Firefighter Conquers PTSD with Ketamine Therapy

We know that chronic stress causes inflammation in the brain as well as loss of neural connections. These changes, in some people, lead to depression and anxiety symptoms.

In today's podcast, Dr. Dee interviews Bryan Brown, a firefighter in central Indiana.

Bryan candidly shares his story about his mental health struggles, and how he had tried various treatments, some of which were helpful for a period of time.

Sharing his experience with ketamine therapy, Bryan talks about the improvements he started seeing early on in his treatment. He discusses how now he is becoming a person who is better equipped to handle life than even the "old me."

Let us know your experiences with PTSD and what has worked to help you overcome your struggles. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Hey guys, Dr. D here with Alpha Omega Wellness. I'm really just overjoyed to welcome my patient, Brian , here to our , um, to our video and the podcast. And Brian was kind enough to come in and just share a little bit about his story of what his struggles have been, and then kind of how our business intersected with his life. And then, you know, after he's gone through some treatments to help him get better, just how he's doing. So Brian , just thank you so much for taking the time to come out here and Absolutely. Share

Speaker 2 0:37

Your story. Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 1 0:39

So , um, just tell us a little bit about you, what you do for a living children. Yeah. Like ,

Speaker 2 0:46

Um, so I started in the fire service in 2004. I've been doing it for now 20 years. Um, I have two children. I have two girls. Um, they are five and six, so they're growing very quickly. Yes, <laugh> and , um, I am divorced. Um, so , um, yeah, there's that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:07

Which is hard.

Speaker 2 1:08

It is, it is a been

Speaker 1 1:09

Through that a couple of times, so it's unique.

Speaker 2 1:10

Yeah . It's very unique. Yes.

Speaker 1 1:12

Yes. Uh , so you work as a firefighter. Yes, sir. And then , uh, tell me, tell me what was going on that in your life that made you reach out to us and looking for some help.

Speaker 2 1:26

Yeah. So , um, really a lot of things kind of started in my life , um, roughly about five years ago. Okay. Um, I had , uh, several friends , um, who either committed suicide , um, passed away from natural causes , um, via infection or cancer, and then my divorce Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> was , uh, very traumatic on me. Um, and then of course, let's throw in, you know , 19 years of past reoccurring trauma that you see every single day. Now , it's not terrible, but it's just the repeated repeats and rotations Absolutely . Of everything like that. Um , I noticed myself , uh, slipping very deeply , um, having suicidal ideations , um, wondering my self worth was gone. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um, I started spiraling down , um, at an incredible rate. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . Um, I found myself locked in a room. I would go to work, I would see my kids, and then I would go to a room. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . I didn't want anything to do with anybody. I was, my anxiety and depression level were probably at an all time high. Um, it wasn't for my department and several family members, I call them family members , um, who noticed it , um, pulled me out a little bit. And then we , um, looked at the center of excellence. It's for firefighters , uh, in Maryland. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> <affirmative> . Um, I called them , uh, explained everything, filled out a bunch of sheets, answered a lot of questions. And I spent 38 days, 37 days out in Maryland at a mental health facility, basically relearning that I do have self-worth. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . I am, I am capable of these things. Um, bad things do happen. And , um, we're basically here to show you, you know, they re kind of reprogram your brain a little bit. Yeah . Um, while, how

Speaker 1 3:27

Long ago was that?

Speaker 2 3:28

Uh, that was in September of last year.

Speaker 1 3:32

2023 .

Speaker 2 3:32

Yep . September of 23 until October of 23. Okay. The middle of October. Beginning to the middle. Yeah . To the, yeah . Um, so while I was out there , um, I was getting treatment, but I just didn't feel like, I just didn't feel happy. Like I, I understood what was going on and I was processing all that. Um, they asked if I would be interested in a stalet ganglion injection. Yeah. Um, so that was out of pocket , um, that I paid. And basically it's , um, oh , a catheter that goes in the side of your neck , um, and then goes into your brain and it's kind of like a reset button. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um , I did a lot of research. I talked to the doctor out there , um, had all the confidence in the world of him, had that process done. I felt immediate relief. Wow. Like it was, I was looking at the wall, smiling like rainbows and butterflies. It was amazing. And then on top of that, to , to the treatment, I've got goosebumps right now. Yeah . I love it . Um, it just really, I felt like myself again. Yeah. And there was, you know, all, all of the things that have happened , um, after I got back, everything was good, but for a couple months, it, I started feeling that cycle come , come back in. Um, didn't know what to do. I was trying to figure it out. I was on the verge of basically going and flying back out there and doing another injection , um, until I started talking and researching about different treatments that could be used , um, which then landed me with you. Um, and then you and I had had a discussion. Um, I was kind of hesitant on it, you know? Yeah . Because of the gion , you know, it went away. And I had spent a lot of money doing that. And then , um, you know, I said, what do I got to lose? You know, I've done, I've been outta state , I've been through treatments for over 30 days. I've tried , uh, treatments that they use on military members that had severe PTSD that it worked. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> it did not work on me. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . I mean, it worked temporarily. Yeah. Um, and then I started treatments with you. And , Um , it's, it's life changing. Mm .

Speaker 1 5:50

So, how do you think , uh, how do you think the people around you were affected when you were dealing with the anxiety, the depression, the PTSD ?

Speaker 2 6:01

Yeah. So it's really hard to explain for people that don't experience it or go through it, but you're in this , uh, you're just in this selfless, helpless state of exile, basically. And you don't know how to get out of it. It's very scary. It's very scary. And everybody around you is trying to help you, but they don't understand what's going on. Um, so there's a lot of frustration. There's a lot of, I don't understand. Why can't you just put this behind you? Like, it's not that big of a deal. Yeah . Just everybody has, just think somebody has it worse than you right now. Okay . That's helpful . I can't tell you times I've heard it, you know? Right . Or I dealt with this years ago. You can do it. And it's like, okay, maybe you did but you didn't. Right. You know, I think you're still probably holding onto things , um, when

Speaker 1 6:50

We're all biologically unique individuals. Yeah. You know, and things can affect us differently.

Speaker 2 6:56

Absolutely. So, you know , there was a systematic approach of different things that they did over an amount of time. And , um, you know, I started treat , I , I went out to Maryland, you know , they noticed that came back, oops . We're good. Then I started treatments with you. And they are like, you're d it's a totally different person. Wow. Like, I am , I'm not my old person. I'm, that's not me. Yeah. I've always told myself, 'cause everybody always says, Hey, I want , I want you to go back to being the old you. Yeah. I don't want to go back to being the old me. Yeah . You know, that's, that's in the past. That's, that's something that, you know, you uns shell out of Yeah . And bloom into a better person.

Speaker 1 7:34

This is Brian 5.0. This

Speaker 2 7:36

Is exactly, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 7:37

But when you were back in that state, say between, you know, December and now when you started struggling again, like how did that affect your children? Or how did that affect work? Like, were you missing work or?

Speaker 2 7:50

I wasn't missing any work. I loved being at work. Um, I loved being around my crew. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . It's basically family. So they know everything about you. Yeah. You live with them. Yeah. Um, so that was a big deal , um, for me and my girls. There were times where they're like, come on, dad, let's go outside. I'm like, let's stay inside and watch tv. Yeah. And then, you know, it's after a couple of those times that you're like, what are you doing? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, like, go back and think of the treatment that you got. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , repeat that. I have a counselor. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . I , I talked to her Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , you know, instill these things that you learned and apply them here. And I was doing that, but it was, it was like I was just floating above water. Yeah. You know? Right . I had the bricks tied around my ankles, and I'm treading water. You're not drowning yet . I'm not drowning, but I'm, but you

Speaker 1 8:41

Spend a lot of energy tonight .

Speaker 2 8:41

I'm spending a lot of energy. So, you know, I get my girls a couple days and then they go out and it was just like, it was so much anxiety. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, and so much depression, you know, mixed together. Yeah . That it was almost just like you were just wore out. Yeah . I love them to death. They're , they're the greatest thing God's ever given me. Yeah . But it was mentally it was just such a huge toll on me. Yeah. It really was.

Speaker 1 9:07

How did you find us? Was it Google or, so

Speaker 2 9:11

Recommend , so , no, I through, again, the firehouse. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> and doing different research. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> and , um, looking at different treatments Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , um, and finding out what Indiana has to Oh , gotcha . Has available Yeah . In the, in the different things that you can do. Yeah . Um, and who's allowed to practice and who's not. I am , I did my research. Yeah . I did my due diligence. Yeah . I researched you probably 30 times Yeah . Before I picked up that phone, you know, filled out the stuff. Yeah . I also looked at other people too. I mean, I looked outta state , I looked, I looked out of the country. I looked, I mean, I really did a lot of research into this. Uh , I did a lot of , uh, you know, YouTube videos. There's people out there that you can watch and see. Yeah. Um, just search, you know, these types of treatments and bam, it's, it's endless list .

Speaker 1 9:57

I think when you reached out, you're like, when can I get in ? Yeah. It was maybe on a Friday. I'm like, how about Monday? You're like, yes.

Speaker 2 10:02

Yes. Yeah. So

Speaker 1 10:04

Ready to do

Speaker 2 10:04

This. You know, I talked with you and , and, and you reaffirmed everything that I was researching. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So, again, at what point do you, Hey, you're local, you're right down the road from me. Yeah . It couldn't , it couldn't have been a bigger sign from God of saying, you know, I fully believe that every day God gives you some type of hint, but he's not gonna tell you. Right . Take this road. He's letting you pick. Yeah. It could be one time a day. It could be 50 times a day. Right . Whether you're have a clear head in mind and gonna listen to him and choose that route, that's, that's up to you. So to me, it was like, Hey, <laugh> , hello. Right here. Call,

Speaker 1 10:44

There was a neon sign .

Speaker 2 10:45

You know , like , like the cartoons , uh, Beetlejuice. It's like , man , you know, it's blaring. Um , so yeah. I , you know, I called you. I came in, I was nervous as all get out. Yeah . And

Speaker 1 10:55

Remember that we took off. So , um, yeah. So tell me , um, what you found as a result of going through the treatments. Like, what sort of changes did you start noticing?

Speaker 2 11:06

Yeah. So, you know, I think a lot of people, you know, that may be interested or looking into this Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , you know, there , there , there's a lot of question that , you know, how, how does this work? How does this affect people? How does this, will it work for me? Right. Um ,

Speaker 1 11:19

Is

Speaker 2 11:19

It gonna help me? Is it gonna help me? Yeah . You know? 'cause really it's about me. Right . It's , it's, it's what can I do for me? And you should be doing that. Absolutely. So many people say, well , that's selfish. No. Mm-Hmm . No, no, no, no, no, no . Um , so I took things about me. Mm-Hmm . And I came in, I was nervous as all get out, but everything was talked to, everything was thorough. There was no doubt of what you were doing, how you were doing it, which then, you know, drops down because, you know, I had my blood pressure taken. Right . And it's like, that's a little high. And I'm like, I know. Yeah .

Speaker 1 11:50

Yeah . You know. Yeah .

Speaker 2 11:51

Uh , so , um, you know, that first treatment , uh, was for me. Um hmm . Very , um, spiritual. Hmm . It was a lot of things that I didn't realize I was holding onto that I was able to let go that other treatments didn't Yeah . Or couldn't do. Yeah. Um, and then as I went on, as they came in during different treatments, things got easier. You know, I, I think I told you at like session three, I'm driving down the road smiling at people, and I'm like, what am I doing? Why am I smiling at these people? They're probably like, what are you, what is this guy doing? And I'm like, oh , I don't know. <laugh> , you know, <laugh> . So , uh, you know , uh, I, I have slowly noticed a change in life. Um, a couple days ago, I was on a very traumatic run. Okay. Uh , I had a 4-year-old ran over Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . Um, and I was, it hit me very hard. Um, but I have, I, I believe it just helps you with the suck a little more. Yeah. You know, it's that that stunk really bad. And I took it really hard. But I know that with everything that I have been given, including these treatments, I today, it was, it was okay.

Speaker 1 13:17

And here's the thing. Having done emergency medicine for 25 years and worked in level one trauma centers, That should hurt. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . I don't ever want to be at a place where I don't feel that. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , where I lose that empathy for what the family has, has lost. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And for the grief that they have, I want to be in tears over that. That's my connection to other people. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So, yeah. I agree with you. It's not about making everything fine. Right. It's about I can be in the hard and I can get through it. Yes. Without losing my mind. Yes. Without spiraling outta control. Yes. You know? Yes . Without, without that making me not be able to show up for my family and my spouse and my job. You know? And I think that's the key. And that's what we all want. If you're looking for utopia, you're not going to find it the side of heaven. Correct. But to be able to put, to be able to sit in the hard and say, okay. Like, this is hard. I'm, I'm crying. I'm , I have grief. And I can see a way through, though it's not gonna be this way forever. Yes,

Speaker 2 14:35

You are exactly right. I can't tell you how many times I , I'm almost crying right now. Yeah. It's very hard. Yeah. But knowing how spiritually different I am now Yeah . And understanding how things work has made polar opposites of anxiety and depression. You know, they've, they're fighting each other. I can, I got a circle and a circle. I'm finally meeting in the middle. Yeah. You know, and I couldn't be more thankful for everything that I've experienced, to be honest with you.

Speaker 1 15:12

That's awesome. Tell me about where you are spiritually now. 'cause you just kind of mentioned

Speaker 2 15:17

That . Yeah. Um, so I took a big, big hit back, you know, five years ago. You know, <laugh> , you know, you're supposed to be the family man, get married, have kids. Yeah . You know, provide, and, and everything crashed. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, I have friends and they're gone. They're falling off. They're , this job is, brings 'em and then takes it away. Yeah. You know? And , um, it brings you to a, as you get older, a I kind of lost God a little bit. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , because it was, it was very angry. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . You know, why, why me? Why did, what did I do to deserve this? And I needed to stop , you know, we just talked about me. Yeah. Um, I needed to stop looking at, pointing about what I, like, what did I do to deserve this? And, and actually just look at me as a person instead of trying to find the blame. Yeah. You know? And when I stopped trying to find the blame and realized, Hey, you know, there's a re like, and then after the treatments, it was like, oh. And I've found myself just more in tune with his plan. Yeah . Instead of my own plan. Yeah. Every he has his way. You can't change it. Right. You're not gonna change it. Right . And I spent so long, I'm gonna change , you know? Yeah. Like, I want it this way. And now it's like, no. Like, I've seen your , your mind totally changes to, it's okay. I went from wound tie , O-C-D-A-D-H , adhd . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> things had to be done a certain way, a hundred miles a minute. Everything just wound tight to It's okay. Yeah. And going to church, I have more of a clear head to understand. Yeah . And I can take back a weekly message and apply that to my life. That is,

Speaker 1 17:06

That's worth the price of admission here , there <laugh> . That's worth

Speaker 2 17:09

Every single. I, I can't . I

Speaker 1 17:11

Got I

Speaker 2 17:11

Love it, bro . I mean, it's, I

Speaker 1 17:12

Love it.

Speaker 2 17:13

It's , uh, it's, it's , uh, for people that are, are really looking into it. If you really put the research into it, and you really, you gotta have the drive. Yeah . It's about you. Yeah. It's me. Be selfish. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> be selfish and be proud of yourself

Speaker 1 17:27

When come into this with intention Yes . For like, how you want to grow and heal. But, you know, you said something like , I didn't, didn't mean say

Speaker 2 17:33

Selfish as a , like a No , no . People bad . Yeah . That's not, I meant

Speaker 1 17:37

Self care .

Speaker 2 17:37

Self

Speaker 1 17:38

Self-care is what it is . Yes. You gotta put your oxygen mask on first. Exactly. There's nothing wrong with that. Exactly. Like, when I invest in me, my health, again, not from a selfish standpoint of like, I'm just gonna go do what dad wants to do, but when I invest in me, and sometimes that is I need some quiet time. I need to just go to the park with my guitar for a half hour

Speaker 2 17:58

Exactly.

Speaker 1 17:59

And just be right. But then I come home and I'm a better husband and a better dad. So it's, it's investing in self care . Yep . But , you know, you said that, you know, part of you was like, why me? You could almost flip that to say, why not me? Why out of 8 billion in the pe people in the world, would I not have some suffering to do in this life? Exactly. Right. Exactly. It's like we live in a broken, sinful world. Jesus promised us there would be troubles.

Speaker 2 18:31

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 18:33

I mean, I was listening to a , um, guy on YouTube, a business guy that I follow, and , uh, he was talking to somebody and they were just frustrated trying to grow their business. And he goes, did you think this would be easy or hard? And the person says, no . I mean, I thought it would be hard. He goes , well , this is what hard feels like. You just didn't know hard was gonna feel like this, but this, and you could say that about life. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , right? Yes. Brian , did you think life was gonna be hard at some point? Yeah . This is what heart feels like. Right . But again, to be able to push through the heart and be healthy in it, that's what we're missing. Correct. When our brain isn't healthy. Correct. You know, and so as these treatments decrease inflammation in the brain, one of the causes of depression and anxiety as they cause an increase in neural connections, loss of those being another key component of why we get depression anxious, now the brain is healthy. So now it's the healthy version of d the healthy version of Brian that can come at these problems and be like, okay, there's an obstacle here and I'm gonna figure out a way over it, or round it under it or through it. But I can do that. I'm equipped. Exactly.

Speaker 2 19:45

I struggled too with , uh, some short-term memory loss. Like I would, somebody would ask me to do something or had plans, and I'd be like, yep , we can do that. Yeah . And then they'd call me and be like, Hey, we had plans. And I'm like, no, he didn't <laugh> . But I've noticed after these treatments, I am my , when I said my mind is clear, like I'm remembering more, I'm, yeah . And we've talked about that. Yeah . The inflammation, the rebuilding.

Speaker 1 20:10

Because one of the places that's affected chronic stress causes loss in neuro connections in the hippocampus and amygdala. Those are areas that are not only involved in emotional regulation, but memory formation. Correct. So what you're saying makes perfect sense from a scientific point of view. Yes.

Speaker 2 20:26

So, and I, I tru I mean, I truly feel it. I mean, it's amazing.

Speaker 1 20:30

So I have a quote here from you , um, when you came in just for your second treatment. So you'd only had one, you said that you had more emotional energy, but you also said, I don't remember feeling this chill since I was a child.

Speaker 2 20:46

Um, I think again , um, I was the oldest out of five kids. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um, my parents worked full-time jobs. Um, I'm sure you can start to see the story Yeah . That's being built here. Yeah . Um, so, you know, I was, I was always in charge of making sure those things were done, you know, the kids were taken care of. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, my younger brother and sisters. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um, it's just what you had to do back then. Yeah. Your parents were doing everything they could to support ev what they could for you. Yeah. Um, so I took that role on , um, I also took that role on of football, academics , uh, being in a cadet program at the firehouse, taking care of , of my siblings. I don't remember a a an actual just chill time in my childhood because I was going all the time. Unless it was at football camp. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> or away from, because it was just hectic. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And after that treatment, you are, you are just so in tune with yourself and what everything you just went through that you're, you're almost just at peace. Mm-Hmm . It's so peaceful. It's almost freaky. Mm . So I think all of those emotions were just going through my head of, wow , this is, this is wild <laugh> . You know?

Speaker 1 22:12

So tell me, has there any been anything that surprised you about, like, this new experience, this new way of doing life? Has there been anything that you were like, whoa, I,

Speaker 2 22:25

It's amazing how much that the world is looked at at being negative. Right. And it's amazing how much that I can just look at somebody now and just say, Hey, good morning. And they're like, why are you talking to me? <laugh> ? Hey, good morning. Yeah . I don't care. Yeah . Good morning. Yeah. If more people would take the time just to tell somebody good morning or hi, or, you know , do you need help ? But

Speaker 1 22:51

The previous version of you, I just , couple months ago Mm-Hmm .

Speaker 2 22:53

No. Nope . Sis , you know, you're on your phone walking . Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , you know? Yeah . Like, you're not, you're not talking to people, you're not interacting with people. You're not, you know, it's made my job better. 'cause you're more in tune with patients. Yeah . And how you're, you know , you know, like empathy , you're more clear. Empathy. The empathy . Empathy the connection. Because we are going on more and more and more and more mental health runs. Yeah. I mean, there's a mental health team for the , for the sheriff's department that goes out so that you don't get all these fire trucks , because that just adds more stress. Right. So it's easy to get there and know that they're already amped up and go, Hey. Right . You know , just, just putting your hand on their, on their hand of Yeah . It's okay. There's more than just, Hey, let's go to the hospital. It's, there's empathy, there's, there's connection, there's, well,

Speaker 1 23:38

For you, it's

Speaker 2 23:39

Ministry. Ministry. There's, you know, you , you find that line, and then you almost look at people because I know how, you know what I've been through. Yeah. And you can see it in their eyes and you see the I trust you. Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 1 23:51

<affirmative> ,

Speaker 2 23:51

Something tells me I should trust you. Yeah. And you deescalate a situation from being terrible to manageable of, yeah . Let's just shake a trip to the hospital real quick. Yeah . You'll be back in no time . Yeah. Make sure you're okay. Your family loves you. Yeah . It's not worth it. You know, it's not, it , there's, trust me, you're not in the right head space right now. And pe that's what people don't understand is when you , your brain is infl inflammated, right? Yeah . You're , you're making decisions that you don't understand what you're doing. Right. And people are looking at you like, what are you doing? You, you just don't understand until you calm down. Yeah. And you reset yourself. And then now you're like, oh,

Speaker 1 24:30

Well , when I operate from the standpoint that everything has a root cause,

Speaker 2 24:35

A

Speaker 1 24:35

Hundred percent. You know, so again, it's not like people are just walking along and some bug bites them and they get mental illness. Right. Like, there's a cause there, I mean, I've often said that I wish that I were God to know all the mental health diagnoses out there. Like, how many are just strictly organic, because I mean, people go through childhood trauma and all sorts of things, and you never know what a person has been through. And then you combine those traumas with, you know, poor nutrition, eating a lot of processed foods, not having optimal levels of vitamin D and magnesium and omega threes. You know, all these things that can also contribute in health. But then on top of that, like, we're all biologically unique, so we're gonna interact with our environment differently. So how much stuff just happens versus there is a cause that if we were smarter, we could trace back to . Correct . You know, and I'm, I'm one of these people like, let's stop using the term mental health. Let's think about brain health and getting the brain healthy. Correct. Because what you're experiencing now is how Brian does life with a healthy brain. Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 2 25:44

<affirmative> .

Speaker 1 25:45

And it's markedly different.

Speaker 2 25:47

It's amazing. I mean, it's, it's life changing. It's, you're a different person. It's not, you're not, Hey, I'm old Brian . Like I said earlier, you are a new person. Yeah. You bloomed into a new person, and some people don't know how to take it. Yeah. Some people love it. Yeah. Some people just don't like it. You know what I mean? Right . Like , and , but you know what,

Speaker 1 26:09

This is me.

Speaker 2 26:10

This is me, and I'm rocking. I am loving it. I am kicking. I still have two treatments

Speaker 1 26:16

Left with you.

Speaker 2 26:17

Yeah . Yeah . I've got one tomorrow. Yeah . Uh , I'm looking forward to it. Uh , I mean, I have people asking me about it

Speaker 1 26:22

Now . I was gonna ask what people have noticed.

Speaker 2 26:24

I , I have the guy gotten , I have gotten , um, a guy in Texas. He actually found a place in Texas that he's doing Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . Oh , good. And I've connected with him. Yeah.

Speaker 1 26:34

I guess . Yeah. I love it, man. Uh ,

Speaker 2 26:36

So he's doing it. Yeah . And he's like, wow, he's getting better. You weren't joking. Yeah . You know, but again, he's doing the treatments. He's doing counseling. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . He's, he's applying himself. Yeah . Yeah . Um, I've got a guy coming in from Boston. Yeah . He's taking me in my treatment tomorrow. Yeah . He wants to see you . Yeah . Yeah . Like, he's coming in. Yeah. He wants to learn about it. Right. Like, what can he pass on? Right. Like, why the breaking the stigma. Yeah. Like the stigma is so bad.

Speaker 1 27:01

Oh, it keeps , it keeps people stuck.

Speaker 2 27:03

It

Speaker 1 27:04

Does. It keeps people

Speaker 2 27:04

In chains. It does. So do you want to , do you want to be the person, the stigma that's told that just deal with it? Yeah. Or do you want to break out and have self-worth and self care Yeah. And listen to God and say, no, you are you. I made you for a reason. Yeah. Don't, this is, yeah. No, say something. Please say something. Do something. So

Speaker 1 27:25

If people around you that didn't know you were doing the treatments, has anyone noticed that you're different?

Speaker 2 27:30

A hundred percent.

Speaker 1 27:31

What are they? What kind of

Speaker 2 27:32

People ? Uh, active talking , um, working out? Like who's noticing this different , uh, family members work people. Oh, really? Uh , just,

Speaker 1 27:40

They just notice

Speaker 2 27:41

People that you don't even see that. You're like, man, you just look different. Yeah. There's , you just look different.

Speaker 1 27:47

We countenance It's different than when you first came in here. Absolutely . Absolutely. You're brighter.

Speaker 2 27:51

I , I feel like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 27:53

It's not heavy. It's

Speaker 2 27:54

Not like you can't, like , like I said, I know I'm kind of repeating, but you come in, you're nervous. It didn't work. I've been through all this stuff. I've, I've heard it. I've seen it. I've felt it. Yeah. I know. I know. People are going, oh , okay. Oh , okay. Well do it. Yeah. You know, like I was to the point where, what else did I have to lose? I wanted to be the best man I could and best dad I could for my, my two little girls at the end of the day. Yeah. That is my heart. You feel like

Speaker 1 28:21

That's where you're getting to

Speaker 2 28:22

Be? And I am. I mean, we're flying to Florida next week. Yeah. Like, we're going to the zoo, we're acting and they're like, look , let's go. You know? Yeah . Now, by the time they go back to their moms, they're like, zonked. Yeah . And she's like, what did you do to them? You know? I'm like, the park, the zoo. Yeah . Line to Florida. Like, they're, you know, like, come on, let's go. Let's go camping. Let's go hiking. Let's go canoeing. Like let's go kayaking. There's so much more to life and your quality of life.

Speaker 1 28:53

It's hard to put a price tag on that.

Speaker 2 28:54

You can't, it's, there's not a price. And , uh, and like I said, and I also did this because spiritually Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, to be a better person for the girls. Yeah. You know, you have to, it's in the Bible, you gotta take care of you . You gotta take care of you. And , and you have to listen to God. And, and, and, and, you know, he's, he's kind of laid out some steps for men in , in different ways. Right. Um , but it's for you to listen and, and follow those and to be a better person and better person at work. Yeah . Coworker . Better , better person. You know, taking care of somebody, you know , we've seen doctors, they're burnout . Right . And then it happens, and then patients are like, oh, well , that was rude. You know? And I've stepped back and went, you know, Hey, it's okay. Hurt

Speaker 1 29:38

People. Hurt people. Yep . Right. Yep . And I think , uh, yeah, just that idea of what , you know, if you fast forward 10 years, your relationship with your daughters 10 years from now, versus if you didn't invest in yourself and take the time and the money to do this 10 years, like, how huge is that gap between the way the relationship with you will be now in 10 years versus the way it would've been?

Speaker 2 30:08

I don't know. But it probably wouldn't have been good. Yeah. It probably wouldn't have been good. And it's not fair for them, for me or anybody else.

Speaker 1 30:14

When I've talked to people before, I may have mention it to you, I've said it on this podcast before. It's like, there's a generational blessing here. Right? We did

Speaker 2 30:25

Talk about this

Speaker 1 30:26

Previous Brian , you know, these daughters seeing you and the struggle and the isolation and a, that's going to negatively impact your relationship with them. But b, you're teaching them how to handle life. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , right? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . I have five boys. If I beat my children, some of my grandchildren will get beat . We're gonna beat

Speaker 2 30:44

The or their

Speaker 1 30:45

Children. Right. And so that's a generational curse. A generational blessing though. Because now these daughters are gonna be raised with dad who shows them love. That lets them feel value independent of their sexuality as teenagers. Right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And so we girls need strong dads Yes. To lead them. Right. So that they identify themselves as having self-worth for who they are.

Speaker 2 31:15

I sit down with my girls every time I see 'em, I make sure, and I always say, when we wake up in the morning, you are loved, you are valued, and you are cared for and you are safe. Yeah. Every morning. And they're like, dad , we know. And I'm like, as long as, you know, I'm letting you know all of those things. Because I think if you start off the morning Yeah . With some positive Yeah . Affirmations. Right . Your your day is just totally different. Yeah. It's like making your bed Yeah. Take Right . Three minutes to make your bed. Right . It sounds so changes the

Speaker 1 31:44

Whole day. Silly. Yeah,

Speaker 2 31:45

It does. It sounds so silly. But you just make your bed like this , goosebumps again. You just make your bed and you're like, okay, what's the next tax task I can do?

Speaker 1 31:54

Should I admit to him that my bed's not made <laugh> , so

Speaker 2 31:58

Don't ,

Speaker 1 31:58

I'm gonna start making my bed .

Speaker 2 31:59

Yeah. It's just, you know, there's, there's so many things. Like I said, there's so many motivational things out there. I know you and I have talked about Sean or Ryan, you know, they're , you know, watching different people with PTSD , depression, anxiety, who are military cops, firemen , uh, everyday people. You know, it's a , it's on YouTube. You could , the the information's out there Right. Do you wanna apply yourself and do it, or, you know, and be better and be that better person? 'cause I, I tell you what, it was a pretty rough time in my life. I got, I got to the point where I said, I enough's enough. I'm, this is not good. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . You know, and I'm just not , it's gonna end very badly. Yeah. And I knew I had to put my foot down and say, I'm done. Yeah. I'm done. And here I am. And I, it's, it was the hardest. I thought my world was done, my crash done over. And now I look back and I thought, man, <laugh> , <laugh> . What was I thinking? Right. You know, like, what was I thinking? Life

Speaker 1 32:57

Is

Speaker 2 32:57

Amazing right now.

Speaker 1 32:58

Know I've learned, and I've counseled people like emotions are liars. Because when you're feeling those extreme emotions, they convince you that they're forever. Correct. No emotions forever. Right. Can we just establish that whatever you're feeling, what , because we've had people near us take their life.

Speaker 2 33:16

Yep .

Speaker 1 33:17

And I've been to that point. I've contemplated that, and I don't like that I've ever gotten there. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . But whatever emotion you're feeling, it's temporary. Correct. Whether that's a day, a , uh, a week, a month, but they're temporary. Even the good emotions, right? Yep . When we're up there, we feel like, oh, this is gonna last. No, it's not like nothing lasts forever, but those emotions lie to us. And they make say like, well, this is how it's gonna be, Brian . It's never gonna get any better. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . You know, and that's, that's a lie straight from hell.

Speaker 2 33:48

I think you and I talked about this. You can have your highs of your highs. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> in your lows of your lows. And I, I could be wrong. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . But I think most patients that come in here, or clients Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> or whoever that come in and get treatments, they, they have those drastic changes. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And after treatment and applying yourself Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , this stabilizes you. Yeah. It puts you in the middle Yeah . Where you don't have the highs of Right . And then you're not hitting the lows or the lows. It's kinda , you're in between of, Hey, I do feel this and I do feel this, but there's no extreme. Right.

Speaker 1 34:18

Well , I think, you know , um, one of the things that our patients tell us, they talk about how they have less brain chatter, you know, as these symptoms go into remission, less self judgment. But the other thing that I think really stands out is being more easily able to access joy.

Speaker 2 34:34

Oh yeah. I agree to that. Yeah. Yeah. I agree to that. What does that mean to you, man? It's just taking little things for life and just , uh, I was in the hot tub the other morning Yeah. Sitting there. And normally you're just doing your thing. Yeah . And I sat back and I just looked at the sun coming up through the trees and the beautiful sky. And I thought, oh man. Yeah . Just something so simple. Joy . Joy. Yeah. Joy. Just that Yeah . Something so small that you would, again, your brain clarity. Yeah. You take the two seconds to go, wow, that's pretty beautiful. You know, like even storms coming in, people freak out and you're like, wow, that is a work . That's

Speaker 1 35:15

Powerful. That's awesome .

Speaker 2 35:16

Yeah . That is a work of God right there, you know? Okay, now let's go inside. Yeah. So <laugh> . Yeah . Uh , but no, yeah, I agree with that. I, I , I think that that , um, in , in combination with everything, you're just, your quality of life across the board is so much better.

Speaker 1 35:34

When I think, you know, when we talk about trauma, I think people have to let go of this idea of like, well, I've never seen combat, therefore my trauma is not significant. Or I've never, you know, had a 6-year-old patient die in the er, whatever that is. No. Like, we each have to figure out what that trauma is. And sometimes it's kind of just that repeated microtrauma. Yes. You know, maybe you grew up in an environment where you didn't feel safe. Correct. And secure. Right. And that chronic stress over time negatively impacts the brain. Correct. And so, what I love about these treatments as a functional medicine doctor, somebody who's focusing on integrative health and getting to that root cause is it goes upstream and it addresses that at that root cause. It's like, okay, there's loss of neuro connections, let's make more neuro connections.

Speaker 2 36:26

You were , you were exactly right. Yeah . I I , if you don't mind, I want to hit back on something. Yeah . That I think is huge. I have heard probably a million times, I don't wanna say anything. 'cause what I'm feeling is not compared to his

Speaker 1 36:41

Right.

Speaker 2 36:42

Is not like Yeah . He saw a 4-year-old, you know. Yeah . Or he saw his buddy get blown up. Right . Or, you know, like, oh no, trauma is trauma. Yeah. It doesn't matter if it was something between a childhood. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . It doesn't matter if it's a divorce. Yeah . It doesn't matter if it's losing a child. It doesn't matter if it's work related . There's so much stress related things at work that time and time and time and time again. Yeah . It doesn't matter. Speak up. Trauma is trauma and everybody deserves to have their voice heard. Yeah . A hundred

Speaker 1 37:12

Period percent period . And , and dealt with and treated.

Speaker 2 37:14

Correct.

Speaker 1 37:15

So there's no insignificant trauma.

Speaker 2 37:17

Correct. I'm very passionate on that. Like, I hear people say, well, I don't wanna say it. And I'm like, no. Like, I stop . I'm like, no, you have a right. You have trauma. You , it doesn't, you need to stop comparing, don't compare. And

Speaker 1 37:30

Not everybody presents with the same symptoms. I mean , there's a book out that I'm, I'm not completely through, but in , in the process of reading, but it's called, I don't wanna talk about it. And it's about how male depression often doesn't show up with like, melancholy and isolation and sadness. It's just anger. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , you just have a short fuse and you're mad at everything. And so, I mean, I think of people out there and have a loved one, or they personally notice, like, I'm , I'm just easily upset all the time. The root cause of that can be depression. And the root cause of that is loss of these neuro connections . So it's affecting the area of the brain involved in planning, decision making , emotional regulation. And when you fix that, suddenly you're not just angry all the time. Right. And maybe you are okay talking about it. Right. And I think that's the beauty of a treatment like this that just really gets into the brain and resets that circuitry and makes the brain healthy.

Speaker 2 38:28

A hundred percent agree with you. Yeah . I , I couldn't add any more to what you just said.

Speaker 1 38:32

So if there are people out there who have struggled, you know, maybe other , uh, pre-hospital providers or just like we said, I mean, everybody has their own version of trauma that has happened to them and they're just unsure about proceeding. Maybe they've looked into the treatments or they haven't even , um, what advice would you give them?

Speaker 2 38:52

Yeah. So I think, you know , um, I would , um, I would take the time to, to talk to family and friends. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , they're gonna be the ones that are with you. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And if you are nervous or, or looking at any of those things, I, I think that you take the time to talk to them, explain to them what's going on. Um, because the biggest thing that I found was , uh, emotional support. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . A big emo like not a big, some emotional support, but you have emotional support. You have , uh, monetary support. Mm-Hmm . You have spiritual support. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Each person brings you something. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So three to five people. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> that you can talk to, to help guide you into whatever treatment that you may want. Because that's somebody you can fall back on. Not to say they don't believe you Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . But they can help with those different things. Give information, give feedback to do the same thing I did. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> or or anybody else before me . Yeah . Then to come talk to you. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And then you all work together. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So many people want to do it on their own or don't want to do it. Yeah . Or don't wanna talk to somebody about it. And you've ended it. It's right there. It's done. You didn't, you just saw it and you're like, Nope , I don't wanna do it. Yeah . Like, I didn't, I didn't like this. Well, talk to people, talk to your friends, talk to your family members. They're hurting too. Yeah. They're hurting too. And they're gonna want to help you. Yeah. And if you have that boost and you have that want and you have that fight, go spiritual monetarily. Um, mental, emotional , emotional. Have those three to five friends. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , lean upon, do your research. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , don't trust the first thing you see, trust in God, do your research, the information's out there. And then trust, I always say trust, but verify. Yeah. Trust, but verify. Yeah. And then make your decision from there off of obviously the doctor that you feel comfortable with. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Because again, it's about you. Right. So I felt comfortable with you. I, the, the, I I will say that you , these individuals are very highly emotionally charged coming in. You will be. Um, I can tell you coming in here is the , the staff was the most pathetic emotionally available people I have ever met in my life. And of course it was you and your wife, <laugh> , but , uh, and Darlene and Darlene and everybody else, but it was just you , you , you didn't feel uncomfortable. You felt welcomed . You felt like it's no di you're, it's no different than you're going to a doctor's office. Yeah . Like, it's, it's very comfortable. It's very relaxed. Um, so those are my things that to add. Um, because I think if you do those things, everything else falls in place.

Speaker 1 41:32

And do you recommend people that were in that place that you were at to look into these treatments?

Speaker 2 41:37

A hundred percent. Uh, get help. There are so many. Um, you know, if you're employed, there's different people, counselors that you can talk to. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , like I said , there's research that you can do. There's people like you that they can come in and get consult there . The tools are out there. The the things are out there to go get. It's whether if not you are willing to go get it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> ,

Speaker 1 42:06

Anything else that we haven't talked about that you would add or ,

Speaker 2 42:09

Um, just know you're loved, you're cared for. Even in your darkest days when you don't think you are, you are. And , um, brain health is a really big deal to me and to a lot of people because I struggled and I was there. If you're struggling, please get help.

Speaker 1 42:27

Amen.

Speaker 2 42:28

Amen.

Speaker 1 42:29

Thank you, brother. You're welcome. I appreciate you, my man . I appreciate

Speaker 2 42:31

You.

Speaker 1 42:31

Love you, love you. So I hope you guys found that discussion very helpful for you. Uh, I'm very passionate about these treatments that we give because obviously I just see such a huge difference in our patients over a matter of just a few weeks. And we find that we consistently see a reduction in , uh, depression and anxiety scores by about 75% in just two or three weeks. And so if you or someone you know is struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, please reach out to us at (317) 300-4091. You could call or text that number. Please remember to hit the subscribe button here so that, whether it's the podcast or the YouTube channel, you're subscribed. So I can keep bringing you more and more good content. And you can always feel free to just , uh, shoot us an email as well, Dr. d@alphaomegawellness.com. But we'd love to have an opportunity to just sit down with you and chat and see if this treatment is a good fit, so that you can see the changes that our other patients are seeing, and so that you can become our next success story. So God bless you guys. I love you. Let me know how we can help you.