CTP (S3EFebSpecial7) Why Healing Starts When We Finally Ask For Help

CTP (S3EFebSpecial7) Why Healing Starts When We Finally Ask For Help
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond   
We look at PTSD without myths and talk plainly about trauma, therapy, and the daily choices that keep us steady. Omar Ritter shares combat memories, brain surgery survival, and the path from pride and silence to honest help.
• PTSD affecting survivors beyond the military
• measuring pain fairly and avoiding comparisons
• therapy, medication, and building a routine
• “rehab the mind” not chasing a perfect cure
• turning OCD into focus and clarity at work
• redesigning workload to protect sleep and health
• the book West Point To Wall Street
• using nonprofits, hotlines, and real follow‑through
• small acts of care that ripple into change
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A Short Story: A Lasting Legacy? book Trailer

Transcript

Welcome And February Specials

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hello, welcome to another episode of First to Two Storms Podcast. I am your host, Joseph M. Winer. That's L-E-N-A-R-D at the front without the go. Thank you for tuning in as Brandon to stay on his show. Let's get over the show. Welcome to season three. February. This special segment. Intro is for February specials. I'll be running two a week rather than one special a week on Wednesdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in February to get caught up on some of the interviews. And as Graham Norton currently says, he used to say, let's get out with the show. And I use that normally, but he uses now and I'm going to borrow from him again. Let's get some guests on. Joining me today is going to be Omar Richter. And I saw the movie Sheepdog. He deals in PTSD. So I thought, well, now's a great time to talk about that. But before I do, I owe Omar a public apology. We were supposed to record a couple days ago. And even though I'm a former IT guy dealing in computers and deals in military time all the time, all day, every day, dozens of times, I properly convert military time. But a couple days ago, I opened the Zoom room two hours early because I miscalculated military time. And I'm sitting there waiting for Omar thinking, where is he? Where is he? Well, he wasn't supposed to be there until two hours later. I screwed up.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

My apologies, Omar. Oh, no, no problem, Joseph. I appreciate you having me on, Jay Leonard. So so thank you. Thank you.

PTSD Is More Than Military

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yeah, you know, just one more proof as I say, we're all human and flawed and frail and imperfect, can make mistakes, and I did, but unlike some, I'm looking at you, Kimmy Jimmel. I can own up when I screw up and apologize. So, anyway, indeed, welcome to the show, Omar.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Hey, thank you for having me. Um, glad to be here, looking forward to the discussion.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

I saw the movie Sheepdog. Have you seen the movie?

SPEAKER_00 2:52

I've seen uh parts of the movie Sheepdog, and and so it's um, yeah, it's very for me, it was very um relatable to some of the things that I've gone through in my time.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

My terror strikes coming soon to a city near you book, partially dedicated to first responders and military, but survivors of casualty events like a 9-11 also can have survivors guilt version of PTSD. So when people think PTSD, it's not limited to just military, yes, correct?

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, and I I think that's a that's a great uh point, um, Joseph, because what what people tend to do is they tend to measure your pain by their pain. And I would tell folks that never try to measure somebody else's pain by your own, because PTSD can actually occur from life or death events that happen to you, the individual, life or death events that happen to family members and friends that are close to you as well. Rape victims, assault victims, um, etc. People in a in a in a car crash accident can have PTSD. So we do a bad job of just relating it to military, and that's that's unfair to service members in some way, but also unfair to the general public uh who may have gotten into a predicament that gave them PTSD, and we need to recognize that you know this illness it's spread throughout our society, and it's not just limited to our men and women who served in the military or first responders, etc. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

It's there in the name, but we don't really think post-traumatics, just right. There's many kinds of trauma that can trigger uh such things in people. Exactly, exactly. What got you into what had you suffered it at all? Do you suffer it now, or do you have someone close to you? What got you into this concern?

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah, so this is a this is a um you know great question. And so there's like there's a couple things from from me. So, first of all, uh, I'm an author for you for those who don't know, and my book, uh West Point to Wall Street, my journey to uh to mental wellness, what my book talks about is you know my journey growing up, my journey uh going to West Point, joining the military, fighting in combat in Iraq, um, also serving in Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission where I saw some situations. But also, I had 18 hours of brain surgery, emergency brain surgery, that I didn't think that I was gonna make it back from, right? And so for me, Joseph, my my PTSD journey is a is a double-edged sword of both war fighting, but also the trauma at 27, 28 years old of thinking that I might not make it through this brain surgery, and then at the same time learning how to walk again, talk again, having follow-up surgeries, etc. And from 28, 29 years old, I'm already thinking hardcore about how long do I have on this planet? And so, as someone that's almost 50 years old, before I leave this planet, what I wanted to do is write this book so I could help everyone, whether you're a service member, a veteran, a civilian, in a in a in a high-profile, stressful job, or just a family member trying to support everybody else, but not really caring about your needs, to recognize that mental health is a serious issue. I want to make it a conversation so that folks can get the help that they truly need uh to get better. So that's how how it plays in for me, Joseph.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Well, you led to the next question I was because you said about getting better. It there's not really a cure, uh, certainly not a drug that seems to cure. There's drugs that deal with different symptomal aspects of it, but it is something one can live with and get better from, never fully back to what you were, but better at the word you used.

Can You Get Better With PTSD

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, I mean, I I agree with that, but I I would also say that if you go and you blow out your knee, right? And then you you do it so badly that you got to get a knee from a cadaver, or you got to get a can uh a complete reconstruction, you can come back to the field. Athletes do it all the time, and typically they come back at 90%, 95%, but they're never quite the same. You know, PTSD mental health issues, same thing. You know, you you have to go get the get the treatment, and you can get better. Now, are you ever gonna be like completely 100% what you were before that traumatic event? The answer is probably not, but you also won't be on edge all the time having suicidal thoughts uh of taking your life, taking somebody else's life, uh, always down the pits, not able to get out of bed, etc. So you can live a full life knowing that you know your your your knee or your brain or what have whatever um injury that you're getting treated for is never going to be 100%, but it's gonna be good enough for you uh to do the work that God put you here on earth to do.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah, and I like to hearken it also kind of also to anxiety, stress, depression. Uh there's more than one kind. There can be a chemical and balance version that a drug might be able to address, but also too, it can be purely a mental state and other external forces. It's not a chemical disorder. So trying to treat one, it's not a one-size fits-all, it's not a one, it can't be all the same approach at determining and how to fix, I guess. I I don't know how to better articulate that statement as a question.

Treatment Isn’t One Size Fits All

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah, and so and and you know, it's a it's a question and an answer. So you're right, it's not a one drug fits all um for for for for each person, like there's no one saw for it, right? Also, some people don't necessarily need drugs, what they need is a conversation, and so for me, as I've done my mental health journey, as I wrote my book, that was very therapeutic for me to put those things out on the page to have a conversation with my friends and family about that. But also, one of the major things that I do in my life is I talk to my therapists every week on top of uh you know taking medication because again, for some people, just having a sounding board for their thoughts can be more than helpful than any drug could be, right? So so we as a people got to find out what works for us and then dedicate ourselves to going through that, right? It's no different than if you're an alcoholic and you start going to Alcoholics Anonymous, you get a sponsor, you're checking your your blocks every 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, PTSD, anxiety, depression, no different, right? You have to seek the treatment and you have to stay on the right path. I mean, every day I make a decision to take my medication for my PTSD, and I can easily fall off the train and get away from that because maybe I'm gaining some weight, or maybe I'm feeling lazy. But for me, gaining a little bit of weight, feeling a little bit more lazy, is not worth me coming off that and falling off a cliff or having my brain hijacked and causing me to do something that I can never repay or that I'm gonna regret for the rest of my life.

Therapy, Medication, And Daily Choices

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Well, the movie Sheepdog deals a bit in the therapy aspect, and indeed the the scene that makes sense is where he is saying to her, the therapist, you have never been in combat. You could never conceivably understand what I've been through. And indeed, the only answer to that is yes, you are correct, but I'm here to try to understand. I'm here to try to work with you to help you come out of the things that affected you and are holding you down now. It's like I'm a big hockey fan. I used to play hockey. Uh the Nashville Predators and other teams during their games used to have this embrace the awkward uh public service announcement or anti-suicide campaign, right? Embrace the awkward. I I don't know what you're going through, but I could tell something is different. I could tell you're not you. Something is wrong. Please understand, I may not be able to relate, but I am here willing to listen. And if I can't help you, I commit to try to work with you to find someone who can help you. Because indeed, correct, talking it out can make a difference.

“Sheepdog,” Empathy, And Listening

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Right. And and I and I would say, Joseph, all over this country in America is obviously the greatest country in the world for many reasons. But in this country, we have thousands of nonprofits that are that are dedicated to um you know anxiety, depression, stress, thousands of hotlines, thousands of uh, you know, caregivers that actually set their time aside to do these things for free and clinicians. Now, it doesn't matter how many how many people or support systems we have in place if the people who are suffering don't raise their hand and take advantage uh of these things, right? And and I will tell you, for example, I worked on Wall Street for 20 years after the military, and every month I was paying$700, several hundred dollars into a health care plan, and that health care plan included being able to speak to a therapist, being able to speak to a psychiatrist, etc. And I never took advantage of that until my last couple years. So I probably spent upwards of$20,000,$30,000 on care that I never took advantage of. And so it just goes to show you, even me as a payer, if I don't walk in and I don't take advantage of that, then it doesn't matter that that it's there, right? I I need to be able to take the first step in my treatment and be comfortable with that. And again, that's that's why I wrote the book. That's why I'm here talking to you today, is to really ask people and let them know that it's alright for them to take that first step to their wellness.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Yeah, let's talk about the book a little bit more. Go ahead and hold it up again for the benefit of those seeing on behind the scenes video, my five video channel, though it doesn't do much good for those listening on the 25 plus audio only platforms or maybe reading it in transcript, right? So the book title again, as you're holding it, is what?

Use The Support Around You

SPEAKER_00 15:55

West Point to Wall Street, my journey to middle wellness. It's available on Amazon.com. You can also find me, Omar Ritter, at omarrider.com, where you can find all my socials, order the book, uh, etc. And so, you know, what what you were talking about, Joseph, is you know, me writing the book, West Point to Wall Street, my journey to middle wellness, is really I talk about you know my journey as somebody that folks on the outside would see is extremely successful. You know, I I got into West Point, I went to Columbia Business School, I fought in combat, I received a bronze star medal, a valor device, a combat action badge. I was a company commander in the military. Uh, when I got out due to my my brain surgery, I didn't stow down. I actually showed up to Columbia Business School with stitches in my head, ready to do the next thing, because I had family members depending on me and paying very little attention to the the PTSD that was dragging me down from both war and the brain surgery, and the anxiety or stress of going to yet another really hard institution with people that were on the top of their game when I wasn't on top of my game because now I'm dealing with um the stress of keeping up, PTSD, trying to heal from a brain surgery, and I'm going to school with people that are very close to being genius, who are 100% healthy, and I'm trying to compete with them, right? So um the you know the book talks about that. But what I want to say is if if somebody like me, with all this pride, drive, grit, can actually raise my hand and say, I have PTSD, I need help, I need to seek counseling. Surely anyone else can do this as well. We can make this an everyday conversation.

The Book: West Point To Wall Street

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yeah, and that's part of it here is everyone's story is slightly different. It's right, they may say, Well, I he can't relate to me. It may have worked or is helping for him, but it it's that pride thing and uh that sometimes gets in the way. Uh it won't work for me. Well, you can't know it won't help until you're willing to try and see. And indeed, the sheepdog movie plays into that. That his belief that yeah, you can't really relate to me. Talking it isn't good, but the human brain uh psychology has a pretty firm basis over thousands of years of study to understand there are other underlying related things that can help people to help themselves. But that again is really the bottom line, as you said. You have to recognize yes, this is a problem, and I want it to be better. Others can help me be better, but at the end of the day, it's really up to me working to be better, yes?

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yeah, and Joseph, you know, one of the things also with anxiety, PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder, for some people it can be be their superpower. And so what I what I would tell you is is that when I was doing an investment banking, and you know, now I'm a finance and accounting guru, my obsessive compulsive disorder makes me the very best finance person, uh, one of one of the top finance people um on the planet when it comes to being able to help small and medium-sized business owners and look at their financials and forecast for their three to five years because I always look for trends and numbers, and I always want to get everything right in the numbers and understand them before I come back to them and simplify. And being able to simplify um, you know, financials makes me a really good uh I do adjunct professor, professor of accounting at UNC Charlotte. And so my students always tell me, man, you're so good at making the complicated seem simple. And that's because my obsession compulsive disorder is like, hey, how can I simplify um you know these things for the masses? And so it's not always uh a negative thing if it's not impeding with your health. When it gets to the point where it starts impeding with your health, your psychological value, your your your relationships, um, you know, with your with your loved ones and friends, then it's an issue. And that's the point where you got to raise your hand and get the help that you you truly deserve um as a human being.

Turning OCD Into A Superpower

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah, I I have OCD myself. Being in IT, it was, as you say, in a way, it's a strength for a while because your brain never shuts up and it's always working on the problem. Right. Uh-huh. Uh but that means trouble going to sleep at night. And then, like me in IT being awakened in the night for a problem, then when I go back to bed and try to get back to sleep, because I still need to go into the office the next day. I can't get back to sleep. Eventually, as you said, it did happen to me where my body said, All right, you're not gonna slow down. Guess what? We're gonna force you to slow down, and my body basically shut down. And it's why I'm got this program today. I'm at home on disability, can't work a normal job anymore because of the stress and anxiety, and my brain won't stop and. With till it comes to a point where it just shuts down. Uh indeed. So again, not the same, but can relate in a way.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Yeah, I and I can relate to you totally. Like I I bought into a fractional CFO franchise because I realized that I can no longer go to a bank every day, uh, you know, run a team of 15 to 20 people, try to please a boss, uh, etc. Right. I I want to I want to do what it is that I'm that I'm good at, and I want to be able to turn it on, turn it off when I want to turn it on and turn it off, right? So, you know, for me, I grind on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Monday and Friday, I'm sort of ramping up on Monday and ramping down uh on on Friday. So I'm not thinking about financial models in my sleep, nor do the small and medium-sized business owners I work for want me to do that because typically whatever I'm giving them, it's the first time they've ever seen it, and so they're in love with it. Unlike when you're working at a JP Morgan Chase or a Goldman Sachs, where everybody in the room is uber smart, uber well-versed in the finance aspect of things, and so you're constantly bickering uh with each other. So just working with owners is different, and it's not that they aren't the most intelligent people in the world, they don't have time to dig into rudimentary finance numbers. They're thinking about the overall picture of how am I going to drive revenue, bring in more customers, keep my expenses low, and feed my family, which is something that isn't necessarily part of what I do or my expertise building the business, but I'm there to support uh that business owner. And again, my OCD really helps support uh those business owners.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Okay, so let's repeat the name of the book again for the benefit of everyone. And you already said it Amazon and all those places.

Redesigning Work To Protect Health

SPEAKER_00 25:15

So the book is again uh it's called West Point to Wall Street, My Journey to Mental Wellness. And again, it can be found on Amazon.com, but you can also find it on my website, omarridda.com, where I also talk about uh, you know, I'm also a motivational speaker, so I come into companies and talk about my journey because I'm really trying to make this a daily conversation between working people, right? So I'm not a I'm not a famous athlete, I'm not a famous actor, I'm just a dude who works like most everybody else listening to this, who's here to support God, um, you know, work in the image of God, uh, support my my family, help my friends, and um, you know, this PTSD thing really had an impact on my life, and it took me 20 years to get some help, and I'm just trying to be adamant for you not to wait 20 years, and if you waited 20 years, 30 years, doesn't matter. You can still go get um that help you need, and it's not too late, it's not too late, it's never too late, it's never too too late. It's too late when the mental health issue hijacks your brain, takes over your cockpit, and makes you crash out, right? So when I say that, it makes you commit suicide, it makes you harm somebody else and spend the rest of your life in jail, right? And so we want to we want to definitely protect our brain, which is our cockpit.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Yeah, and my terror strikes book, again, um grabbing it, grabbing it. Uh, there is a website, terror strikes.info. There is terror strikes.info slash charity, things like Project 22 and other first responder or military charitable supports that are good charities, vetted charities, not ripoff charities, because there are plenty of those out there too. So uh if you don't have someone immediately around you needing your help, please help in that way through charity. And normally to wrap things up, I'd ask where can people reach you? But you already said so. People indeed should check you out at Omar, and that's O M. Oh, I can't talk. O-M-A-R-R Ritter R I T T E R dot com. Yes?

SPEAKER_00 27:53

That's right. And you know, I like what you what you said there, uh, Joseph. You know, what we want to remind people to do is we want them to do whatever is good. Um, and you know, we the Bible talks about that um in in scripture. So if you don't um, you know, see somebody right in front of you uh with this issue, you know, please consider helping out those folks that that do have this issue so we can have the lines open for them to be able to call in to get that help you need. Because listen, it's almost 25% of uh Americans or even people in general that that suffer uh from these different mental health issues, and we just don't talk about it enough. We don't push people to get help, we don't push ourselves to get help, we just kind of live with it, and that's just not the way to go.

It’s Never Too Late To Get Help

SPEAKER_01 28:48

And my entire life and living series of books, there's four of them now, tinyurl.com slash life and living series. All life has value. You might not think so in a given moment, you might not recognize it's not like the movie It's a Wonderful Life, where Clarence is gonna come down and miraculously show you all the wonderful events that made your life worth something, right? It may be just a bunch of little things that you'll never ever recognize that have a butterfly effect and do matter. You being here matters, your life matters, it has value, it has meaning. Uh, I was reaching, couldn't grab, couldn't find right offhand the suicide helpline. I will I have that image, I'll put it up online and post on the screen. Uh your life may not be dramatic, like a movie, but again, little things you may never recognize amount to big things down the line. That butterfly effect. I also like to say the old Panteen shampoo commercial, although, as you can see from the leukemia of the chemo, I no longer have hair. I shave my head since the uh chemo caused the uh hair to come out. And no, I'm not a neo-Nazi skin head. It was the cancer that caused it to come out right by. Hey, I save a ton of money in shampoo and conditioner, but like that old canteen head. They tell two people, then they tell two people, then they sooner or later you have a movement. A small smile to another that then balloons to smiles to others, may save a life. Who then has a child who cures cancer? That's right. What role did that little smile play? You will never know. But it played a role. It's important. Little things matter. Your life has value.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

That's right. I mean, it's even just asking somebody how they're doing and and and not asking it in a in a passive way, like, uh, you know, talking about the weather.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

It's like minusly talking about the weather has a benefit. It's an inner, it's a social interaction. It's that's right.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Um I'm I'm acknowledging that you're you're alive and that you're a person, right? So I'm giving you that acknowledgement.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Correct. And I may not even know you, but I care. I care enough to strike up that meaningless weather conversation.

unknown 31:40

Exactly.

Charity, Community, And Small Acts

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Yeah, and and and and we're we're we're more alike than we are different. And once we all realize that, the world will be a better place and there'll be less stress out there. But until that happens, what I want to close with, Joseph, is just ask people to take care of themselves, have the conversation, and help others that may need to have that conversation. It needs to be out in the open. We can no longer um suffer in silence ourselves or let other folks suffer in silence. So thank you, Joseph, for having me on.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Oh, thank you, Omar Ritter, for coming on. And you're right, we have more in common than we do have difference. We may share a different skin tone, but we are one human race. We share the same DNA. We may be from different subregions around the planet with minor cultural differences, but we are but one human race. And why Martin Luther King Jr.'s biblical channeling of content of character is what matters. Right, that's right. All right, thank you, Omar Ritter, for stopping by. Uh, uh again, I apologize for the screw up from the video. All good, all good.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

I'm happy to be on.

Like, Share, Subscribe CTA

SPEAKER_01 33:01

All right, take care, God bless. Love you. All right, Joseph, you too. Love you, man. Like and subscribe to Christitutionalist politics podcast and share episodes. We need your help. Thank you for having tuned in to another Christitutionalist podcast show. I really appreciate that you stop by. Again, please like, share, subscribe. We need you to help spread the constitutionalist movement. Thank you again. Take care. God bless. Love you all.