- Joining us now is Dr. Daniel Amen,

founder and CEO of Amen Clinics

and the author of "YourBrain is Always Listening."

Dr. Amen, it's great to have you

back here at "Faith Nation."

As you just heard today,

that exchange between Dr.Fauci and Senator Rand Paul.

Dr. Fauci conceded that thereneeds to be an investigation

into the possible laboratoryorigins of the virus.

Dr. Amen, how significant is that?

And then, also, how necessarywould that investigation be?

- Well, it's very necessary.

If we don't do everything we can

to understand the origin of the virus,

what's to say it won'thappen again next year

or five years from now?

This has affected peoplenot only physically,

but as a psychiatrist,what we saw last year

is depression tripled.

We're in the middle ofa mental health pandemic

caused by COVID-19, andwe have to be diligent

in understanding where it came from

so that we can work toprevent further pandemics.

- So why are we just nowgetting around to this?

It seems like things are finally lifting.

We're seeing, really,the world open up again.

Why are we just now talkingabout this investigation

and where it all originated from?

Is this a little too late, or,what's your thought on that?

- Well, people have been speculating,

trying to investigate it,from the moment it started.

I mean, you know, we all wish things

were different than they were.

But there've been a lot ofvoices for let's understand this.

You know, the idea thatit came from a wet market,

it just didn't fit for a lot of people.

There've been a lot ofskeptics all the way along.

The unfortunate thingis it became political

and then people started taking sides

and we lost our rational judgment

with the politicization.

I actually talk to a lotof my patients about ANTs,

automatic negative thoughts,

so thoughts that come intoyour mind automatically

and ruin your day.

And we've just been infested as a society

with the division, the hatred.

I've gone through 10presidential elections

as a psychiatrist.

I have never seen onethat damaged my patients.

Whether, you know, they'reon the left or on the right,

the level of familydiscord is just historic.

I've never seen anything like that.

We have to get back tomore rational thinking.

And investigating where this comes from,

of course we should.

That's just a rational scientific question

that people should beasking with great fervor.

- I'm gonna borrow from you, Dr. Amen,

about getting rid of that ANT infestation.

Lastly, we only have about a minute left.

The COVID-19 vaccine has,of course, as you know,

been approved for emergency use

with children ages 12 to 15.

Dr. Amen, since childrentend to fare better

with the disease than adults,should parents be hesitant?

- Well, children can still get COVID-19.

They can still be hurt by COVID-19.

And more importantly,they can still spread it.

This is not an innocuous virus.

I had one of my 28-year-old employees

in our Manhattan clinic end upon a ventilator for 10 weeks.

I lost my dad to this virus.

It's not a joke.

It's serious.

And this pandemic has hurt so many people,

economically, physically.

The grief and loss dragon,

I talk about it in "YourBrain is Always Listening,"

along with the death dragon,

they're living in theminds of our children.

The vaccine's been testedon thousands of children,

shown to be safe for most.

Of course, if you have achild with medical conditions,

you should talk to your doctor.

But I think it givespeople a level of freedom

knowing- Okay.

- that they can take COVID-19

and sort of turn it into a cult.

That's what the vaccine does.- Doctor-

- It...

- Dr. Amen, unfortunately,we're out of time.

Thank you so much for your insights

and for being here.

- It's great to have you.- Thank you.