Change Your Brain Every Day - Can We Change The Way We View Addiction?

Episode Date: November 30, 2017

As is often the case in many mental health cases, there is a stigma in how we see people who suffer from addiction. But what happens when we shift our entire paradigm of addiction issues? In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Tana Amen shares her story about how, against her wishes, she was chosen to be a messenger of change.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Welcome back. We have a very special podcast for you today. But before we get to that, I want to read from On Kilter 180 from the United States. Great podcast and worth listening to. I did not realize that foods can reverse brain damage. When I listened to one of the podcasts, I was sold. Kudos to Dr. Amen and Tana Amen for their research, and may it help a broad majority

of individuals that listen to this vital podcast. Thank you for letting me review this product. I'm so grateful. So you and I have talked a lot about why we do what we do. And ultimately, it's about the stories of transformation and I had a special person that we met from the Salvation Army she started following me around I was a little rock star in her world and she wanted to learn about neuroscience and she was a director of one of the largest drug treatment programs in southern california and the more she learned about our work the more she realized she needed to become

a brain warrior she needed to be healthy she needed to get physically healthy she wasn't and So she took your class. Right. And why don't you tell the rest of it? So Laura is a pretty special person and she loves what she does. And she was running 185 bed chemical addiction recovery program. That's what they call it. And she took my class and she lost 55 pounds, which was really the side effect of what she did because what she really did was she lost the inflammation. She lost her IBS, her rosacea, um, hot flashes, headaches, things like that. And she got so much better. And as she felt better, she realized that she had this epiphany

that the people that she was trying to help get better and recover from addiction, they were unintentionally not helping. They might even be making some of them worse with the bad food they were feeding them. And so when she had that, that, you know, realization, she thought, well, I have to do something to change it. And so she came to us and she was like, I really, really want you to work with me to help me, you know, revamp this menu and, and see if we can start feeding these people better. And they're on a rock bottom budget. I know I've told this story before, but, um, this time I'm going to tell it from the standpoint of, you know, an epiphany I had. So I wanted to work with her. I wanted to work with her. I wanted to help her. And so I was

excited about it. I went and I met with her in her office, which was a nice safe place to be. And so I liked it and I was helping her and we were going over the, all of the menus and the budgeting and all of this stuff. And that was challenging, but it was good. It was like, how are we going to do this on this budget? And then she stopped me and she said, I need you to speak to these people. I need you to come in and work with them directly. And it sort of stopped me in my tracks for a minute. And I didn't even know what to really say at first. And I said yes without meaning yes.

I was like, because I didn't know what to say to her. And so I was like, oh, we could probably do that. And I remember going home and talking to you and saying, I don't want to do this. And so she invited us to go to an event that night where a lot of them were telling their stories. Now keep in mind the program she ran, most of the people that were there were there for about a year or longer, and they were court ordered to be there from prison. So this was not your average, like, Oh, I'm a celebrity. I'm going to go for a month type of program. That's not what this was. This was not a cushy program whatsoever. So these were some pretty hardcore guys, some of these people and women. And so we went to one of their events and they were telling their stories and I started

to feel really sick to my stomach. I mean, like physically, seriously sick to my stomach. I was uncomfortable. I didn't want to be there. And I remember leaving and I was really quiet and you said, what's wrong? And I started to cry and I said, I can't do this. I can't do it. And you said, why not?

And I was crying and I was like, because God picked the wrong person this time. And you gave me that look that irritates me. And you said, no, God picked the perfect person. And I'm like, it kind of made me mad. Like, if I'm being really sincere, it made me mad. And I wanted to be able to do it, but I didn't know if I was mad at you. I didn't know if I was mad at me I mean I hated myself for being so judgmental but the thought going through my head was I freaking hate drug addicts I'm just being truthful I hate drugs because of what you grew up I hate them and they they it's just the lifestyle's vile and I was was angry. And I'm like, I can't do this. It's like, make better choices. I was like mad. And it sounds horrible coming out of my mouth

now, but it's how I felt at the time. And so I was so sort of venomous about it. You were like, wow, you were like, you were like net, you were even more convinced that it was like the perfect person to do this, which, which I found annoying. But you also were like, I think you maybe should get some, you know, see someone for some of these thoughts you're having. And, um, and I didn't even realize I actually, up until that moment, didn't realize just how judgmental I was. I actually didn't know that I was, you know, I was doing all these good things to help all these people. And I didn't really stop to think about the fact that I had a lot of anger that was built up over the years. And, um, I remember the first day that I went to go speak to them on stage and there's, um, at least 185 people in the room that were, you know, people that were attending and some

of their family members. And, um, I'm on stage and they're giving me that, they've got arms crossed, you know, you know, body language is like arms crossed. And they were, what do you know? What, yeah. What do you know about my life and where I've been? And I could see it. I could see, and I could just see the, you know, the, the standoffishness and they're leaning back in their chairs. And, and I finally said, I said, I can see some of you sitting in your chairs judging me. Guess what? I'm up here judging you. And you could just see that you saw them, like they were looking at me like, what? Like I could see the looks on their faces. Like I could

see the total shift. And it was just like, it totally shocked some of them. I'm like, I'm up here judging you the same way you're judging me. And you think that you know where I've been, just like I think I know where you've been. And I don't even know where these words were coming from. But I told them my story about when I was a little girl. And I sat there telling them the story about when I was four years old. And I remember the police coming to the door and my mom and my grandmother screaming and falling to the floor and there were police in the door and my mom and my grandmother screaming and falling to the floor and the, there were police in the house and, um, my uncle had been murdered and he was murdered because of my own drug deal with my other uncle. It's a long story, but bottom line is I had

an uncle who was a heroin addict and, um, the crowd you run in when you're a heroin addict isn't very nice. So my other uncle was murdered. And so it was, it was horrible growing up. And I remember that uncle and thinking, I, you know, the walking dead, the zombies, that's what him and his friends reminded me of. And they used to scare me half to death. There was, it was always, it always felt scary and unstable. It always felt frightening when I was a child, when they were around. And even if they weren't around, cause they were always breaking in the house to steal something for drug money. So it just was always a scary place in my house. And so the best thing he ever did for me was be a drug addict because it scared me so badly about drugs. They reminded me of zombies.

So that was the connection I made early on. Heroin was like you made you a zombie. And so it was interesting. I was telling them the story and I could see them all of a sudden they're leaning forward and I was watching them. But the epiphany that I had, I was standing there and I had this epiphany and I thought to myself, oh my God,

they're just like me. They grew up like I grew up. We were the same. Why I ended up where I ended up and they ended up where they ended up, I have no idea. Like, I don't know. I don't know why that happened. But we were the same when we were little. And the epiphany that I had was, I don't know why the hell God put me here, because I sure as hell don't want to be here right now. But he did. And you were right. He picked me for a reason. And I don't know what the reason was because I was not the nicest person about it. I didn't have a good attitude about it. You're actually not nice to me.

I was not nice to you. I was not nice to you about it. I was sort of resentful, but in that moment, it shifted, and I'm looking at these people, and I realized that I wasn't going to be able to probably help all of them.

I might not even help many of them, but if I helped 10 of them, that would be 10 less scared little girls, 10 less scared little boys growing up. And it just, it struck me. I'm like, who am I to take that away from some child? Like, it's not about them. It's not about me.

It's about the gift you could give them. It's about the gift of healing moving forward for some child. And did you get any stories? Did anybody give you any? Now you're just being a jerk.

Like validation. Now you're just being a jerk. Like validation. Now you're just being a jerk. The stories were amazing. Yeah, now you're just being a jerk. Because you know the stories. What did Thomas say? Failed his GED three times. He was overweight.

He was depressed. He was suicidal. He just came from prison. He was a gangbanger. He had six kids. Easy to judge him is bad. Yeah, he had no idea. Harder to go, why?

And he had no idea the power that food would have. I mean, I'm not going to downplay God in his life. I mean, God was the big shift for him. Well, it's those four circles we talk about. Biological, food was killing him. for him. Well, it's those four circles we talk about. The four circles, right? Biological, food was killing him. Right. The food he was choosing was food.

Most of these guys had never eaten vegetables. They didn't even know what vegetables tasted like. It was crazy. The only green they ate was if it was food coloring. It was crazy. But he said he never realized that that stupid, he thought he was stupid, and he didn't realize that it was the food giving him brain fog.

The mental clarity. He lost 85 pounds. Past his GED. Yeah. And what did he write to you when he graduated? I have been tested, but now I have a testimonial. No, my life was a mess. My life was a mess.

Now I have a message. I have been tested, but now I have a testimonial. I was a victim. Now I have a message. I have been tested, but now I have a testimonial. I was a victim. Now I am victorious. Yeah. Stay with us. Thank you for listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Go to iTunes and leave a review, and you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to get a free signed copy of The Brain Warrior's Way

and The Brain Warrior's Way cookbook we give away every month.