The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast

In Robert Lustig’s early work as a pediatric endocrinologist, he began studying the effect certain molecules had on the body’s organs. What he found was a stunning connection between fructose and liver function, which helps explain the reason for today’s obesity epidemic. In the first episode of a series with the author of “Fat Chance,” Dr. Daniel Amen and Lustig discuss how and why fructose is making people fat.

Throughout their careers, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod have seen first-hand the importance of peer support to the healing process. In this last episode in a series on first responders and the brain, Dr. Amen and Dr. Bohl-Penrod share some of their personal stories of how EMDR turned other people's lives around.

Our first responders often operate in the most toxic environments, but, until recently, little or no effort has been made to keep those toxins contained. In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod discuss the lessons learned by the first responder community after 9/11 and the steps that are being taken to improve conditions.

First responders are or on the frontline of the war for our health, and, as a result, they can often suffer in silence. Afterall, who is going to help the helpers? In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod discuss the symptoms most often seen, the factors that are causing them, and the best, most effective ways of getting these heroes the help they deserve.

Dr. Amen is joined by Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod to discuss her work as the Director of The Counseling Team International. They talk about Dr. Bohl-Penrod’s husband’s struggles as a police officer and how that led her to the work she does, as well as the stigma around seeking help as a first responder.

In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen dive into some of our listener questions to give you the answers you need to get your brain and body right. This episode tackles such topics as brain types, help for focus, and taking supplements before and after general anesthesia for a surgery. If you’d like Daniel and Tana to answer your question in an episode, be sure to visit brainwarriorswaypodcast.com to submit.

While the incidence of cancer has been experiencing a decline, the incidence of mental illness continues to trend upward. Why is this? In the third episode of a series based on Dr. Daniel Amen’s recently filmed PBS special “Change Your Brain, Heal Your Mind”, Dr. Amen outlines the 6 steps to ending mental illness, and how to take these steps to help you or your loved one get on the right track.

In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen continue to discuss some of the concepts from Dr. Amen’s upcoming PBS special, “Change Your Brain, Heal Your Mind.” Dr. Amen introduces the concept of the evil ruler and the good ruler to look at some of the strategies our society uses to create either health or illness, and how you can adopt the strategies that help you, rather than hurt you.

Mental Illness affects us all, and the rate of mental illness continues to skyrocket despite the widespread use of prescription medications. But as Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen illustrate, we’re on the cusp of a revolution in psychiatry that will change mental health care forever. In this first episode of a series based on Dr. Amen’s upcoming PBS special, the Amens describe the reason for this exciting new revolution, and how it’s likely to play out.

Our society has developed a habit of using different terms to delineate between the organ that occupies our heads, and the collection of thoughts we experience moment to moment. But are these really separate entities, or are they manifestations of the same thing? In the last episode in a series with author and psychotherapist Dr. Earl Henslin, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen explain why it’s crucial for us to understand that the way we think about the organ between our ears shapes how we take care of it.

Dr. Earl Henslin, author, psychotherapist, and board member of The End Mental Illness Now Foundation, found himself on the other side of the desk when he brought his own mother in to scan her brain. She had often been angry and detached, and both Dr. Henslin and Dr. Amen were horrified to see her scans showed signs of early dementia. What happened next changed not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her. In this episode, Dr. Earl Henslin tells the story of his mother’s transformation.

Thirty years of brain SPECT imaging has clearly shown us that disfunction in different parts of the brain require different types of treatment. One of the most often affected areas is the brain’s frontal lobes, which are responsible for things like forethought, judgement, and impulse control. In this episode, Dr. Amen and Tana are joined by Dr. Earl Henslin for a discussion on how to identify if you have frontal lobe problems (and other common areas of the brain), and what you can do to treat them.

When psychotherapist and author Dr. Earl Henslin first considered using SPECT imagery to help diagnose his patients, he was concerned that the scans would eliminate the need for other types of testing, possibly hurting the bottom line of his practice. But when a family member in need had their brain scanned, what they found changed Dr. Henslin’s method of practice forever. In this episode, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen are joined by Dr. Henslin to discuss his introduction to brain imaging.

In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen answer some more of your questions. This episode features info on employment, new learning, dopamine and psychosis, antidepressants, and auto-immune diseases. Visit the brainwarriorswaypodcast.com to submit your own questions!

Every time you get behind the wheel and strap on your seatbelt there lies the possibility of disaster occurring, and the subsequent trauma that can result from being involved in an auto accident exists in many different forms. In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen share some of the various ways auto accidents can leave long term effects of trauma on the brain, as well as some of the things you can do to put your brain in a healing environment.