|
|
 - Freedom from NegativityThis fascinating book is filled with scientific proof that our thoughts directly affect our physical, mental and spiritual lives. Thoughts release a chemical reaction that is directly linked to our deep limbic system, the part of our brain that allows us to experience and express emotion. Through the use of imaging technology Dr. Amen shows us what a healthy brain looks like, and compares it to pictures of a myriad of disorders such as ADD, Alzheimer's, and depression. These brain pictures show the results our thoughts have upon our bodies when we experience depression and anxiety. Dr. Amen has named our "Automatic Negative Thoughts" ANTs. These ANTS don't always tell the truth and, just like at a picnic, they multiply quickly and can take over. Our brains don't know we are being lied to. We believe these ANTs are telling us the truth. This book is a perfect companion to the work of Ariel and Shya Kane. They are masters at teaching the skill set of how to live in the moment without guilt, fear or worry. Their books: Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: The 3 Simple Ideas That Can Instantaneously Transform Your Life,Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment,and How to Create a Magical Relationship, offer an effortless path to freedom from those nagging ANTs. Rating: - Changed by Life!!This book changed my paradigm on life or "lense" through which I view it and everything to do with all aspects of life. Even if this is just to understand these conditions to help you with loved ones, if you have any of these conditions, or just want to become more informed & compassionate about mental health & brain physiology this is the right book for you. Instead of sending it to all my friends and family, I bought them their own copy as I refer back to it often & will have a permanent place on my bookshelf. Rating: - Excellent bookI purchased this book after seeing Dr. Amen on PBS. I read it straight through and found it extremely insightful and informative. Both of my kids have ADD and I am encouraging them to read it. Rating: - Readable Information about Your BrainDr. Amen's book brings together in highly readable terms the biological and psychological factors so important to mental health. It offers patients a guilt-free perspective on what has gone awry. Rating:  - Don't make it PersonalActually, this is a review of the reviewers. But a little about myself. For 9 years I performed failure analysis for safety related systems in nuclear reactors. Safety related systems are those used to safely shut down a reactor when it needs to be. When a part doesn't work as expected, you have to know why. Why? Because you can't fix it unless you know what it is you need to fix. I'll end it here, but I'm sure the reader can now appreciate all the arguments, pointing fingers, investigations, test, communications, travels, lies, stories and pressure (you have to have a reason and solution in 72 hours or the NRC will force you to shut down the reactor) you get hit with. It has taught me to look at things differently. I see two groups of people here: those that are for and those who are against. I see the writing style. Before you even hit the keys, you have decided what you want to say. Bias. For those of us that think Dr. Amen's approach is the best thing since sliced bread.....beware. This is new. It has some valid points. I myself relied on a vast army of tools, including the electron microscope. Yes, EM. I was able to do in two days what General Electric took to do in one month. Once you have all the data you can possibly secure and boiled it down into information (very important concept here) only then can you sit back and form a conclusion. At no time can you be bias before the conclusion phase. And you are asking for trouble in your conclusions if you base everything on one experience. For those of us that think Dr. Amen's approach is akin to snake oil.... beware. The world does revolve around the sun. In nuclear, you can have the best program running in a computer and it won't work if the computer hardware is at fault. You can have the best computer in the world but it won't work if the program is faulty. You can imagine the complexity if both are at fault. And both won't work properly if the operator doesn't understand what the results mean (Three Mile Island). Having said that, I get a little edgy when a person says it has nothing to do with the hardware or the hardware couldn't possibly contribute to the faulting net system results. Then resort to personal attacks to ensure the validity of his conclusions. As soon as I see personal attacks to boost a conclusion, all bets are off. There are emotions here and emotions have a way of tainting data. Many of you have done this in your reviews of Dr. Amen's book. You proved you were bias and as a result your data, information and conclusions are corrupt. Now for something we all wanted to know. If a tree falls in the forest, and no one was there, did it make a noise? Most of you will remember this in high school or college and no one had a solution but boy did it entertain!! First, what is noise. You need an energy source and a transducer. Energy is fed to a transducer and the transducer vibrates. A transmitter. Second, we need a receiver, which is our second transducer. It receives the vibrations and converts it to.... on the part of a human, sound. A tape recorder can also produce the same results. The third part, and this is the part that everyone forgets, the transmitting media. You have to transmit those vibrations from the source transducer to the receiving transducer. In air, it's air. In water, it's water. Or wood, teeth and bone in the case of Beethoven. Lets test. I talk to you, you hear. I stop talking to you, you do not hear. You leave the room, you do not hear. We take the air out of the room, you do not hear. Second test. You and I outside of the space shuttle way up above earth. No radio. I talk, you do not hear. I press my helmet to yours. I talk, you hear. You leave, you do not hear. I stop talking, you do not hear. Third test. You are in a city. You have a radio. The talk host is talking. You hear the talk host. You walk away from the radio. You do not hear the talk host. The talk host stops talking, you do not hear him. The battery dies on the radio, you do not hear the talk host. Air, in this instance, is irrelevant. The mic can be attached to the person's throat expelling air as he talks in into a vacuum and the headphone is attached to the receiver's cochlear implant (just in case there are those who wish to argue). What we have: We have identified three elements essential to sound. You must have a transmitter, the transmitting medium, the receiver. Sound relies on these three elements. If we take any one of them away, you do not have sound. In the woods, you have the transmitter, the falling tree. You have the transmitting medium, air. You do not have a receiver. What is your conclusion? The tree did not make a sound in the forest when it fell because no one was around.
|
