ADHD

Dr. Amen seemingly is a very popular "ADHD influencer". Many of his claims surrounding ADHD, however, are scientifically dubious. His main claim to fame is his work with SPECT imaging as a tool for diagnosing mental disorders. Specifically relevant to this community is his advocacy for its purported use in diagnosing ADHD; however, there is virtually no research to support this practice [1]. The only research that does exist (as far as I've been able to find, anyways) is a paper that he co-authored [2]. The paper does appear to show that SPECT can be used to measure observable differences between ADHD brains and the control brains [2.1], but one paper is far from an established body of supportive science for a medical practice that he touts and charges money for [5][10]. In addition to this, he also diagnoses what he calls the "7 types of ADD" [6]. This is not standard diagnostic practice in the DSM-5 [7]. He also operates an online store at brainmd.com where he sells many supplements that he has publicly claimed help with ADHD management [3.1], and he advocates for their use in his practice [4] — this is a conflict of interest; however, the supplements that he advocates for (that I have looked into) do have some research behind them [8][9], but they appear to not be well established treatments. I would also be wary of his research as he has openly stated that he doesn't respect the main body of psychiatric researchers, and that he doesn't wish to listen to their criticism [3.2].

I don't intend for this post to be interpreted as a trashing of Dr. Amen's reputation, nor do I fault him for trying to earn a living. There is simply a large potential for shady behavior given the context as a whole, and I believe that it is wise to be very cautious of his advice. I do hope that his research turns out to be beneficial, and not exploitative — I think that there is great benefit to be had from more accurate diagnostic methods, and improved classifications.

1. "The Puzzle of Neuroimaging and Psychiatric Diagnosis: Technology and Nosology in an Evolving Discipline". Martha J. Farah, Seth J. Gillihan. AJOB Neurosci. 2012-10-01. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653781/.

   • The lack of empirical validation has led to widespread condemnation of diagnostic SPECT as premature and unproven.

2. "SPECT Functional Neuroimaging Distinguishes Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder From Healthy Controls in Big Data Imaging Cohorts". Daniel G. Amen, Theodore A. Henderson, Andrew Newberg. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021-11-24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597411/.
   1. See Table 3.
3. ""Healing ADD - See And Heal The 7 Types!" with Dr. Daniel Amen". AmenClinics. YouTube. 2014-07-11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnJ4wjVu9k.
   1. T23:20
   2. T11:26
4. "Is Dr. Amen a scammer or legit?". KeyasWorld. YouTube. 2022-03-01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQx6UMDLGw.
   • T15:32
5. "Daniel Amen is the most popular psychiatrist in America. To most researchers and scientists, that’s a very bad thing.". Neely Tucker. The Washington Post. 2012-09-09T08:57-04:00. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/daniel-amen-is-the-most-popular-psychiatrist-in-america-to-most-researchers-and-scientists-thats-a-very-bad-thing/2012/08/07/467ed52c-c540-11e1-8c16-5080b717c13e_story.html [Internet Archive link].

   • A full initial session, including two scans, costs about $3,500.

6. "Getting to know the 7 Types of ADD". Amen Clinics. https://www.amenclinics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ADD_eBook_FNL_R1.pdf [Internet Archive link].

   • At Amen Clinics, one of the first—and biggest— lessons we learned from our brain imaging work is that attention deficit disorder (ADD) is not a single or simple disorder. In fact, there are 7 Types of ADD and each has a unique set of symptoms that requires a customized treatment plan.

7. "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders". 5ed. American Psychiatric Association. 2013. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm [Internet Archive link].

   • 314.01 (F90.2) Combined presentation: If both Criterion A1 (inattention) and Crite- rion A2 (hyperactivity-impulsivity) are met for the past 6 months.

     314.00 (F90.0) Predominantly inattentive presentation: If Criterion A1 (inattention) is met but Criterion A2 (hyperactivity-impulsivity) is not met for the past 6 months.

     314.01 (F90.1) Predominantly hyperactive/impulsive presentation: If Criterion A2 (hy- peractivity-impulsivity) is met and Criterion A1 (inattention) is not met for the past 6 months.

8. "The Role of Iron and Zinc in the Treatment of ADHD among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials ". Roser Granero, Alfred Pardo-Garrido, Ivonne Lorena Carpio-Toro, Andrés Alexis Ramírez-Coronel, Pedro Carlos Martínez-Suárez, Geovanny Genaro Reivan-Ortiz. Nutrients. Elsevier. 2021-11-13. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/11/4059.
9. "Magnesium status and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A meta-analysis". Mohammad Effatpanah, Mahdi Rezaei, Hosein Effatpanah, Zeynab Effatpanah, Hamed Kord Varkaneh, Seyed Mohammad Mousavi, Somaye Fatahi, Giulia Rinaldi, Rezvan Hashemi. 2019-02-25. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178118318456
10. "Could High-Tech Brain Scans Help Diagnose ADHD?". Carl Sherman. ADDitude. 2023-11-17. https://www.additudemag.com/brain-scans-for-adhd/ Internet Archive link.

    • Several scans may be required, at a cost that can top $1,000.