Daniel Amen

Daniel G. Amen, M.D. is a child and adult psychiatrist, self-help advisor, author and medical director of the Amen Clinic. He has done work in evaluating psychiatric and neurological patients with the help of SPECT scanning, especially in the area of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Career and work

Amen is licensed to practice medicine in California, Arizona, Washington, Virginia and New York. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and the APA's 1987 recipient of the Marie H. Eldredge Award for the best research work. He is the CEO and medical director of The Amen Clinics, Inc. in Newport Beach, California, Fairfield, California, Bellevue, Washington and Reston, Virginia. Amen is also a member of the American Neuropsychiatric Association.

Amen is an unpaid volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from the Christian Southern California College (now Vanguard University of Southern California) and his doctor of medicine degree from the now-defunct Oral Roberts University School of Medicine.

Amen is the author of 39 professional scientific articles and 27 books, including the NY Times Bestsellers Change Your Brain, Change Your Life; Magnificent Mind At Any Age; and Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. He is the writer, producer, and host of four highly successful public television programs, raising more than $30 million for public television. He is also the producer of a number of audio and video programs. Amen, together with The United Paramount Network and Leeza Gibbons, produced a show called The Truth About Drinking, on alcohol education for teenagers, which won an Emmy Award for the Best Educational Television Show. In 1998, Random House published Amen’s book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, which has been on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into 24 languages.

The audiobook for Making A Good Brain Great received Audiofile Magazine’s Earphone Award. Amen has made numerous media appearances including PBS TV and Radio Nationwide, the Dr. Oz Show, Larry King Live, The View, The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show, The Early Show, Extra TV, CNN, HBO, Discovery Channel, MSNBC, and Fox News. He has been featured in Newsweek, Parade Magazine, The NY Times Magazine, Men's Health, and Cosmopolitan.

Special Awards and Honors

• California State Champion, Persuasive Oratory 1976
• Member, Orange Coast College Forensic Team with 15 awards and certificates.
• Elected to Alpha Gamma Sigma honor society 1976.
• Orange Coast College Leadership Award 1976.
• SCC Student Graduation Speaker 1978
• Chosen as a Sol W. Ginsburg Fellow in the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, serving on the Psychiatry in Industry committee and the Publications Board (1985-1986).
• First prize winner, 1984 Baltimore-District of Columbia Institute for Psychoanalysis essay contest on "Psychodynamic Principles in the Treatment of Medical or Psychiatric Patients."
• Awarded the General William C. Menninger Memorial Award for the best paper presented by a psychiatric resident at the annual General William C. Menninger Military Psychiatry Course 1985. The award was presented by Karl Menninger, M.D.
• Marie H. Eldridge Award by the American Psychiatric Association 1987 for research.
• Elected Orange Coast College Hall of Fame, April 2001
• Vanguard University Outstanding Alumnus Award 2002
• Emmy Award Winning Appearance on The Truth About Drinking, United Paramount Network
• Emmy Award Nomination for PTSD and EMDR, KCBS in Los Angeles
• Prism Award Nomination for America Undercover, Small Town Ecstasy
• Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association, 2005
• Making A Good Brain Great, One of the Best Books of 2005 Amazon
• AudioFile Earphones Award Winner for Making A Good Brain Great 2006
• Child Psychiatrist of the Year, Voted by KCAL TV in Los Angeles
• Three NY Times Bestsellers, multiple at one time, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Magnificent Mind At Any Age and Change Your Brain, Change Your Body

Criticism

Scientists and medical professionals have criticized the scientific validity of Amen's work, noting that there are no clinical studies supporting his claims. Although he has not conducted (nor cites) any research validating his brain-based weight-loss scheme, Amen has responded by increasing the number of references in his latest book Change Your Brain, Change Your Body., though none of these references validates the claims he makes. In addition, the review of this book in the American Journal of Psychiatry underscores the fact that "he has not subjected his treatment approaches to the level of systematic scientific scrutiny expected for scientifically based medical practice".

Neurologist Michael Greicius, who runs the Stanford University memory clinic, said "SPECT scans are not sufficiently sensitive or specific to be useful in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease...The PBS airing of Amen's program provides a stamp of scientific validity to work which has no scientific validity."

In 2005, on Quackwatch.org, a nonprofit organization that investigates what they consider to be health-related frauds, myths, fads and fallacies, Dr. Harriet Hall, a retired military physician, was far more strident in her criticism:

"Amen's recommendations defy science, common sense and logic. I feel much worse about him now than I did when I wrote the piece because I went back and looked at his Web site again, and I'm just appalled by some of the things that are on it now. He's selling vitamin supplements and he's selling his own line of products. He's turned into big business."

Amen has responded by saying that,

"The Amen Clinics tracks treatment response among its patients. 85% of our patients report a high degree of satisfaction with our services. We are not a typical psychiatric clinic. We typically see patients who have failed 3 or 4 other mental health professionals, and who have an average of 3.5 psychiatric disorders using standard DSM diagnostic measures. No one keeps response rates on such a complex diagnostic group, yet our results are very encouraging." [1]

In turn, Quackwatch.com says that "satisfaction rates" have nothing to do with success rates, and that Amen has never made data about either available for scrutiny. According to its website, Amen Clinics charges $3,375 for a "comprehensive evaluation," which includes the patient's history, two SPECT scans, a physician consultation, and a 30-minute treatment follow-up appointment. Follow-up scans after treatment are $795 each.

Amen's classification

The Amen's classification was created by Amen for classifying psychiatric patients into particular groups of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The Amen classification system defines six different subtypes of ADHD.

These subtypes were created using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging on patients whom Amen claims were known to have ADHD, but for which no data have ever been published. Amen argues that differences seen in the imaging for sufferers of ADHD correspond to the new classification system he has created. A patient can have a range from none to all subtypes of ADHD under the Amen system.

The Amen's classification consists of the following ADHD subtypes:

• Type I - Classic ADD (ADHD)
• Type II - Inattentive ADD
• Type III - Over-Focused ADD
• Type IV - Temporal Lobe ADD
• Type V - Limbic ADD
• Type VI - "Ring of fire" ADD

Current projects

Dr. Amen's new book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body is a long standing New York Times Bestseller as well as a top seller on Amazon.com, also released a jointly produced public television program under the same title. In February 2011 his new book, The Amen Solution will be released by Crown Archetype at Random House.

External links

• Amen Clinics
• SPECT imaging at Mayo Clinic