How to Protect Your Brain Before It's Too Late | Dr. Daniel Amen – EP 802

Summary

Passion Struck with John R. Miles

Episode 802: "How to Protect Your Brain Before It's Too Late" with Dr. Daniel Amen

Release Date: August 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

Host John R. Miles kicks off a new series, “The Adaptive: How Your Mind Learns, Changes, and Heals,” with renowned psychiatrist and brain health expert Dr. Daniel Amen. Their rich, candid conversation explores how modern society is affecting our brains, why neuroplasticity gives everyone hope for change, and practical steps anyone can take for better brain health. They dive into the dangers of today’s tech and lifestyle habits, the crisis of meaning, and why no one is ever “too damaged” for improvement. The tone is warm, engaging, and deeply hopeful.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Modern Assault on Brain Health

[02:40] Dr. Daniel Amen’s Warning:

• Society is structured in ways that actively damage our brains.
• “If I was an evil ruler and I wanted to create mental illness...I create American society. Every commercial is Online gambling, alcohol, fast food, pharmaceuticals. We are being brainwashed in such a bad way and it is stealing the brain health of America.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 02:40–03:19)
• The pervasiveness of negative stimuli, addictive substances, and technology is especially damaging to young people.

2. Generational Shifts and Accelerating Risks

[08:07] The Last 30 Years:

• Rise of video games, then cell phones, then social media—destroying dopamine, increasing stress and suicide rates.
• Shocking stat: “Suicide from 2000 to now has gone up over 60%. And young people are in serious trouble. 57% of teenage girls report being persistently sad.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 08:07–08:38)
• Tech platforms intentionally manipulate attention through negativity, deepening political divides and isolation.
• “We are being manipulated for profit...And I'm just not okay with it.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 10:05–10:33)

3. Technology, Parenting, and the Disconnection Crisis

[14:01] Who’s Responsible?

• Tech, parents, and marketers all play a role.
• Early device use is linked to higher risks: “If you give your child a cell phone before the age of 13, you've just significantly increased their risk of having a mental illness.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 14:01–14:15)
• Social comparison is relentless and chemically driven: Dopamine “squirts” keep us hooked.

[17:20] The Erosion of Mattering:

• Not only digital disconnection, but also exhausted, stretched caregivers cause children to feel unseen.
• “With the distractions, the bond is loosening between parents and children and nobody talks about it...It’s our third or fourth generation of tired women because they're primary caretakers...now they're working outside the house.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 17:20–18:28)
• Bonding requires time and listening, both disappearing in modern family life.

4. The “Great Erasure” of Worth and Systemic Unmattering

[22:33] John’s Reflection:

• Society ties our worth to output, productivity, and external achievement: “That’s the heart of my new book, the Mattering Effect...the slow, often invisible process of disappearing in plain sight as systems reward our utility while overlooking our humanity.”

[36:51] Systemic Unmattering as Root Cause:

• Multiple “epidemics” (loneliness, burnout, perfectionism) all trace back to loss of mattering and connection.
• Dr. Amen’s “Whole Four” model: Physical, psychological, social, and spiritual crises are not separate problems but symptoms of toxic lifestyle and exposures.

5. The Hope of Neuroplasticity

[24:46] Why Protecting Young Brains Matters:

• Brain develops well into our late 20s, making early protection critical.
• “Myelination” of the prefrontal cortex underpins self-control, planning, and resilience.
• Explains why early substance misuse or trauma can have lifelong consequences—but this can be improved.

[27:54] Is Recovery Still Possible?

• Absolutely. Dr. Amen emphasizes that even damaged brains can heal.
• “If you put the brain in a healing environment, it can be better even if you've been bad to your brain.” (27:54)
• He shares his “BRIGHT MINDS” acronym:
  • Blood flow
  • Retirement/Aging
  • Inflammation, etc.—each letter a modifiable risk factor.

6. Lifestyle, Habits, and the Power of Intention

[30:30] What’s Still Missing?

• Despite growing awareness, most people don’t prioritize brain care.
• Anecdote: “If you had a million-dollar racehorse, would you give it junk food?” (Kids say no—but do exactly that to their own brains.)

[40:56] Automatic Negative Thoughts (“ANTs”) and Mind Management:

• Negative self-talk, exacerbated by social media and comparison, drives anxiety and depression—even for celebrities.
• “Depression, anxiety disorders are often created by an invasion of these ants. Which is why sitting on my desk, I have an ant here because I share it with all of my patients.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 40:56)
• Dr. Amen advocates for cognitive exercises: Write down negative thoughts, challenge their truth, and intentionally focus on positives (“positivity bias training”).

7. Faith, Meaning, and the Neuroscience of Change

[46:30] Faith as a Cognitive Tool:

• Scriptures like “Take every thought captive” offer a playbook for managing the mind.
• “The New Testament really teaches us how to think. Take each thought captive. Romans 12:2. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

[47:21] Habits & Intention:

• Basal ganglia “run” habitual behavior; changing our habits isn’t about willpower alone, but about building new grooves—repetition, awareness, and intention.
• “If your habit is to have ice cream after dinner, it’s going to be hard to break because you're not run with intention, you're running with habit.” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 47:21)

8. Alcohol, Social Pressure, and Brain Preservation

[48:44] The Case for Abstinence:

• Host John shares his own choice to stop drinking, often facing confusion and peer pressure.
• Dr. Amen: “Isn't it interesting that alcohol is the only drug you have to justify not using?” (49:42)
• Dr. Amen slams the alcohol and junk food industries’ manipulation of perception.

9. Radical Hope: You’re Not Stuck with the Brain You Have

[51:53] Neuroplasticity in Action:

• No matter your brain’s past, change is always possible.
• “Even if you've been bad to your brain, you're not stuck with it. You can make it better. I can prove it. And every day you're either making your brain worse or you're making it better. Which brain do you want?” (Dr. Daniel Amen, 51:53)
• Illustrative example: Tarek El Moussa (HGTV) improved his brain drastically through targeted treatments.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “If I was an evil ruler and I wanted to create mental illness...I create American society.”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 02:40–03:19 & 09:19)
• “If you give your child a cell phone before the age of 13, you've just significantly increased their risk of having a mental illness.”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 14:01)
• “When you do too much for your children, you are building your self-esteem by stealing theirs.”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 21:33)
• “No one is ever too damaged or too late to build a healthier brain.”
  (Summarized: 24:46, 27:54, 51:53)
• “If you had a million-dollar racehorse, would you ever feed it junk food?...Why do you do that to yourself?”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 30:30)
• “Depression, anxiety disorders are often created by an invasion of these ANTs—automatic negative thoughts.”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 40:56)
• “The New Testament really teaches us how to think: Take each thought captive. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 46:30)
• “Isn't it interesting that alcohol is the only drug you have to justify not using?”
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 49:42)
• "Even if you've been bad to your brain, you're not stuck with it. You can make it better. I can prove it."
  (Dr. Daniel Amen, 51:53)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:40 – Dr. Amen’s “evil ruler” thought experiment and critique of American culture
• 08:07 – 30-year acceleration in brain-damaging lifestyle trends
• 14:01 – The dangers of early tech exposure for kids
• 17:20 – The parental disconnect and the crisis of mattering
• 21:33 – Overparenting and the theft of child self-esteem
• 24:46 – Importance of brain protection before age 25
• 27:54 – Hope of brain repair and the role of neuroplasticity
• 30:30 – Why most people still harm their brains despite growing awareness
• 36:51 – Systemic unmattering and intertwined cultural epidemics
• 40:56 – The power of managing “automatic negative thoughts” (ANTs)
• 46:30 – Faith, cognitive rewiring, and practical theology for brain health
• 48:44 – Social pressure around alcohol and the case for abstinence
• 51:53 – Radical neuroplasticity: “You’re not stuck with the brain you have.”

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Suggested Actions & Resources

• Start with Dr. Amen’s book: Change Your Brain Every Day
• Practical tools:
  • Practice cognitive reframing: Write down and challenge your negative thoughts.
  • Cultivate positivity bias: Before bed, recall “what went well” in your day.
  • Protect young brains—limit early exposure to substances, tech, and chronic stress.
• Connect for more:
  • Instagram/TikTok: @docamen
  • Change Your Brain Every Day podcast with Dr. Amen and wife, Tana
  • Passion Struck’s companion workbook “Inside the Ignited Life” on Substack

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Final Message

As John R. Miles sums up:
“You are not stuck with the brain you have. Every thought you challenge, every habit you build, every meaningful relationship you nurture is shaping the brain that's shaping your life. That's an incredibly hopeful message because it means that change isn't reserved for a lucky few. It's something we can all participate in—one choice at a time.” (54:08)

This episode is a beacon for anyone struggling with persistent mental patterns or confronting feelings of being “broken." Dr. Amen’s science-rooted hope and practical wisdom make it clear: it’s never too late to change your brain—and your life.

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Transcript

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[John Miles]

Today on passion struck, Dr. Daniel Amen issued a warning about modern culture that stopped me in my tracks. Take a listen to this if I

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

was an evil ruler and I wanted to create mental illness, I have this thought experiment in my book the End of Mental Illness. I create American society. Every commercial is Online gambling, alcohol, fast food, pharmaceuticals. We are being brainwashed in such a bad way and is stealing the brain health of America.

[John Miles]

Hey, it's your friend John.

And welcome to Passion Struck. I'm so glad you're here. Whether you're a longtime listener or someone

who just discovered the show, thank you for pressing play today. Maybe you've built the life you were

supposed to want, but you've quietly wondered why.

Why it still doesn't feel like enough.

If that's you, you're in the right place. Every week I sit down with the

world's top scientists, researchers and thinkers to

uncover what it actually takes to build an intentional life that matters.

Thanks for joining me. Let's get into it.

Hey, it's your friend John. And welcome back to Passion Struck. I am so glad you're here. Today is episode 802 and the beginning of a brand new series we're calling the adaptive how your mind learns, changes and heals.

Over the next month, we're going to

explore one of the most remarkable discoveries in modern neuroscience. That your brain is not fixed. It's constantly adapting, learning and changing. And understanding how it works may be one of the most important and investments you ever make in yourself. Let me ask you something. Have you ever wondered why change can feel so hard even when you know exactly what needs to change? Maybe you tried to break the same habit over and over again. Maybe you promised yourself this time will be different. Or maybe you've done the work, you've read the books, listened to the podcast, gained incredible insight into why you think and behave the way you do, and yet you still find yourself slipping back into the same patterns. What if that problem isn't a lack of motivation? What if it isn't a lack of discipline? What if we've been asking the wrong question all along because understanding yourself isn't the same as changing yourself. And that's exactly where today's conversation begins. By the end of today's episode, you'll understand why lasting transformation requires more than willpower. How chronic stress, loneliness, trauma, and even our daily habits reshape the brain. Why our automatic thoughts become powerful architects of our future, and most importantly, why Daniel Amen believes no one is ever too damaged or too late to build a healthier brain. Our guide for this conversation is Dr. Daniel Amen, someone who I've always wanted to have on this podcast and someone you have requested time and time again. Dr. Amen is a physician, psychiatrist, founder of Amen Clinics, best selling author, and one of the world's leading Authorities on brain health. After studying hundreds of thousands of brain scans over more than three decades, he's challenged the way we think about mental health, arguing that before we can change our lives, we need to understand and care for the brain that creates every thought, emotion, decision, and relationship we experience. But here's what stayed with me long after we stopped recording. This wasn't really a conversation about brain scans or even neuroscience. It was a conversation about hope. Because so many people walk through life believing they're broken, that they're simply wired this way, that this is just who they are. Daniel challenged that belief. He reminded me that if the brain can adapt, then our future doesn't have to look like our past. And I can't think of a better place to begin this new series. So let's dive in. Here's my conversation. The one and only Dr. Daniel Amen. Thank you for choosing Passion Struck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life that matters. Now let that journey begin.

I am absolutely honored today to have Dr. Daniel Amen on Passion Struck. Daniel, it is so great to finally get to meet you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Thank you, John. Thank you for helping me spread the message of brain health.

[John Miles]

It's an important message, and for me personally, and it's an extremely important message because for most of my life, I have been trying to figure out, how do I preserve my brain? How do I. I had my first traumatic brain injury when I was five years old, and it completely changed much of my personality over the past four or five decades. It has been a learning experience for me and something that I've probed deeply. You are someone I've always wanted to talk to about this. I wanted to start out, Daniel. If someone from 1995 walked into the world we live in today and looked only at our brains, what would surprise them the most? What's happened in the past 30 years?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

We've been destroying dopamine in the brain. It started a little bit before then with video games, but then cell phones, social media, constant negative news. The political divide. It has just caused great stress. Suicide from 2000 to now has gone up over 60%. And young people are in serious trouble. 57% of teenage girls report being persistently sad. People think of alcohol as a health food. Marijuana is innocuous. Psilocybin is the next savior. We're really in a dangerous, very stressful time, especially for young people.

[John Miles]

That begs an interesting question. What concerns you more right now? What substances like those that you just mentioned are doing to our brain? Or what chronic stress, loneliness, and disconnection are doing to them.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think it's all of it. If I was an evil ruler and I wanted to create mental illness, I have this thought experiment in my book, the End of Mental Illness. I'd create American society. I love basketball. It's public knowledge. A couple of my patients are NBA players. And so I love watching the playoffs and the finals. But it's. Every commercial is online. Gambling, alcohol, fast food, pharmaceuticals. And I'm like, no, we are being brainwashed in such a bad way. And I, on the Lord's Prayer, it ends with deliver us from evil. And I'm right there with Jesus in this. It's like, we have to do something about the evil in our society that is stealing the brain health of America. But as a grandfather and a father, it's stealing our. Our young people's future.

[John Miles]

Yeah. Out of those evils that you mentioned, which of the modern habits that we have worries you the most? Yet society is still treating as completely normal?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

If we just took the political divide. And I hate it that if you scroll on TikTok or Instagram and you click on something that's center, left or center right, now all of a sudden they're going to feed you content that makes you more left or more right. And pretty soon you begin to hate people that think. Thirty years ago, you loved that. Yes, you could have a disagreement, but you'd still go to Thanksgiving dinner. And it's so bad now that friends of mine, they're like, oh, my goodness, that's such a different perspective. I never hear that. And we are being manipulated for profit. And that's what I want people to really see. There's a reason that the court in New Mexico awarded a verdict against Meta for $345 million. There's a reason that a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and YouTube guilty of manipulating young people's minds. And I'm just not okay with it. And I think it's important for those of us who see the evil to speak out. And now Australia, last week, Britain, there's legislation in Canada to ban social media for children under 16, which is just rational.

[John Miles]

Let's take a step back here for a second. One of my favorite interviews I've done on this show was with Dr. Anna Lemke, who I'm sure you're familiar with, who wrote Dopamine Nation. And she and I explored what you're talking about in depth. She was actually one of the people who testified in those trials you just mentioned. And I Think we're talking about two different things. In the New Mexico trial, they were focused on how their using the technology to allow predators access to kids. And then the case in Los Angeles was about a specific female who they created thousands of images of how she was distorting her own self perception because of the filters that as I understand it, Instagram was giving them. But in both cases, I think what's happening is we're fundamentally giving a technology to users who should not be exposed to this technology. Where do you think the issue is? Is it with the technology? Is it with the parents? That's what a lot of the listeners who ask me about this, those are the questions they're asking.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think it's everybody that if you give your child a cell phone before the age of 13, you've just significantly increased their risk of having a mental illness. And children who get them at five or six, this brand new study have a dramatically increased risk of suicidal thoughts when they're 20. The constant comparison against other people's lives. When you and I were children, we did that, but we didn't do it at the speed or the scale that is happening now. And then it's how long can I keep your attention? And food companies know this, right? The sugar cereals are on the bottom two shelves because they want stomach share and they know the children will see them and they'll harass their parents to get them. So it's part of marketing forever. They're just masterful at getting you to stay on longer. But how do they get you to stay on longer? These little dopamine squirts, it's like, whoa. And if they can make you angry, sad, anxious, you're going to stay longer. Now I don't know that they purposefully thought that, but that's what they discovered. The brain pays attention to what makes it afraid or what makes it mad way before what makes it happy, what makes it joyful, what makes it have a positive thought. And so we're driving attention with fear and negativity and yeah, I just think it's damaging. Not a generation, but generations of people.

[John Miles]

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the psychologist Gordon Flett, who just retired from York University up in Toronto. Gordon is one of the foremost experts in the world on the science of mattering. And his research found something pretty remarkable in his studies. He found that only 8% of parents believed that their children sometimes felt like they didn't matter. Yet when they interviewed the children, over 35% of them reported that they either didn't matter or weren't sure they mattered. And what I found so interesting about this is that most of those parents love their children deeply. They simply weren't communicating the signals that they thought they were. I wanted to ask you, do you think this is part of what's going into. When you talked about the teenage girls having this higher sense of sadness and despair that the developing brain is changing with a child who's consistently questioning whether they're seen by the world around them.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I love that research. With the distractions, the bond is loosening between parents and children and nobody talks about it. And I'll probably get harassed for talking about it. But we're now in our third or fourth generation of working mothers. So when I was growing up, my mom volunteered, my mom played golf, but my mom was mostly there. I had an anchor. Even though I'm one of seven children, I had an anchor. Now in California, probably the same in Florida. 80 to 90% of moms work outside the house. I published a big study on the differences between male and female broken brains. And this means it's our third or fourth generation of tired women because they're primary caretakers for the home, they're primary caretakers for the kids. There's not one society on the face of the earth where males are the primary caretakers. And now they're working outside the house. And so they're chronically stressed, chronically overwhelmed. And it's really. What does bonding require? So bonding requires two things. Time, actual physical time, and listening. But now the modern family, when you go to a restaurant, it's all five of the people are on their phones and they're not paying attention to each other. Yes, the digital devices are clearly problematic. But also having tired parents who struggle to afford their mortgage, especially here in a place like California, is part of this sort of trouble with the family, along with a decrease in church attendance and belief in God. Because when you think it's about you, you're much more likely to get depressed than if you think you're here for a purpose.

[John Miles]

Yeah, I think you're right about parents. When I think about mattering, I almost think of mattering is like our social immune system. And if you've got parents who themselves feel like they're disappearing into their own life, who aren't showing up and feeling that they themselves matter, then how are they going to show up for their kids, as you were just explaining? And I was lucky. My mom was a stay at home mom. And then we were fortunate enough that when I was raising my two kids. My wife was able to stay at home. And I can definitely see the difference in my kids. When people meet them and they talk about their behavior, their instincts, the nurturing that they have that's inside them, I think it makes a huge difference. So I think you're onto something there. Regardless of what parent is the one who's spending most time at home?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Well, because of their guilt, because they want to be with them and they want to nurture them. But there's this gnawing sense that I'm not enough, I'm not doing enough that parents today tend to overdo. And I did a post, I was on a podcast and I said this one thing and it ended up getting 50 million views. It still blows me away. I think it's the most popular thing I've ever said. When you do too much for your children, you are building your self esteem by stealing theirs. That self esteem comes from feeling competent. Oh, I can solve this problem. But when you say I'm bored and your parents scrambles to help you not be bored, they've just robbed you from the opportunity to figure out, well, what can I do? So I don't feel bored. So it's very important. Yes, of course we have to protect our children, but we also want them to pay the consequences for bad decisions when the price is inexpensive. So when they're 7 or when they're 10, or when they're 12 rather than when they're 17.

[John Miles]

We'll be right back with more of my conversation with Dr. Daniel. Amen. As you're listening today, I want you to consider 1 what is your environment teaching your brain about worth? Throughout this conversation, Daniel explains that our brains are constantly adapting to our stress, our relationships, our habits, and the messages we hear every day. One of the ideas I've spent the last several years researching is, is what happens when those messages quietly tell us something else. That we're valuable only for what we produce. That we're invisible unless we perform, and that our significance depends on our success. I call this the Great Erasure, the slow, often invisible process of disappearing in plain sight as systems reward our utility while overlooking our humanity. That's the heart of my new book, the Mattering Effect, coming this October. It's about understanding the hidden forces of systemic, unmattering, and more importantly, how we reclaim our sense of worth, connection and significance in a world too often teaches us the opposite. You can Pre [e-mail] if you'd like to explore these ideas, even Further, every episode in our new Adaptive Brain series includes a companion workbook, Inside the Ignited Life on Substack, where you'll find practical exercises to help you apply what you're learning to your own life. You can find links to both in today's show. Notes. Now a quick break for today's sponsors. Thank you for supporting those who support the show. You're listening to Passion Struck right here

on the Passion Struck Network.

Now let's get back to the conversation

with Dr. Daniel Amen. I know we're talking about kids and their development, but I understand when it comes to the brain that it's very important to protect the brain, especially before we reach about 25. Why is that protective nature so important? And what happens to our brains if they're exposed to the wrong things before that age?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

See, your brain continues to develop throughout life, but it really is undergoing wild development until you're about 25 in girls and maybe 28 in males. There's a process called myelination where all of your nerve cells get wrapped with a white fatty substance called myelin. And when we're born, we don't have much. About two months old, our occipital lobes in the back become myelinated. That's why when you smile at a baby when they're born, they don't smile back. But when you smile at them at two months, they notice it, they process it and they respond well. That slowly goes forward. And when you're about 25, it myelinates your prefrontal cortex, that most human, thoughtful part of us. And this is why it's so important to educate kids about brain health. So they don't drink early, they don't smoke pot early. They don't do drugs early. They don't hit soccer balls. I know we have the World cup going on, but protecting the developing brain is critical because that's what's going to take them through the rest of their lives. And it's so basic, but most people don't really think about. Your brain is involved in everything you do, how you think, how you feel, how you act, how you get along with other people. It's the organ of intelligence, Intelligence, character and every decision you make. And when it works right, you work right. And when it doesn't, you don't. And every day you are building brain reserve. The extra tissue you have to deal with whatever stress comes your way or you're damaging or stealing your reserve. So your first head injury at 5, that took some of your reserve, and then the subsequent ones you've had it took. But if you're raised in a consistently loving home with decent nutrition and good opportunities and not a ton of stress because your mom or dad are not addicts, then it can help reverse the trouble.

[John Miles]

So if you are a person who, during those developmental years before you were 25, experienced different elements that would affect your brain health, what options are there for you to try to treat it and and turn around some of the damage that might have been done?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

My big book, Change youe Brain, Change youe Life. It's all about neuroplasticity and how if you put the brain in a healing environment, it can be better even if you've been bad to your brain. And from my perspective, I think you have to look right. If you don't look at your brain, how do you actually know what's going on? It's psychiatrists are the only medical doctors who virtually never look at the organ they treat. Think about that. Why would you ever fly blind if you didn't have to? And then brain health is three things. It's brain envy, gotta care about it, avoid things that hurt it. Know the less we've talked about some head trauma, chronic stress, not exercising, bad food, gum disease, low hormones, poor sleep, being overweight, and then do things that help it. And so if we just take video games, for example, all of a sudden, all these children that are spending hours playing video games, their vitamin D level is plummeting because they're not outside. They're level of exercise is plummeting. So their weight goes up, their blood sugar goes up because they're not moving their bodies. I have a mnemonic you might like or an acronym you might call Bright Minds. You want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it, you have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors. Bright Minds, like B is for blood flow, R is retirement and aging, I is inflammation and and so on. And I love it so much because it really tells us what not to do. So for blood flow, smoking, don't do that because it constricts blood flow. And then what to do? Exercise, eat colorful fruits and vegetables and dark grains because they increase blood flow.

[John Miles]

Daniel One thing that strikes me is we're talking about brain health far more than we did decades ago, which is why I opened up with the question from 1995. Yet anxiety, depression, ADHD and burnout, and as you said, suicide rates all continue to rise. What do you think we're still getting wrong?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Very few people love and care for their brain. I had this great lunch recently with Lisa Trout. And Lisa and her husband Kenny own Justify. So Justify is the last Triple Crown winning racehorse. And we have a high school course called brain thrive. By 25, we teach kids to love and care for their brain. And often in the class I'll go, if you had a million dollar racehorse, would you ever feed it junk food? And all the kids go, no. And I go, well, why? And it's like, well, he wouldn't win. And so now I'm sitting next to the woman who owns the last Triple Crown winner. And I'm like, lisa, would you ever feed Justified junk food? And she laughed. She goes, no. I said, would you ever get him drunk? And she laughed. And she goes, no. I said, well, would you ever get him stoned? And she rolled her eyes at me. And I'm like, why? He would never live up to his potential. I love that answer so much. But Clearwater, Florida, or Newport beach, where I live, drive down the street, fast food restaurants everywhere. There's this crazy study that was done on aspartame. So aspartame came out about 1980. It's now in 5,000 products. Like, you can't really buy gum without aspartame or sugar free gum. And so they did a study, they gave mice aspartame in a normal dose. And it made them really anxious. But the thing about this study that just was so surprising, their babies were anxious who never had aspartame. It created epigenetic changes. Their grandbabies were anxious. So I think there's probably dozens of these sleeper exposures that are going on in our society that help explain the skyrocketing autism rates, the increase in ADHD beyond the dopamine destroyers. We talked about about early, that there's environmental gene interactions that are going on and we don't understand. Plus, there's nowhere in school where we teach kids to manage their minds. I was 28 years old, in my psychiatric residency. One of our professors said, you have to teach your patients not to believe every stupid thing they think. And I'm like, but I believe every stupid thing I thought. I have 25 years of education, and no one had ever taught me to manage my mind. We need to make that part of school.

[John Miles]

I want to extend this question to the topic of flourishing. I was interviewing Richie Davidson, and Richie was talking to me about his new book, Born to Flourish. And he was saying that he thinks that a big reason people aren't flourishing like we used to isn't the absence of illness. But he was alluding to the same thing you are. It's the active cultivation of us not focusing on our well being over time. Do you think that because of the way we're living it is leading to why so many people today are, are feeling like they're not flourishing, like they're not living the life that they feel they could be because their brain just doesn't feel like as healthy as it should be because of the way we're treating it over a period of time.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It's public knowledge that I was Justin Bieber's doctor and I AM Miley Cyrus Dr. And I've treated lots of wonderful high profile people. They'll have the same thought, I'm not enough. And I looked at Justin and I'm like, so where did you get that thought? Or Miley, it's like, where did you get that thought? If you're not enough, who would be? But that's what social media does to you. It's the constant comparison of numbers of followers, of likes, of comments. And then if you add the bots that I would do an Instagram live and within 15 seconds of me being on Dr. Amen's a fraud. Dr. Amen's a charlatan. Amen clinic sucks. And it was so hurtful. And then I would go, is that a real person? And I would write down their name and they'd have no followers. And I realized, and I think the social media companies do it on purpose to stir people up. It's like, well, who would say that about me? But imagine someone who doesn't know how to manage their mind and all of a sudden they're getting hate. And when we were growing up, I don't ever remember naked pictures of a young girl being passed around. But as a child psychiatrist, I'm dealing with one of those crises with my patients on a regular basis. So it's the fear, it's the shame, it's the exposure, it's the criticism. It's so troubling.

[John Miles]

So Daniel, I got a follow up question, then I have a book coming out in October that I've been spending about seven years at this point researching. And one hypothesis that I've been exploring is that these epidemics that we keep hearing about, loneliness, burnout, disengagement, perfectionism, aren't separate, epidemic, epidemic. They're symptoms of something deeper. I call it systemic unmattering, but it's the erosion of people's sense that they're seen, valued and significant within the groups that organize their lives. And as I think about the people you just Brought up when people stop believing that who they are and what they do generally matters. What's happening in the brain? And do you think this hypothesis could possibly have merit?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It reminds me, I'm working on a new program called the Amen Whole Four that is now in seven countries. We just launched it in faith based organizations and the Whole four is based on the idea we're in a whole four crisis. We're physically sicker than we've ever been. Half the population is diabetic or pre diabetic. 75% of us are overweight or obese. I published three studies on 33,000 people showing as your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain goes down. We're also like we've been talking about in a mental health crisis. Anxiety, depression, adhd, autism, addictions at epidemic levels before the pandemic. And then everything got worse. And very few people are talking about if you get Covid, the virus causes inflammation in your brain, making you more likely to be anxious or depressed. And then the social epidemic where we're more connected than ever. But lonely. 58% of young people report being persistently lonely. And 58% of young people report a lack or a sense of meaning or purpose. And so that's the Whole four crisis. Biological, psychological, social, spiritual. But I believe the answer to these epidemics is not to see them as separate disorders, but as different expressions, expressions of the same unhealthy lifestyle and toxic exposures that have the same cure, getting people well physically, psychologically, relationally, spiritually. Which sounds very similar to what you just said.

[John Miles]

Both sides of that are exactly what I've been focused on. So what is causing it? And then at least on this podcast, I'm trying to explore every single angle that you just talked about to figure out how do you reverse it. Which I think what's happening is something I refer to as the slow fade. And when you look at Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus, I think those are two great examples. It's the gradual erosion of identity that happens when people become primarily valued or think they're valued for what they produce rather than who they are. And this is something I recently explored. I was interviewing Blake Mycosky, who founded toms, and he went through the same exact thing. And you think, how does a person who builds this incredible company, gives out all these millions of shoes to impoverished people throughout the world, feel like they're not enough? At the end of the day, it's because the value system that they're valuing themselves with is not who they feel inside because they've been wearing a mask for so long is one of the things that I think is happening well.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And they also don't know how to manage their mind. And it's again something we should teach children. I call the mans automatic negative thoughts, the thoughts that come into your mind automatically and ruin your day. And so I teach all of my patients, whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous or out of control, write down what you're thinking and then just ask yourself whether or not it's true. My friend Byron, Katie, she has this wonderful series of questions, I'm not enough. And so I've done it with those two and many more people. So I'm not enough. Is that true? And they go, yes. Was it absolutely true? No. How does that make me feel? Inferior, Anxious? I have to do more. Well, how would you feel if you didn't have the thought I'm not enough? Free. Fine. And then what we do, and I love this part, we take the thought, turn it to the opposite. Not the narcissistic opposite, like I'm amazing, just the opposite. I am enough. And that's what you meditate on. Depression, anxiety disorders are often created by an invasion of these ants. Which is why sitting on my desk, I have an ant here because I share it with all of my patients. I just saw a 10 year old last week and I mailed her one. It's what the New Testament talks about. 2nd Corinthians 10:5. Take each thought captive. And I'm a huge fan of positivity bias training. I published a study last year on 2,000 people who were negative. So 2,000 anxious people, one group high negativity, the other low negativity. What's the difference? Their frontal lobes dramatically less active in the negative group. So if you've had a frontal lobe injury, frontal lobe head injury, you are going to struggle more with negativity. Yet it's something that can be trained. And so I teach all my patients, kill the ants. The automatic negative thoughts and positivity bias exercises, which I think fits perfectly with human flourishing, which I think comes out of the positive psychology work of Marty Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania. And my favorite exercise is when you go to bed at night, go. What went well, that you actually review your day not with gratitude, but with what you loved about the day. And I'm enjoying this conversation and it's going to show up tonight. I have a new friend and we're aligned in many ways. But it's a practice that you have to do over and over again. Like a professional athlete shoots free throws, right? He doesn't learn how to shoot free throws and never shoots them again because when it's crunch time, he won't be able to make them, right? With stress and the night my dad died, which was a little over six years ago, I went to bed that night. It's the worst day of my adult life. I went, well today, and immediately I thought of three things and then I went to sleep. And it doesn't mean I didn't grieve. I still grieve. It just meant I know how to manage my mind and most people don't. I'm friends with Paul Simon, who wrote the song Kodachrome, which starts off with, When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all. It's like, no, we have to do better. Especially AI is going to do calculus for us. But AI is not going to manage your mind,

[John Miles]

I think. So many of us wear an invisible backpack that we've had since childhood, and over time it just gets heavier and heavier with all the things that we tell ourselves. And as I mentioned early on, especially since I have had brain injuries myself to both the front and back of my head, one of the central mechanisms of healing that I've practiced now for years is de centering, which is really what you were just talking about. And it's taken me a lot of work to focus and recognize that I am not my thoughts. And for me, faith is a huge element of that because I think I reach that decentering most through meditation. And for me, a form of meditation is prayer. That is a constant conversation that I am trying to have with that identity that I'm not allowing myself to be weighed down by those things in the invisible backpack. I'm trying to empty the backpack, so to speak.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I'm working on a new book that I love called the Neuroscience of the Lord's Prayer, and it's just so powerful. But the New Testament really teaches us how to think. Take each thought captive. Romans 12:2. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Everybody knows that part, but they don't know the second part of that verse. Then you can test to see if it fits God's good, pleasing and perfect will. So I have my patient write down their thoughts. Is it true, and does it fit God's good, perfect, pleasing well? And then flip over to Philippians 4.

[MIDI Advertisement Voice]

8.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Think on whatever is true, good, lovely, worthy of praise, noble. Let your mind dwell on These things, it's very clear, and they go, well, how do I know what's God's will? John 10:10. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I have come that you might have life abundantly. Is that thought, stealing, killing, destroying your happiness, or is it giving you abundant life? And so those are the verses that just help you catch and reframe. But it's work, just like anything great. And ultimately, it's habitual. And that's what I'm so interested in. There's a part of the brain called the basal ganglia. And when they're really busy, people are not run by their intentions, they're run by their habits. And so if your habit is to have ice cream after dinner, it's going to be hard to break because you're not run with intention, you're running with habit.

[John Miles]

Speaking of habits, I understand we have a friend in common, BJ Fogg. And one of the things I've heard you say about him is that he came to you after you had worked together sometime later and said, I owe you a huge thank you. I am now operating at 100%, and I love this story because I myself abstain from alcohol. And when people ask me all the time and challenge me, why do you not drink? I'm like, I wake up every single morning alive, ready to go, fully functioning. Why would I not want to feel that way? And I'm not sure if it's because they've forgotten how good it feels to be that alert with themselves or not, but that story with BJ felt home to me because that's exactly how I felt when I started to abstain from it, especially over long periods of time.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Isn't it interesting that alcohol's the only drug you have to justify not using?

[John Miles]

You would not believe how many times I am asked, when are you going to start again? Why you keep doing it? Do you have a problem? And I just choose not to even answer them because it's really none of their business. But to me, I've been trying to. To find ways that I can preserve my brain health for as long as I possibly can so I don't develop dementia someday. And I learned that alcohol plays a huge potential role in that and also developing different forms of cancer. So for me, for health benefits, I stopped drinking. And I don't know why you need to even defend it more than just that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That's craziness, but it's part of the brainwashing in our society. If you watch virtually any television show on Netflix or Prime, they're drinking. And a lot of the trouble, the drama they create, it's because of the alcohol. We are being brainwashed as a society. The alcohol industry spends billions of dollars trying to get you to believe alcohol is fun. Just like the fast food industry spends billions of dollars with half naked women eating cheeseburgers that you know they actually never eat, going, oh, if you eat this cheeseburger, she will want you. She is not going to want you, Daniel.

[John Miles]

I wanted you to imagine that you're sitting across from someone who's convinced themselves that they're broken. And after everything you've learned from hundreds of thousands of brain scans, what's something that you would want them to know about how they feel and how they could change through neuroplasticity?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Even if you've been bad to your brain, you're not stuck with it. You can make it better. I can prove it. And every day you're either making your brain worse or you're making it better. Which brain do you want? I have this great story. We have a podcast, Change youe Brain every Day. And we just have a new episode called Extreme Brain Addition. And Tarek El Moussa, who's an HGTV star because he flips houses, came to see me a little more than a year ago and his brain was terrible. In fact, I told him, this is like one of your cockroach infested, moth eaten hoarder houses. And he had a birth injury and was in the neonatal ICU for five weeks. A year later he did 89 hyperbaric oxygen sessions. I'm a huge fan of hyperbaric oxygen. And, and his brain looks beautiful, just like one of his hoarder houses that he flipped. And at the end of the show, it looks stunning. I'm so hopeful that if people fall in love with their brains, they treat it right. It can be better. And if your brain is better, your decisions are better, which means your life is better.

[John Miles]

I just want to let the listeners know if you want to go further into hbot, just treatment. I have done a couple very good episodes on this one with Dr. Scott Scher that you can go back and listen to. And another one with Dr. Dominic Damastino as well. Well, Daniel, it has been such an honor to have you here. You are extremely discoverable, given what we talked about today. If there was one thing you wanted to point listeners to, what would it be?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

They can follow me on Instagram or TikTok at Doc Eamonn. I think the book of Mine for people to start with is change your brain every day. You can also listen to the podcast I do with my wife, Tana.

[John Miles]

Thank you so much for joining us. It was really such a profound honor to have you here with us today.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Thank you, John.

[John Miles]

Well, I hope Today's conversation with Dr. Daniel Amen reminded you something we all need to hear from time to time. You are not stuck with the brain you have. Every thought you challenge, every habit you build, every meaningful relationship you nurture is shaping the brain that's shaping your life. That's an incredibly hopeful message because it means that change isn't reserved for a lucky few. It's something we can all participate in one choice at a time. If today's conversation resonated with you, I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway. Share it with me on LinkedIn or Instagram. And if you know someone who could use a reminder that change is possible, please share this episode with them. You never know how one conversation can become the turning point in someone else's life. And if you haven't already, be sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode. Because this Thursday in episode 803, we continue our new adaptive brain series with two pioneers who have spent decades exploring one of neuroscience's most profound discoveries. I'll be joined by by Drs. Richard Davidson and Cortland Dahl, co authors of Born to Flourish. Together we'll explore the remarkable science showing that flourishing isn't something we achieve someday. It's something we're born with and can intentionally cultivate throughout our lives. We'll discuss why awareness, connection, insight, and purpose form the architecture of human flourishing, why the feeling of being truly seen may matter more than the size of your social network. And and how simple moments of attention repeated throughout the day can literally reshape your brain and your life.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

He has given me a very direct assignment, and my assignment from him is this. He has asked me to please take the practices from his tradition, study them using tools of modern neuroscience, modify them in ways that allow a wider range of people to practice them. This really I take to be my assignment for the remainder of my time on the planet.

[John Miles]

Until then, remember that every small decision you make today is helping create the brain and the life you'll live tomorrow. I'm John Miles, and I'll see you next time on Passion Struck.