«And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God» (Romans 12:2)
I listened to a Ted Talk presented by a specialist in Diagnostic Imaging and psychiatry. He told us about the discoveries he had made thanks to modem technology: a SPECT scan, which is a nuclear medicine scan that analyzes the activity, function, and blood flow in the brain.
Dr. Daniel Amen, together with his colleagues, compiled a database with thousands of patients from 93 countries, to analyze their cases, find similarities, and provide treatments that would be more effective and more personalized. This study shows how in our brain there may be «good, insufficient, or an abundance» of activity. Thanks to their detailed reports, other psychiatrists have much more information available to help them prescribe medicine or other treatments for their patients, which they would have otherwise had to do with a much greater margin of risk.
What surprised this doctor and inspired him to devote himself to this study, was to find that early detection of certain problems, which gave doctors the possibility of giving the patient the right treatment, could affect the lives of so many others around patient, and even of future generation who would be affected by the behavior of that one individual.
Without getting into a debate about the actual treatments or therapies that the medical field or social work can provide, and without getting into details about the forms of punishment that society applies to disturbed individuals, it is evident that the consequences of sin are devastating and cruel at every level. But also each individual can receive the benefits of a specific approach, according to their need, and aspire at least to a certain degree of mental rehabilitation.
What would this study say about us if we were tested?
No matter how serious of a state we are in, or what traumas, injuries, or onsets of unknown illnesses that we may live with, the good news is that each day we can allow the greatest radiologist and psychiatrist in the world to evaluate us and help us. He knows better than anyone else how much influence our actions can have, not only in our own lives, but in the lives of many generations after us. He can renew our minds and lead us to know His will today.
«Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments» (Deuteronomy 7:9).
