CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, CHANGE YOUR LIFE --- THE BREAKTHROUGH PROGRAM
FOR CONQUERING ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, OBSESSIVENESS, ANGER, AND IMPULSIVENESS
by Daniel G. Amen (UC Irvine, Professor). Times Books/Random House, 1998, 2000
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pvi)
INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION (pix-xi)
INTRODUCTION --- WHAT MAKES A GOOD MANAGER? (p3-15)
1) For those who have eyes, let them see --- Images into the mind (p16-24)
2) Carving knives and tooth fairies --- A prelude to the brain and behavior (p25-36)
3) Looking into love and depression --- The "Deep Limbic System" (p37-54)
4) Enhancing positive thought patterns and strengthening connections --- Deep limbic system prescriptions(p55-81)
Kill the "ANTs" (Automatic Negative Thoughts)
5) Looking into anxiety and fear --- The "Basal Ganglia" (p82-96)
6) Mastering fear --- Basal Ganglia prescriptions (p97-110)
7) Looking into inattention and impulsivity --- The "Prefrontal Cortex" (p111-133)
8) Becoming focused --- Prefrontal Cortex prescriptions (p134-149)
9) Looking into worry and obsessiveness --- The "Cingulate System" (p150-170)
10) Getting unstuck --- Cingulate system prescriptions (p171-185)
11) Looking into memory and temper --- The "Temporal Lobes" (p186-202)
12) Enhancing experience --- Temporal lobe prescriptions (p203-211)
13) The dark side --- Violence --- a combination of problems (p211-224)
14) Brain pollution --- The impact of drugs and alcohol on the brain(p224-244)
15) The missing links --- Drugs, violence, and the brain (p225-256)
16) I love you and I hate you, touch me, no, don't, whatever --- Brain patterns that interfere with intimacy (p257-280)
17) Help! --- When and how to seek professional care (p281-296)
18) Who is Andrew really? --- Questions about the essence of our humanity (p297-300)
Dozens of brain disorder cases reported in this book, and thousands of "SPECT" studies of clients with brain disorders, demonstrate that the answer to the question "Who are we really?" is that "We are really who we are when our brain works right!"
19) Brain "DOs" and brain "DON'Ts"
A summary of ways to optimize brain function and break bad brain habits! (p301-306)
=================================BRAIN "DOs"=================================
Do this list of 50 recommendations for optimizing your own brain function so
you can begin to break bad brain habits that can hold you back from successfully getting what you want out of life and being happy in the sense of "flow"
[1] Do wear a helmet in high-risk situations
[2] Do drink lots of water --- six to eight 8-ounce glasses daily --- to stay well hydrated
[3] Do eat healthfully --- adjusting the proportion of protein and carbohydrate to your brain needs
[4] Do take gingko biloba as necessary under your doctor's supervision
[5] Do think positive, healthy thoughts!
[6] Do love, feed, and exercise your internal "anteater" to rid yourself of "automatic negative thoughts" ("ANTs")!
[7] Do take time to focus on the things you are grateful for in your life daily
[8] Do watch the Disney movie Pollyanna
[9] So spend time with positive, uplifting people
[10] Do spend time with people you want to be like --- you will more likely become like them
[11] Do DEVELOP your "PEOPLE SKILLS" to become more "connected"
and to ENHANCE LIMBIC BONDS!
[14] Do BUILD a "LIBRARY" of wonderful experiences
[15] Do make a difference in the life of someone else
[16] Do EXERCISE
[17] Do regularly "CONNECT" with your loved ones!
[18] Do learn DIAPHRAGMATIC breathing
[19] Do LEARN and USE self-hypnosis and meditation --- on a daily basis
[20] Do remember the "18/40/60 Rule" --- At eighteen, you worry about what
everybody is thinking about you. At forty, you don't give a damn about what anybody thinks about
you. And at sixty, you realize that nobody's been thinking about you at all! People spend their
life worrying and thinking about themselves --- not you!!
[24] Do collect"PENGUINS" --- in order to remind yourself to notice the
GOOD THINGS about the people in your life since it is unnatural for most people to
notice what they like about their life or about others, especially if they unconsciously use turmoil
in their lives to stimulate their prefrontal cortex!
[22] Do develop CLEAR GOALS for your life --- relationships, work, money, self --- and reaffirm
them daily!
[23] Do FOCUS on what you like a lot more than what you don't like!
[42] Do MAKE LOVE with your partner regularly
[50] Do "FULL BRAIN" evaluations for people who do terrible things
=================================BRAIN "DON'Ts"=====================
Don't do this list of 50 things that can predictably cause you to be dysfunctional in the
clinical sense of being preoccupied with "bad brain habits" since they
are self-destructive and can lead to unhappiness!
[10] Don't eat without forethought about what foods are best for your brain
[17] Don't allow your breathing to get out of control
[18] Don't think in "black-or-white" terms or "absolute dichotomies" --- use continuums instead!
[19] Don't think in words like "always, never, every time, everyone," which is distortion by generalization!
[20] Don't focus on the negative things in your life!
[21] Don't predict the worst
[22] Don't think only with your feelings
[23] Don't try to read other people's minds
[24] Don't blame other people for your problems
[25] Don't label yourself or others with negative terms
[26] Don't beat up yourelf or others with guilt --- since it is a very ineffective emotion
[27] Don't personalize situations that have little to do with you!
[28] Don't "feed" your automatic negative thoughts or "ANTs"
[29] Don't use sex as a weapon with your partner
[30] Don't talk to others in a hateful way
[31] Don't push people away from you
[35] Don't allow your life to just happen without you directing and planning it
[36] Don't take the "stimulant bait" from other people
[37] Don't be another person's "stimulant bait"
[38] Don't allow your thoughts to go over and over in your head
[39] Don't automatically say "No!" to others --- think first if what they want fits with your goals
[40] Don't automatically say "Yes!" to others --- think first if what they want fits with your goals
[43] Don't allow naturally oppositionally children to be oppositional
[44] Don't listen to toxic music
[45] Don't blame substance abusers as morally defective
[48] Don't deny that you have problems
[49] Don't refuse to listen to the people you love who are trying to tell you to get help
[50] Don't withhold love, touch and companionship from those you love as a way to express anger
APPENDIX --- Medication notes (p307-313)
BIBLIOGRAPHY (p315-319)
INDEX (p321-337)
ABOUT THE AMEN CLINIC (p339)
Go to Memory Action Step #4: Memory Consolidation Form
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