What Khloé’s Brain Scan Revealed About Her Past ft. Dr. Amen | Khloé In Wonder Land Ep. 13

[Applause]. Hello. Hello. Hi, Dr. Aan. How have you been? Good. How about you? Having the time of my life. Good. Most. people don't care about their brains. So. why? You can't see it. You can see the. wrinkles in your skin, fat around your. belly. Why don't we screen our brain? How do you know unless you look right? You're against drinking in its entirety,

correct? Well, anything that increases. the risk of seven different types of. cancer, I'm against. I want energy, memory, focus. I want passion. Lol just. doesn't fit any of them, right? I'm. like, I hated the term mental illness. It's shaming. It's stigmatizing. So, what if mental health was really brain. hell? And that's the revolution that I'm.

trying to. [Music]. create. Welcome to Chloe and Wonderland. This is the podcast for real and raw. conversations from the stories you. haven't heard to the curiosities that we. all share. Dr. Daniel Aean, worldrenowned psychiatrist, brain. expert, and number one New York Times. best-selling author, is joining me.

today, and we are diving deep. He. scanned over 200,000 brains, worked with. the biggest names in Hollywood and. sports, and he's completely changed how. we think about brain health. We're. getting into it all, parenting, relationships, and yes, he's seen the. inside of my brain. What did he find? What does it mean? And how can you. rewire your brain to change your life?

So, I've had the pleasure and the. privilege of meeting you through my. sister Kendall and we actually went to. your clinic in Inino and I got to get my. brain scanned by you and it was such a. privilege and you were on our show. Kardashians. and that was so significant. And I feel. like so many people from watching the. show, I saw so much of the commentary. So many people had no idea that you.

could do scans on your brain. And I. think people think you have to have an. injury in order to do something like. that or be, I don't know, a football. player or be in a car accident along. those lines. And it is such a blessing. And I know you started this in the ' 70s. and this is your life mission, but I don't know just I what I really. want to come across in this conversation. is the importance of brain imaging and I.

think I was listening to either your TED. talk or something else and it really. resonated with me that every other. doctor if they're a cardiologist they're. analyzing imaging of the heart. if. they're an ear, nose, and throat doctor, they're looking at imaging for ear, nose, and throat or checking down your. throat visually, and you're the only. type of doctor that where they weren't. doing brain scans. And you were like, "Well, how does that make sense? Why am. I advising you or prescribing you. medication, but I don't really know what. part of the brain is hurting?" And that.

I don't know why I didn't realize that. before until you said that. You said. that so well. Did I? Oh my gosh, I felt. like I fumbled that way. I mean, think. about this. Psychiatrists are the only medical. doctors who never look at the organ they. treat. So last year there were over. 340 million prescriptions. Oh my gosh. Written for. anti-dopressants without any biological.

data. That's insane, right? I'm a. psychiatrist, so I know how to diagnose. crazy. And that's crazy, right? Because. if you don't look, then you don't know. Was it the car accident when you were 16. that contributed to being sad? Or was it. because your brain works too hard. because you had a sexual assault? Or was. it because you live in a mold-filled.

home? You just don't know. And when I started. looking at the brain, it. changed absolutely everything in my. life. Um, if one of my kids dates somebody. new, they're going to be scanned. Oh, I. love that. And my. 21-year-old Chloe, who is in love, and I. love her um boy. Oh, good. But he played.

football. And so, yes, we have to look. at his brain. Are any of them ever. opposed to being scanned? No. Oh, good. Ever. Because they they realize if. you're in my family, the brain matters. Right. Right. And so it's just something. you do. And I was married once before. and I got divorced 25 years ago. And I. if I was ever going to get married. again, the first naked part of her I.

wanted to see was her brain. And Tana. and I have been together for 20 years. I. scanned her literally 3 weeks after we. met each other. And nobody thinks about. it, right? You go to a marital therapist. or relationship therapist and no one's. looking at the brain, which is just. crazy. You're so right. But so many. things I admire about you, but. specifically I think the empathy you. have for the position that you're in. I.

think you know what responsibility you. hold for people. But to say that, and. I'm paraphrasing, so excuse me, that. you've thrown um so many darts at the. dark diagnosing people and it's some of. them you might have hurt some of your. patients by misdiagnosing medications to. them. And I don't know if that many. doctors respectfully but would admit. something like that. And I think that's. such a beautiful thing to say and how. you don't believe in a one-sizefits-all.

for a medication or an ailment and that. you're looking at the brain and you can. have ADHD for example and I've seen some. of your scans but they could be in. different parts of the brain. Correct. Right. I mean, one of the first big. lessons is all psychiatric illnesses, anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, it's not. one thing. I mean, you would never give. everyone who had chest. pain the same treatment, right? That.

would be malpractice. That would be. stupid. That would be insane. But yet, you go tell your doctor you're. depressed. the first thing he or she is. going to do is give you an SSRI, which. in largecale studies work no better than. placebo. And it's like, well, why is that? Because SSRIs work for the right brain, but they do not work for the wrong. brain. In fact, they can make you worse. So my wife Tana when she was she writes.

about this in her book the relentless. courage of a scared child. She grew up. in a really crazy environment and in her. mid20s she had thyroid cancer. Oh wow. and she went to uh UC Irvine and saw a. psychiatrist and he gave her Prozac and. it made her less. anxious but it also disinhibited her and. all of a sudden she's in Costa Rica with. someone she had just met going how did I.

get here? She started making really. impulsive, stupid decisions. And when. you look at her brain, she has sleepy. frontal loes. And. SSRI's serotonin is an inhibitory. neurotransmitter. It calms things down. So if you start with sleepy frontal. loes, it makes them sleepier and then. it's like taking the break off of your.

impulse control. So getting the wrong. medicine can disrupt your life in a very. bad way. Now I feel like it's more I. don't want to say trendy but it's more. common probably to get brain scans. But. why do you think in the 70s 80s 90s why. were you such an advocate but others. were not? So 1991 I went to my first. lecture on brain spec imaging. That's. what we do. And I was so excited. I'm.

still excited. And the next year I went. to an all day lecture at the American. Psychiatric Association on brain spec. imaging in child psychiatry. So there. was a lot of excitement but very quickly. they realized scans don't go with the. current paradigm. They don't go with. making diagnoses based on symptom. clusters with no biological data. And we. have our big bible. It's called the. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of.

Mental Disorders, the DSM. And it really. goes, okay, the DSM's not the thing. And. all of a sudden, the American. Psychiatric Association went, oh, no, we. shouldn't scan. And that's really when. the war when I went to war with the. American Psychiatric Association, even. though I have their highest award they. give members. Um, and if I'm right, and I am,

you should image the brain before you go. about messing with it. It means that. 40,000 psychiatrists and hundreds of. thousands of regular doctors are not. doing the right thing. And when you tell. people that, they don't say thank you. And there's actually this great book. called the structure of scientific. revolution. It's how do revolutions. happen? And the first thing is somebody. notices a problem. The outcomes in.

psychiatry are no better than they were. in the 1950s. We should be ashamed. Yes. Of that. So, the outcomes are not better. than the year I was born in. 1954. Um, that's sad. So, someone notices there's a. problem. The status quo notices the. problem, but they make small changes. because they're protecting the money. Mh. And then someone comes up with a new. mouse trap. We should scan. When you.

scan and look at the brain, you then. treat it as an. organ. And you just don't try to drug it. into submission. You get people to eat. better. You get them to exercise. You. get them to go to sleep. You get them to. put down their phones. You, you know, give them supplements to nourish their. brain. one of the things for you. recommended hyperbaric oxygen to help. repair the accident you had. Um it's not. just oh you have this take that and.

so the next stage in the revolution if. it disrupts somebody's money and I. disrupt the pharmaceutical industry then. they try and kill you. Yes. And that's. just normal. It's what happens sadly. And I. think 10 years from now it's going to be. radically different. Oh, I love to hear. that. And I apologize. I said the 70s, but that's when you started when you. went So I went to medical school in the.

70s. So So my short story is I was 18, Vietnam was still going on and I um had. a low draft number and became an. infantry medic. And uh my love of. medicine was born there. But about a. year into it, I realized I didn't like. getting shot at. It's like not for me. I. don't like it. Um, and so I got. retrained as an X-ray technician. And. that was the thing our professors used. to say, how do you know unless you look,

right? And then I got out of the army, finished college, went to medical. school. It's. 1979. I marry my childhood sweetheart. Two months later, she tries to kill. herself. and I took her to see a. wonderful psychiatrist. And I came to. realize if he helped her, which he did, it wouldn't just help her, would help. me, would help our children, it would. help our grandchildren. But I fell in love with the only medical.

specialty that never looks at the organ. treats. And I knew it was wrong. I just had no idea I'd be involved in. the change. And back then, I hated the. term mental illness. Right? If you. looked at my ex-wife and go, she has a. mental illness. It's shaming. It's. stigmatizing. Nobody wants it. What if. we thought of these as brain health. issues? Nobody wants to be called. mental. Everybody likes to be called a.

brain. Yes. Right. So, what if mental. health was really brain hell? And that's. the revolution that I'm trying to. create. It's like, let's stop calling. these things mental. Their brain. I had. one of my young stars came into my. office and you know, sometimes they. come, sometimes they don't, sometimes. they do what you say. Mostly they don't. But he came into my office and he said,

"I think I get what you're trying to. tell me. My brain is an organ like my. heart is an organ. If you told me I had. heart problems, I'd do everything you. said. So, I'm gonna do everything you. say. And then he just got better. And. I'm so excited right about changing the. paradigm. uh away from, you know, more money for. mental health care as it's currently. practiced. That's just going to get us.

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heart's an organ, our brain's an organ, but you're right. There is not so much. isolated attention on the brain as there. is are your arteries clogged? Do you. have heart issues? Stomach problems. I. feel like we focus on all these other. things, but our brain seems to be. neglected way more than the other. organs. At least that's the way I. perceive it. And I went and took your. scan. It was so easy if not almost. enjoyable cuz we had to do the online.

test and I would had to beat the clock. and I was I'm very competitive. So I was. like no. And so for me it was almost fun. to do that part. Um but I still was like. I got to do better. And then I went I. got scanned by you. What was that? 30. minutes. How? Yeah. It's not a long. process to do whatsoever. Painless. Absolutely nothing like that. I played a. video game. Um that I would say with my. eyes, right? You did a CPT. So we.

started the IV cuz it involves a radio. pharmaceutical uh that lights up your. brain. And after we start the IV, you. took a continuous performance test, which is uh 15minute test of attention, which you actually scored well on. And. every time you see a letter, you hit the. space bar, except when you see the. letter X, you have to inhibit that. But.

you feel like you're playing a game. It's not scary. And it's not scary. instantly. We do little kids and old. people and we've now done. 260,000 scans on people from 155. countries. Is that But it starts a love. affair with your own brain. And most. people don't care about their brains. And in 1991, I didn't care about my own. brain. Um I a double board certified. psychiatrist, board certified in general.

psychiatry, child and adolescent. psychiatry. was the top student in our. neuroscience classes and I didn't care. about my brain. Why? You can't see it, right? You can see the wrinkles in your. skin or the fat around your belly and. you do something when you're unhappy. with that. But the brain is one of the. only organs we don't screen, right? Why. don't we screen our brain given that if. you're blessed to live to 85 or older,

you have a one in two chance of having. lost your mind, right? You have a 50%. risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. disease or other forms of dementia just. by being 85. And I'm like, no, I'm not. okay with that. Right? I love my six. kids, but I never want to have to live. with them, right? I don't want them that. we're taking his keys from him. We're.

going to put him in a No. Put him in a. home. And if I heard properly, you can. diagnose dementia, Al Alzheimer's 30. years prior to it actually happening. Like you can see it from the scans that. you do. And so is there a way to prevent. it if even if it's detectable on a scan? Yes. Wow. So in 2005 I wrote a book. called Preventing Alzheimer's with a. friend of mine and I got so much grief.

It's like no, you can't do that. No, you. can't do it. Last year, the Lancet. published an article that said 50% of. Alzheimer's disease is preventable. Wow. And how do you prevent it? you prevent. or treat the 11 major risk factors that. steal your mind. So if you knew a train. was going to hit you, wouldn't you at. least want to get out of the way? Yes. Right. And so for example, what we.

learned is if you're overweight, as your. weight goes up, the actual physical size. and function of the brain goes down. And. that should scare the fat off anyone. If. you have diabetes, much more likely to. get Alzheimer's disease. If you have low. blood flow to your brain for whatever. reason, too much caffeine, alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, not good for your brain. And.

so when you fall in love with your. brain, you realize you have to treat it. better. And I think CO and that was the. reason I saw Kendall initially. She got. really anxious after she got CO and you. could just see the inflammatory bomb. that went off in her brain. Um. infectious disease is a major cause of. psychiatric illnesses and nobody knows. it and I didn't know it, right? It was.

not in my training program. But COVID, for example, if you get. COVID, you have a 25% increased risk of. having a new onset psychiatric illness. within the next 6 months. It's like, oh. my goodness. Or Lyme disease and. California is we have a lot of Lyme. disease here. If you put a map up of the. highest incidence of schizophrenia in. the United States, it's the Northeast,

the North Midwest, and the West Coast. Wow. So, highest incidence of. schizophrenia and you overlay that with. the highest incidence of Lyme disease, they're virtually identical. Wow. So, is. it possible if you have schizophrenia or. you love somebody with it, should you at. least be screened for Lyme disease? And. you should look because if you're. psychotic, which means you've lost touch.

with reality, that's a brain. dysfunction. And is that able to be reversed? Often. In fact, one of my best stories I love. stories. It's I love stories do tell. So, um, Adriana, 16, beautiful, straight edies. Um her family goes to Yeuseite on. vacation and when they get to their. mountain cabin they're surrounded by six. deer and they think it's a magical.

moment. But 10 days later Adriana starts. to hallucinate. She becomes paranoid. She's aggressive. She ends up in a. psychiatric hospital not once, three. times. She's on multiple. antiscychotic medications and uh her. mother's just beside herself. And the. last doctor told the mother she has. schizophrenia. She's going to be on. these medications for the rest of her.

life. At which point her mother found. me, brought her to one of my clinics. We. saw that her brain was inflamed and we. didn't know why. And it turned out she. had Lyme disease from a deer tick. And. it happened that quickly. It happens. that quickly. Wow. And on an. antibiotic, Adriana got her life back, and then ended up finishing high school, graduating from Pepperdine, got a. master's degree from the University of.

London, and today she's normal. But what. a testament to the mother as well, cuz. so many people don't know what to do. And I think that's why I'm so honored. that I mean, you're so incredible on. social media. I need you to know that. I. was telling talking to my mom about. that. And it's so exciting that I get to. have someone as knowledgeable and. profound as you. But it there's so many. takeaways that people can receive from. an episode like this because we. understand what you're saying. And there.

and that's the same thing on your social. media. It's so incredible how yes, I. know you know all the big words and all. the medical terms, but you're just. you're so relatable and there's so many. takeaways that people can receive and I. think you make people feel safe with you. and maybe because you've been doing it. for so long, but you also give people so. much hope where so many people don't. just say, "Well, here here's this. prescription. Take this and we'll see. you in 6 months and see if it works.".

No, I work really hard to say things as. simply as I can because I never want the. words to get in the way. And we have a. high school course called Brain Thrive. by 25. I'm so excited about it. And it. was studied. So, it's 12 weeks, 24. hours. We teach middle schoolers, high. schoolers to love and care for their. brain. Oh, I love that. That decreases. drug, alcohol, and tobacco use,

decreases depression, and it improves. self-esteem. Yes. And that's the answer. to this epidemic problem. And people go, "Oh, it's social media." And yeah, social media is part of it. And oh, it's. our ultrarocessed foods. Yeah, and. that's part of it. But nobody loves and. cares for their brain. if you love and. care for it because you realize that's. your future. Um,

you're just less likely to smoke pot, which is not a innocuous, right? That's. the messaging is it's innocuous. You're. less likely to drink. Alcohol is not a. health food. Um, you're suspicious about. psilocybin, which is now it's the most. common question I get asked when I. lecture. You know, what do you think. about magic mushrooms? And I'm like, I'm. really worried because I think it's. going to go the way the opiate epidemic. went. Oh, wow. Really? Yeah. Remember in. the late '9s, um, my wife's a nurse and.

she said, "Oh, now pain is the fifth. vital sign. We have to ask them about. their pain and if they're in pain, they. need an opiate." And it got us this. incredible disaster, right? We're in. now. We need to be cautious. And you. know, if you take an opiate, for. example, it makes your white blood cells. mad and so helps in the short run, in.

the long run makes you dependent on. them, right? Because you've made your. white blood cells mad. Now you always. have to calm them down. for any like you're against drinking in. its entirety. Correct. Well, anything. that increases the risk of seven. different types of cancer. I'm against. And there's not a week that goes by. where alcohol hasn't devastated one of. my patients or family members lives.

It's just always because they drink and. then they say things they shouldn't say. or they do things they shouldn't do. So. yeah, not a fan of alcohol. So for me, I. think I drink like two or three times a. year. I'm not a big drinker, but. normally my birthday I'll rage a little. But after you have kids, it's hard to do. that. But I also realize the older I. get, it could be age or just maybe my. tolerance isn't. You just what's there's.

no reward the next day. You realize. gosh, I just got thrown. I work out 5. days a week and certain things. I love. being a present parent and you just. realize, okay, this really doesn't feel. good. This is horrible. But trust me, I. think I've done a lot of damage in my. 20s. Is that damage that was done in my. 20s able to be reversed? Or for anyone. listening, if they're like, "Okay, I'm. not at that place that I'm going to take. any sort of physical like my health. journey isn't my first priority, are.

there things at home that people can do. to improve their brain function or by. just cutting out these things in life, does your brain sort of regenerate. itself on its own?" Well, that's the. exciting news is even if you've been bad. to your brain, you can make it better. and I can prove it. So, I did the big. NFL study. I've scanned and treated 400. NFL players, cool players like Terry. Bradshaw and uh Dick.

Buckus. 80% of my players with these bad. brains get better when we put them on a. rehabilitation. program. and the and I was just thinking. about BJ Fog who's a friend of mine. He's a professor at Stanford and we were. at a conference together. We did some. work together and he said I wake up 100%. every day. And I'm like why? He said. because of you I stop drinking. And. isn't so the question really becomes.

with alcohol or other things that are. not good for your brain is what do you. really want? Right? If you really go. inside and you go, what do I really want. and I want energy? I want memory. I want. focus. I want creativity. I want. connection. I want passion. Lol just. doesn't fit any of them, right? I'm. like, if I got a tattoo, I don't have. any. And uh beware of them, right? New.

research on lymphas and tattoos. Um, say. it louder because I do not want my kids. to get tattoos. Yeah. So, but I have. one, but you know, um, I've done a lot. of stupid things. I know my wife got one. and like completely freaked me out. Um, but it was like our daughter's birthday. on the back of her. Mine is my dad's. handwriting and he passed away. So, at. least it's not like a um, if I got one, it would be does it fit? Does my behavior fit the goals I have.

for my life? So, with all of my. patients, one of the first things I do. is an exercise called the onepage. miracle. On one piece of paper, write. down what you want. What do you want out. of life in your. relationships? So, if you're married, what do you want with your spouse or you. have a partner? What do you want with. your children? What do you want with. your. family? What do you want with your. money? What do you want with your work? What do you want with your.

physical, emotional, and spiritual. health? What do you want? And then, does. it fit? In my book, um, I brought you a. copy. It's called Your Brain Is Always. Listening. One of my favorite books. Uh, I rewrote the 12step program because, you know, the addiction 12step program. was written in the 1930s and there's no. neuroscience in it. I didn't realize it. was written that long ago. I assumed. they would be updating it. No. Wow. And.

so I updated it. And so step one is. admitting your life is out of control. And from a neuroscience perspective, I'm. like, no, that's step two. Step one is. what do you want? Relationships, work, money, physical, emotional, spiritual. health. Really get clarity. And then step two, my life is out of. control is real easy. because it doesn't fit what you want,

right? For speaking of addicts, are you. able when you scan someone's brain, is. there neurons that are going off if. someone has an addictive personality? So, I wrote another book called Unchain. Your Brain: Breaking the Addictions That. Steal Your Life. And it's not one thing, it's like six different things. And so, you have to know what type. And when I. first started scanning in 1991, I was.

the director of a substance abuse. treatment program and their brains were. so bad. Wow. I mean, one of the reasons. I don't drink is it makes your brain. look older than you are. Um, their. brains look smaller. They look. shriveled. And I'm like, I have a poster. that hangs in about 100,000 schools and. prisons and um doctor's offices around. the world called which brain do you. want? Healthy scan, drug affected scans.

And it's no. Um but they're impulsive addicts. So. people who don't really think about it. all the time, but they can't control. their impulses when they get a craving. They're compulsive addicts. People think. about it all the time. They can't get. away from it. They're impulsive. compulsive addicts where they have. combinations of that. Sad addicts, anxious addicts, and head trauma addicts.

that if you have a bad injury, you're. much more likely to have trouble saying. no to drugs and alcohol. And so if you. know the type, right? So for example, our impulsive addicts very high in our. ADD group. Uh our compulsive addicts. higher in our OCD group. Uh it's so. fascinating. And you have 11 um offices. Where are they at if people want to go.

and get scanned by you? So big places. like New York and Atlanta and uh. Hollywood, Florida, Chicago, uh Dallas. We have a new clinic in. Phoenix, uh Orange County, Enino, just north of. Los Angeles, uh San Francisco, and. Seattle. Amazing. I mean, I went to the. one in Enino. Um I have been doing. hyperbaric and stuff like that since. I've seen you. you are also the person.

that's got me on saffron um saffron. pills I take and it's about mood. adjustments like there's so I and I I do. believe that saffron really works I love. it and there's no side effects if you. don't but I would love I do want to go. back and get another scan with you just. why not and cuz also last time I didn't. do my treatments with you I was just at. a different place in my life and I want. to be I'm ready to take the brain health.

journey with you. I would love that. I. am. Can we talk about saffron for a. little bit? Yes. Because a lot of people. don't know this. There are now. 26 randomized controlled trials showing. it is equally effective in treating. depression as Prozac and Zoloft and. Willbutrin, but dramatically fewer side. effects. And so I started paying. attention to saffron about 25 years ago.

when the first study came out. And what. really piqued my attention because there. are a lot of supplements that have. anti-depressant effects like St. John's. wart. Um but it was pro-sexual and that I'm. like cuz things like Lexapro and Prozac. and Zolaf, they decrease libido and you. have a harder time having an orgasm. And. I'm like, "No, I don't want to do that. for my patients. I want them to like me.

I want their sex life to be better." And. that could make you even more mess it. up, depressed, right? And so I'm like, and then over the last 25 years, now. there's 26 randomized controlled trials. Helps with mood, helps with PMS, helps. one study with hot flashes. It helps. memory. five studies with Alzheimer's. disease. It helps improve memory. There's five studies with.

ADHD. And I'm like, memory, mood, and. sex. So, we released Happy Saffron. That's. the one we make um February of 2020. So, right before the pandemic, and I think. it just got me through the pandemic. I. think it got a lot of people through the. pandemic. Yeah. So there's folklore in. Persia. If you're too happy, you must. have had saffron. Well, that is the one that I take is the.

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fatravel.com/clo. Let them know we sent. you because great travel doesn't just. happen, it's planned. So Dr. Aean, I got a brain scan from you. a few years ago and I would love to go. over the scans with you. you I know you. brought them in today. Well, let me show. you a healthy scan. Okay, so we do a. study called Spect S PCT. And Spect. looks at blood flow and activity. It. looks at how your brain works and it. basically shows us three things. Good.

activity, too little or too much. And. then our job is to balance it. Okay, these images are looking at the outside. surface and um here we're looking. underneath the brain down from the top. one side then the other and the color. doesn't matter in these. It should just. be full even and symmetrical. Okay, the.

images on the right, the color does. matter. Blue is average. activity. Red is the top 15%, white's. the top 8%. Okay. So, white's like the. super active areas of the brain and they. should be here in the. back called the. cerebellum and it's the Rodney. Dangerfield part of the brain. It gets. no respect. Okay. Now, a lot of young. people don't know who Rodney Dangerfield.

is and it makes me feel old, but he's a. very famous comedian who always said, "I. get no respect." And then he'd talk. about why I didn't get any respect. And. when you came to first see me, you. wanted a better memory. You wanted to. talk about the car accident. You had you. could get stuck on things. And there was. some past emotional trauma. And I know. if we look at your brain, your brain got. hurt. Mhm. And you can actually see the.

left front side of your brain. Um, there's a hole. Now, it's not a physical. hole, but what it means is there's. significantly less blood flow, less. activity than there could be or should. be. Right. Right. And even though you. scored well on the CPT test, on the X. test, when we tested you again, your. focus was like 17% like in a scale of 0.

to 100. It wasn't awesome. And that. could go with decreased here. And I. think this is trauma, physical trauma. And you had a car accident right when. you were 16. Tell me about it. I had a. car accident at 16 and I went through my. windshield with my head. Um, and my. lower body was stuck under the steering. wheel and I was knocked out. Um, and so. I believe that's definitely probably.

what that is. And that and a lot of. people don't understand if you go, "Hey. Daniel, what's the single most important. thing you've learned from. 260,000 scans?" Mild traumatic brain. injury is a major cause of psychiatric. problems and nobody knows about it. because nobody's looking at the brain. That's that one accident can literally. change the trajectory of someone's life.

because people who. have concussions. often develop something called Erlin. syndrome. I R L E N. and those patients often have migraines. Do you have migraines? I do. I've. suffered from them since the sixth grade. though. So prior so prior to this? Yes. I think they could have been hormonal. but I'm on I take a medication for them. and it's literally changed my life cuz.

mine were debilitating like I could not. if I got a migraine I would have to. cancel on you. I could never be under. these lights. So I want you to learn. about Erlin syndrome. So it was actually. developed by Helen Erlin. She was a. school psychologist. She realized that. certain colors of the light spectrum. disrupted brain function and caused. people to look like they had ADD or. learning problems or. migraines and often depth perception.

issues as well. And on my scans, they. often have increased activity in certain. parts of the brain. Um, if you go to. erland.com, there's a self test you can. take and if you have it, I'll connect. you, okay, with the Erlin Clinic and. it's you write that down so I could go. to that site. Something as simple as. colored filtered. lenses dramatically changes people's.

lives. That's incredible. Okay, I'm. going to do that. I have so many stories. with Erlin. Okay, I'm going to do that. It's so helpful. Um, but back to your. scan. Trouble in the front and you hurt. your opposite side temporal lobe, which. could be involved in mood and memory and. anxiety and irritability. And so likely.

what happened is your head hit the. windshield, probably the left side of. your head, but the force went toward the. right side of your skull. So it was. probably this kind of impact to your. brain. I've I'm sure I've had a few head trauma. situations. I mean, I I think I even told you like I. remember I slipped in a shower and like. I cracked even some of my back teeth and. I hit my head. I used to horseback ride.

I've fallen off horses a few times. Things that I just don't put myself in. those positions anymore. I obviously. still shower, but I besides that I try. to wrap myself in bubble wrap. How old. are your children? Uh my daughter will. be seven in April and I have a 2 and 1. half-year-old son. And he shouldn't play. football? No, he will not. It's like the. research is so clear and we should not. let him hit a soccer ball or your. daughter hit a soccer ball with their.

head. It's like no. Um, tennis is great. Table tennis is the best uh coordination. exercises, dancing, all that is. amazing. But we have to love our. children's brains. Do you know I have a. new book called Raising Mentally Strong. Kids? I read about that in my notes, I. think. Yeah, tell me about your book. And in large part, we have to love and. care for their brains and teach them.

So, there's a game. So, I have a game. It's called Chloe's game for my. daughter. And is this good for your. brain or bad for it? And if I would say. avocado, she'd go two thumbs up. God's. butter. Yeah. If I said blueberries, she'd put her little hands on her hips. and go, "Are they organic?" Because. non-organic blueberries hold more. pesticides than almost any other fruit. I'm like, "Oh, of course they're. organic." She goes, "God's candy." I.

said, "Talking back to your redheaded. mother." She goes, "Oh, very bad. Too. much stress.". Um, I'm going to make my kids play that. game. Yes. And you can still call it. Chloe's game. You can see. Have you. heard of EMDR before? I haven't. So, I'. I love it so much. I first learned about. it in the early 90s, but a lot of people. when they've had trauma, they do. everything they can to not think about.

it. Right. Right. To block it out and. when they get triggered, they drink or. they smoke pot or do whatever. Um, with. EMDRs, you actually bring it up and they. have your eyes going back and. forth. and it begins to integrate the trauma, connect it to other things in the past, and then it dissipates. Oh, wow. It's so. cool. But is it like therapy that.

you know sometimes I don't know if. you've done therapy but sometimes you. will do therapy and you talk about I've. done therapy for a long time and you. know sometimes you'll do like you'll. talk about your traumas and then you're. more upset about everything. So this. does the opposite. Okay, is you bring it. up and then that dissipates. I love. that. And I always want my patients. going into the pain rather than blocking. the pain because when you suppress the.

pain with alcohol, it always comes back. and rebounds it. When you go through it, um, you begin to understand it and. process it. So I did a study on EMDR on. police officers who all left work after. they were involved in shootings. So they. had emotional trauma and average of. eight sessions they all went back to. work and it calmed down the diamond in. their brain. And for therapy my favorite.

things to do one love your brain. Two. stop believing every stupid thing you. think. So I have a children's book. called Captain Snout and the superpower. questions. It's about um killing the. ants. and stands for automatic negative. thoughts. Thoughts that come into your. mind automatically and ruin your day. And I was 28 years old in my psychiatric. residency when my one of my professors.

said, "You have to teach your patients. not to believe every stupid thing they. think." I'm 28 years old, right? I'm a. double um in my residency, finished. medical school. I'm really well. educated. No one had ever told me that. before. I believed every stupid thing I. thought. So, here's the exercise. Whenever you feel sad or mad or nervous. or out of control, write down what. you're thinking? And then ask yourself,

is it true? Can I absolutely know that's true? How. does that thought make me feel? Terrible. How would I feel without the. thought? So much up here. And then you. take the original thought and you turn. it to the opposite and you ask yourself. if the opposite of the thought is. bothering me is true. This is so cool. It's so powerful. And so basically I. teach all my patients one page miracle. What do you want? Then we have to kill.

the ants, the automatic negative. thoughts. And then whatever trauma is. there, we use things like EMDR to help. them get rid of it with a healthy brain. Yes. What I love, something you said, and I didn't think of it like this, is. that your brain is one thing and your. mind is another thing. And I don't think. a lot of people consider those to be two. different entities, but they are. Can. you talk about that a little bit? Well, your brain, the moment by moment.

physical function of your brain creates. your mind. And if your brain's not right, your. mind's not right. But if your brain is. healthy, you still have to program your. mind. And it's programmed by what you. allow it to. do. And if you're not really thinking. about it and spending 3 hours on social. media, Tik Tok's programming your mind.

Yes. Or Facebook is programming your. mind. Yes. So, you want to be very. careful because their goal is money. So, they want mind share because then they. can get into your wallet and. um it's not necessarily good for you. No. What I something I did last night. which is something that you do is well I. pray every night with my kids and then I.

do my own adult prayers for me every. that's a non-negotiable every single. night. But something that I implemented. last night and it's because of you was. the recounting the. microhappies. I don't know what you call. it but the the good things that happened. to me that day from but from the. smallest of the small. Um, and I had a. great day yesterday, but I think because. I was recounting the like the littlest. thing, I was like, "No, I loved just.

getting my coffee first." Cuz in the. morning, I wake up and I wake up at 5 at. the latest and I'll have my alone time. and I do my Bible verse and then I sit. by myself and have my coffee and reflect. on that. Then I start my day. I like to. set the tone for my day. But I don't. think I realized how happy that makes me. until I did what you suggested, which is. just recount your day and what are the. little things that make you happy. And. it was such a beautiful lesson. And I. was smiling while I was talking,

recounting my day. And I just wanted to. say thank you for that cuz it's such a. minor thing, but it's the biggest. simple, right? It's so simple. But if. you do it on a regular basis, so every. night I go to bed and I say a prayer and. then I go, "What went well today?" Yeah. And I start at the beginning of my day. and I I'm structured hour by hour. What. did I like about the day? And the bad. stuff shows up and I'm like, "No, not.

now, later." And I've go back to what. went well. People who do that for just. three weeks notice a significant. increase in their level of happiness. Oh. my gosh, you are a vessel of knowledge. and insight. And I'm just so grateful. that you came and shared all this with. me and my viewers and listeners. And I'm. not kidding. I am going on spring break.

with my kids this weekend. But when I. come back, I think I want to make my. first stop to come and see you and do. another scan. I love that. But yes, I. just wanted to say thank you. This was. fascinating and I will definitely see. you in a few weeks when I'm back from. I'm so honored and thank you. Thank you, Dr. Aean.