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 [11]. Specifically relevant to this community is his advocacy for its purported use in diagnosing ADHD [12]; 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][13]. 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.