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Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain: Breaking the Doom Loop to Heal Chronic Physical and Emotional Pain
One of our leading experts on the brain and #1
New York Times
bestselling author
explores how chronic physical and emotional pain are both rooted in your brain’s wiring, leaving you stuck in the doom loop and how you can break free to heal them free from the 'doom loop' and reclaim a vibrant, pain-free life.
In the United States alone, one in five adults experiences chronic pain. For too long, when a doctor couldn’t find the source of frequent pain, the patient was dismissively told “it’s all in your head.” Today, we know that our somatic responses to trauma, anxiety, and depression create real suffering, and that physical pain can lead to trauma, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Daniel Amen calls this “the doom loop”—the dance between physical and emotional pain. These doom loops interfere with our ability to live our lives. But we can shift the doom loop into a healing loop, and in this vital book, he shows us how.
Dr. Amen has been researching a new brain-based approach to pain. In Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain he draws on those studies to
Pain producing versus pain soothing thought patterns Muscle tension and trauma vs calmness and clarity The use of medical and nutraceuticals to help calm the pathways The effects of diet, exercise, meditation, breath to help pain Our current approach to understanding and treating physical and emotional pain is misguided. Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain offers a healthier way, one that involves less medication, less surgery, and better outcomes. Just like the human heart, the human brain is an organ, and that to be free of emotional or physical pain, it is critical to get the brain as healthy as it can be—not just physically, but emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, as well.
In the United States alone, one in five adults experiences chronic pain. For too long, when a doctor couldn’t find the source of frequent pain, the patient was dismissively told “it’s all in your head.” Today, we know that our somatic responses to trauma, anxiety, and depression create real suffering, and that physical pain can lead to trauma, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Daniel Amen calls this “the doom loop”—the dance between physical and emotional pain. These doom loops interfere with our ability to live our lives. But we can shift the doom loop into a healing loop, and in this vital book, he shows us how.
Dr. Amen has been researching a new brain-based approach to pain. In Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain he draws on those studies to
Pain producing versus pain soothing thought patterns Muscle tension and trauma vs calmness and clarity The use of medical and nutraceuticals to help calm the pathways The effects of diet, exercise, meditation, breath to help pain Our current approach to understanding and treating physical and emotional pain is misguided. Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain offers a healthier way, one that involves less medication, less surgery, and better outcomes. Just like the human heart, the human brain is an organ, and that to be free of emotional or physical pain, it is critical to get the brain as healthy as it can be—not just physically, but emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, as well.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published December 2, 2025
100 people are currently reading
2995 people want to read
About the author
Daniel G. Amen
180 books1,508 followersThe Washington Post called Dr. Daniel Amen the most popular psychiatrist in America and Sharecare.com named him the web's most influential expert and advocate on mental health.
Daniel Amen is a life-long Christian and graduate of Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. He is a double board-certified psychiatrist and multiple NY Times bestselling author, with such blockbuster books as Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Healing ADD, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, and The Daniel Plan, co-authored by Pastor Rick Warren and Dr. Mark Hyman. In November 2016, he and his wife Tana published The Brain Warrior's Way.
Dr. Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics, which has 6 locations across the United States. Amen Clinics has the world's largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 125,000 SPECT scans on patients from 111 countries.
Dr. Amen's research team has published more than 70 scientific articles on a wide variety of topics related to brain health. He is the lead researcher on the largest brain imaging study on active and retired NFL players and was a consultant on the movie Concussion starring Will Smith. In 2016, Discover Magazine named his brain imaging work for psychiatric diagnoses as one of the top 100 stories in all of science.
Dr. Amen has also hosted 11 national public television shows about the brain, which have aired more than 80,000 times across North America and raised more than 75 million dollars for stations.
You can connect with Dr. Amen on Facebook and Twitter
Daniel Amen is a life-long Christian and graduate of Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. He is a double board-certified psychiatrist and multiple NY Times bestselling author, with such blockbuster books as Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Healing ADD, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, and The Daniel Plan, co-authored by Pastor Rick Warren and Dr. Mark Hyman. In November 2016, he and his wife Tana published The Brain Warrior's Way.
Dr. Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics, which has 6 locations across the United States. Amen Clinics has the world's largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 125,000 SPECT scans on patients from 111 countries.
Dr. Amen's research team has published more than 70 scientific articles on a wide variety of topics related to brain health. He is the lead researcher on the largest brain imaging study on active and retired NFL players and was a consultant on the movie Concussion starring Will Smith. In 2016, Discover Magazine named his brain imaging work for psychiatric diagnoses as one of the top 100 stories in all of science.
Dr. Amen has also hosted 11 national public television shows about the brain, which have aired more than 80,000 times across North America and raised more than 75 million dollars for stations.
You can connect with Dr. Amen on Facebook and Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 27, 2026
No pain would be great. This book should help, right?
It’s 411 pages packed with information with lots of bullet points, some graphics and charts. Yet, much seems to be about negativity with emotions. Just tell yourself to be positive and you’re set. However, most of us know that it’s not that simple.
A lot of what I read has been said before with the example of what type of food is bad like sugar. No more slices of pie. And, forget the ice cream too as dairy is not the best for you. There is a list for the most beneficial foods along with supplements. There’s also a topic on light therapy. It’s all good to know but not much is new to me. However, it could be useful towards others.
It’s 411 pages packed with information with lots of bullet points, some graphics and charts. Yet, much seems to be about negativity with emotions. Just tell yourself to be positive and you’re set. However, most of us know that it’s not that simple.
A lot of what I read has been said before with the example of what type of food is bad like sugar. No more slices of pie. And, forget the ice cream too as dairy is not the best for you. There is a list for the most beneficial foods along with supplements. There’s also a topic on light therapy. It’s all good to know but not much is new to me. However, it could be useful towards others.
February 6, 2026
Thorough, comprehensive, incredibly helpful on both my personal and professional journey.
December 30, 2025
Great factual scientific read about the brain and how it can help people with physical, emotional pain. Good health plans for optimal brain health and maintenance for longevity. Many great helpful hints to help with everyday aspect of your life, thoughts and experiences.
January 17, 2026
So much good info, will need to reread
January 10, 2026
Started off with some interesting info regarding pain and the brain, but then felt redundant. Certain things aren’t feasible to me as someone with chronic pain for years, but I am always looking for tidbits to help however possible.
December 31, 2025
I would gift a Daniel Amen book to every family if I could. As far as helpful, relatively free (mine was a library copy) information on better, healthier living goes, this is one of his best. The info on MRI scans blew me away, as did some of the other info. And I'm glad he's addressing other hormones now.
My advice to everyone is to browse through his list of published books and pick the one that applies the most to your situation. Ignore the gimmicky-sounding titles. They really are accurate.
I do think he doesn't quite understand what it's like to have limited monetary resources(single moms, or even NEW moms, for instance. They don't need a no sleep guilt trip.) but he tries and offers enough good, un-paywalled info that I look past that.
It also is a bit repetitive so, if you're time-limited, my advice is to skip the recoup tools list for each individual in every chapter and just read the beginning middle and summary sections.
I'm still waiting on one about pregnancy and new moms, though.
My advice to everyone is to browse through his list of published books and pick the one that applies the most to your situation. Ignore the gimmicky-sounding titles. They really are accurate.
I do think he doesn't quite understand what it's like to have limited monetary resources(single moms, or even NEW moms, for instance. They don't need a no sleep guilt trip.) but he tries and offers enough good, un-paywalled info that I look past that.
It also is a bit repetitive so, if you're time-limited, my advice is to skip the recoup tools list for each individual in every chapter and just read the beginning middle and summary sections.
I'm still waiting on one about pregnancy and new moms, though.
December 19, 2025
Some good strategies for reducing pain.
December 21, 2025
Not much anything new to me.
December 31, 2025
3 and a half ⭐️⭐️⭐️
January 17, 2026
Some helpful ideas about how one’s pain can be changed related to neuroplasticity. Helpful but way too repetitious and at times felt like advertisement for his clinics.
February 6, 2026
Already had heard most the information from his interviews or other books
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews