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The HeadRush Podcast with Paul Frase and Corey Berry takes you inside the reality of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) through the lens of football and rodeo. With firsthand experience in two of the most punishing sports, Paul and Corey share their stories, the lasting effects of head trauma, and the fight for awareness and support.
This is the HeadRush Podcast with Paul Frase and Corey Berry.
Corey Berry:Welcome to the HeadRush Podcast. I'm Corey Berry, and I rode professional rodeo for nine years, and our cohost Paul Frase played eleven years in the NFL. What was the last team you played for?
Paul Frase:The Baltimore Ravens. How many games? I was there for 11 games. I got cut the first time in my career in my eleventh training camp at the Green Bay Packers for I was starting my second season with them, and I got released. And I went home and sat on the couch for five games and just I stayed in shape.
Paul Frase:I stayed in good enough shape to if the phone rang to answer the call. So the Ravens brought me in the last 11 games of that year, 1998.
Corey Berry:Did you guys go anywhere in the year with the Ravens?
Paul Frase:No. We were terrible. It was Couldn't
Corey Berry:have Ray with you then?
Paul Frase:Ray Lewis was a yes. He was a teammate, and he so March Abroada, I think it was Ted March Abroada, our head coach. It was his final year in the NFL, and we were, like, one and fifteen, I think. It was pretty, pretty poor. And and two years later, they ended up winning the Super Bowl with Flacco.
Paul Frase:We had our quarterback was Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh. Oh, what? Yeah. He was at the end of his Great coach. Yeah.
Paul Frase:Mean, took your 49ers to the Super Bowl one time. And he was a great quarterback too, but he was a Yeah.
Corey Berry:But he picked a shitty quarterback.
Paul Frase:No. No. Alright. Let's get back to the topic.
Corey Berry:Okay. At the HeadRush Podcast, we talk about everything related to brain trauma and brain health and wellness. We talk about TES, Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome, the closest you can be diagnosed to CTE while alive. I got that privilege, thank you very much. We focus on traumatic brain injuries sustained through repeated head impacts, RHI, and for our veterans and first responders, the repeated blast exposure, RBE, for our men and women who served in the armed forces.
Corey Berry:We cover how brain injuries can and will cause mental health issues such as depression, addiction, lack of executive function, memory loss, even suicide ideation as well as degenerative neurological issues. Our mantra is how to cope and find hope. We focus on energy our energy on finding therapies and sharing hope through education and raising awareness. Please everyone like, share, subscribe, Do review on all of our sites. It'll help us reach our goal of helping people suffering from TBIs, repeated head impacts, and repeated blast exposure.
Corey Berry:And remember, we are also the official podcast for
Paul Frase:The HeadRush Foundation.
Corey Berry:Paul, what are we gonna talk about today?
Paul Frase:Well, Corey, you and I kinda get frustrated sometimes. We're not doctors. We're not even we don't have any post nominal. We don't have any PhDs behind us.
Corey Berry:I wonder if I added up all the time I talk to doctors if I got as much as I got.
Paul Frase:Well, yeah. They have their ten years of studying and then in late, late, late nights and long shifts. All right. But interestingly, you and I have talked about this a lot. We get frustrated because when we talk about symptoms of CTE, and these symptoms are found on the Mayo Clinic website and the Boston University website, arguably to the I mean, the Boston University is arguably the most research that's done worldwide, and they probably have the most papers that's done worldwide regarding CTE.
Paul Frase:But what we get frustrated with is all of those symptoms, there's like 16 or 18 on the BU website and the Mayo Clinic website, they to us, they seem like mental they could be attributed to mental health issues and brain wellness and brain health or brain damage and problems with the brain.
Corey Berry:I just asked, check GPT. What is CTE in symptoms? CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive brain disease caused by repeated injuries or concussions. It's most commonly seen in people who have had repeated blows to the head like athletes in contact sports, boxing, football or military personnel exposed to blast. What happens in CTE develops over time as abnormal proteins called Tau, this is CHAT Mhmm.
Corey Berry:Build up in the brain. This damages brain cells and leads to gradual loss of brain function. Symptoms of CTE. Symptoms usually don't appear immediately, they can develop years or even decades after repeated head trauma. Cognitive thinking related memory loss, difficulty concentrating, confusion and poor judgment, emotional behavioral, mood swings, depression, anxiety, aggression or irritability, impulsive behavior.
Corey Berry:Physical in later stages, problem with balance and coordination, slurred speech, tremors similar to Parkinson's. God, I guess I'm in the later stages. Flurge at GPT. And progression. CTE tends to worsen over time progressive disease.
Corey Berry:In advanced stages it can lead to severe memory problems similar to dementia which I call BS. The World Health Organization just came out and said that CTE causes dementia. Severe memory problems similar to dementia, personality changes, difficulty performing daily tasks. Important notes. This is the last part of it and then we can get on.
Corey Berry:Alright. Alright. There's no cure yet and diagnosis is usually confirmed after death. We know that. However, doctors may suspect CTE based on symptoms and history of repeated head injury.
Corey Berry:And that's where they're coming up with the clinically diagnosable TES, which is about to change I think at the next brain injury NIH meeting. Mhmm. And preventing repeated head trauma is the best way to reduce risk.
Paul Frase:So it's would you say it's preventable from that last sentence possibly?
Corey Berry:Yeah. You don't bang your head.
Paul Frase:You bang your head. So so what we get frustrated about is, you know, we're not doctors, but the doctors of neurology want to say definitive statements. And we get frustrated because and the list of CHAT GPT actually almost mirrors the list. We're gonna go down the list of that the Mayo Clinic shows
Corey Berry:Go to some Boston since we do Boston. Alright. So
Paul Frase:what we get frustrated is about is we talk about mental health and issues such as depression, addiction, lack of executive function, so on and so forth. And they they are they can be attributed to mental health issues. But doctors of neurology in CTE say, you have to be definitive. We don't we don't have the studies or the research. Well, we're gonna talk in general general generalities.
Corey Berry:Doctor. Koffler, we cannot say that repeated head impacts cause mental health disease.
Paul Frase:Oh, okay. So let's so what are we getting at is we're gonna go through Boston University, CTE Center. Okay. About CTE Center, research, contact, I'm gonna get the symptoms of CTE. What are the four stages?
Paul Frase:Wow. Let's talk
Corey Berry:We about don't care about the stages because they're gonna change. Right. Okay. But right now, it's pretty important.
Paul Frase:If you or someone you love is living with Parkinson's, MS, or symptoms associated with CTE, this is worth knowing. Ambeo Life Sciences offers a novel alternative medicine called Ibogaine and operates the only Ibogaine clinic in the world for people with neurodegenerative disorders.
Corey Berry:Many are reporting meaningful improvements in their quality of life after Ibogaine treatment. Interested? You can learn more about Ibogaine and apply at ambio.life. What we're going
Paul Frase:to be talking about is CTE
Corey Berry:Chronic symptoms. Symptoms
Paul Frase:And Symptoms. Yeah. And we're gonna be relating them to we're not doctors, but mental health issues and brain health and wellness issues. So just a second.
Corey Berry:Well, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, confusion, and poor judgment. I picked you as a cohost. Does that count as poor judgment?
Paul Frase:Possibly. Possibly. And I I had the frequently asked questions. I don't want a frequently asked question. What is a TES?
Paul Frase:Traumatic encephalopathy syndrome. Yeah. And you're you're you're clinically diagnosed. Right?
Corey Berry:Correct. Through UT Health San Antonio at the Glen Briggs Institute for Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative changes by doctor Jeremy Tanner.
Paul Frase:Yeah. And it's so TES is the proposed clinical syndrome of CTE. To meet 2021 TES criteria requires, number one, substantial exposure to repeated head impacts. Do you have that, Corey?
Corey Berry:Oh, yeah.
Paul Frase:Number two, presence of at least one core clinical feature, cognitive impairment in memory or executive function or neurobehavioral dysregulation?
Corey Berry:Of them.
Paul Frase:All so What about you? Number three, I absolutely suffer from some of the memory and executive function big, big time.
Corey Berry:Give me a for what?
Paul Frase:Well, I've I've well, first of all, I've seen my I've caught myself at a stoplight, and it was green. And I said, no. Why am I stopped? You only stop in red. So that's kind of I'm only 61 years old, and that happened a couple of years ago.
Paul Frase:I mean, is is that a problem?
Corey Berry:How about forgetting to make flights and forgetting to schedule things?
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I absolutely have memory issues big time, big time. So number three, there is a progressive course.
Paul Frase:So have you progressed over the years? Oh, yeah. I've definitely progressed over the years. So and number four, the core clinical features are not fully accounted for by other disorders. Have you ruled out Alzheimer's?
Corey Berry:Yes. I've had PET scans for Beta amyloid. Beta amyloid. I've had the blood work. I've had everything.
Corey Berry:There's no other explanation for my I got atrophy. I got separation of the brain. I got all of that. What you're going to do this week is get MRIs. Finally, and gentlemen, a year and a half down the road, Mr.
Corey Berry:Paul Frase is going to go get a neurological test, an MRI, blood work.
Paul Frase:I don't know if it's a functional MRI because they put that handleable Lecter face mask.
Corey Berry:That's just for an MRI.
Paul Frase:That's just for MRI. Yeah. So that's what they're doing down at the Cleveland Clinic.
Corey Berry:Are you doing a neurological evaluation?
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yeah. They're doing some they're doing testing, like a four hour testing neuro neuro and then I had those done when I was getting baseline for the concussion NFL concussion settlement stuff. They they gave us the opportunity to go get a baseline where we were at that time. Yeah.
Paul Frase:So we're I'm doing all that, and and then a lot a plethora of other health issues. They're gonna be checking my heart out, my heart health and echocardiograms and all that fun stuff. Every five years, the NFL the the trust, and I think it's backed by the NFL, they actually give us the opportunity to go for two days and have a full body scan, and so I'm taking advantage of that. This the last time I did it with the Cleveland Clinic was about six and a half years ago.
Corey Berry:So finally, Paul Frase is going back to get double checked.
Paul Frase:Yes. Alright.
Corey Berry:So back to the symptoms. So memory loss, you got memory loss?
Paul Frase:So let's go line by line because so it actually starts with cognitive impairment. It it talks about trouble thinking. I have trouble thinking daily, getting my thoughts aligned. I used to be able to sit down and have my whole day mapped out and, you know, do this, this, this, this, and this. And now I have to sit down and say, what am I gonna do first?
Paul Frase:And then really concentrate. Oh, and then be able to start listing out my day. I have to specifically think of what job I'm I'm thinking about and what stage are we in, and it doesn't happen at the split second anymore. It takes me a few minutes.
Corey Berry:How about just trouble thinking what you're saying?
Paul Frase:Well, two things.
Corey Berry:I have problems with that, like reading. I'll have problems with thinking what I read and thinking what I'm saying. I
Paul Frase:absolutely have that. It would it really started with my I had two strokes almost eight years ago within seven days.
Corey Berry:You think that's our HI? Well,
Paul Frase:let's talk about that. It's athletes tend to have larger enlarged hearts. It's it's it's common to have an enlarged heart. Does do athlete and athletes tend to have atrial fibrillation, which I have. I've had it since my playing days in the NFL.
Paul Frase:And so all of those, you know, those two aspects alone could absolutely be attribute to the possibility or probability of stroke. Can I say it definitely, you know, came from TBI or RHI? No.
Corey Berry:But But the probability is there.
Paul Frase:It's very possible. Yeah. So it's trouble thinking. We've now what about And
Corey Berry:I got a lot of problems with trouble thinking. Right. I just thinking it's trouble for me.
Paul Frase:Well, you we've had some unbelievable guests on and actually one of the guests that we're going be downloading pretty soon was Doctor. Raymond.
Corey Berry:He's already downloaded.
Paul Frase:And and, no. He's downloaded.
Corey Berry:He's already downloaded.
Paul Frase:Well, in shorts. No. The the full
Corey Berry:He's already downloaded. He downloaded a few weeks ago.
Paul Frase:No. The actual podcast.
Corey Berry:He's downloaded a few weeks ago. Okay. You remember, we are in studio right now. When they see this, they even downloaded a few weeks ago.
Paul Frase:Well, this is I don't think the way you think, right? So you catch a lot of stuff like that.
Corey Berry:Right. That's why I'm trying to correct you right now.
Paul Frase:But other things don't catch or you don't remember.
Corey Berry:So, yeah. I can't tell you what me and Eamon talked about.
Paul Frase:Well
Corey Berry:The two things I can remember that I've taken to Bible.
Paul Frase:You've been implemented.
Corey Berry:I implemented the two things as his rule of 12. Right. You can't get mad until the thirteenth thing has gone wrong.
Paul Frase:In a twenty four hour period? In a
Corey Berry:twenty four hour period.
Paul Frase:Okay. What was the other thing?
Corey Berry:The other thing is every night when I go to bed, before I pray, I ask what went well today. Not what went bad, not how things went, but what went well. And I can actually I'll go back as far as I can remember, but I go back and well I went to the gym, I woke up, I took my meds, drank some coffee, all that went well, I was in a good mood, went to the gym, that was good. You know, I drove home the four miles, that's good, you know, and I'll walk through and then we're in stormy weather right now so I'll forget, I won't say, well that didn't go good this afternoon because we had a hailstorm, I just forget about that because that didn't go well. Yeah.
Corey Berry:So I only say what went well that day.
Paul Frase:And interestingly, the way that Doctor. Amen was discussing it with us, actually things that seem kinda, you know, benign to us, you know, they're not neither good nor bad, you can actually look at them as being a positive accomplishment. Right. Especially especially in
Corey Berry:It's changing the negative to a positive. Exactly.
Paul Frase:Alright. So memory loss. Another impairment that chat GBT said that that the Mayo Clinic and Boston University websites
Corey Berry:Dude, memory loss, what were we just talking about?
Paul Frase:If you've been told it's all in your head, but deep down you know something is wrong, listen closely. Brain fog, depression, anxiety, irritability, even PTSD. These are not just mental issues. They may be signals of neuroinflammation and hormonal disruption, root causes that traditional medicine often ignores. At the Millennium Health Centers founded by Doctor.
Paul Frase:Mark Gordon, they have helped veterans, athletes, and everyday people restore brain function using a medical process called the Millennium Protocol. Take their free brain health assessment at tbihelpnow.org and discover if inflammation, not weakness, is holding you back. You're not broken, you're unbalanced, and balance can be restored. Well, I'm 61. Shouldn't I have memory loss?
Corey Berry:Well, yeah.
Paul Frase:Well, should I? Well But
Corey Berry:where's your is the problem. Now Paul, hold on a second. This is the problem that you're going to find out come Thursday, well, probably in about a month when you get the results of it all.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:Is they're going to when you do your neurological exam, you're going to find out where you're at compared to other 61 year old males. Right. And I'm I am far below the average. I'm way below the average on executive function. I'm below the average on memory.
Corey Berry:I'm below the average on 88, 90% of it.
Paul Frase:So interestingly, yes, I'll be able to compare what I got of you know, I did some of the I I did all of those tests, you know, eight, nine, ten years ago, and I'm gonna be able to compare the results against where I was that at that average where I
Corey Berry:I do it every year.
Paul Frase:I remember I did it probably fifteen or twenty years ago, and I was a lot better than that eight or nine years ago. And you've it was proven through the averages or statistical all the stuff that they collect, all the data and information. Alright. So memory loss. Okay.
Paul Frase:Is it 61 years old, or do I have accelerated memory loss? And some of those neurological tests are about to do test
Corey Berry:for Well, I'm diagnosed mild dementia.
Paul Frase:Okay. So all right. So plant well, let's talk about problems. And the cognitive impairment, the third issue in the Mayo Clinic, problems with planning, organizing, and carrying out tasks. What what are you laughing laughing about, Corey?
Corey Berry:I'm laughing at you on this one. Let's see. Let's see how honest Paul Frase will be, and then I'll tell you what Paul Frase is. Talk about organizing, planning. I'm
Paul Frase:I was not really organized before, but when when things hit the fan, the proverbial cow manure hit the fan At 47 years old, I really, really struggle with organizing and planning tasks and carrying out and following through and finishing.
Corey Berry:We just had a big blowout over all this organizing, planning tasks, and organizing. Everything that you just read was our big blowout.
Paul Frase:So let's go on to behavioral changes?
Corey Berry:No, no, no. Let's go back. You have a hard time with that. I'm horrible. I write down everything.
Corey Berry:It's on my phone and notes. I got calendar on the refrigerator. I got my journal and my phone. Everything is written down in my plan. I even got plan marked out on the calendar for Jim.
Corey Berry:Yeah. And the days I can make it, I go. And the days I can't, I don't. But I got a mark from this time to this time and I got to be structured so much and you know that that come 10:00 in the morning, I'm sorry. I make I gotta go to the gym.
Corey Berry:I
Paul Frase:it's You you couldn't change direction or if if you if you had to if you had to, you would. But you had that regimented. You have it I can't
Corey Berry:change it. It would cause me this it would tilt my brain.
Paul Frase:Right. Well, I know it's interesting. Sometimes like in my day job, can because I'm so zoned in, I can actually I always call it the opportunity for solutions on the construction site every single day, many times a day. And but when I'm when I'm off that that task, that specific task, and I all of a sudden have things that I have to organize and what what do I do next and what's going on, you know, not work related, it's very difficult. I I it's very difficult to plan out.
Paul Frase:And you've I'm I'm writing stuff down. I've I've got my notebook. You know? I'm writing stuff down, just about everything I need to do. So I can look back and say, okay, what did I write down?
Corey Berry:Well, let's just talk about what we went through on this little blowout a little bit is you went up to New Hampshire to see your mom. Me and you talked about before you went up there what we were gonna discuss at our next podcast. And you said you were gonna write the script over the weekend.
Paul Frase:Right. And I forgot it because I didn't write it down. So we talked the next Tuesday, and you you said, hey. Let's do it Thursday night. And I said, okay.
Paul Frase:What are we gonna talk about? And we both said, oh, we couldn't remember it because I didn't write it down, and I didn't write the script. And then and then we said, okay, let's let's do we we actually were gonna do This? This.
Corey Berry:But instead you got the Patrick Reesha release because four hours before the podcast when I talked to Paul, was like, hey, how's that script coming along?
Paul Frase:Oh, man. So yeah. So
Corey Berry:These these are the problems people that, you know, Paul's normal. You know, he's way ahead of me on the normal realm. He can still work, he can still function but here's a man that works twelve hours a day, builds homes, has to look at plans, get building permits, hook up subcontractors and build a home for a millionaire. And we're talking about behavioral issues, mind issues and all of this that he has to deal with doing this. I couldn't do that anymore.
Corey Berry:And that's the bad thing is there's I couldn't prioritize and plan my day out because if something went wrong
Paul Frase:It would throw a monkey wrench in everything.
Corey Berry:In everything. And then my day is like and then my brain goes.
Paul Frase:And then then it's almost it's almost impossible to I mean, without just breathing exercises, without I know you've you've been doing Breathing techniques. Yeah. Yeah. All that stuff. So, yeah, it takes a while to reset.
Paul Frase:Right. You know? Alright, really, behavioral changes, impulsive behavior.
Corey Berry:Do I got that?
Paul Frase:Well, you you have a you have a personality that is one would call it no filter. You you say what you believe, and that's that's true. Your truth. So is that impulsive behavior, or has it gotten worse over the years after neurological? You've you've been diagnosed.
Corey Berry:You think impulsive behavior would be? Is it me being nice like this and then cussing you out the next minute? Is that impulsive behavior?
Paul Frase:That could be impulsive behavior. I would would say for in in my instance, impulsive behavior would be when I was having problems with alcohol, you know? You know, that's an addiction behavior, I guess. But Impulsivity. Yeah.
Paul Frase:When you especially when you don't wanna do it, I guess.
Corey Berry:Right. Well, it's kinda like me at the gas station when the guy honked Judy and my wife and yelled at her. I was just standing there and the minute he'd done that, I didn't know what I was doing, but I was running towards the car to whip his butt. Millions live with depression, anxiety, fatigue, or emotional chaos believing it's permanent. It's not.
Corey Berry:The Millennium Protocol targets hidden inflammation and hormone disruption caused by trauma, stress, and time. Created by doctor Mark Gordon, featured multiple times on Joe Rogan and the HeadRush Podcast plus the documentary movie Quiet Explosions, this approach has transformed lives once written off as hopeless. Visit t b I health now dot org and take the 10 question brain health assessment. Healing is possible. Your story isn't over.
Corey Berry:Let's begin again with your brain. The next one is aggression. Oh, I ain't got an issue with that.
Paul Frase:You well, you you grew up differently and and, you know, being a cowboy, rough and tough and you, you know, you had situations that you you were Best friends box. Best friends box. Yeah. Well and
Corey Berry:How else are you gonna work out your differences? I mean, where I grew up, if you had major differences, you handled the then when you were done, you went and had a beer or went and had a soda if you're still in school. I had one. I remember fighting my best friends in high school.
Paul Frase:Yeah. I had one where I had to I had to stand up for myself, but I sucker punched my brother in the gut. He had he he deserved it.
Corey Berry:Did he knock the living hell out of him?
Paul Frase:No. He was I was faster than him. He was he was sucking air because I
Corey Berry:running. Got
Paul Frase:No. I ran. I ran real fast. So anyway, all right. This is, again, this is Boston University and Mayo Clinic symptoms, mood changes, depression or apathy?
Corey Berry:Yes.
Paul Frase:Can you attribute depression or apathy to a mental health situation or brain health and wellness situation? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So when the doctors of neurology say you have to speak definitively, you cannot detect CTE amongst the living without an autopsy. Okay.
Paul Frase:That's fine. But when CTE is associated with mood changes in depression or apathy. The next one
Corey Berry:I've been diagnosed with both.
Paul Frase:And the next one, emotional instability.
Corey Berry:I've been diagnosed with
Paul Frase:Yeah. That's not chat that's not just chat PT, but it would it mirrors exactly what
Corey Berry:That's through my neurological exams. Substance misuse. I had never had an issue with that.
Paul Frase:You never had an issue that I I alcohol was my substance of choice of misuse.
Corey Berry:And how bad did you get?
Paul Frase:I had an epiphany, come to Jesus at 24 years old and stopped drinking beer for a couple years. And then I got back on it, I was drinking like a gentleman for many years. And then, I life and things things changed, and I I started drinking, not as a gentleman. I started abusing alcohol for probably eight or ten years.
Corey Berry:And now you're a friend of Bill w.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Absolutely. Amen. Yeah. Going on nine years.
Paul Frase:So but I had a miracle, though, too. You know? In in those rooms, in the 12 step rooms, you one of the sayings is don't leave the rooms before your miracle happens.
Corey Berry:What was your miracle?
Paul Frase:Well, after suffering a second stroke in seven days on February fourteenth in 2018, I was standing in the Mayo Clinic that night, and fortunately, it had not affected my balance or left side paralysis or anything or palsy or anything like that. It it it took my speech. So I literally remember standing in that room that night, couldn't talk, and I was thinking if I keep doing this, I'm dead. I want the opportunity to walk my daughter down the aisle. Boom.
Paul Frase:That was my miracle. Haven't had an issue or an urge to drink since. Thank you. Thank you, God.
Corey Berry:You know, my miracle, not due to addiction, I think my mother being an alcoholic like she was made me well aware not to become an addict to alcohol. Mhmm. I went a 100% the opposite direction. I could still have a drink but I hate not being in control of myself. Right.
Corey Berry:And I think being raised by an alcoholic helped me be that way to where I don't get addicted to nothing
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:Except my wife and my daughter. I'm addicted to them because I love them. Mhmm. I'm a love addict when it comes to them. But my miracle is same as yours is with my suicide ideation was walking my daughter down the aisle.
Paul Frase:That's the next one, suicidal thoughts or behavior.
Corey Berry:And I had them both.
Paul Frase:You had them both, and you you didn't have them until you your last extreme TBI. Correct. And which was in 2022? Yes. And and so
Corey Berry:And now I get them.
Paul Frase:Yeah.
Corey Berry:It's getting easier I think because of the red light therapy or the Millennium Health protocol.
Paul Frase:Could be a combination of
Corey Berry:Everything, I'm doing the EMDR, the neurofeedback, the red light therapy, Crystal Clark, I mean all of it helps.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:I mean you just can't try something for a month and say, well it didn't work. Mhmm. I've been doing this for a year and a half and if I said it didn't work, wouldn't be doing any of it.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:You gotta keep coming back, it works. It's continuous. And I think with the suicide ideation, it's lessened, but just the other nine, I had to tell them, you need to come to bed with me.
Paul Frase:Talk you off the ledge? No. Or just, no?
Corey Berry:Come to bed and rub my head. And when she rubbed my head while I was laying in bed, I can concentrate on that and not on this. My thinking no longer was Right. Because I can concentrate on her rubbing my head.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Well, that's powerful because we we've been involved with the, concussion and CTE foundation. There are helplines Right. Frequently, and you you've shared that with many you know, a lot a lot of, people on on that helpline have dealt with suicide ideation, and you've actually been able to talk them through, talk them off the ledge, you know, encourage them some.
Corey Berry:Do you ever remember having any suicide ideation in your life?
Paul Frase:I have probably three times, and it was in my younger years, probably when I was struggling with with the alcohol mostly, thought about it for a a split split second. And it it was one of those weird normal things out. I you know, this bridge abutment, you know you know, it it just put everybody out of their misery just for boom. Just a split second. And I never so I
Corey Berry:I can't dwelled on it.
Paul Frase:No. No. No. Never dwelled on it. Never and and yeah.
Paul Frase:So I don't think I've you know, the suicide ideation that you I don't think you can call it that whatsoever. But, yeah, I've I've never dwelled on it, fortunately. So
Corey Berry:I have. Yeah. And it's not fun. It's not a good thing to talk about. My wife don't like to hear about it.
Corey Berry:You know, I mean, it scares her.
Paul Frase:Oh, yeah. Well
Corey Berry:You know, but it's something that happens in this world of RHIs. And what I tell people is, you know what folks? It took thirty years of beating my head to get here. I gotta give myself thirty years to better myself before I can do it. Exactly.
Corey Berry:So I got until 2052. I'm not going to be alive that long. You're going stick around. But if you look at it, you've got to compare it to the amount of years you gave yourself the damage. Right.
Paul Frase:Absolutely.
Corey Berry:It took you twenty years of intense football. Mhmm. Absolutely. You've to give yourself twenty years to get better. Right.
Paul Frase:And I didn't start trying to get better until 49, 50 years old. This episode of the HeadRush Podcast is brought to you by the Patrick Richa CTE Awareness Foundation. Their goal is to spread awareness about the dangers of RHI repetitive head impacts after losing their son Patrick to CTE. Sadly, there are too many like Patrick that have lost their families, jobs, and sometimes their lives. And this foundation is working hard to stop the devastation that can come from not protecting the brain.
Paul Frase:This foundation provides parents of school aged children with information about the dangers of sports, concussive sports, and activities which involve head trauma.
Corey Berry:They advertise on social media, print media, and billboards. Please follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok and share their ads with others. And please visit their website, stopcte.org, to find ways to help people recognize the disease if confronted with it in their family and how to prevent the suffering that can come to families when a brain is damaged. The website has medical forms to take to doctor's visits and advocacy letters if you want to help make change in your community. And their most recent campaign is geared up to help coaches build brain healthy teams.
Corey Berry:You can use the information on stopcte.org website to understand CTE, live with CTE, and prevent CTE. Please visit. Thank you. And don't knock it, you.cte.org. Doctor.
Corey Berry:Eamon talked about thoughts, how we not to try to allow that thought to come in and penetrate to where it lives in your lives in your head. It comes in, it goes out.
Paul Frase:He's famous for saying, don't believe every stupid thought you think. Right? Right. Right. We, you know, we all think thoughts, you know, and we think ridiculous things.
Paul Frase:And we conjure up we forecast, you know? We don't know. We don't know what we don't know, so why do we worry ourselves about what we don't know? Now, until it happens. When it happens, okay.
Paul Frase:Deal with it. No. Alright. Movement symptoms. And you you deal
Corey Berry:I got Parkinsonisms.
Paul Frase:Parkinsonisms, I I have and and again, I don't know if it's related to my A fib and heart and this and that and repeated head impacts. There, we could say, okay, doctors. You know, there's no definitive, but something's going on. I definitely have had moments of dizziness, moments of, you know, standing in the shower and worried about, you know, I I don't wanna hit the floor here. You know?
Paul Frase:Okay. Leaning against the shower.
Corey Berry:Oh, I get that all the time.
Paul Frase:Do you? You're leaning against the shower wall just for five seconds and kinda get your bearings, especially if you got soap and soap around your face and your eyes are closed, you know, like, hang on. Grab grab the side and and the the
Corey Berry:Well, the bad thing is is, you know, we moved into the travel trailer because of me having issues with the tracks and the planes and all of that. Mhmm. And being in the travel trailer is actually hurting me because everything's so tight, I'm spinning. Wow. And it's turning more.
Corey Berry:And then with my vestibular, with all my vestibular issues, my balance issues, it intensifies it.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:And it's like the other day we got an 18 year old puppy, 18 year old puppy, she felt like she was a puppy.
Paul Frase:Bruiser?
Corey Berry:Bruiser. Yeah. And I went to play with her and just go down and run back and forth. And about the third time about putting my head in the refrigerator. Wow.
Paul Frase:Oh gosh. You all movement symptoms, so trouble with walking and with balance.
Corey Berry:Right. I got nerve damage for my opticals Right. and my hearing. And so these glasses are prisms. Okay.
Corey Berry:Because I've gotten double vision and also age getting old.
Paul Frase:Well, you think about how intense both vision and auditory hearing are to your how important they are to your balance.
Corey Berry:Oh, yeah. Everything.
Paul Frase:Yeah. And I mean, you you hear of vertigo, some people getting vertigo for no reason all of a sudden.
Corey Berry:I get it all the time.
Paul Frase:Do you? And I know one of one of our friends, Chris Boyce, he's got the he gets a lot of the movement issues as well. Right?
Corey Berry:Right. Yeah. He's Life sensitivity.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:You know, it's I mean, this ain't a joke. No. I mean, it's
Paul Frase:And well, you you you back up. It's an invisible situation. You know, I I I look at you and I wouldn't if I if I didn't know you, I wouldn't guess that you were dealing with those things.
Corey Berry:Oh, yeah. And then when you talk to people, well, what do you what do you think Galen fought yesterday? I was off yesterday.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yes.
Corey Berry:And with me not being good, Galen never met me before.
Paul Frase:She's talked to you on the phone before and you've had, you know, good good
Corey Berry:conversations. Right. But I mean, most people would look at me and go, God, he's an idiot. He's mentally he's got mental issues.
Paul Frase:Right. No. So I've I've known you for fourteen, sixteen months, whatever
Corey Berry:it is.
Paul Frase:And I was able to tell Gayleyn because she's talked to you. You've been you know, you guys have had perfectly wonderful conversations on the phone. And I was able to tell her, hey. The barometric pressure has changed. The storms are going.
Paul Frase:The rain is going, and Corey could be off quite a bit. You know? And she you know, her her comment was after we sat and we had a meal together, she understood. She said, oh, wow. Corey can really get affected by something as simple as, you know, rainstorms and barometric pressure.
Paul Frase:Right. Yeah. So that that was a powerful but but she if she didn't know you and she didn't know, you know, if and and if we didn't know the issues you have, she would she would really be scratching her head.
Corey Berry:Right. Yeah. Well, it's kinda like I just learned it over well, since I deal with it, but I remember my vestibular coach talking to me going, you know the weather's going to affect you. You're an idiot. You know, what the hell are you talking about the weather affect me?
Corey Berry:She goes, well, how many back surgeries have you had?' And I said, 'two.' How many neck surgeries? One. How So many bones have you broken? Several. How many shoulder surgeries?
Corey Berry:Five. Right. You know, and she's like, so when the weather comes in, do you feel it? And I said, oh, yeah. I'm your I'm your national weather, man.
Corey Berry:I can tell you when it's gonna she goes, don't you think your brain is the same way?
Paul Frase:Yeah.
Corey Berry:And I went Yep. So Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet.
Paul Frase:It's yeah. It's affected by things that you that are unseen as well.
Corey Berry:Right.
Paul Frase:Alright. So we the next one was and we already talked about this, shaking, slow movement, and trouble with speech known as Parkinsonism. Mhmm. Parkinsonisms.
Corey Berry:I get the right handshakes. Yeah. I get little Parkinsonisms.
Paul Frase:Yeah. I had when I had my strokes, it'll be nine years ago, February 14, this coming, but I had I always had a shake in my right hand, and my father had it as well when he was later on, probably it bothered him the last ten years of his life, but he was 90 years old. And, he couldn't even hold a cup of coffee, you know, in his right hand. So anyway, I just wanted to rule out, you know, Parkinsonisms. And a movement specialist at the Mayo Clinic told me I had familial tremors, and he said they were actually genetic.
Paul Frase:And that was quite interesting because that was the time where we were worried about my father with his shaking in his right hand. But fortunately, he was not dealing with Parkinson's. But we've talked like to Brett Varv who actually has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. Does he have Parkinson's or is it Parkinson's in his head? No, he has Parkinson's.
Paul Frase:He actually has Parkinson's.
Corey Berry:But he also said no one in his family's had Parkinson's. Right. So there's only two ways you can get it, repeated head impacts or food.
Paul Frase:Exposure to chemicals and this and
Corey Berry:Right. Okay. Are the only two. Right.
Paul Frase:This episode of the HeadRush Podcast is brought to you by our personal doctor and team of doctors, doctor Maisel De Mayo, and she's with the Paradise Behavioral Health. And we are in the
Corey Berry:Brain Well program, which is also part of the Millennium Health Center. Doctor Mark Gordon, you've seen him on Joe Rogan and even on our show, the HeadRush Podcast, and the hormones. And Macelle is awesome. We love her.
Paul Frase:She's our doctor of psychiatry. She works at the Mark Gordon program with the hormones, and she adds her twist of genetics. It And basically is melding two wonderful mediums together, and we're getting great help from doctor Maisel DeMayo.
Corey Berry:So please check out her website at paradise behavioral dot com. She's Look up the Brain Well program. Get involved.
Paul Frase:She's sponsoring us. They're they're sponsoring us for the next year. So we are excited to to have them on board and and and shout the new the good news to everybody that is watching these broadcasts. She helping you, Paul?
Corey Berry:Absolutely. She's helping me. So go check her out. Paradisebehavioralhealth.com. I just looked up diseases attributed to CTE dementia, Alzheimer's disease, frontal lobe, Parkinson's disease, tremors, slow movement, stiffness, balance problems, hell low.
Corey Berry:Mhmm. Yeah. All of them ALS.
Paul Frase:Yeah. And what was the statistic four times more likely to get ALS You're right. If you played a certain number of years of football. And it's it's only
Corey Berry:Well, and your buddy's got ALS.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yes. Tim? Or Tim Green.
Corey Berry:Yeah.
Paul Frase:Tim Green. Yeah. Yeah. He's I I I kind of look at ALS as two different categories. One, kinda like the Stephen Hawking, you know, you can live until you're 80 years old, but you're in a wheelchair and you can't speak, can't breathe on your own to and and he that's what he's dealing with right now.
Paul Frase:And and and then you have Mongo, the Chicago Redskins. Chicago bears.
Corey Berry:Oh, I thought Mongo was a redskin. He's a Chicago bear?
Paul Frase:Well, he he played with the bears for for years. Oh, okay. With with the defense in '85 when they won won the Super Bowl. Perry Perry and Jim McMahon and all those. Mike Singletary was on that team.
Corey Berry:Right. Smooth.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yep. So but he passed pretty quickly. You know, he just passed last year, I believe. So last thing.
Paul Frase:Last thing. The movement system. This is kind of way down the road, and obviously, they've been able to associate with CTE of people and families that lost loved ones that were able to comment on their actions. So gradual loss of control of new movements such as walking, speaking, swallowing, and breathing, known as motor neuron disease. And we're I mean, obviously, again, we're talking about people who have had autopsies and it's been proven they had CTE and their loved ones were able to give and answer questions to the doctors regarding their status.
Corey Berry:Well, put it this way, we were supposed to have a guest on today. I'm not gonna say his name.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:In studio. Yeah. And he forgot to show up and I just received a text from him. He said, I effed up. I had it in my head, it is this Thursday.
Corey Berry:I'm so sorry, guys. I was so busy. I completely forgot. We had this planned, what, three months ago? I warned him on Tuesday.
Corey Berry:And so I mean this disease causes issues. Right.
Paul Frase:Well the thing is
Corey Berry:there's a lot of help out there also. So you know the greatest thing I've heard is the way doctor Heyman said it is Boston University has done some terrific things, things. Research. Really advancing research, advancing everything at CTE.
Paul Frase:Right.
Corey Berry:But all their patients are dead. Right. I'll be their patient when I die. Right. You'll be their patient when you die.
Corey Berry:Uh-huh. But in the living, we got Doctor. DeMille, we got Doctor. Mark Gordon, we got Doctor. Eamon, we got food, we got red light therapy, we got hyperbaric chamber, we got Ibogaine, mushroom.
Corey Berry:There are so many things that you can try. EMDR, neurofeedback that
Paul Frase:This is really the voice of hope coming to you live because we do have all those things that we and they work for some people and some people they don't. Right. Either some specific
Corey Berry:And not guaranteed.
Paul Frase:They're not guaranteed.
Corey Berry:I'm on six weeks and I still have my bad days of red light.
Paul Frase:Mhmm. How really, really quick with the photovial modulation, the red light therapy. You've been on it for six weeks.
Corey Berry:I'm on my six week.
Paul Frase:You're on the six week. How okay. Any advancements in your thought, think or your thinking? Any advancements in your wife's thinking because she sees you day in and day out?
Corey Berry:Rico says my speech is better, my talking to what my brain to what my mouth says is better and quicker.
Paul Frase:I would agree with that.
Corey Berry:My wife thinks it gave me some more I'm not getting affected as bad as I was. Mhmm. That it's helped with the storms, that it's not rocking me. Right. To where I'm curled up in bed and just trying to get the day over with.
Paul Frase:Right. And and you you remember these storms, you know, yesterday, the day before, they rocked you a little bit, but we also had a you know, like like you said last week, we got into it, you and I, and you were a little, off from that problem.
Corey Berry:Right?
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we both
Corey Berry:Well, and the problem is is when me and you got into it, it ended up taking me down a rabbit hole because my brain wouldn't shut off.
Paul Frase:And that's that's common with repeated head impacts.
Corey Berry:Right.
Paul Frase:Yeah. Yeah.
Corey Berry:And so finally, I just had to just drown it all out. Right. Right. Not associate, not talk about it, keep away from it.
Paul Frase:So when when you're you know, obviously, you just kinda listed, you know, the the word of hope, you know, and therapies that we're we're trying. We're you know, you're personally trying a number of them. I'm I've just started EMDR.
Corey Berry:August, baby.
Paul Frase:August. Yeah. You and and hopefully, the the guest that missed today, he he will get on eventually because he has a Great story. Pretty good story about about that August thing.
Corey Berry:It makes me wonder if it's a cure all.
Paul Frase:No. Well, that's the fact of the matter is you we were talking about Doctor. Amen being a Pollyanna, I was a Polyana person. And the bottom line is we're never gonna get back to our brain health and wellness of 30 years old.
Corey Berry:No. But Eamon will tell you
Paul Frase:that. And even Eamon did tell us that.
Corey Berry:And Mark Gordon will tell you that.
Paul Frase:All of our physicians and doctors. But Doctor. Eamon's You
Corey Berry:ain't getting your 20 year old brain back.
Paul Frase:One of Doctor. Eamon's favorite sayings is, You don't have to settle with the brain you have right now. You can make it better. But that's what we're trying to do.
Corey Berry:Well, Mark says that
Paul Frase:too. Mark says that too. So that's that's that's what we're trying to do, researching all of these modalities. And eventually, the the the HeadRush Foundation, we aspire to actually be able to that people that can't afford these treatments, because a lot of these treatments are not covered by insurance. So we aspire to start making these treatments available for some people that are able to get through a grant process through the HeadRush Foundation.
Paul Frase:So we're moving that way slowly and
Corey Berry:Very slowly.
Paul Frase:Well, it's
Corey Berry:But it's brain injured people trying to do it.
Paul Frase:Right. Well, bear with us. Yeah. And the brain injured people know right now, these two know that we're we have another guest coming into studio or actually coming into studio via Zoom, and we've got a we've got Wrap it up and go. We've got to
Corey Berry:wrap it up and go. So It was nice talking with you all. Enjoyed it. Have fun. Hope you learn.
Corey Berry:Stay positive. Remember you can't get mad till the twelfth thirteenth thing has gone wrong, the rule of 12.
Paul Frase:And remember to think of what went well today when you What went well today. When you lay your head on the pillow.
Corey Berry:And then say your prayers.
Paul Frase:Yeah. And doctor Amen, thank you again for sharing those situations.
Corey Berry:You know, I emailed him and told him because remember in the episode how he said, email me in three weeks and let me know. I emailed him back and
Paul Frase:Oh, did you?
Corey Berry:Glad to hear it. Good.
Paul Frase:That's great.
Corey Berry:Alrighty, guys. Thank you so much. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry that we missed our guest today. We will invite him back on another time, but our next episode will be next week.
Corey Berry:So stay alert.
Paul Frase:And stay alive.
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