Ultimate Prescription

Improving Our Mental Health

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Nick Evenson (Host), Dr. James Marcum

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Series Code: UP

Program Code: UP000069A


00:16 If you want to improve your brain function,
00:19 then this is the program for you, stay with us!
00:22 I'm Dr. James Marcum, are you interested
00:25 in discovering the reason why?
00:27 Do you want solutions to your health care problem?
00:30 Are you tired of taking medications?
00:33 Well, you're about to be given "The Ultimate Prescription"
00:38 Mental health problems are plaguing our world,
00:41 and what can we do about it?
00:42 Dr. Marcum has some suggestions that might just help
00:45 us think better and also the rest of the world.
00:47 Dr. Marcum, welcome to the program.
00:49 Thank you, it's nice being here, Nick, and this is a major
00:52 problem that many people struggle with and I'm hoping
00:55 that those that have mental health issues are
00:57 paying attention today because it's estimated
01:00 that 1 in 4 people now have mental health problems. Wow
01:04 And that might include things like depression, anxiety,
01:08 phobias, fears... you know, all sorts of things
01:12 can fall into this mental health problem. Right
01:15 And, unfortunately, we look at what's out there,
01:18 and the numbers keep going up every year...
01:20 so it concerns me that maybe
01:23 what we're doing is not the right path.
01:26 So we wanted to answer some questions about mental health
01:29 issues about how people could help their brains do better,
01:32 and when I think about how peoples brains can do better,
01:36 I think if we want to do things that make the brain
01:39 work better... now let's think logically about that.
01:42 Well, what logically, do you think would
01:45 help the brain work better, Nick... what would you say?
01:47 Fresh air? YEAH!
01:49 I mean, you know, if you are outside and get fresh air,
01:55 that makes the brain work better because it gets
01:57 better oxygen. Right
01:58 We've seen that brains that don't get good oxygen
02:01 get other chemicals that they're breathing
02:03 that doesn't do well.
02:05 Another thing that our brains need is water! Yeah
02:08 Eighty percent plus of our brain is water.
02:10 If you were dehydrated, if you were walking around
02:13 the desert all day, you would start not working well.
02:16 So that's another thing, movement, exercise,
02:20 getting around that improves the blood supply to our brain.
02:24 Circulation and more oxygen to the brain.
02:25 Exactly, more oxygen.
02:26 So we've talked about breathing, we talked about water...
02:29 Nutrition - very important for the brain.
02:32 The brain has to get the substances
02:33 it needs to work well.
02:35 Remember, the original design for our brain wasn't made
02:39 to have lots of processed foods. Right
02:41 Lots of high processed sugar...
02:44 We know that people that take heavy processed sugars,
02:47 they spike chemicals like dopamine in the brain. Right
02:50 There are certain chemicals that we get addicted to
02:53 in the brain - that's not good for the brain.
02:56 All this fat content - we know that fat
02:58 causes inflammation in the brain.
03:00 We know that too much animal products, proteins...
03:04 some people eat foods... for instance - Mr. Chicken
03:06 Let's pick on Mr. Chicken for a while.
03:08 Chickens live thousands and thousands of them
03:11 live next to each other and, you know, to get them
03:14 to grow up quicker, guess what the farmer does?
03:16 He feeds them high protein feed;
03:20 he gives them growth hormones because they live
03:23 next to each other and they might catch infections
03:25 so they give them antibiotics. Right
03:27 In fact, 80% of the world's antibiotics are now
03:30 used on livestock. Really?
03:32 So if Mr. Chicken gets all these chemicals in him,
03:35 and you eat Mr. Chicken, and you absorb all these
03:38 chemicals in you, eventually it could
03:40 get to the brain. That's a lot of stuff we
03:41 weren't made to have in our baskets. Yes!
03:43 And, you know, a lot of stuff and we always hear about
03:45 fish and mercury and all these toxins,
03:48 but there are toxins everywhere that affect the way we think.
03:53 And it used to be, years ago, we didn't hear too much about
03:55 mental health problems, and Alzheimer disease.
03:59 But it's not only the food, I think it's also the media,
04:02 remember, our brains weren't made to have media.
04:05 The average person spends about 8 hours a day in the media. Wow!
04:08 Now, I know that people out there
04:11 don't spend a lot of time on cell phones, computers,
04:13 face books, TV, but other people are! Sure, sure!
04:17 And when it does that... see, our brains were designed
04:19 to be creative and not to be entertained.
04:23 Our brains were designed to serve and not to be selfish.
04:27 Our brains were designed to
04:28 drink water and eat healthy foods?
04:30 And when we've done all these other things, guess what?
04:32 Damage occurs and then when we start having these
04:36 neural pathways that don't do well,
04:39 it's sort of like we... have a hard drive and a soft drive,
04:42 and if we don't put good, new programs in our soft drive,
04:45 things just don't work well.
04:47 And sooner or later, guess what?
04:49 Things begin to malfunction, we even have bad ways
04:52 of thinking that we perpetuate.
04:54 Some people might have guilt and fear and things like that
04:57 that just dominate their lives and they don't know
04:59 how to handle it and our world
05:02 sometimes doesn't have good coping mechanisms...
05:04 And it used to, we used to have lots of relationships,
05:08 we used to be able to talk out problems. That's right!
05:10 People just don't talk as much.
05:13 I just don't think texting does the same job as talking.
05:18 When you can hear somebody, you can see their face,
05:21 you can listen, you can empathize with them,
05:23 it's a little bit different than texting,
05:25 but our world is changing, and then as our world
05:28 is changing, we see more and more brain problems develop,
05:31 and yet, we aren't getting real solutions.
05:34 So one of the real solutions I want to leave with
05:37 everyone today, I think, you know,
05:39 to understand that everything we put in our body
05:42 affects our brains and we want to put in our brains
05:45 the things that God made to put in our brains...
05:47 and part of that, we found out that having a relationship
05:51 with God - worship, that's a great place to start.
05:55 If you remember that text...
05:56 "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden,
05:59 I will give you rest."
06:01 "Create in me a new heart," a new brain...
06:03 God has promised to do these things for them.
06:06 And, Dr. Newberg, at the University of Pennsylvania,
06:09 has done studies that show when people do worship,
06:11 the chemical composition of their brain changes.
06:14 That's fantastic! The stress of the body
06:16 goes down, new neurons form, the chemistry of the brain
06:21 changes totally, so there is great truth in those Scriptures,
06:24 and God is the One that can change the way thoughts are...
06:27 give us the power to make changes to do things
06:30 for our brain.
06:31 So, if nothing else today, I think the key to mental health
06:34 is to continue to improve our relationship
06:37 and worship with God and I just wanted to start there.
06:40 I know we've got a lot of questions that we have come in.
06:44 Do you have something you want to add, Nick?
06:45 I was just thinking of the Bible verse...
06:46 "Whatever is pure and whatever is right,
06:48 think on these things." And there's a lot of truth in that.
06:49 We hear a lot of other things in the media,
06:51 but, you know, if we focus on what the Bible says
06:53 and God's love for us, that really can help our brains.
06:56 Yeah, and it concerns me, you know,
06:57 remember, our brains weren't
06:59 designed to see people kill each other. That's right
07:01 And you know, now on TV, we weren't designed
07:03 to know what is going on in every country
07:04 of the world every second.
07:06 Well all of these inputs, they add up,
07:09 and our brain is so very complicated...
07:12 I don't think we can really understand how it works,
07:15 but the general principles that God gave us
07:18 can give us some places to start...
07:19 And that's why when I see a lot of people taking
07:22 medicines that change the chemistry of the brain,
07:24 I wonder - does that make sense?
07:26 Does changing one chemical pathway
07:28 going to fix the problem? Right
07:30 And that's why, there's probably a place for medicines,
07:33 but hopefully, it's only as a bridge until they can do
07:37 things to put healthy things in their mind,
07:39 and get their brain on right.
07:41 I was talking to a counselor not too long ago
07:45 and, you know, people change the brain chemistry by
07:48 something called, "cognitive therapy,"
07:50 that's thinking therapy.
07:51 They actually re-train the brain to think.
07:54 And, the way I think of it is, when someone sins,
07:59 God just says, "Well let's throw it in the sea
08:00 and forget about it." That's right
08:02 Unfortunately, we can't forget about it sometimes,
08:04 and our brain has to be taught how to do things,
08:06 but I didn't realize that there are many different
08:08 types of counselors.
08:10 You know, there are secular counselors that come from
08:13 secular basis - "What can I do to make myself better?"
08:18 "The answers are within me,"
08:20 that's sort of secular counseling.
08:22 And then there's Christian counseling where they
08:26 talk about Christianity, but don't focus on it.
08:29 And then there's biblical counseling where counselors
08:32 are trained to use the Bible to help people think differently
08:36 and change the chemistry of the brain.
08:38 Well I tend to agree that I think biblical counseling is
08:41 a great way to start and turn it over to God to help change,
08:44 and there are many other physicians that think these ways
08:47 but there are also many physicians that will throw
08:49 all sorts of different things...
08:51 And it gets very hard for people
08:53 that have mental health problems to get help.
08:55 You know, you hear things like,
08:56 attention deficit disorder in kids. Right
08:59 And a lot of people put on depression medicine,
09:02 so we're going to talk about these things today,
09:04 not that we have all the answers but I do know that the
09:08 place to go to find the answers is in our relationship
09:12 with the Ultimate Physician - where we can turn to Him,
09:15 ask Him, petition Him.
09:16 He wants to be part of our life.
09:18 He wants to help change our brains.
09:20 You know, David asked for it to be done.
09:23 He can do these things and He can direct us to the
09:25 places in our lives where we find answers.
09:29 So we've got some questions to answer,
09:30 but we've been on this series, we've been talking about
09:34 our first aid box, right?
09:36 That's right and I know I've heard you say
09:38 a number of times that "serving other people,
09:40 and loving other people - will help your brain as well," right?
09:43 Absolutely! So let's talk about first aid - that's how
09:44 we're going to serve other people maybe if we need to.
09:46 Yeah, today... And so, how are we doing with our
09:49 first aid kit and what are we going to put in there today?
09:50 Well, we've added some different things that people
09:53 can look into to put into their first aid kit to help
09:56 other people in an emergency and today
09:58 I have a substance that I think is very useful.
10:01 This is charcoal and charcoal comes in many different forms.
10:06 It can come in pills, it can come in sort of like
10:09 poultices - that's sort of a cream that you put on things.
10:12 And what charcoal is good at doing is it's good
10:16 absorbing things. Yeah
10:18 It's good at absorbing things. Right
10:20 So, for instance, let's say - when I used to work in the
10:23 emergency room, people used to do overdoses of drugs...
10:27 Well we used to give them charcoal in their stomach
10:30 to help absorb some of the poisons. Okay
10:33 So it pulls it out - so it would not get absorbed
10:35 into the bloodstream. Sure
10:37 Another thing that charcoal has been good on is some
10:39 people have bites and things like that,
10:41 and it has been good sort of as a poultice or a cream
10:44 that people put on the things and it helps pull poisons out,
10:48 and I've see it on some bug bites and things like that
10:50 where people put charcoal and that sort of pulls things out.
10:54 So I think this would be very useful to have
10:57 in a first aid kit as charcoal helps to extract poisons
11:01 especially until they could do something more definitive.
11:04 And some people have used it, I've seen it in people that
11:08 get bad food - you know, food poisoning. Yeah sure
11:10 They take some charcoal and that might help pull out
11:13 some of the bad poisons in food so they don't absorb
11:16 it into the bloodstream and get so sick.
11:17 It keeps the bad stuff from getting into the blood,
11:19 and then to the rest of your body.
11:21 So I think for a first aid kit, this would be something that
11:24 everyone who would talk about making a first aid kit,
11:26 this might be something you would consider
11:28 getting some charcoal that could absorb some of this.
11:30 Now this is something - I don't know if everyone would need,
11:32 but this is aromatic ammonia.
11:35 Have you ever seen smelling salts?
11:37 I've seen a few football games where they might use this.
11:40 This is a smelling salt and it's sort of a respiratory
11:43 stimulant and you use it for people that are sort of foggy,
11:47 passing out and they come back quickly.
11:51 So this is something that I know I've used it a few times
11:55 in people that are fainting, that seem to be going out.
11:58 It seems to sort of stimulate their respiratory system,
12:01 it's sort of "whoa, get them in the game."
12:04 You know, you see it a lot in sporting events,
12:07 especially concussions.
12:09 It helps sort of get things sort of going again,
12:11 but I would still want to, again, for both of these,
12:14 this is just first aid. Right
12:16 This just treats the symptom
12:17 so you can get at the cause of healing.
12:19 It buys you a little bit of time. Yes!
12:21 And Nick, that's so important in all of these things
12:24 that we've been talking about, most of modern
12:26 medicine is good at treating symptoms,
12:28 get you over the hump so you can find out
12:31 what the cause is.
12:33 And if we can find out the cause, especially
12:36 do natural things that can get at the cause,
12:38 that's our best bet to staying happy and healthy...
12:42 And the same thing works with our mind...
12:44 If our mind is malfunctioning,
12:46 if we have a symptom of the mind,
12:48 what can we do to help the mind get over the hump,
12:51 and then get back to the original state
12:53 where it's going to function the best.
12:55 And that's why we're going to
12:56 talk about some questions a little later on.
12:58 Yep, those are two great items to have in any first aid kit.
13:01 Now, we'll be back in just a moment...
13:03 We've got some questions from our website
13:04 heartwiseministries.org
13:06 and Dr. Marcum is going to help answer some questions
13:08 on mental health and how to
13:10 better your brain function, stay with us...


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Revised 2016-06-21