Can knowing if your cingulate gyrus is overactive change your whole life?
Can the right drug or herb do more than just cover up depression or anxiety, but actually restore & heal the brain?
Can physical dysfunction in the brain rob a committed Christian of the joy that is possible in Christ?
If you read this book, you’ll discover the answer to all these questions is an unqualified YES.
This Is Your Brain on Joyis a highly readable introduction to cutting edge concepts of brain function in health and emotional disorders. The author, Dr. Earl Henslin, is a practicing psychologist who has collaborated for ten years with Dr. Daniel Amen, a pioneer in the field of brain imaging. They treat people suffering from depression, anxiety, panic, rage, “ADD” and other problems not by labeling them with a disease, but by considering what anatomic part of their brain is malfunctioning, and then helping them through supplements, therapy, medicine, & other supportive & healing measures.
This is not the typical paradigm that was taught to most physicians, including me. ”Business-as-usual” medicine is to fit a person’s symptoms to a standardized diagnosis, then use a drug recommended for that diagnosis. That approach was formalized decades ago, when we had few tools to see function & dysfunction within the living brain.
There is a better way. Physicians like Dr. Amen are performing advanced brain scanning on tens of thousands of patients and seeing the correlations between symptoms and brain function, and seeing how different therapies targeted toward specific areas of the brain can bring radical improvements in people’s lives.
This book starts out with an introduction to the relationship of a biochemically healthy brain to a joy-filled life, and how damage or dysfunction within the brain will sabotage any effort to live a fulfilling life. The second section of the book details what dysfunction in each of the brain’s mood-related centers (prefrontal, cingulate gyrus, basal ganglia, deep limbic, and temporal lobes) look like, and details specific therapies to help each area. There is a final chapter which draws on the New Testament book Philippians to list six ways to increase joy in your life. The book’s only major weakness is that it largely overlooks the spiritual components to a life of joy such as freedom from sin & the new birth, but it is understandable that this book’s focus be on the physical/biochemical, while there are many other fine books to read dealing specifically with the spiritual.
If you or a friend or family member struggle with any emotional or mood disorder, this book will give you new insight, new hope, & new ideas on how your brain & your life can be all that it can be. Highly recommended.
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