Healing the Hardware of the Soul, A Review

Healing the Hardware of the soul

By Dr. Daniel Amen

A Book Review by David Verner

“I’m ashamed that I can’t seem to overcome my depression. As a person of faith, shouldn’t I be able to deal with it? I guess my faith must be too weak. I should try harder, but I don’t know how.”

“If I take medication, it won’t be ‘the real me’ anymore, will it? Won’t I just be using a crutch in order to avoid the real issues?

All too often in my work as a pastoral counselor I encounter people suffering from depression, anxiety and other forms of emotional distress who harbor thoughts like these. In addition to bearing the pain of a mood or anxiety disorder, they carry the burden of self-condemnation for presumed spiritual or moral failure. They may resist getting the treatment they need, because they are afraid that they will betray their faith or lose themselves in the process.

How does a pastor respond to someone struggling with such dilemmas? I have found the ideas of Dr. Daniel Amen in his book Healing the Hardware of the Soul (New York: The Free Press, 2002) very helpful in this regard, and it occurred to me that our readers might also.

Dr. Amen, a psychiatrist in practice in California, began using a brain imaging technology called SPECT in the early 1990’s as an aid in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. SPECT images show high, normal and low levels of blood flow and metabolism in the brain. This technology had originally been developed for use in diagnosis of neurological disorders in the 1970’s. Dr. Amen pioneered its use in psychiatry. By doing SPECT scans on people with many kinds of psychiatric issues—from depression and anxiety to ADD and conduct disorders—he began to recognize various recurring patterns of over- and under-activity in the brain. It became clear that the patterns were correlated with particular emotional, cognitive and behavior symptoms. For
instance, attention deficit issues were correlated with abnormally low levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex, while clinical depression was associated with hyperactivity in an area near the center of the brain that Dr. Amen refers to as the “deep limbic system.”

Dr. Amen’s clinic also did follow-up SPECT scans after successful treatment. In case after case, the follow-up scans showed normally functioning brains. This was convincing evidence of a direct causal link between the abnormal patterns of brain functioning and the psychiatric disorders associated with those patterns.

Depending on the particular issue being addressed, Dr. Amen regularly uses many different kinds of treatment resources. These include various types of psychotherapeutic interventions; attention to such matters as nutrition, exercise, relationships, work and spiritual life; the use of music, prayer, meditation, and deep breathing exercises; and the use of medication. SPECT studies conducted by Dr. Amen’s clinic have documented that appropriately directed interventions in all these categories change brain chemistry and alter brain functioning. It turns out that the brain is exquisitely sensitive and responsive to all kinds of stimuli: from the foods we eat and the medications we may take, to the tone of a colleague’s voice and our own thought patterns. These discoveries have led Dr. Amen to think of the brain as “the hardware of the soul,” the medium of our personhood, our inner being and our spiritual capacities.

Part One, “Understanding the Brain-Soul Connection,” contains a two-chapter general introduction, four chapters devoted to specific problems associated with five areas of the brain, a chapter on religion and brain health and a chapter on brain issues and leadership. This portion of the book is full of illustrative case studies and includes black-and-white photos of SPECT scans of patients with a wide variety of psychological symptoms. Part Two, “Optimizing the Brain-Soul Connection,” provides a self-test and lots of specific information about treatment strategies and resources.

Dr. Amen makes a strong case for the following:

· It is a mistake to automatically link depression, anxiety and other psychiatric problems with spiritual weakness. Sometimes there is a link, but the only reliable way to determine this is by listening to the particulars of a person’s story as it emerges over time. Psychiatric disorders are almost never overcome by the sufferers’ attempts to do so on their own, whether by trying to “have more faith,” or by any other strategy that depends on trying harder all by themselves.

· There is no point in trying to distinguish between a psychiatric disorder that involves a “chemical imbalance” and one that does not. Every depression, for instance, involves some level of chemical imbalance, whether temporary or chronic. The question is not whether intervention is needed to heal the brain, but what kind of intervention or what combination of interventions will be most
effective in bringing about healing.

· Properly directed interventions that restore the brain’s functioning allow the “real
person” to emerge. When faced with the question of medication, people often ask, “But will it still be ‘the real me?’” Dr. Amen asks the question in reverse: If your brain is malfunctioning, how can this be the real you?

I hope that I’ve stimulated your curiosity enough that you will include Healing the Hardware of the Soul on your summer reading list. Happy reading!

David Verner, a member of the TPC staff, is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a pastoral counselor certified by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the state of North Carolina. He works with individuals and couples, adults and adolescents.