce considering you haven't eaten Chinese food in more than a year? Toss it out! Make room in your refrigerator; make room in your life. You will feel better afterwards.
Long before we could detect the smallest particles of matter in the atom the Greek philosopher Leucippus hypothesized of its existence around 450 B.C. Not long after, his follower, Democritus coined the term 'atom' from the Greek ἄτομος (atomos, "indivisible") from (a-, "not") and τέμνω (temnō, "I cut"), which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further. Some of the greatest discoveries have originated from the intuitions of man's heart, only later to be empirically 'detected' and rationally understood (if not perfectly), if not seen and touched. Mental health has been a soft science with classified categories of clusters of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders yet without necessarily an empirical way to detect and diagnose. Many of the symptoms described in diagnoses are based on behavior and reports.
What happens when you stand in the queue waiting to be served? What happens when you're waiting for a bus? Well, for most of us, we get bored or frustrated and our mind goes for a walk. We start daydreaming, planning or worrying. We're distracted. The thing is, what's going on in our minds has an impact on our moods and then our mood effects our thinking. We create patterns of mood and habits of thinking which feed on each other. So often this causes us completely unnecessary stress.
What the information in this book adds to my practice is a holistic perspective that includes making referrals and recommending information on medication, nutrition, exercise, social interactions, behavior changes, along with the talk therapies and other treatments I offer as a mental health counselor. Dr. Amen states he is one of very few psychiatrists that offer these types of brain scans and consultation on mental health problems. They are also rather expensive. He states the purpose of the book is not for everyone to go out and get their brains scanned but to explain a wide variety of human behaviors in terms of the images that SPECT provides and show they can be treated on a medical model as well as the traditional psychological and social models (Amen, 15).
Dr. Amen by no means argues that talk therapy is not effective for treating these empirically detected 'brain disorders'. His point is not that physical things can only be treated physically but to show a fascinating explanation of thought and behavior using the brain images. For example, his research shows that depression is associated with limbic system (an area of the brain) over-activity and that bonding can decrease this over-activity (Amen, 41). One example of this is that orgasm is like a mini-seizure in the limbic system and lessens deep limbic activity (Amen, 41). He found that when a patient who was depressed had a scan before and after having passionate sex with his wife his brain scan showed his limbic activity was significantly decreased (Amen, 41). He then goes on to explain how casual sex does not work and is so damaging for many females because they have a larger limbic system than males that bonds more deaply, crashing harder when a bond is broken. He also writes that healthy bonding between mothers and children, between family, friends, and even pets affects the limbic system positively.
Dr. Amen has an entire chapter on enhancing positive thought patterns. Dr. Amen's prescription to heal these limbic problems includes, "... accurate thinking, the proper management of memories, the connection between pleasant smells and moods, and building positive bonds with oneself and others (p. 55)." It is common knowledge that research shows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (a talk therapy) to be highly effective in dealing with depression, but it is effective in dealing with a wide range of psychological problems (Corey, 288, Beck, 2). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy deals with changing distorted thinking and core beliefs about the self and the world such as that one is unlovable or helpless. Bonding also happens in talk therapy between a client and therapist and can enhance relationships and bonding with others.
A body that is not rested means a mind that is not rested. It makes for a very difficult day, so do your best to get enough sleep.Set a certain time to go to bed and stick to it. Your body needs a 'pattern'; it needs to do certain things at the very same time each day.If you make time for 'you' and get to sleep at the same time each night, exercise every day and do what you can to eliminate external influences in our life so you can get quality sleep, you will awake rested and ready to go.You will feel much better and your life will go much better in return.Skyscrapers are never built unless a plan has been prepared first. Your life is no different. A plan will help you set goals and goals are important. If you don't know where you are going you could end up going where you never wanted to go, so make a plan.There are short-term plans as well as long-term plans and you should make both.Begin with a short-term plan. What do you want to do tomorrow? Where do you want to go and how will you get there? What do you want to accomplish while you are there and why? Making such a plan will give you cause to think about things you have not considered? What do you want to do next week? Make a plan for the entire week, not just one day of the week.What about next month? What do you want to accomplish next month? Having a better idea will help you make the time to do that and you will begin to make better use of your time.Work your way up to a one-year plan. Where do you want to be one year from today? Why do you want to be there? How will you get there? The answer is one day at a time.
[How To Make Positive Changes In Your Life]
Go through your closets and discard clothing you have not worn in the past year - it might not even fit you now. Consider how many shoes a person really needs. Most people do not really need more than three or four pairs of shoes. Discard that which you do not need and make room for something else - you'll feel better if you do.Similarly, go through your refrigerator. When's the last time you cleaned that out? Do you really need to keep that near empty bottle of Soy sauce considering you haven't eaten Chinese food in more than a year? Toss it out! Make room in your refrigerator; make room in your life. You will feel better afterwards.
Long before we could detect the smallest particles of matter in the atom the Greek philosopher Leucippus hypothesized of its existence around 450 B.C. Not long after, his follower, Democritus coined the term 'atom' from the Greek ἄτομος (atomos, "indivisible") from (a-, "not") and τέμνω (temnō, "I cut"), which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further. Some of the greatest discoveries have originated from the intuitions of man's heart, only later to be empirically 'detected' and rationally understood (if not perfectly), if not seen and touched. Mental health has been a soft science with classified categories of clusters of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders yet without necessarily an empirical way to detect and diagnose. Many of the symptoms described in diagnoses are based on behavior and reports.
What happens when you stand in the queue waiting to be served? What happens when you're waiting for a bus? Well, for most of us, we get bored or frustrated and our mind goes for a walk. We start daydreaming, planning or worrying. We're distracted. The thing is, what's going on in our minds has an impact on our moods and then our mood effects our thinking. We create patterns of mood and habits of thinking which feed on each other. So often this causes us completely unnecessary stress.
What the information in this book adds to my practice is a holistic perspective that includes making referrals and recommending information on medication, nutrition, exercise, social interactions, behavior changes, along with the talk therapies and other treatments I offer as a mental health counselor. Dr. Amen states he is one of very few psychiatrists that offer these types of brain scans and consultation on mental health problems. They are also rather expensive. He states the purpose of the book is not for everyone to go out and get their brains scanned but to explain a wide variety of human behaviors in terms of the images that SPECT provides and show they can be treated on a medical model as well as the traditional psychological and social models (Amen, 15).
Dr. Amen by no means argues that talk therapy is not effective for treating these empirically detected 'brain disorders'. His point is not that physical things can only be treated physically but to show a fascinating explanation of thought and behavior using the brain images. For example, his research shows that depression is associated with limbic system (an area of the brain) over-activity and that bonding can decrease this over-activity (Amen, 41). One example of this is that orgasm is like a mini-seizure in the limbic system and lessens deep limbic activity (Amen, 41). He found that when a patient who was depressed had a scan before and after having passionate sex with his wife his brain scan showed his limbic activity was significantly decreased (Amen, 41). He then goes on to explain how casual sex does not work and is so damaging for many females because they have a larger limbic system than males that bonds more deaply, crashing harder when a bond is broken. He also writes that healthy bonding between mothers and children, between family, friends, and even pets affects the limbic system positively.
Dr. Amen has an entire chapter on enhancing positive thought patterns. Dr. Amen's prescription to heal these limbic problems includes, "... accurate thinking, the proper management of memories, the connection between pleasant smells and moods, and building positive bonds with oneself and others (p. 55)." It is common knowledge that research shows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (a talk therapy) to be highly effective in dealing with depression, but it is effective in dealing with a wide range of psychological problems (Corey, 288, Beck, 2). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy deals with changing distorted thinking and core beliefs about the self and the world such as that one is unlovable or helpless. Bonding also happens in talk therapy between a client and therapist and can enhance relationships and bonding with others.
A body that is not rested means a mind that is not rested. It makes for a very difficult day, so do your best to get enough sleep.Set a certain time to go to bed and stick to it. Your body needs a 'pattern'; it needs to do certain things at the very same time each day.If you make time for 'you' and get to sleep at the same time each night, exercise every day and do what you can to eliminate external influences in our life so you can get quality sleep, you will awake rested and ready to go.You will feel much better and your life will go much better in return.Skyscrapers are never built unless a plan has been prepared first. Your life is no different. A plan will help you set goals and goals are important. If you don't know where you are going you could end up going where you never wanted to go, so make a plan.There are short-term plans as well as long-term plans and you should make both.Begin with a short-term plan. What do you want to do tomorrow? Where do you want to go and how will you get there? What do you want to accomplish while you are there and why? Making such a plan will give you cause to think about things you have not considered? What do you want to do next week? Make a plan for the entire week, not just one day of the week.What about next month? What do you want to accomplish next month? Having a better idea will help you make the time to do that and you will begin to make better use of your time.Work your way up to a one-year plan. Where do you want to be one year from today? Why do you want to be there? How will you get there? The answer is one day at a time.
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