What happened in this episode?
Bill Maher interviews psychiatrist and brain-imaging promoter Dr Daniel Amen about what Amen calls a coming shift towards “brain-based” psychiatry. Amen argues that psychiatrists are unusual among medical specialists in that they “never look at the organ they treat”, and says his use of SPECT imaging changed his clinical practice; he claims his organisation now holds a database of 300,000 scans from 155 countries and that the American Psychiatric Association has produced a position paper calling for biomarkers including imaging.
A large portion of the discussion centres on substances and brain health. Maher, who says cannabis has been beneficial for him, presses Amen on marijuana’s harms; Amen says he has published findings on 1,000 users showing reduced brain activity and cites a separate study of 1,000 users, and warns that teenage use is associated with later anxiety, depression, suicide and psychosis. They also touch on sleep, with Amen saying alcohol and marijuana reduce REM sleep.
Amen discusses head trauma in sport, saying he has scanned and treated 400 NFL players and that 80% improved on a rehabilitation plan, disputing the view that CTE is inevitably progressive and untreatable. In a controversial exchange on vaccines and autism, Maher argues for a ‘reasonable middle’ position on side effects; Amen claims he has seen brain scans he describes as vaccine-related injury while stressing it is uncommon. The pair also discuss youth mental health, loneliness, pornography exposure via devices, and proposals to limit children’s access to social media.
