(WZAW) -- Our nation is in the midst of a growing mental illness epidemic with conditions like suicide, depression, bipolar disorders and addictions increasing dramatically.

Standard treatments and success rates have barley changed in the last seven decades and now neuroscience is transforming psychiatry.

"If you get your brain right, the mind will follow."

That's the advice from Dr. Daniel Amen. He's a psychiatrist and best-selling author of the book "The End of Mental Illness". Dr. Amen talked to Holly Chilsen about his book, and how it's aim is the change the conversation about mental health into brain health.

"Nobody really wants to see a psychiatrist. No one wants to be labeled as defective or abnormal, but everyone wants a better brain," he said.

Amen Clinics has the worlds largest database of functional brain scans relating to behavior. Dr. Amen has been working on brain imaging for the past 30 years, conducting about 170,000 scans, and said researchers realized that it's not mental health issues people face, it's "brain health issues that steal your mind."

"This one idea changes everything."

He added that the mind is a result of the physical functioning of your brain.

"So you can go to therapy for a very long time, but it won't help if your brain's not right," he said. "And I'm a fan of therapy if your brain's right."

It comes down to optimizing the physical functioning of your brain. People start seeing their problems as medical and not moral. He said the stigma of the mental illness label, damaging and devastating on its own, can often prevent sufferers from getting the help they need.

"With this message, there's an increase in forgiveness and compassion from families," he said.

He said ways to improve your brain health are to make sure you're sticking to a healthy diet, exercise regularly and take supplements like vitamins. It's also important to think in different ways and practice mindfulness.

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Deep Bench: Reframing the discussion from mental health to brain health - WSAW