Dr. Daniel Amen: World-Renowned Neuroscientist's Secrets to a Healthy Brain and Better Life | Self Help | E19

Summary

Podcast Summary: Miracle Mentality with Tim Storey

Episode: Dr. Daniel Amen: World-Renowned Neuroscientist's Secrets to a Healthy Brain and Better Life | E19
Date: December 22, 2025
Host: Tim Storey
Guest: Dr. Daniel Amen

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Episode Overview

This episode of Miracle Mentality features Dr. Daniel Amen, a globally recognized psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author, renowned for his work in brain health and founder of the Amen Clinics. Together with host Tim Storey, they discuss the pivotal relationship between brain health and miraculous living—offering practical neuroscience-based strategies, faith-inspired insights, and inspiring stories of personal transformation. The discussion ranges from happiness and overcoming mental challenges to actionable guidance for nurturing a healthier mind and life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Importance of Brain Health

• Faith and Flourishing ([01:53]):
  • Tim references Psalm 92 and asks how one can remain "fresh and green" with age.
  • Dr. Amen: "The first thing you do is you take care of your brain, because if your brain is not right, you're not going to be right." ([02:22])
• The Gravity of Age:
  • Just as skin ages, the brain does too, but aging effects can be mitigated through intentional care.

Dr. Amen's Calling and Mission

• Origin Story ([03:11]):
  • Dr. Amen’s calling began as a second-year medical student after someone close attempted suicide. Witnessing psychiatric help save her life framed his mission: "If you help one person, it helps generations." ([03:11])
  • "I fell in love with the only medical specialty that never looks at the organ it treats. Think about that. That's insane." ([03:39])
• Faith Journey:
  • Dr. Amen’s journey includes his Christian faith and decision to study medicine in spiritual environments (Vanguard University and Oral Roberts University), believing all experiences shaped his destiny to create a "revolution in brain health." ([04:53])
  • "Romans 8, everything works together for good, for those who love the Lord. And then I got this mission to end the concept of mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health." ([05:43])

Adversity & Mavericks in Medicine

• Challenging the Status Quo ([07:19]):
  • Dr. Amen describes himself as a maverick, a trait he traces to his upbringing and tendency to question authority—even when facing resistance from established fields, such as the NFL after revealing football’s brain risks.
  • "The truth is it's a brain damaging sport. Own it. Because if you own it, you can get these players help early." ([07:59])

Highlighting Brain Trauma: NFL, CTE, and Hope

• NFL & Concussion Movie ([08:28]):
  • Dr. Amen's research influenced the film "Concussion." He stresses the treatability of CTE, a condition too often considered a death sentence, contrasting his work ("all of my patients are alive") to the grim outlook of post-mortem studies. ([09:31])

Substance Use and Changing Trends

• Alcohol and College Culture ([10:51]):
  • Tim notes alcohol's waning popularity among college students, with Dr. Amen observing it's being replaced by marijuana and psychedelics, which carry their own risks.
  • "If you want to wake up 100% every day, you need to kill the alcohol because it's damaging your brain." ([11:08])
• The American Cancer Society recommends no alcohol due to links with seven kinds of cancer. ([11:18])

Happiness is Brain Health

• "You, Happier" Book Insights ([11:39]):
  • Dr. Amen wrote this during the pandemic, emphasizing the "neuroscience to happiness." He believes most advice overlooks that "having a healthy brain" is the key foundation.
  • "If the front part of your brain is low in activity, you're way less likely to be happy." ([12:08])
  • Lower brain function links to more negativity and less hope.
• Practical Advice:
  • Avoid physical impacts (e.g., "Don't let your children hit soccer balls with their forehead." ([12:38]))

The BRIGHT MINDS Framework

• Three Pillars of Brain Health ([13:20]):
  • Brain envy: You have to care about your brain.
    • “The only organ that size really matters is your brain.” ([13:42])
  • Avoid things that hurt it.
  • Do things that help it.
• BRIGHT MINDS: Acronym summarizing 11 major risk factors to manage ([13:49]).

Personal Reflection and Brain Envy

• Family Influence ([14:27]):
  • Story about comparing his own brain scan to his mother’s—she had the best brain he’d seen, inspiring him to strive for "brain envy."
  • “Her brain reflected her life... Then I looked at my brain and my brain was not healthy... That’s where the term brain envy came.” ([15:16])

Rehabilitation and Criminal Justice

• Transformative Story: “Dale” ([16:11]):
  • From a 15-year-old in shackles with frontal lobe damage to a war hero, Dr. Amen’s interventions and supplements set him on a new path.
• Opinion on Prisons ([17:41]):
  • "We are doing such a poor job with our prison population. It's not really about rehabilitation. It's about vengeance. I hate that... We need to do a much better job at understanding why people do what they do and rehabilitating their brains." ([17:41])

Achieving Peace through Presence

• Presence, Not Escape ([19:20]):
  • NBA star Julius Randle’s journey: Dr. Amen describes helping Julius quit marijuana, manage his mind, and see dramatic improvements—in brain scans and performance.
  • “It’s getting out of the past with regret or the future with fear, but just enjoying every moment.” ([19:28])

Marijuana: Myths vs. Reality

• Impact on the Brain ([21:37]):
  • “That's a short term fix that creates long term problems.”
  • Studies on marijuana users show lower blood flow in every brain region, with direct negative impact on learning, memory, and performance.

Purposeful Living and the "One Page Miracle"

• Alignment Exercise ([23:15]):
  • Dr. Amen guides patients to define what they want in relationships, work, money, health, and ensures their decisions align with these goals.
  • "When you get it out of them, what do you want? And then the question becomes, does your behavior get you what you want?" ([23:49])

Mental Health in Celebrities: The Case of Kanye West

• Mania and Misdiagnosis ([25:03]):
  • Explanation of bipolar disorder versus head injury, substance use, or other neurological factors.
  • "Often people have mood instability, irritability, temper problems because they had a bad head injury and because nobody's looking at the brain, you don't know." ([25:47])
• Faith and Extremes:
  • The religious community is not immune to mental extremes, often for unseen neurological reasons.

The Four Circles of Brain Health Intervention

• Assessment and Plan ([29:45]):
  • Dr. Amen’s approach combines biology (brain scan and labs), psychology, social context, and spiritual meaning, for a holistic healing plan.
  • “Is what I’m doing now good for my brain or bad for it? And does it honor my creator?” ([31:08])
  • He’s advocating for a national brain health revolution centered on this guiding question.

Social Impact & Personal Calling

• Responsibility of Influence ([34:43]):
  • Dr. Amen notes industry headwinds—the "pharmaceutical industry" push versus individualized, evidence-based care.
  • "25% of the American population is on a psychiatric drug. That is a huge win for the pharmaceutical industry and it's a huge loss for our society." ([35:09])

Natural Solutions vs. Pharmaceuticals

• Supplements and Saffron ([36:04]):
  • Saffron, zinc, and curcumin are as effective as common antidepressants for some, yet remain underutilized due to systemic inertia and vested interests.
  • “There are 28 randomized controlled trials showing that Saffron, the spice Saffron is equally effective to Prozac, Effexor, Imipramine, Zoloft, Wellbutrin.” ([35:51])

Practical Next Steps and Resources

• Where to Start ([38:00]):
  • For scans and info: amenclinics.com
  • Recommended book: "Change Your Brain Every Day"—short, actionable brain tips.
  • Forthcoming book: "Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain" explores the interconnection of physical and emotional pain.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Brain Health as Life Foundation:
  “If your brain is not right, you’re not going to be right.” —Dr. Daniel Amen ([02:22])

• On Challenging Traditions in Psychiatry:
  “I fell in love with the only medical specialty that never looks at the organ it treats. Think about that. That's insane.” —Dr. Amen ([03:39])

• On Personal Mission:
  “…I got this mission to end the concept of mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health.” —Dr. Amen ([05:43])

• Speaking Truth to Power (NFL and Brain Injuries):
  “The truth is it's a brain damaging sport. Own it. Because if you own it, then you can get these players help early.” —Dr. Amen ([07:59])

• On Alcohol Risk:
  “The American Cancer Society came out..., and said you really shouldn't drink at all because any alcohol is associated with seven different cancers.” —Dr. Amen ([11:18])

• On Happiness and Brain Health:
  “If the front part of your brain is low in activity, you're way less likely to be happy.” —Dr. Amen ([12:08])

• Acronym for Brain Health:
  “Bright minds. You want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it? You have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that steal your mind.” —Dr. Amen ([13:49])

• On Marijuana’s Impact:
  “Short term fix that creates long term problems.” —Dr. Amen ([21:37])

• Key Question for All Behavior:
  “Is what I'm doing now good for my brain or bad for it?” —Dr. Amen ([31:08])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dr. Amen’s origin story & mission: [03:11]
• Trailblazing and football brain research: [07:19]
• CTE, NFL, and hope for players: [08:28]
• Alcohol, marijuana, and college trends: [10:51]
• You, Happier—neuroscience of happiness: [11:39]
• Three pillars / BRIGHT MINDS framework: [13:20]
• Personal brain envy & mom’s influence: [14:27]
• Story: Dale’s comeback from incarceration: [16:11]
• Julius Randle, presence, and marijuana: [19:20]
• One Page Miracle for meaningful change: [23:15]
• Kanye West and overdiagnosis vs. head injury: [25:03]
• Plan for brain health: the four circles: [29:45]
• Reform in psychiatric medication: [34:43]
• Supplements, saffron, and natural solutions: [36:04]
• How to start with Amen Clinics & resources: [38:00]

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Summary Takeaways

• Brain health is the gateway to a better, happier life—it determines hope, happiness, peace, and success.
• Faith and science can work hand in hand, illuminating paths to healing and purpose.
• Substance use, especially marijuana and alcohol, may offer momentary relief but can undermine long-term brain function and overall well-being.
• Transformation is possible at any age or circumstance, as Dr. Amen’s stories of patients reveal.
• Dr. Amen advocates for an integrative, holistic approach—blending biological, psychological, social, and spiritual facets—to catalyze not just healing but miraculous breakthroughs.

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For more, visit amenclinics.com or follow Dr. Amen on social media. Dive into his book “Change Your Brain Every Day” for daily, actionable tips to upgrade your brain and life.

Transcript

[A]

Hello, my name is Tim Storey. Welcome to Miracle Mentality.

[B]

Remember, rooftops drawing spaceships on the ground.

[A]

It's for the dreamers, the doers, the believers in something greater. In each episode, I'll invite you to rise above the mundane, to push past the messy and learn to live boldly in the miraculous. Every episode will have practical wisdom, spiritual insight, and my guests will explore what it takes to activate your miracle mindset. Remember to subscribe, follow and and life. Welcome to the Miracle Mentality podcast. I want to thank all of you for continuing to tune in on Apple. I love to see these ratings where we're usually at number five or six in our category. Same in Spotify. I think part of that is the fact that people are realizing that they need to have the right mindset and. And that your mindset is yours to set. I think I'm going to have my favorite guest of the time that we've been doing this podcast on today. Dr. Daniel Amen is world renowned. He is a bestseller of at least 12 books, New York Times bestseller, A physician, founder of the Amen Clinics, which I've sent many, many friends, including family members there that have really found help. And imagine this. His online videos have been seen by over 300 million views. That is a lot. One of his famous quotes is, if your brain is not right, then your mind is not right. I'd like to welcome to the program somebody that I love and appreciate, and that is Dr. Daniel Amen.

[B]

Thank you so much, Tim.

[A]

Good to have you. You know, when I think about this side of ourselves that we both are. Faith, guys. Psalms 92 says that the righteous will flourish like a palm tree and will still bear fruit in our old age and remain fresh and green. But yet you find so many people, even in their 40s, 50s, 60s, beginning to wane in their mindset. So how do we remain a little more fresh and green?

[B]

Well, I mean, the first thing you do is you take care of your brain, because if your brain is not right, you're not going to be right. And there's this thing called the gravity of age. As the skin falls off your face as you age, that same process happens in the brain, but it doesn't have to.

[A]

Yes. When I look at your life, it's very interesting, and I think you would agree with me that we have our calling and we have our career, and many times those things work together. When did you feel the calling to help us out with the brain? About what age did this begin in your life?

[B]

When I was a second year Medical student, someone I loved tried to kill herself. And I took her to see a wonderful psychiatrist. And I came to realize if he helped her, which he did, it wouldn't just help her, it would help her children, it would help her grandchildren, as they would be shaped by someone who was happier and more stable. So it was about 46 years ago I fell in love with psychiatry, and I've loved it every day since. But I fell in love with the only medical specialty that never looks at the organ it treats. Think about that. That's insane. And about 35 years ago, I started looking at the brain with a study called Brain Spect Imaging Nuclear Medicine Study that looks at blood flow and activity. And literally everything in my life changed after I started looking at the brain. From what I drink, to the time I go to bed, to how much exercise I do, to. Even if you date my daughter for more than four months, I'm looking at your brain, at his brain.

[A]

So because of our faith background and me knowing about you for at least 30 years, Ephesians 4:1 talks about walk worthy of the calling that you have received. How much of your practice do you feel was really like a divine calling? How would you look at that side of what you were doing in life?

[B]

I think all of it, from not being a very good student in grammar school and high school, sort of getting lost. I'm one of seven. To going into the army when I was 18, to giving my life to Christ, even though I grew up Roman Catholic, it was sort of like a nationality rather than a relationship with Jesus. That was pivotal to me. I think I was 19 and got involved with a group called Teen Challenge, which is a Christian group that deals with drug addicts. And just realizing that God had more for me, and ended up going to Southern California College, now Vanguard University, which is an Assemblies of God school. And then went to medical school at Oral Roberts University. It was my first choice to go there, and it was their first year open. But I wanted to learn medicine in the context of my faith. And I think all of it as I look back. Romans 8, everything works together for good, for those who love the Lord. And then I got this mission to end the concept of mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health.

[A]

Yeah. So one of the things that has always excited me about what you do. And we both graduated from the same college, Vanguard. And then I had very close ties to Oral Roberts University for many, many years with Dr. Oral Roberts, because they used to use me for college days to convince the students to come and so that's one of the things that I used to do there. But I feel like you become a trailblazer in this field. And when you're a trailblazer, you face resistance, what I call an opposition to a mission. But what I love about you is you don't seem to stop. You keep coming with a lot of facts that challenge the way a lot of people have lived. Is that innate or is that learned behavior?

[B]

I just laugh because growing up my dad called me a maverick. And to him that was not a good thing. Even though he was a grocer and he was considered to be a maverick in his industry, he ended up being the chairman of the board of a $4 billion company. But no, I think it's innate to question authority. And is this good for you or bad for you? So when I discovered that playing football was really bad for the brain, published some big studies on it, there was a lot of hate. But John 8:32 know the truth. The truth will set you free. And the truth is it's a brain damaging sport. Own it. Because if you own it, then you can get these players help early.

[A]

I've had many good talks with your friend and my friend Peter Landesman, and I know you helped him with a lot of ideas for the movie Concussion, is that correct?

[B]

It is. He came and he wrote me into the movie because what he said is, you're the only one that gives these players hope. And that felt really good to be written in the movie. And then it felt really bad to be written out of the movie because it ended up being a story about David versus Goliath and Bennet Amalu versus the NFL. But still, I don't know if you remember, I guess about two months ago, this kid had a suicide note that he had CTE and he was going to the NFL offices and killed four people in New York. And it turned out, in fact, he did have cte. What he didn't know is that it's treatable if you work on getting better. There's this lie in society that CTE is chronic, progressive and untreatable. And the lie is being perpetuated at Boston University where they do a lot of the autopsies. But those are neuropathologists. All their patients are dead. All of my patients are alive. And I'm trying to stop getting them from dying.

[A]

And I love being at your event. And thank you for letting me work the red carpet with our good friend Jason Waller to see some of the NFL legends that you've helped and so many celebrities like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus and so many others that you continue to help, but again, to challenge the NFL is that side of you that, as you're saying, is innate. That when you feel like you have truth and you've done your research, I love the way you are being so bold about it. I recently saw you being interviewed by Jay Shetty and just talking about health, nutrition, even alcohol. I think it's positive for both of us to note that it seems like alcohol is not as popular on college campuses. Why do you think that that is?

[B]

Well, it's being replaced by marijuana and mushrooms, and it's still just as dangerous. And I think people are beginning to understand that if you want to wake up 100% every day, you need to kill the alcohol because it's damaging your brain. The American Cancer Society came out, I guess four years ago and said you really shouldn't drink at all because any alcohol is associated with seven different cancers.

[A]

Yes. I want to get into a little bit of the book that you talk about having to do with you happier. What was the reason that you wrote that book?

[B]

Well, the idea for the book came during the pandemic when we were the unhappiest we had been in 50 years. And I was thinking, there's a neuroscience to happiness. And whenever people talk about happiness, they miss the number one strategy of happiness, which is having a healthy brain. So we did a study of 500 consecutive patients and showed if the front part of your brain is low in activity, you're way less likely to be happy. And now we've done follow up studies, you're also more likely to be negative. And negativity bias goes up as frontal lobe function goes down and hope goes down as frontal lobe function goes down. So lower happiness, lower hope, more negativity. Don't let your children hit soccer balls with their forehead.

[A]

Exactly. So in the book you talk about this idea of happiness being rooted in brain health, as you just were stating. But you know, I think so many times that we would think that happiness is just in positivity, in affirmations. But how can we learn more about the happiness being rooted in brain health so we can then do the action steps so we could actually live a happier life.

[B]

So brain health is really three things. Brain envy, you have to care about it. Freud was wrong. Penis envy is not the cause of anybody's problem. I've not seen it once in 40 years. I always say the only organ that size really matters is your brain. So you have to care about it, Avoid things that hurt it. You just have to know the list and then do things that help it. And I have an acronym I like a lot called Bright minds. You want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it? You have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that steal your mind. And if you know what they are, then you know what to avoid and what to do.

[A]

So with this idea of the brain health, was there a mentor that you had in the early days that had you thinking a certain way that you maybe learned or were mentored from, or how did this deeper dive start for you?

[B]

Well, it actually started when I looked at my own brain and I'm like, oh, that's not good. The story is actually very funny. The week before I looked at my brain for the first time, I scanned my 60 year old mother and she had a stunningly beautiful brain. She had the best brain I had seen to that point. And it reflected her life. Seven children, 54 grandchildren, great grandchildren. She knows everybody's birthday, everybody's name, what's going on in everybody's. I mean, it's just she's awesome. And she was the 1978 club champion at Newport Beach Country Club. So she's a bit of a stud. And her brain reflected her life. And then I looked at my brain and my brain was not healthy because I played football in high school. I had meningitis twice as a young soldier, and I had bad habits. Like I was only sleeping four hours at night and I saw her brain and then I saw my brain. That's where the term brain envy came. I wanted her brain. And I think everything I have done from that moment on was to have a better brain. Because I knew even then with a better brain comes a better life.

[A]

Can you give us a testimony of somebody you've worked with that, that has been incarcerated? Because I know you've done a lot of work with people that have been incarcerated and then began to work with you and maybe getting on your supplements and how they started to find a better life.

[B]

Well, the story that comes to mind immediately is dale, who was 15 when he first came to see me in an orange jumpsuit and shackles. So he came from prison to come see us and he had frontal lobe damage from a head trauma. Hyperbaric oxygen supplements just transformed his life. And I lost touch with him until about eight years later I got a beautiful note from his mother that he was killed in Iraq as a war hero. And she was so grateful to us because it changed his life so he could Live his mission, his purpose. Even though he ended up dying early, he died as a hero.

[A]

That is a great story of a comeback, especially from where he was. And I like how in different interviews that I've listened to that you've done and even talks that you've given about so many people that are incarcerated, they made bad decisions because of their brain health, and then the next thing you know, we end up putting them in cages. And how you are continually doing something about it. I love that you love the underdog and the struggler. Yeah.

[B]

We are doing such a poor job with our prison population. It's not really about rehabilitation. It's about vengeance. I hate that. For us, I think it's a stain on our soul. We need to do a much better job at understanding why people do what they do and rehabilitating their brains so that they can get out and have jobs and take care of their family. It's really quite a conservative idea. I think that we're investing in people so that they can invest back in us.

[A]

Thank you for watching the Miracle Mentality podcast. So many of my friends are texting me, DMing me, speaking to me, and saying, tim, thank you for these great guests that you're bringing bringing on. So share it with somebody, a friend, a family member, a colleague, and then make sure and reach out to us at Tim Story official and let us know that you love what we're doing. Thank you for being a part of this movement. So I have a question for you where when I'm coaching a lot of people in the life coaching field, I find that a lot of them feel like they do not have peace in their life. They may do well financially, they may have great jobs. People may know who they are, but they lack peace. How can we better our level of peace by having a better and healthier brain?

[B]

So I just did a podcast on our podcast, change your brain every day with Julius Randall, the NBA superstar. And I just actually saw him this morning. We picked a word for the year, which was presence. It's getting out of the past with regret or the future with fear, but just enjoying every moment. And when I met him, he was smoking a lot of pot. And it surprised me. I actually didn't know that you can get high and then go play in an NBA game, which just sounds insane to me. And he was smoking a lot because he didn't know how to manage his mind. And by smoking a lot, he was turning off his emotions, his feelings, the trauma he had experienced, but also turning off his ability to see and, and love his wife and his family. And so as he saw his brain, which was not healthy, he stopped the marijuana. And then I taught him how to not believe every stupid thing he thinks, how to get his brain really healthy. And then he was known unfairly to fall apart in the playoffs and this last playoff season. He was his superstar self and it did really well. And when we scanned him, we did a follow up scan a year later, his brain was remarkably better.

[A]

This says a lot, because I actually know about this story because I'm a follower of sports. And Julius Randle always seemed like he was fading a little bit in the playoffs. And so many of the NBA players, as you are learning, smoke weed on the road. And they tell me, tim, we're under so much pressure, somehow it relaxes us and maybe help us here because we have so many people that are watching that do smoke weed, on how maybe it doesn't relax you. And also the price you pay is probably not worth it.

[B]

That's a short term fix that creates long term problems. I published a study on a thousand marijuana users. Every area of their brain is lower in blood flow, every area. And then a group completely independent of me published a study on another thousand young marijuana users. And the areas of the brain involved in learning and memory were low. And so Julius just signed $100 million contract. So his brain, decision making, coordination, it's worth a lot. And so if he decreases his reaction time even by 116 of a second, that's the difference between winning and losing. And so why would you ever hurt your brain if it's your brain that creates meaning, purpose, relationship and wealth?

[A]

Yes. And I do see that in a lot of your writing, and I have that even written down, that you're really into alignment with your meaning, your purpose, your values. And I love what you're saying because that holds true for a mother who is raising the children or father. And biblically, they're supposed to be guiding, guarding and governing. It's hard to do that at the highest level when you're not taking care of your brain, is what you're saying.

[B]

Glenn One of the first exercises I do with my patients is called the One Page Miracle. And Julia says it was so helpful for him. And it's basically what do you want? Relationships, work, money, physical, emotional, spiritual health. And Julius grew up with really grounded spirituality from his mother. And he realized he was not close to his goal.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because when you tell people what they should want, they don't want that. But when you get it out of them, what do you want? And then the question becomes, does your behavior get you what you want of this? Relationships, work, money, physical, emotional, spiritual health. How's marijuana helping those things? I said, well, I don't feel as stressed now, but you feel way more stress later when your wife wants to divorce you and your mom's chronically mad at you.

[A]

Yes. So let me bring up a person and we won't say whether you've worked with him or not. So I've known Kanye west since 2006 and would consider him someone that I have had many, many great conversations with. There did seem to be a big change in him when his mother passed. I was at the funeral for his mother. I was friends with his mother. Donde. And what people would think from the outside is, he's in a manic place. What does that even mean for someone to be in a manic state of mind?

[B]

Well, there's this illness called bipolar disorder where you go between two poles. You can have periods where you're very depressed, periods where you're normal, and then periods where you're manic, where your thoughts go fast, you don't need to sleep, you become hypersexual, hyper religious, grandiose, and sometimes psychotic, where you lose touch with what's real and not real. Now I think it's over diagnosed. And often people have mood instability, irritability, temper problems because they had a bad head injury and because nobody's looking at the brain, you don't know. Well, is it bipolar where we see too much activity in the brain, or is it the result of a traumatic brain injury? Or is it the result of mushrooms or marijuana or LSD or whatever? Substance use, especially in people who have a history of mental illness in their family, can flip people into these states.

[A]

What you just said is so amazing because when you talk about being bipolar and how people many times will swing from one extreme to the next, and me being in religion most of my life and you being raised in religion and being around a lot of people that we both know. It is interesting that within the religious community you see so many people that go into these extremes, and it's not always for the right reasons.

[B]

Well, if you don't look at their brain, I mean, we just don't know, Right? Kanye, for example, could say, well, I'm the best in the world. Well, he actually has evidence for that. So, yes, you could be grandiose and delusional, or you could be the best in the world. But then when the hate stuff comes out, and that wasn't there before, then you begin to worry about, is it a head injury? Is it drugs? Is it an infection? Is something else assaulting his brain?

[A]

And this is once again, what I love about what you're doing. Because I think it goes from, let's have a healthy brain for the sake of having a better life, but then it's, let's have a healthy brain so we don't hurt ourselves and help hurt a lot of other people. And that's what began to happen in his life by spinning out and saying the things that he did and losing all these contracts and all these other things that happen that we're seeing not just in celebrities, but we're seeing this in CEOs, because I know you're working with a lot of CEOs at very high levels, and I think some have seen it just as stress levels that they're under, but it's probably more than just stress. Would you agree with that?

[B]

Well, again, if you don't look, you don't know. And what I have discovered is if your brain's not right from a head injury, mold, an infection, then you just make decisions where people scratch their heads and go, what is that about? We have a high school course called brain thrive by 25. And I love it so much. There's an exercise we do with the kids called Brain in the News. We have them get newspapers when we started, but now online, go to news sites and go, which of those articles are about the brain? And initially they might see traumatic brain injury in veterans or murder, because people think, oh, maybe their brain's not right. But then what you realize is everything in the news ultimately relates to the brain.

[A]

Yes, I know more than the average person because I've sent so many people to your clinics and work with some of the people that work with you. So once somebody is scanned, give us some of the steps that one can take so they can start to find brain health and then maintain it and even get stronger.

[B]

So when we see someone, we take really detailed histories. We scan them. We do a study called Brain SPECT imaging, test their brain, and then we come up with plan. And I always, like you think of my patients in four big circles. What's the biology? That's why we have to scan their brain. What's the psychology?

[A]

How do they think?

[B]

What's the social circle? What's going on in their life now? And what's this spiritual circle? Why are they on the planet? What is their sense of meaning and purpose, their relationship with God? And so the plan Involves all four, where we get their brains healthy. Brain envy. Is this good for my brain or bad for it? We haven't talked about it yet, but I'm working with the White House on creating a national brain health revolution, and it's all built around this one question. Is what I'm doing now good for my brain or bad for it? And does it honor my creator? I love that so much. And so bright minds is the acronym we use. Keep your brain healthy or rescue it. You have to prevent or treat these 11 risk factors. So, for example, I won't go through all of them, but B is blood flow. Low blood flow is the number one brain imaging predictor of Alzheimer's disease. What does that mean? Oh, I have to get off the couch and go for a walk because I need to take care of the blood flow and blood pressure in my body. And if I have high blood pressure, I have to treat it. And alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, all decrease blood flow. So all of the bright minds risk factors. So if you leave my office, odds are I'm doing a big blood panel on you to make sure your hemoglobin A1C is healthy, blood sugar, that your cholesterol is not too high, but also not too low. Very important that most people don't know your iron level. Low iron, high anxiety, high iron, premature aging. So we're going to do all these things, and then you're going to leave my office with the questions, is this good for my brain or bad for it? Do I love food that loves me back? Because you're in a relationship with food. For the psychological circle, the question is, does it fit? Does my behavior fit the goals I have for my life? And is it true? So many people use drugs because they believe every stupid thing they think. There's nowhere in school, Tim, where the system teaches you to manage your mind. And so we have this society where all these minds are completely out of control. I call them ants. Automatic negative thoughts. And you need an internal anteater to, like, clean up the ants. And then in the social circle, the question, do I notice what I like about others more than what I don't? That every day you are shaping the people in your life by what you notice. And then in the spiritual circle, the question is, why? And am I in the center of what God has for me? Because God only has good things for you.

[A]

So one of the things I want to say, because I get to be around you sometimes, is that you're very in the moment. You could be in A very crowded event. A lot of people will come up to you, whether it's around the Paul Mitchell people or it's some event where you're getting an award or in some other group. And I see you just take your time really talking to people. There's a Bible verse that you're well aware of, and it says, do you see a person skilled at their job? They will be ushered into the presence of the great or presence of kings. And I feel like God gave you an assignment, but you became very skilled at what you're doing and what you say, and you've mastered this. And it's been taken all the way to the White House and now being taken all over the world, and it's changing people's lives. In the midst of this, do you ever get overwhelmed by this big calling that you have that now we're all leaning to you for advice?

[B]

Mostly no. Until I realize that I'm up against a trillion dollar industry. It's like, why on my own Wikipedia page, do they hate me? It's like, what is that about? And then it becomes very clear. 25% of the American population is on a psychiatric drug. That is a huge win for the pharmaceutical industry and it's a huge loss for our society. And I'm not opposed to psychiatric drugs. I'm just opposed to how they're prescribed now with no biological data, and they're handed out like candy. And there's new research that suggests benzos and SSRIs actually increase the risk of dementia. And I'm like, no. At oru, they taught us, first do no harm. Right? All doctors are taught first do no harm. There are 28 randomized controlled trials showing that Saffron, the spice Saffron is equally effective to Prozac, Effexor, Imipramine, Zoloft, Wellbutrin. So why wouldn't we start with Safon? Because you can't have it.

[A]

Well, I will tell you because of so many of the people that I life coach that were trying to work their way through depression or anxiety by taking just Xanax or something else. And then maybe they would try St. John's wartime or valerian root. I would say over 20 of the people I coach, I now have them on your products. Anywhere from I don't know what you call the one that makes you more calm, but I know it works because.

[B]

I even use it calm my brain. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, I'm trying to tell you I'm a pretty calm guy, but it's calm. My brain.

[B]

Well, thank you so much. And you know, I get criticized some because we have a supplement company, but I love it. Brain MD is so much fun. I love creating products and services that help people have a better brain and a better life and happy saffron. Khloe Kardashian held it up on a podcast that she and I did together and it just went nuts. And it's got saffron, zinc and curcumin. And after I developed, there was this study that came out earlier this year on 17,000 patients looking at what supplements actually worked. And it was saffron, zinc and curcumin.

[A]

Dr. Ben, in respect to your time, how can someone onboard into your world? Should we send them to the website if they want to have a scan done so they can step into this world of really thinking better, doing better, living better? What would be the name of the website that we could send them to?

[B]

Amenclinics.com so amen. Like the last word in a prayer. Clinics.com they can follow me on TikTok or Instagram. And of all the books I've written, people don't know where to start. And I'm like, start with Change youe Brain. Every day. It's 366 short essays on the most important things I ever said. I also have a new book coming out in about six weeks, Change youe Brain, Change youe Pain, about the intersection between physical and emotional pain. Most people don't know that pain. Yes, you may feel it in your back, but it's actually in your brain. And when you get your brain healthy, your back pain's better.

[A]

Dr. Amen, thank you for your time. I want you guys to definitely go to his website. He is changing people's lives. He's not looking for these clients. He did not look for the Kardashians. He did not look for anyone else. Everyone's looking for him. And I think that it's exciting that he's also bold and courageous, has an amazing wife who I think is just a wonderful lady in her own right. And do watch his TikToks because he's very funny and creative too. Your TikToks are good.

[B]

Thank you, Tim. So great to see you.

[A]

I appreciate you and I look forward to seeing you, whether it be in Newport beach or some event that we both seem to constantly attend. But once again, continue to follow Dr. Amen. Let him help your life, guys. He's helping so many of my friends. I want to thank you for watching the Miracle Mentality podcast and making it so highly watched and visible and rated. And as we say in this world, we make sure and like subscribe and tell a friend. And once again, like I always say, you may not be what you want to be, but thank God you're not what you used to be. Life is still good. Thank you for sharing space with me on this episode of Miracle Mentality with Tim Story. If today sparked your courage or helped you understand what why you're created for success, I invite you to carry that miracle mentality forward. Visit [e-mail] that story with an EY on the end. Until next time, walk by faith, embrace possibility and create your own comeback. Story.