Dr. Amen asserts, "When the brain is healthy we are compassionate, thoughtful, loving, relaxed and goal directed, and when the brain is sick or damaged, we are unfeeling, impulsive, angry, tense, and unfocused, and it is very hard for our souls and our relationship with god to be at peace."
The book begins with an easy-to-follow explanation of each major part of the brain and its function, including SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) scans that show both healthy and under-functioning brains.
Dr. Amen compares the brain to a computer's hardware, with the variety of functions we perform day-to-day being the software. If a computer's hardware is not functioning correctly, it cannot successfully run software. Similarly, if one's brain is not healthy, one cannot successfully execute the "programs" of one's life, such as parenting, working, learning, teaching, coping with crises, etc.
The book includes many fascinating examples, drawn from the thousands of patients Dr. Amen has treated at his clinics. In each case, Dr. Amen describes the presenting problem, and shows, using SPECT scans, the unhealthy part of the brain that is causing the problem. In each case, after specifically treating the unhealthy part of the brain, the presenting problem diminished or disappeared.
The last half of the book includes tools for self-assessing brain functioning, and a discussion of the various methods used to optimize brain function. These methods include medication, natural supplements, cognitive strategies and breathing work.
I highly recommend this book for everyone who works with underfunctioning individuals at any level (and for underfunctioning individuals themselves). It presents a perspective that I think is imperative to the understanding of why people feel, behave, and function as they do. I think this information is a critical piece of the puzzle that we seek to solve each time we try to help an underfunctioning individual.
I can speak personally about the effectiveness of Dr. Amen's approach to understanding and treating underfunctioning individuals. We adopted our son at the age of 11, with full knowledge that he had a life-long history of violent behavior. Dr. Amen's SPECT scans and evaluation showed clearly the parts of his brain that were not functioning properly. And they showed that the medication he'd been on while in county group homes for four years was the exact opposite of what he needed. This helped us understand why he behaved as he did, and the new medications stopped the violent rages, which he could not otherwise control. Dr. Amen's intervention, along with a year of attachment therapy and hard work at home, have literally saved this child from life in an institution.