EP20 Great Conversations 07 - Brain Wars: How Not Looking at the Brain Hurts Patients and Professionals - Daniel Amen, MD
Original Program Date :
Length: 1 hour 29 minutes
Description:
Psychiatry and by extension all mental health professions have not embraced the clinical use of neuroimaging, whether it is SPECT, PET, QEEG or functional MRI techniques. This leaves psychiatry as the only medical specialty that virtually never looks at the organ it treats, leading to misdiagnoses, ineffective treatment (outcomes are virtually no better than the 1950s), and persistent stigma. This lecture will focus on how neuroimaging enhances diagnoses, leads to more effective treatments, and shatters stigma. Based on a brain imaging database of more than 170,000 brain SPECT scans on patients from 155 countries, Dr. Amen has seen neuroimaging changes the discussion from mental health to brain health, which increases compliance, decreases stigma, and improves outcomes.
Educational Objectives:
*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*
Dr. Daniel Amen is a physician, double board certified psychiatrist and ten-time New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and CEO of Amen Clinics in Costa Mesa and San Francisco, California, Bellevue, Washington, Reston, Virginia, Atlanta, Georgia and New York City. Amen Clinics have the world’s largest database of functional brain scans relating to behavior, totaling nearly 100,000 scans on patients from 111 countries. Dr. Amen is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest award they give members, and is the lead researcher on the world’s largest brain imaging and rehabilitation study on professional football players. His research has not only demonstrated high levels of brain damage in players, he also showed the possibility of significant recovery for many with the principles that underlie his work.