Magnificent Mind at Any Age

by AMEN, DANIEL G. MD

• ISBN13: 9780307339096
• ISBN10: 0307339092
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-02
• Publisher: Crown Archetype

Summary

It all starts with your brain: how you think, how you feel, how you interact with others, and how well you succeed in realizing your goals and dreams. When your brain works right, so do you. When it's out of balance, you feel frustrated, or worse. Yet amid all the advice that bombards us daily about how to keep the rest of our body strong and healthy, we hear very little about how to keep the most complex and magnificent organ of all - the human brain - in top working order. Based on the most up-to-date research, as well as on Dr. Daniel Amen's more than twenty years of treating patients at the Amen Clinics, where he and his associates pioneered the use of brain imaging in clinical practice, Magnificent Mind at Any Age does exactly that. Dr. Amen shows how many of the traditional approaches to overcoming the mind-centered challenges that hold us back - try harder, work longer, find the sheer willpower - either do not work or may make our problems worse. The true key to satisfaction and success at any age is a healthy brain. By optimizing our brain function we can all develop these qualities of a magnificent mind enjoyed by the world's most successful and happiest people: Increased memory and concentration; The ability to maintain warm and satisfying relationships; Undiminished sexual desire and performance; Goal-oriented perseverance; Better impulse control and mastery over potential addictions; Free-flowing creativity and the ability to relax and enjoy life's pleasures. To achieve this, as Dr. Amen explains here in clearly accessible language, we have a range of options available, including proper diet, natural supplements and vitamins, exercise, positive thinking habits, and, if needed, medication. In addition to revealing how we can all take advantage of such strategies to enjoy the benefits of a balanced and healthy brain at every stage of our lives, Dr. Amen also pinpoints specific ways to tailor behavior, nutrition, and lifestyle to deal effectively with common mental challenges such as memory problems, anxiety and depression, attention deficit disorder, and insomnia. Whether you're in the midst of a demanding career or are looking forward to an active and richly rewarding retirement, Magnificent Mind at Any Age can give you the edge you need to live every day to your fullest potential.

Author Biography

DANIEL G. AMEN, M.D., is a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and brain imaging expert who heads the world-renowned Amen Clinics. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and has won several writing and research awards. He is a regular contributor to Men’s Health and has published nineteen books, numerous professional and popular articles, and a number of audio and video programs. His books include Preventing Alzheimer’s, Healing Anxiety and Depression, Healing the Hardware of the Soul, Healing ADD, Making a Good Brain Great, Sex on the Brain, and the New York Times bestseller Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. He is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and the star of the very popular public television special Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.

Table of Contents

A Magnificent Mind Starts with a Healthy Brain
Are You Wired for Success or Failure? The Secret Behind Why Some People Achieve Their Dreams and Others Don't	p. 3
A Magnificent Mind Starts with a Healthy Brain: Essential Strategies	p. 11
Brain Envy: Eliminate the Daily Habits that Hold You Back	p. 23
Hidden Short Circuits May Be Ruining Your Life: Learn How to Identify and Correct Your Vulnerable Areas	p. 44
If You Were My Family, How Would I Treat You? The Four Circles of Health and Healing and Why You Should Consider Natural Treatments	p. 64
Natural Way to Heal: Attention Deficit Disorder	p. 75
Natural Ways to Heal: Anxiety and Depression	p. 96
Natural Ways to Heal: Memory Disorders, Insomnia, and Pain	p. 109
A Magnificent Mind Makes Your Dreams a Reality
Ignite Your Passion: Light Up the Brain Circuits that Drive Success	p. 123
Make Your Own Miracles: Use Your Brain to Define Your Dreams and Make Them a Reality	p. 140
Know When to Apply the Brakes: Strengthen Your Brain's Internal Controls	p. 156
Embrace the Truth: Liberate Yourself from the Lies Polluting Your Brain	p. 170
Get Unstuck: Enhance Your Brain's Ability to Change and Adapt	p. 183
Develop Mental Toughness: Cultivate a Resilient Brain	p. 199
Brain Trust: Enhance Your Social Networks	p. 220
Be a Maverick Thinker: Stop Anxiety from Allowing Others to Run Your Life	p. 238
Create Lasting Trust: Send the Signals that Build Integrity	p. 256
When More Help is Needed	p. 267
Why Spect? What Brain Spect Imaging Can Tell Clinicians and Patients	p. 271
Glossary	p. 283
References and Further Reading	p. 287
Acknowledgments	p. 319
Index	p. 321
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

chapter 1

a scandal for our time

In the early hours of February 22, 2004—a cool, clear, late-winter day —copies of the fat Sunday edition of The Washington Post landed on doorsteps and driveways throughout the nation’s capital and its booming suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. Near the top of the front page, an arresting headline announced a scoop:

a jackpot from indian gaming tribes lobbying, pr firms paid $45 million over 3 years

This was a seductive come-on in a city where making money was in vogue, and the story lived up to the enticement. The Post reported startling details about the exploits of a lobbyist named Jack Abramoff, then forty-six, and a public relations man who collaborated with him, Michael Scanlon, thirty-three. They had persuaded four Indian tribes flush with gambling money to pay huge fees to exploit Abramoff’s connections with conservative Republicans in the White House and Congress to protect the tribes’ interests. At Abramoff’s urging, the tribes also hired Scanlon to do unspecified public relations work.

“The fees are all the more remarkable because there are no major new issues for gaming tribes on the horizon, according to lobbyists and congressional staff,” reported the Post’s Susan Schmidt. Abramoff persuaded the tribes that they needed his help “to block powerful forces both at home and in Washington who have designs on their money,” Schmidt wrote, quoting members of the tribes to this effect. She disclosed that the four tribes had donated millions of dollars to politicians and causes suggested by Abramoff, and had changed their traditional patterns of political contributions by giving less to Democrats and more to Republicans—at his urging. “Some members of the tribes” Abramoff represented “have begun to complain that they are getting little for their money,” wrote Schmidt.

Neither Abramoff nor Scanlon was a household name in Washington. But Tom DeLay was, and DeLay’s name appeared five times in that Post story. DeLay, a successful small businessman who ran an exterminating firm in the suburbs of Houston before he became a politician, was then the most powerful man in Congress. Everyone knew that DeLay had chosen Dennis Hastert of Illinois to become Speaker of the House of Representatives when that job suddenly came open in 1999. DeLay’s title was majority leader, technically second-ranking to the speaker, but their colleagues understood that DeLay was smarter and tougher than Hastert, and more influential among House Republicans.

In the mid-1990s DeLay and his colleagues in the Republican leadership had struck a bargain with Washington’s lobbyists that was both brazen and remarkably successful: if the lobbyists would help raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support Republicans and help preserve their majority in Congress, DeLay would invite them into the legislative process, and allow them to propose entire bills and suggest changes to legislation proposed by others.

Both sides fulfilled this understanding with gusto. The Republican National Committee and the party’s House and Senate campaign committees, which collected $358 million in contributions in the two years prior to the 1994 elections when Republicans won control of Congress for the first time since 1952, reported contributions of $782 million a decade later, in 2003–04—a 220 percent increase. Lobbyists and their clients helped make that possible. And lobbyists for corporate interests won countless legislative provisions from the Republican House and Senate favoring their clients. Under the accepted interpretation of the law on bribery, all of this was entirely legal. The law prohibits a member of Congress from “corruptly” seeking or accepting money in return for “being influenced in his performance of any official act.” Tha

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Excerpted from Magnificent Mind at Any Age: Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential by Daniel G. Amen
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.