Daniel G. Amen - Conquer Worry and Anxiety

The information presented in this book is the result of years of practice experience and clinical research by the author. The information in this book, by necessity, is of a general nature and not a substitute for an evaluation or treatment by a competent medical specialist. If you believe you are in need of medical intervention, please see a medical practitioner as soon as possible. The stories in this book are true. The names and circumstances of some of the stories have been changed to protect the anonymity of patients.

Dont worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience Gods peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7

I F YOURE LIKE ME, when youre feeling worried or anxious, you want to feel better now, fast, pronto! But many people, mental health professionals included, think therapy needs to be long, hard, and painful. They believe that if you start medication for anxiety or depression, youre making a lifelong commitment. Certainly, some people will need help longer than others, but in my experience, many people will feel better once they begin to engage in the right behaviors and strategies, which include knowing about and optimizing their brains.

Think about it: You know you can make yourself feel worse almost immediately by dwelling on the worst possible outcome of a situation, spending time with highly toxic people, or sabotaging each of your senses with dreadful sounds, smells, tastes, touches, or sights. You can just as easily make yourself feel better through simple choices like practicing gratitude, conquering negative thoughts, and using many other techniques that I will demonstrate throughout this book.

The truth is, we live in an impatient society. When people seek help for mental health issues, the most common number of therapy sessions they receive is one. Either they find benefit from getting their worries off their chests and learning simple strategiesor they conclude therapy wont be helpful for them. Even when they commit to ongoing therapy, the average number of sessions a patient attends is six or seven, regardless of the psychotherapists theoretical orientation.

Almost everyone wants to feel better fast, and research suggests it is possible. Studies since the 1980s have shown the value of single-session therapies (SSTs). In one study, a single session of hypnosis significantly decreased anxiety and depressive symptoms after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Helping people change their feelings and behaviors and optimize their lives has been my passion as a psychiatrist for the past four decades. Amen Clinics partnered with Professor BJ Fogg, director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University, and his sister Linda Fogg-Phillips to help our patients with behavior change. They teach that only three things change behavior in the long run:

1. An epiphany
2. A change in the environment (what and who surrounds you)
3. Taking baby steps

I once had an epiphany after reading a study by my friend Dr. Cyrus Raji on what I call the dinosaur syndrome (as your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain go downwith a big body and a little brain, youre likely to become extinct). I then found the discipline to lose 25 pounds. But you dont have to wait for an epiphany to change your behavior. You dont need to experience daily panic attacks or get cancer in order to get serious about your health. When battling worry and anxiety, most people can change their environment (friends, workplace, church) or the people they surround themselves with, and all of us can make small changes that, over time, create amazing results.

High motivation helps you do hard things. But if your motivation is medium or even low, you can still change for the better. In fact, the Foggs encourage starting with baby steps, or what they call Tiny Habits. These are easy changes that will boost your sense of accomplishment and competence and, over time, evolve into bigger changes.

Heres one you can start right now that will make a huge and lasting change: Whenever you come to a decision point in your day, ask yourself, Is the decision Im about to make good for my brain or bad for it?

If you consistently make decisions that serve your brains healthand youll learn more about how to do that in this bookyou are well on your way to conquering worry and anxiety and living a happier, healthier life.

Daniel Amen, MD

M. F. Hoyt and M. Talmon, eds., Capturing the Moment: Single Session Therapy and Walk-In Services (New York: Crown House Publishing, 2014).

A. Akgul et al., The Beneficial Effect of Hypnosis in Elective Cardiac Surgery: A Preliminary Study, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon 64, no. 7 (2016): 58188, doi: 10.1055/s-0036-1580623.

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, accessed April 23, 2018.

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Fogg, Tiny Habits.

Quick Calming Techniques

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

ATTRIBUTED TO ARISTOTLE

I T WAS 6:30 IN THE MORNING in the busy emergency room at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. I was just putting on my white lab coat as I walked through the doors to the unit. It was my third day as an intern, and the emergency room would be my home for the next month. Down the hall from me, a woman was screaming. Curious, I went to see what was going on.