MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie Lynn Sigler Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain with Dr. Daniel Amen
Sep 2, 2025
Dr. Daniel Amen, physician and brain-imaging pioneer, shares brain-based views on chronic pain. He explains how pain gets encoded in brain circuits and the doom loop that amplifies suffering. Short, practical strategies are offered for calming circuits, challenging automatic negative thoughts, releasing repressed emotions, and using brain-healthy habits to reduce flares.
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Depression Is A Symptom Not A Single Cause
- 'Depression' is a symptom cluster with many causes and brain-activity patterns; it doesn't specify the mechanism.
- Amen notes low or high brain activity, grief, head injury, COVID inflammation, or immune issues can all produce depressive symptoms.
Journal And Process Repressed Emotions
- Use emotional freedom journaling and trauma-focused therapy to surface and process repressed anger feeding physical symptoms.
- Amen suggests a life timeline page per five-year block plus therapies like ISTDP or EMDR to 'get the rage out.'
Ask If Choices Are Good For Your Brain
- Ask daily: Is what I'm doing now good for my brain or bad for it, and choose habits that support energy, memory, clarity, and purpose.
- Amen frames choices (diet, alcohol, sleep) as aligned with long-term brain goals, not short gratification.
