tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post3355485582585903429..comments2023-11-24T03:21:08.711-05:00Comments on ADHD World: Science or Scam: Neuro-imaging for ADHD?Keith Connershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15536558820126604225noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post-61666910598654139882008-10-13T13:31:00.000-04:002008-10-13T13:31:00.000-04:00And Dr. Rubin, it is too bad that you make light o...And Dr. Rubin, it is too bad that you make light of presidential brain health.<BR/><BR/>After eight years of a president with obvious neurocognitive challenges -- and the mess that has wrought -- one would think you'd take a more responsible position. <BR/><BR/>We need experts to educate the public about these concerns, not deny and minimize them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post-28556712680712534452008-10-13T12:38:00.000-04:002008-10-13T12:38:00.000-04:00You know, I understand academicians' complaints ab...You know, I understand academicians' complaints about Dr. Amen. But living here in the Bay Area and knowing many patients treated by Dr. Amen when he practiced here, I know that most charges against him simply aren't true. I've encountered not one person who has been lumped into one of his sub-types, based on a brain scan. Not one. <BR/><BR/>But I do know many people helped by Dr. Amen after being deemed "treatment failures" by a great many clinicians -- clinicians who no doubt sing in the anti-Amen chorus. But these are psychiatrists who didn't even think to consider the possibility of mini-seizures or the importance of diet to brain health or the impact of solvents used on-the-job on the patient's brain. Go figure.<BR/><BR/>What's interesting is that most of Amen's critics, when they are honest, always grudgingly admit that they like him and that he is a good clinician! Do you know how rare it is to find a good clinician, especially for complicated diagnoses? Is there no proof in the pudding? <BR/><BR/>As far as I can see -- in actual practice -- Amen has never used the scans to diagnose. And he has repeatedly said they do not serve that purpose. So, why do his critics keep using it to discredit him?<BR/><BR/> I think the academicians and mainstream clinicians simply don't understand the public's complaints about THEM -- that they are sometimes more interested in theories and egotistically protecting their own turf than in actually alleviating people's suffering. <BR/><BR/>You think Amen's scans are expensive? Personally, I advise people against them until standard treatment protocols have been tried and proved insufficient. But do you know how many clinicians don't even use protocols? They are winging it! I see it every day -- horribly reckless prescribing with after effects the clinician never sees. They just assume the patient became non-compliant! Talk about expensive! This kind of sloppy treatment, which is the norm, leads to lost jobs, divorce, bankruptcy, and worse.<BR/><BR/>Do you also know how many thousands of dollars people spend on worthless therapy -- again, the kind of therapy that actually wrecks lives and marriages?<BR/><BR/>People need help, and they need it in terms they can understand. They're tired of clinicians whose rigid criteria (often based on less-than strong research) mean that they, their patients, walk away feeling hopeless.<BR/><BR/>I recently exhibited my book about Adult ADHD at the SmartMarriage conference in San Francisco, and I was overjoyed to see how many people had seen Dr. Amen's show on PBS. It meant they were finally thinking of the brain as an organ. Imagine that. The finer points of the "Amen controversy" are lost on them. There is no relevance at all. <BR/><BR/>Amen opens people's minds to the idea that their long-standing "personality problems" can possibly be addressed. And that is nothing short of revolutionary.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I wish that ADHD experts had gone after a certain "ADHD is a gift" guru with the same ferocity that they've gone after Dr. Amen. That delusion has harmed people far more than anything Dr. Amen could possibly do. Talk about basing his omnipresent media pitch on thin air -- or even the complete opposite of established research. Where's the outcry there?<BR/><BR/>It puzzles me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post-62806396920624369072008-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:002008-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:00Maybe I should have come here first before I wrote...Maybe I should have come here first before I wrote my review! I shall try hard not to write any more mumbo jumbo.<BR/>CheersMaddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05828186178060722812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post-82941627341433054532008-09-25T16:43:00.000-04:002008-09-25T16:43:00.000-04:00Dr. Amen recently has extended his "diagnostic" cl...Dr. Amen recently has extended his "diagnostic" claims way beyond recognized psychiatric syndromes to, e.g., personality traits. I have taken him to task on this; see: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-rubin11dec11,0,3268796.story<BR/><BR/>Robert T. Rubin, MD, PhDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243707112734856693.post-91954218173351304522008-09-24T20:26:00.000-04:002008-09-24T20:26:00.000-04:00This is a very good dispatch of Dr. Amen. For some...This is a very good dispatch of Dr. Amen. For some reason, our local public television station has been promoting him and his materials prominently during its fund raiser. Okay, so it's the San Francisco PBS station. Too bad they don't have advisors like Keith Conners.Bernard Carrollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16203083806436919715noreply@blogger.com