Magnificent Mind at Any Age

December 1, 2008
“A magnificent mind starts with a healthy brain,” claims psychiatrist Amen (Change Your Brain, Change Your Mind
). His program begins with a nuclear medicine diagnostic—S(ingle) P(hoton) E(mission) C(omputed) T(omography)—of the brain for anyone presenting symptoms of emotional distress or lack of success in personal or professional life. After observing patients' SPECT images for two decades, Amen is certain that problems such as ADD, dementia, alcohol/drug abuse, lack of impulse control, PMS, anxiety/depression, insomnia, memory problems, OCD, stroke, seizures and other disorders are due to damage in one (or more) of the brain's six functional sections from past undiagnosed trauma or short circuits. Amen outlines protocols that include a different combination of dietary change, exercise, natural supplements, prescription medication, talk therapy and positive reinforcement to rebalance and repair each affected part of the brain and its symptoms. His superficial but decent explanation of basic neurological physiology helps readers understand why they act as they do and how they can recover, and develop motivation, creativity, and good social skills to boot. Full of bulleted lists, rules, point-by-point lists of factual information, reproduced SPECT images, worksheets, self-tests, FAQs and individual patients' stories to resonate with readers, this is a useful volume, despite its simplistic writing.

November 1, 2008
These books make the provocative suggestion that modern medicine can assist readers in improving their minds with strategies and advice to "treat anxiety, depression, memory problems, ADD, and insomnia." Amen ("Change Your Brain, Change Your Life") administers the Amen Clinics, where mental health diagnoses are largely based on a comprehensive database of single-photon emission computerized tomograhy (SPECT) and treatment plans are based on targeted, follow-up psychotherapies under psychiatric supervision. In addition to those methods, Amen emphasizes many all-natural waysdiet, exercise, supplementsto treat mental health problems.

Like Amen, best-selling author Hyman ("UltraPrevention; UltraMetabolism") promotes a holistic approach to mental health and wellness based on "functional medicine" (FM). FM purports to be the medicine of the future, "a science-based health-care approach that assesses and treats underlying causes of illness through individually tailored therapies to restore health and improve function." Hyman has built his medical philosophy on the seven keys of "UltraWellness," which, in turn, are the keys to the "UltraMind," both of which emphasize the concept that the name of the disease (i.e., the diagnosis) bears little relationship to the cause of the disease. Hyman believes that traditional medical education is too rooted in finding symptoms, making a diagnosis, and then identifying a drug to match that diagnosis. Hyman seeks a "balanced" brain by seeking the proper relationships among detoxification, oxidative stress, and inflammation.

Both books are nontraditional and appear to serve mainly as promotion for a proprietary approach to mental disorders, namely, Amen Clinics, Functional Medicine, and trademark UltraSolutions. Discretionary purchases for larger consumer health collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/1/08 for Hyman.]James Swanton, Harlem Hosp. Lib., New York

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.