Daniel Amen

Daniel Amen was born in Encino, California, in July 1954 to American-born Lebanese parents. After attending the University of Maryland, West Germany Campus from 1974 to 1975, he went to Orange Coast College, where he received an AA degree in 1976.[https://danielamenmd.com/about/ Meet Dr. Daniel Amen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413083509/https://danielamenmd.com/about/ |date=2021-04-13 }} - website danielamenmd.com He subsequently obtained a BA degree in biology from Southern California College (now Vanguard University) in 1978,{{cite news|url=http://articles.dailypilot.com/2002-03-26/news/export38602_1_newport-beach-amen-graduation|title=Newport Beach resident receives Vanguard honor|publisher=Daily Pilot|date=2002-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910083657/http://articles.dailypilot.com/2002-03-26/news/export38602_1_newport-beach-amen-graduation |archive-date=2017-09-10}} and an MD degree from Oral Roberts University School of Medicine in 1982.{{cite web |title= Daniel Amen, MD |url= http://health.usnews.com/doctors/daniel-amen-434619 |work= Doctor Finder |publisher= U.S. News & World Report |access-date= 2014-03-09 |archive-date= 2014-03-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140310001130/http://health.usnews.com/doctors/daniel-amen-434619 |url-status= live }}{{cite web |title= Biography: Daniel G. Amen, MD |work= WebMD |url= http://www.webmd.com/daniel-g-amen |access-date= 2014-03-09 |archive-date= 2014-03-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140310001948/http://www.webmd.com/daniel-g-amen |url-status= live }} Amen did his general psychiatric training at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and his child and adolescent psychiatry training at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. Amen is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry, with a subspecialty in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.{{cite web |url=https://www.certificationmatters.org/ |website=Certification Matters |title=Practitioner Database |publisher=American Board of Medical Specialties |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326105019/https://www.certificationmatters.org/ |url-status=live }}

Amen is the chief executive officer and medical director of the twelve Amen Clinics.

Amen's practices use single-photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT, scans of brain activity in an attempt to compare the activity of a person's brain to a known healthy model.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} Amen prescribes both medication and non-medicative courses of treatment, depending on the case. He also performs before-and-after SPECT scans, which claim to assess the effectiveness of treatment.{{cite book |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=EzMhV3EpdqEC&pg=PA98 98] |title= Getting Started with Neurofeedback |chapter= Ch. 6 Brain Maps, Quantitative Electroencephalograph, and Normative Databases |first= John N. |last= Demos |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-0-393-07553-3}} An initial evaluation with SPECT at Amen's clinics cost about $4,000 in 2020.{{cite journal |last1=Nagappan |first1=Ashwini |last2=Kalokairinou |first2=Louiza |last3=Wexler |first3=Anna |title=Ethical and Legal Considerations of Alternative Neurotherapies |journal=AJOB Neuroscience |date=October 2021 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=257–269 |doi=10.1080/21507740.2021.1896601 |pmid=33759705 |pmc=8460707 |language=en |issn=2150-7740}} Amen's clinics claim to have the world's largest database of functional brain scans for neuropsychiatry. {{Asof|2009}}, Amen said he had scanned 50,000 people at an estimated cost of $170 million.{{Cite journal |last1= Chancellor |first1= B. |last2= Chatterjee |first2= A. |author-link2= Anjan Chatterjee (neuroscientist) |doi= 10.1080/21507740.2011.611123 |title= Brain branding: When neuroscience and commerce collide |journal= AJOB Neuroscience |volume= 2 |issue= 4 |page= 18 |year= 2011 |s2cid= 17157310 |quote= Amen Clinics, Inc., has scanned more than 50,000 patients at a cost close to $170 million. |url= https://repository.upenn.edu/neuroethics_pubs/81 |archive-date= 2021-02-12 |access-date= 2019-08-16 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210212122604/https://repository.upenn.edu/neuroethics_pubs/81/ |url-status= live }}

The effectiveness of SPECT scans in treating psychiatric conditions has been the subject of scientific debate.{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=James A |last2=Mizgalewicz |first2=Ania |last3=Illes |first3=Judy |date=2013-08-08 |title=Triangulating perspectives on functional neuroimaging for disorders of mental health |journal=BMC Psychiatry |volume=13 |pages=208 |doi=10.1186/1471-244X-13-208 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-244X |pmc=3751061 |pmid=23924295}} John Seibyl of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has stated that it is settled that SPECT is of no value for diagnosing psychological disorders. In 2008, Tufts professor and writer Daniel Carlat published an article on Amen's use of SPECT imaging.{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-06/mf_neurohacks |title=Brain scans as mind readers? Don't believe the hype |magazine=Wired |access-date=2014-03-11 |date=May 19, 2008 |author-link=Daniel Carlat |last=Carlat |first=Daniel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525005549/http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-06/mf_neurohacks |archive-date=May 25, 2008 }} After visiting Amen's clinics, Carlat called Amen's interpretations of the scans "spectacularly meaningless".

A 2012 review by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that neuroimaging studies "have yet to impact significantly the diagnosis or treatment of individual patients."{{cite web |last1= First |first1= M. |last2= Botterton |first2= K. |last3= Carter |first3= C. |last4= Castellano |first4= F.X. |last5= Dickstein |first5= D.P. |last6= Drevets |first6= W. |last7= Kim |first7= K.L. |last8= Pescosolido |first8= M.F. |last9= Rausch |first9= S. |last10= Seymour |first10= K.E. |last11= Sheline |first11= Y. |last12= Zubieta |first12= J.-K. |date= 1 July 2012 |title= Consensus Report of the APA Work Group on Neuroimaging Markers of Psychiatric Disorders |type= Resource Document |department= APA Official Actions |url= http://www.psychiatry.org/file%20library/learn/archives/rd2012_neuroimaging.pdf |publisher= Board of Trustees; American Psychiatric Association (APA) |access-date= 2014-03-14 |archive-date= 2013-09-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130923181710/http://psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Learn/Archives/rd2012_Neuroimaging.pdf }} The review also states that neuroimaging studies "do not provide sufficient specificity and sensitivity to accurately classify individual cases with respect to the presence of a psychiatric illness." The APA has concluded that "the available evidence does not support the use of brain imaging for clinical diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents."{{cite web |title=Resource Document on Brain Imaging and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry With Special Emphasis on Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) |date=1 January 2005 |publisher= Joint Reference Committee; American Psychiatric Association (APA) |url= http://www.psychiatry.org/file%20library/learn/archives/rd2005_spect.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150523023035/http://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Learn/Archives/rd2005_SPECT.pdf |archive-date= 2015-05-23 |author1=Council on Children, Adolescents |author2=Their Families |access-date= 2014-03-14 |department= APA Official Actions}} According to cognitive neuroscience researcher Martha Farah and psychologist S. J. Gillihan, "[t]he lack of empirical validation has led to widespread condemnation of diagnostic SPECT as premature and unproven."

Questions have been raised about the ethics of selling SPECT scans on the basis of unproven claims: neuroscience professor Martha Farah calls such use "profitable but unproven" and says, "Tens of thousands of individuals, many of them children, have been exposed to the radiation of two SPECT scans and paid thousands of dollars out of pocket (because insurers will not pay) against the advice of many experts".{{cite journal |last= Farah |first= M.J. |author-link= Martha Farah |title= A picture is worth a thousand dollars |journal= Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience |volume= 21 |issue= 4 |pages=623–4 |year= 2009 |pmid= 19296729 |doi= 10.1162/jocn.2009.21133 |s2cid= 29300297 |type= Editorial}} Professor of psychology Irving Kirsch has said of Amen's theory: "Before you start promulgating this and marketing it and profiting from it, you should ethically be bound to demonstrate it scientifically in a peer-reviewed, respected journal", as otherwise, "you're just going down the path of being a snake oil salesman".

In a 2011 paper, neuroscientist Anjan Chatterjee discussed example cases that were found on the Amen Clinic's website, including a couple with marital difficulties and a child with impulsive aggression. The paper noted that the examples "violate the standard of care" because a normal clinical diagnosis would have been sufficient and that there "was no reason to obtain functional neuroimaging for diagnostic purposes in these cases." Most patients do not realize that the SPECT scans rely on unproven claims. In 2021, Steven Hyman, director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, stated, "people who are desperate are vulnerable to snake oil, and this has all of the look and feel of a clinic that's preying on people's desperation."{{cite news |last1=Medaris |first1=Anna |title=A controversial Hollywood psychiatrist conducted Bella Hadid's brain scans, inspiring the model to stop drinking |url=https://www.insider.com/bella-hadid-brain-doctor-daniel-amen-psychiatrist-to-celebs-2022-1 |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=Insider |date=27 January 2022}}{{cite news |title=People who think they have CTE are seeking treatment at a controversial brain clinic |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/11/23/1058624003/people-who-think-they-have-cte-are-seeking-treatment-at-a-controversial-brain-cl |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=NPR.org |date=23 November 2021 |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526095823/https://www.npr.org/2021/11/23/1058624003/people-who-think-they-have-cte-are-seeking-treatment-at-a-controversial-brain-cl |url-status=live }}

As reported by The Washington Post in 2012, officials at major psychiatric and neuroscience associations and research centers see Amen's claims for the use of SPECT as "no more than myth and poppycock, buffaloing an unsuspecting public."

One of Amen's clinics provides brain scans for current and former National Football League players.{{cite news |title= Give your head a rest: When it hurts, don't try to play through the pain. You could have a concussion. Tips for avoiding and recovering from a concussion |newspaper= The Boston Globe |first= Joseph |last= Williams |date= February 19, 2007 |url= http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/02/19/give_your_head_a_rest/?page=full |archive-date= March 11, 2014 |access-date= March 11, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140311035621/http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/02/19/give_your_head_a_rest/?page=full |url-status= live }} Amen made the initial diagnosis of brain damage in NFL kicker Tom Dempsey. During medical examinations and scans, Amen found three holes in Dempsey's brain, along with other damage. He has also provided diagnosis and therapy for hockey player Paul Kariya, related to his concussion issues; Amen advised Kariya to retire as a professional, which he did.

Amen's websites market vitamin supplements and a branded range of other dietary supplements.{{cite web |url= http://www.salon.com/2008/05/12/daniel_amen/ |title= Brain scam: Why is PBS airing Dr. Daniel Amen's self-produced infomercial for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease? |work= Salon |access-date= 2014-03-11 |date= May 12, 2008 |last= Burton |first= Robert A. |author-link= Robert A. Burton |archive-date= 2020-06-27 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200627214135/https://www.salon.com/2008/05/12/daniel_amen/ |url-status= live }} These supplements have been promoted for a number of purported health benefits, including a claimed ability to prevent or stop Alzheimer's disease. There is, however, no known benefit from taking such supplements except for specific substance deficiencies.{{cite journal |last1= Guallar |first1= E. |last2= Stranges |first2= S. |last3= Mulrow |first3= C. |last4= Appel |first4= L.J. |last5= Miller |first5= E.R. III |title= Enough is enough: Stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements |journal= Annals of Internal Medicine |volume= 159 |issue= 12 |pages= 850–1 |year= 2013 |pmid= 24490268 |type= editorial |doi= 10.7326/0003-4819-159-12-201312170-00011 |s2cid= 8623113 |doi-access= }} Neurologist Robert Burton has written that he was "just appalled" by the things offered for sale on Amen's "big business" websites, and Harriet Hall has said that Amen prescribes "inadequately tested natural remedies" and "irrational mixtures of nutritional diet supplements" as part of his treatment.{{cite web |last= Hall |first= Harriet |author-link= Harriet A. Hall |url= http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr-amens-love-affair-with-spect-scans/ |title= Dr. Amen's Love Affair with SPECT Scans |publisher= Science-Based Medicine |date= March 19, 2013 |access-date= 2014-03-11 |archive-date= 2013-10-19 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131019084042/http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr-amens-love-affair-with-spect-scans/ |url-status= live }}

Amen's first book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, was published in 1999 and unexpectedly reached The New York Times best seller list after selling tens of thousands of copies in the first year. Publishers Weekly noted that the book "apparently struck a nerve with readers who love a 'scientific' hook."{{cite book |last= Thornton |first= Davi Johnson |title= Brain Culture: Neuroscience and Popular Media |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7rYQsuG5WQC&pg=PA64 |year= 2011 |publisher= Rutgers University Press |isbn= 978-0-8135-5012-1 |pages= 64 et seq |chapter= Practical Neuoscience and Brain-Based Self-Help}}{{cite news |url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19990301/25532-get-a-life.html |title= Get a 'Life' |magazine= Publishers Weekly |first= Judy |last= Quinn |date= March 1, 1999 |volume= 245 |issue= 9}}". . . "the book's stronger than expected out-of-the-gate success."

In his book Making a Good Brain Great, he provided his analysis and recommendations for brain improvement purported to enhance a person's overall happiness and ability. For example, he suggested that hobbies which challenge the brain are important to ensure a happy life, as he believes they force the brain to learn and evolve over time.{{cite book |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=twrhMyKlTBkC&pg=PA340 340] |title= Best You Ever: 365 Ways to be Richer, Happier, Thinner, Smarter, Younger, Sexier, and More Relaxed - Each and Every Day |first= Rebecca |last= Swanner |publisher= Adams Media |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-4405-1071-7}} Davi Thornton characterized the book as consisting of "commonplace recommendations for self-improvement."

Healing the Hardware of the Soul, written by Amen in 2008, was reviewed in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Andrew Leuchter. "Dr. Amen makes a good case for the use of brain imaging to explain and medicalize mental disorders", Leuchter said. "However, the reader who has any degree of familiarity with mental illness and brain science is left unconvinced that his [Amen's] highly commercialized use of scanning is justified." Leuchter concluded that Amen "has not subjected his treatment approaches to the level of systematic scientific scrutiny expected for scientifically based medical practice."{{cite journal |journal= American Journal of Psychiatry |volume= 166 |issue= 5 |year= 2009 |title= Healing the Hardware of the Soul: Enhance Your Brain to Improve Your Work, Love, and Spiritual Life |last= Leuchter |first= A.F. |type= book review |page= 625 |doi= 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08121843 |url= http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/AJP/3890/09aj0625.PDF |archive-date= 2014-03-11 |access-date= 2014-03-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140311180131/http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/AJP/3890/09aj0625.PDF |url-status= live }}

In Amen's The Brain in Love, he described the brain activity that occurs during chanting meditation as similar to that which takes place during the feeling of love and sexual activity.{{cite book |title= The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Chemistry of Love |first1= Maryanne |last1= Fisher |first2= Andrea |last2= Bradford |publisher= Penguin |year= 2010 |at= [https://books.google.com/books?id=7NhcN00C8GQC&pg=PT211 Meditate for Better Sex] |chapter= Ch. 14 Sex Inhibitors |isbn= 978-1-101-47803-5}}

{{anchor|The Daniel Plan}}

In 2013, Amen co-authored with pastor Rick Warren The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, on "how to lead a healthy life".{{cite news |last= Martin |first= Rachel |title= Rick Warren writes a faith-based diet book |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=249570023 |work= Weekend Edition |publisher= NPR News |date= December 8, 2013 |archive-date= December 11, 2019 |access-date= April 5, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191211170509/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=249570023 |url-status= live }} Amen was one of the people—others included Mark Hyman and Mehmet Oz—that Warren recruited to help devise the program.{{cite news |url= https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/24/health/saddleback-warren-diet/ |title= Rick Warren and church tackle obesity |date= January 24, 2012 |first= Madison |last= Park |work= CNN.com |publisher= CNN |department= Health |access-date= 2012-10-20 |archive-date= 2013-04-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130406075523/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/24/health/saddleback-warren-diet |url-status= live }} Warren encouraged adoption of the plan by all member churches in his network of Saddleback churches.{{cite news |url =http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/03/27/preaching-against-foods-that-are-sending-people-to-heaven-early/ |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120327203208/http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/03/27/preaching-against-foods-that-are-sending-people-to-heaven-early/ |url-status =dead |archive-date =March 27, 2012 |title= Church spreads the gospel of healthy eating |first= Joe |last= Piaza |date= March 27, 2012 |work= FoxNews.com |publisher= Fox News Channel |access-date= 2012-10-20}} According to Janice Norris, "The Daniel Plan is...more than a diet. It is a lifestyle program based on biblical principles and five essential components: food, fitness, focus, faith, and friends."{{cite news |url= http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/article/20140107/LIFESTYLE/140109766/0/FRONTPAGE?tag=2&refresh=true#ixzz2qgapArOr |title= Health is wealth: Start a new lifestyle with the Daniel Plan |first= Janice |last= Norris |newspaper= Stuttgart Daily Leader |date= January 7, 2014 |access-date= 2014-01-21 |archive-date= 2014-02-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140203121355/http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/article/20140107/LIFESTYLE/140109766/0/FRONTPAGE?tag=2&refresh=true#ixzz2qgapArOr }} Amen, Warren, and Hyman appeared on the television show The View to discuss the Daniel Plan, and 3,000 people came to a rally at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, to hear the three talk about the plan.{{cite web |date= December 18, 2013 |url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Scoop-THE-VIEW-on-ABC-Week-of-December-23-2013-20131218 |title=Scoop: THE VIEW on ABC - Week of December 23, 2013 |access-date= 2014-01-21 |publisher=Broadway World}}{{cite news |url= http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-c1-higher-power-diet-20140616-story.html#page=1 |title= Cross training: Christians embrace Daniel Plan's Mind-Body-Spirit Diet |first= Mary |last= Macvean |date= June 16, 2014 |newspaper= Los Angeles Times |access-date= June 16, 2014 |archive-date= June 16, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140616235244/http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-c1-higher-power-diet-20140616-story.html#page=1 |url-status= live }}

In 2013, Amen released an updated version of Healing ADD from the Inside Out: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the Seven Types of Attention Deficit Disorder.{{cite news|url=http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/01/04/3694993/desolation-of-smaug-guidebook.html#storylink=cpy |title=Library Bookshelf: Desolation of Smaug guidebook available |newspaper=The Fresno Bee |date=January 4, 2014 |access-date=2014-01-21 |author=Fresno County Public Library Staff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201195139/http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/01/04/3694993/desolation-of-smaug-guidebook.html |archive-date=2014-02-01 }}

In 2017, Amen and his wife, Tana, published The Brain Warrior's Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose, which Harriet Hall reviewed; she wrote: "Much of the advice in this book is mainstream medical advice, and there are helpful practical hints like putting your food on a smaller plate and not shopping for food when you are hungry. The problem is that the good advice is inextricably mixed with false information and misleading statements, and with detailed recommendations that are not supported by science."

Amen has produced television programs about his theories. One of them, "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life", was aired by PBS affiliates 1,300 times in 2008 during fund-raising drives.

Another, "Magnificent Mind at Any Age with Dr. Daniel Amen", was aired before January 1, 2009.{{cite book |last= Carroll |first= Robert Todd |author-link= Robert Todd Carroll |title= The Skeptic's Dictionary |chapter= PBS Infomercial for Daniel Amen's Clinics |chapter-url= http://www.skepdic.com/skeptimedia/skeptimedia30.html |edition= Online |date= January 1, 2009 |access-date= 2014-03-11|title-link= The Skeptic's Dictionary }} Neurologist Michael Greicius, director of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders and principal investigator of the Functional Imaging in Neuropsychiatric Disorders Laboratory at Stanford, stated, "The PBS airing of Amen's program provides a stamp of scientific validity to work which has no scientific validity."{{cite web |title= Translational Research - Stanford Center for Memory Disorders - Neurology & Neurological Sciences - Stanford University School of Medicine: Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease |url= http://neurology.stanford.edu/memory/alzheimers/diagnosing.html |website= neurology.stanford.edu |access-date= 2014-07-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140714144810/http://neurology.stanford.edu/memory/alzheimers/diagnosing.html |archive-date= 2014-07-14 }} These programs have been described as infomercials for Amen's clinics. The program's depiction of the "wonders of ginkgo and other 'natural' products such as St. John's wort." was also criticized. Alternative-medicine skeptic and physician Harriet A. Hall and neurologist Robert A. Burton criticized PBS for the airing of these programs. Michael Getler, the PBS ombudsman, replied that "PBS had nothing to do with the 'Brain' program's content and did not vet the program in any way." Local PBS affiliates "make their own editorial decisions based on their own guidelines about what to air", he wrote.{{cite web |last= Getler |first= Michael |author-link= Michael Getler |date= May 20, 2008 |title= Caution: That Program May Not Be From PBS |url= https://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2008/05/caution_that_program_may_not_b.html |department= PBS Ombudsman |website= pbs.org |publisher= PBS |access-date= 2014-03-14 |archive-date= 2014-03-14 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140314085318/http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2008/05/caution_that_program_may_not_b.html |url-status= live }}

In 2012, The Washington Post Magazine ran a cover story titled "Daniel Amen is the most popular psychiatrist in America. To most researchers and scientists, that's a very bad thing." The Washington Post detailed Amen's lack of acceptance among the scientific community and his monetary conflict of interest. Journalist Sanjiv Bhattacharya wrote that Amen's critics likened him "to a self-help guru rather than a scientist, on account of all the books, DVDs and nutritional supplements which he hawks so shamelessly on infomercials" and that Amen was "the most controversial psychiatrist in America [who] may also be the most commercially successful."{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/9836429/Dr-Daniel-Amen-interview-the-shrink-who-believes-technology-will-replace-the-couch.html |title= Dr Daniel Amen interview: The shrink who believes technology will replace the couch |last= Bhattacharya |first= Sanjiv |date= February 6, 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date= March 11, 2018}} Amen has responded to such criticism by claiming that the criticism comes from jealousy of his financial success and also claiming that his largest source of referrals is from previous patients.

Amen is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.{{cite book |at= Brain Scan Babble p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6E7yyzYhtjwC&pg=PA63 63] |title= The Diseasing of America's Children: Exposing the ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents to Take Back Control |chapter= Ch. 3 Biology in Wonderland |first= John |last= Rosemond |author-link= John Rosemond |publisher= Thomas Nelson |year= 2008 |isbn= 978-1-4185-6921-1}} He has also been an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine.

Amen is the author of more than 30 books, with combined sales of about one million copies. Five of his books have been The New York Times bestsellers as of 2012. In 2015, Amen's The Daniel Plan received the Christian Book of the Year Award.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/05/05/place-holder/ | title=Rick Warren's weight-loss plan named Christian Book of the Year | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=5 May 2015 | access-date=30 June 2015 | author=Charles, Ron | archive-date=29 July 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729071957/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/05/05/place-holder/ | url-status=live }}

• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness (1999) {{ISBN|9780748114689}}
• Healing the Hardware of the Soul: Enhance Your Brain to Improve Your Work, Love, and Spiritual Life (2002) {{ISBN|9780743242356}}
• Healing Anxiety and Depression: Based on Cutting-Edge Brain-Imaging Science Amen and Lisa C. Routh (2004) {{ISBN|0425198448}}
• Images of Human Behavior: A Brain SPECT Atlas (2004) {{ISBN|9781886554047}}
• ADD in Intimate Relationships (2005) {{ISBN|9781886554191}}
• Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance (2006) {{ISBN|9781400082094}}
• Sex on the Brain (2007) {{ISBN|9780307339072}}
• Magnificent Mind at Any Age: Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential (2008) {{ISBN|9780307339096}}
• The Brain in Love: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life (2009) {{ISBN|9780307587893}}
• Unchain Your Brain: 10 Steps to Breaking the Addictions That Steal Your Life (2010) {{ISBN|9781886554382}}
• The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Get Thinner, Smarter, Happier (2011) {{ISBN|9780307463616}}
• Use Your Brain to Change Your Age: Secrets to Look, Feel, and Think Younger Every Day (2012) {{ISBN|9780307888938}}
• The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life (2013) {{ISBN|9780310344308}}
• Unleash the Power of the Female Brain: Supercharging Yours for Better Health, Energy, Mood, Focus, and Sex (2013) {{ISBN|9780307888945}}
• Healing ADD Revised Edition: The Breakthrough Program that Allows You to See and Heal the 7 Types of ADD (2013) {{ISBN|9780425269978}}
• Healing ADD Brain Type Test (2014) {{ISBN|9781886554573}}
• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness (revised) (2015)
• The Brain Warrior's Way Cookbook: Over 100 Recipes to Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose (2016) {{ISBN|9780143109112}}
• Memory Rescue: Supercharge Your Brain, Reverse Memory Loss, and Remember What Matters Most (2017) {{ISBN|9781496425607}}
• Captain Snout and the Super Power Questions (2017) {{ISBN|9780310758327}}
• The Brain Warrior's Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose (2017) {{ISBN|9781101988480}}
• Stones of Remembrance (2017) {{ISBN|1496425960}}
• Feel Better Fast and Make It Last: Unlock Your Brain's Healing Potential to Overcome Negativity, Anxiety, Anger, Stress, and Trauma (2018) {{ISBN|1496430999}}
• The End of Mental Illness: How Neuroscience Is Transforming Psychiatry and Helping Prevent or Reverse Mood and Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, Addictions, PTSD, Psychosis, Personality Disorders, and More (2020) {{ISBN|9781496438157}}
• Your Brain Is Always Listening: Tame the Hidden Dragons That Control Your Happiness, Habits, and Hang-Ups (2021) {{ISBN|9781496438218}}
• You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based on Your Brain Type (2022) {{ISBN|9781496454553}}
• Change Your Brain Every Day: Simple Daily Practices to Strengthen Your Mind, Memory, Moods, Focus, Energy, Habits, and Relationships (2023) {{ISBN|9781496454607}}
• Conquer Your Negative Thoughts (2023) {{ISBN|9781496457660}}
• 30% Happier in 30 Days (2023) {{ISBN|9781496472366}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal |journal= American Journal of Psychiatry |volume= 167 |issue= 5 |year= 2010 |title= Scientifically unfounded claims in diagnosing and treating patients |last1= Adinoff |first1= B. |last2= Devous |first2= M |type= letter to the editor |page= 598 |doi= 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10020157|pmid= 20439400 }}
• {{cite web |last= Hall |first= Harriet |author-link= Harriet A. Hall |url= http://quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/amen.html |title= A Skeptical View of SPECT Scans and Dr. Daniel Amen |work= Quackwatch |orig-date= 2005 |year= 2007 | access-date= 2014-03-11}}
• {{cite news |last1=Muldowney |first1=Decca |title=Brain Doctor to the Stars Labeled a 'Snake-Oil' Salesman |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/dr-daniel-amen-called-a-snake-oil-salesman-by-critics-and-former-patients-over-spect-brain-scans |work=The Daily Beast |date=11 December 2022 |language=en}}

{{commons category}}

{{Portal|Biography}}

• [https://www.amenclinics.com/ Amen Clinics]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amen, Daniel G.}}

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