Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
“You are not stuck with the brain you have—you can make it better.”
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.
0:10
This is the Headrush Podcast with Paul Freys and Corey Barry.
0:17
Welcome to the Head Rush podcast. I'm Paul Fras and I played 11 years in the
0:21
NFL and our co-host Corey Barry rode ro professional rodeo for nine years and at
0:30
the head rush podcast we talk about everything related to brain trauma and
0:34
brain health and wellness. We focus on traumatic brain injury sustained through
0:38
repeated head impacts and we and uh we talk about repeated blast exposure
0:44
rbe for our men and women who serve in the armed forces. We talk about tees,
0:49
traumatic encphylopathy, CTE, and we cover how traumatic brain injuries can
0:56
and will cause mental health issues such as me uh such as depression, addiction,
1:01
lack of executive function, memory loss, even suicide ideiation, as well as
1:08
degenerative neurological issues. Our mantra is how to cope and find hope. and
1:13
we focus our energy on finding therapies and sharing hope through education and
1:18
by raising awareness. Please like, subscribe, share and help uh us get the
1:24
word out of of repeated head impacts. Corey
1:28
>> and we are also the official podcast for the Head Rush Foundation.
1:33
>> For the Head Rush Foundation. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we got one
1:39
of the greatest guests to ever come on the Head Rush podcast.
1:46
He is probably ranked up there as high.
1:52
I think he has over four million followers. He's done tremendous amount
1:58
of work with us brain injured people. And I bet you
2:02
before I introduce him, we're gonna have to ask him if he's ever been interviewed
2:08
by on a podcast by people actually affected by brain injury and repeated
2:13
head impact.
2:13
>> Yeah. You're diagnosed tees clinically tees. So,
2:17
>> so our guest is a physician, double board certified psychiatrist,
2:22
awardwinning researcher, 20time national best-selling I bet you it's 21 with the
2:29
new book, author whose book have been translated into 50 languages.
2:36
Founder of the Aean clinics with 11 locations nationwide. He has published
2:42
over 95 scientific papers and hosted 19 national public television specials on
2:50
brain health. He is named the web's number one most in influential mental
2:56
health expert and Washington Post called Dr. Aean the most popular psychiatrist
3:02
in America. I'd almost say the world. Dr. Dr. Aean believes we are on the cusp
3:10
of a new revolution in psychiatry with nearly nearly I bet you he's over 300
3:17
brain scans
3:18
>> 300
3:19
>> brain specs 300,000 brain spec scans on patients from 155 countries. His
3:28
research reveals that most psychiatric disorders are not mental health issues
3:34
at all, but they are brain health issues that steals people's minds. His guiding
3:41
principle is simple. Get your brain right and your mind will follow. His
3:45
mission is to end mental health illness by creating a revolution in brain
3:51
health. Dr. Aean, welcome to the Head Rush podcast.
3:57
Thank you so much. I'm so looking forward to our conversation.
4:02
>> Have you ever been interviewed by two brain injured people on a podcast
4:06
before?
4:07
>> Many. Many. I see a lot.
4:15
I I I did the big NFL study when the NFL was sort of not telling the truth about
4:21
traumatic brain injury in football. and it's it's just been so interesting. But
4:29
I've become friends with many of them and have been on some of their podcasts.
4:33
>> Awesome. So, it's a pleasure to meet you finally, Dr. Hammond. I have been
4:38
following your work for years. Um, I know we're going to talk extensively
4:43
about um your uh studies with, you know, involving NFL players and CTE and I know
4:50
I think I think it's over 400 scans at this point for NFL players. Um, so
4:57
really quick, about three years ago, I dear friends from Texas called me and
5:02
they knew I was struggling with some, you know, neur neurological issues and
5:07
they said, "You have to watch this movie, Quiet Explosions." And I said,
5:11
"Quiet what?" And they said, "Quiet Explosions." And I watched it that
5:15
night. And um, I've probably watched it about 10 times since. And um so what
5:23
that movie did did for me was and uh it gave me hope. Um I had seen the movie
5:29
Concussion you with the the the movie about Mike Webster in his last final
5:34
days and I was with
5:35
>> Will Smith
5:37
>> with starring Will Smith as Dr. Amalo. But um I just could not imagine shocking
5:45
myself with my car battery to to get get some sleep at night. I I and and
5:50
apparently Mike Webster had to go through that in his final days. Anyway,
5:54
but quiet explosions gave me hope. Um what you guys did you you you and uh I
6:01
know doc Dr. Gordon is one of your peers that you worked with in that movie. But
6:06
can you tell us I mean I was exhilarated after watching that movie. It gave me
6:11
such hope. Can you tell us how that movie came about? And also I want I it's
6:16
kind of weird to intermix this but I want to um you to share about the spec
6:23
scan while you're talking about the quiet explosions and how you've used it
6:27
to advance your your studies. So, I was actually a consultant on the
6:33
movie Concussion and Peter Landisman, who wrote it and directed it, uh,
6:41
wrote me in the script because he said, "You offer hope and then he wrote me out
6:48
of the script because the movie ended up being about this David versus Goliath,
6:54
you know, Bened Amalo versus the NFL." And I I was not happy about that because
7:03
it portrayed CTE without hope.
7:08
>> And that's just the lie that is being perpetuated
7:14
in our society. And you know, Boston University's done some great work on
7:20
CTE, but all of their patients are dead. And all of my patients are alive and we
7:31
can tell if you are headed toward a CTE dementia like process 20 or 30 years
7:41
before you have any symptoms. And what I get really excited about is if you've
7:49
been bad to your brain and you just have to admit it, right? Playing football is
7:55
a brain damaging sport. Um, you should be in a rehabilitation program your
8:04
whole career and certainly it as soon as you retire. And when uh Jerry Sher, who
8:14
helped write and direct produce Quiet Explosions, learned about my work, uh
8:21
she said, "Please, will you be in the movie?" And her husband Allan, who had
8:28
had that severe brain injury, uh was also part of the movie. And I think it
8:35
drove her passion. And a number of my patients like Mark Ripen and Anthony
8:44
Davis, the Hall of Fame running back from USC were in the movie as well.
8:52
>> And and that's that's again you you go back to hope and and what what you
8:57
offered in that movie to people that are struggling. And uh I mean, you know, the
9:04
opening the opening credits were talking about over 2 million uh damaged brains a
9:10
year or traumatic brain injuries. Um I think we we've heard we've talked about
9:15
is it up to like three, three and a half, four million a year annually. Uh
9:20
>> that get concussions easy,
9:22
>> right?
9:24
>> Well, but a concussion is a brain injury. What people often don't think of
9:29
your brain. So, the physical functioning of your brain runs everything you do.
9:37
And it's soft, about the consistency of soft butter,
9:42
tofu, custard, somewhere between egg whites and jell-o.
9:47
>> And it's housed in a really hard skull that has many sharp bony ridges. And
9:56
helmets um protect you against skull fractures.
10:01
They do not protect you against brain damage because the brain floats in
10:07
water. And so if you're running fast and all of a sudden you stop, your brain
10:14
goes like this, no matter what kind of helmet you have inside your skull. And
10:21
it hurts the front part of your brain which is involved with things like focus
10:27
and forethought, judgment, impulse control, organization, planning,
10:32
empathy, learning from the mistakes you make. But it also damages the temporal
10:39
loes because they sit right behind a very sharp bony ridge. And so if you're
10:46
whacking uh helmets, your temporal loes get hurt and they house some really
10:54
important structures like the amygdala which is involved in your fear response,
10:59
your hippocampus which is involved in mood and memory. Um and you know and if
11:06
I was God, I'm not. Um, I would have put bumper guards around that very sharp
11:12
bony ridge because it creates a lot of unhappiness, a lot of depression, a lot
11:20
of anger, a lot of stress. Uh, and it's it's this very basic idea. When your
11:28
brain works right, you work right. And when it doesn't, you struggle not
11:34
because you want to, not because you have a bad character, but because your
11:39
brain is hurt. And you know, I'm trained as a psychiatrist, and I often go, so
11:46
why are psychiatrists the only medical doctors who never look at the organ they
11:51
treat, which is clearly insane, right? I mean, I'm a psychiatrist, so I know how
11:56
to diagnose. Crazy. And that is truly crazy because when you start looking at
12:02
the brain in your patients, you realize, oh, it was when they fell down a flight
12:07
of stairs when they were three that ended up causing behavior problems when
12:12
the child ate. Or it's the car accident where they were t-boned and even though
12:20
they didn't lose consciousness, they had a whiplash that damaged their brain. or
12:27
it's the fall, it's the fight, it's the four-wheeling accident, it's the skiing
12:32
accident, or it's the years of playing football where you have hundreds, if not
12:39
more uh subconcussive blows.
12:43
>> I I love the Anthony Davis, the Notre Dame killer, that that was featured um
12:49
one of your patients and was featured in Quiet Explosions. He talks about, I
12:53
don't care if you have a tank surrounding your brain, your brain is
12:57
still going to move and shake and and you go knock against the bony ridges of
13:02
your brain. That was the first time I I I'm 60 years old. I watched that movie
13:07
three years ago. It's really the first time I understood that the there's bony
13:11
ridges on the inside of my skull. I thought it was like velvety soft and the
13:14
brain had a wonderful little cushion. probably had a comforter around it and
13:19
uh but no uh uh yeah. So, um, Ziggy, can you before we go further,
13:29
um, I know you probably watched some of our
13:33
episodes and you know, as a professional bearback rider, I know a few rodeo
13:38
cowboys that's been through the aiming clinic. And one of them is,
13:44
he thinks you're just a superstar and been through it. Um, we'll call him a
13:50
cowboy fringe for medical purposes. Um, and I want to show the people, and
13:58
this is an older spec scan, but I want to show them what a spec scan looks
14:02
like. Can you walk us through what you're seeing right there, doctor, and
14:08
tell us a little bit about it?
14:11
>> So, SPACT stands for single photon emission computed tomography. It's a
14:17
nuclear medicine study that looks at blood flow, mitochondrial function, so
14:24
the little energy powerhouses in the brain. Um, it looks at how the brain
14:30
works and it basically tells us three things. Good activity, too little or too
14:38
much. And then our job is to balance it. And the image on the bottom is looking
14:46
at the outside surface of the brain which should be full, even and
14:50
symmetrical. The color doesn't matter. It's the shape. And you can see those
14:59
areas about halfway down his temporal loes.
15:05
>> They're hurt. Uh they're clearly hurt. They're not what we would see in a
15:11
healthy scan. Uh the images on the top, the red, white and blue ones is blue is
15:18
average activity, red is the top 15% and white is the top 8% and most of the
15:26
activity should be in the bottom uh in this in an area called the cerebellum.
15:32
His basil ganglia is busy. So he probably worried and somewhat anxious.
15:38
Uh but the images on the top that's not really the problem for him. It's images
15:44
on the bottom that shows brain trauma especially in his right and left
15:50
temporal loes. Um and they can be better. I mean I think
15:57
that's the most exciting message. So, of all the books I've written, whenever I
16:03
sign one for someone, I always sign it with hope.
16:08
>> Because what we've seen is we can take bad brains, hurt brains, troubled
16:16
brains, and make them better. Um, now if you don't care about your brain, you
16:21
could clearly make it worse. But the the hope message like Anthony Davis, I first
16:28
met him uh 19 years ago and I met him because he was driving on the freeway in
16:37
Southern California and he got confused. He actually pulled over on the freeway
16:43
and he had no idea where he was or where he was going. and he called one of his
16:48
friends who was a doctor in the pharmacy school at USC who said you need to go
16:55
see Dr. Aean. So at 54 he had memory problems, he had temper problems, he had
17:02
periods of confusion and and he's a very strong person. You don't want someone
17:10
like Anthony Davis having temper problems. It's bad for him and bad for
17:15
whoever he might be mad at.
17:17
>> And he just did everything I asked him to do. And mostly it was a multiple
17:23
vitamin fish oil and a brain boost that works in six different ways. And then
17:28
teaching him alcohol is not a health food. Uh we have to get him to a healthy
17:34
weight. And you know, it was like avoid things that hurt your brain and do
17:39
things that help. Here's the plan. And three months later, he's dramatically
17:44
better. And he's like, "Hey, doc." Uh, he's my second NFL player, but he's
17:49
like, "Hey, doc, we have to write write the commissioner." So, we wrote to the
17:54
commissioner and we told him that many NFL players likely have troubled brains,
18:00
but we could make them better. And the commissioner never wrote back. Uh, and
18:05
then he invited me to speak to the Los Angeles chapter of the NFL Players
18:11
Association and uh, I went gave a talk. Many of the players I idolized when I
18:20
was a child were there and they clearly had dementia
18:26
and I was horrified at the meeting. One of the players asked me the same
18:31
question six times
18:33
>> and I'm like, "Somebody has got to do a brain imaging study because the NFL was
18:39
just in denial." And I don't know how else to say it. Um, I think that's the
18:44
kindest way I can say it. And if you grow up Roman Catholic like I did, as
18:50
soon as you go, somebody should do something rather than seeing the index
18:57
finger, you see the three pointing back at you. And it's like could do something
19:02
about it. And you know, I own the clinics, I own the cameras, and I'm
19:08
like, "Hey, Anthony, do you think the NFL Players Association of Los Angeles
19:12
would partner with us and help me get players?" And we had no problem getting
19:19
players to sign up. And we did the first and largest study on active and retired
19:26
NFL players. Uh we published a study in 2011 on our first hundred players. High
19:33
levels of damage. It's just like own it. You have a problem. Um,
19:41
but then, you know, and I didn't plan on, you know, I'm like, "Okay, I'll do
19:46
30 players." But my problem was, cuz I love football, um, is I just fell in
19:54
love with my players. And then as I saw the damage, you know, I've spent my
19:59
whole career as a psychiatrist and a brain health doctor not telling people
20:06
they're messed up. that I that would not be a fun thing for me. I spent my whole
20:12
career taking troubled brains and making them better. So I wondered could I help
20:19
these people be better? And so we put all of our players multiple vitamin fish
20:26
oil brain boost that works in six different ways. Taught them to love
20:30
their brain, avoid things that hurt it, do things that help it, which we can
20:35
talk about. 80% of our players showed improvement in as little as two months.
20:41
And we published that study. So when I hear all this stuff about CTE, it's
20:47
chronic, progressive, untreatable. Um, when I was growing up, my dad had uh two
20:55
favorite phrases. The first one was no. No matter what you asked him, the answer
20:59
was no. The second one, excuse me for saying this, was [ __ ] It was like
21:05
[ __ ] No. That was the mantra I grew up with. So when I heard this sort of
21:11
CTE message is chronic, progressive, and untreatable, I'm like, [ __ ] It's
21:17
absolutely not true. But you have to be aggressive in treating them. And we
21:24
cannot let neuropathologists run the messaging around CTE. That's
21:32
just dumb because it's we're not don't remember the NFL way of killing
21:38
yourself, shoot yourself in the chest so you can
21:42
donate your brain to science.
21:45
>> You and yourself,
21:46
>> right?
21:47
>> Absolutely not. It's like scan the brain, stop doing things that hurt it,
21:53
and let's get it healthy. If you've been told it's all in your head, but deep
21:59
down you know something is wrong, listen closely. Brain fog, depression, anxiety,
22:05
irritability, even PTSD. These are not just mental issues. They
22:12
may be signals of neuroinflammation and hormonal disruption, root causes that
22:17
traditional medicine often ignores. At the Millennium Health Centers, founded
22:22
by Dr. from Mark Mark Gordon. They have helped veterans, athletes, and everyday
22:27
people restore brain function using a medical process called the Millennium
22:33
Protocol. Take their free brain health assessment at tbhelpnow.org
22:39
and discover if inflammation, not weakness, is holding you back. You're
22:45
not broken, you're unbalanced, and balance can be restored. that you
22:51
you basically answered the next question.
22:56
>> Right. Right. Well Well, dude,
22:59
>> you you know I was I was you I've always we've heard you say it many times. You
23:03
do not have to settle with the brain you have now. You can make it better. You
23:08
whether it's your TED talk, whether it's the thousands of podcasts you do,
23:13
whether the the 19 publication, the the whatever, the shorts, everything. So, so
23:19
I have the I've I've also t seen you talk about polyiana and I'm a huge fan
23:24
of the glad game, right? And and Corey is more like, you know what, I you know,
23:29
I don't think I don't know if I you can heal my brain, but I just don't want to
23:33
get worse. I just don't want to get worse. and and because he's he is
23:37
clinically um clinically diagnosed TEES the traumatic encphylopathy syndrome
23:43
probable CTE but I'm on the other side of the fence
23:48
also I don't know if I can get my brain back where I was when I was in my 20s
23:55
and not bang well I was banging my head my I was bringing my
24:01
hell I was banging my head when I was seven your whole
24:06
So, I mean, it's I just thought about that, but I don't think I could get my
24:12
all of my functions back,
24:14
>> but through and I'm on with Doc. We're both do the Brain Weld program through
24:21
Myel and Mark Gordon, the hormones and the Millennium Health Protocol. And we
24:26
go through all of that. And so, I'm trying to keep the best brain I got.
24:31
Now, is it going to get healthy and better and make me
24:36
happy again? I don't know. I know. Oh, I almost said his name. Our cowboy friend,
24:44
um, he kept saying,
24:46
>> you know, you need to get a scan. Scans are everything. And I said,
24:50
>> you got to see the blood flow. You got to know,
24:53
>> right? And it's like, well, you know, I'm on disability. I can't afford to go
24:58
down there and pay that. It's not. And from what I understand, insurance don't
25:02
cover it. And it's like, well, I really can't afford to go do that. So, what's
25:07
the other thing? And then he started talking about chapter 20. He lives by
25:12
chapter 20 in a six week insulin sensitivity and get to chapter 20 and
25:19
>> and change change your life or change your brain, change your life, right? You
25:22
>> he 100%. He goes, you know what? What was his story? He got the book. He read
25:28
through like chapter 23 and his dog ate the book and I got what I needed. I
25:33
needed the spiritual and I needed the chapter 20 superfoods.
25:38
>> But
25:39
>> he would love to get another spec and compare it to what he has now. But
25:43
>> well, he's he's very strict. He's one of those guys that took what you what you
25:48
said literally as gospel. Anyway, so we've had 15 to 20,000 uh repeated head
25:54
impacts as as a bearback bron rider and an NFL player that had 20 years of
26:01
organized football and and this is a loaded question. What in what do those
26:06
impacts do to us and how the heck do we get our brain health back?
26:13
>> Well, it's bad for you,
26:15
>> right? I mean, it's I imagined the bearback stuff is chronic whiplash.
26:24
>> Uh that you just had so many of them and
26:29
that tears blood vessels,
26:32
>> shears neurons and clearly is not good. But the brain is such a wonderful organ
26:41
in that if you put it in a healing environment, it can be better. Now, will
26:48
it ever be like when you were in your 20s? Well, my brain's never going to be
26:54
like it was in my 20s. And it can be better, though. And that's what you want
27:01
to strive for. every day you are making your brain better with your habits or
27:09
you're making it worse. And so, you know, I'm going to be 72 in a couple of
27:15
months and I went in a sauna this morning. I do red light therapy. I have
27:22
my little red light therapy cap.
27:24
>> Is that a V light?
27:26
>> It's an inline.
27:27
>> Okay. I'm getting the Vite.
27:31
>> I like both of them. And you know, I have hyperbaric oxygen at work and I go
27:37
in on a regular basis. Uh why? Because I want a healthy brain and I don't drink
27:45
alcohol. And it's like, well, you you can't have any fun. And I'm
27:52
like, well, who has more fun? The person with the good brain or the person with
27:55
the bad brain? I guarantee you it's the person with the good brain.
28:02
And you know, I just I want you to love your brain and then treat it with
28:10
respect. I was at the White House. I'm working on this national brain health
28:15
revolution campaign with the White House faith office. I I'm deeply honored and
28:22
grateful to do it. And I was having lunch with at at the White House and I
28:29
got to sit next to Lisa Trout and Lisa and her honey her husband Kenny owned
28:36
Justify the Triple the last triple crown winner
28:40
>> and I think he sold for $75 million.
28:44
>> Oh, he's so
28:48
>> And I'm like, would you ever give him junk food?
28:52
>> Oh. and she chuckled. She said, "No." I said, "Would you ever get him drunk?"
28:57
And she went, "No." I said, "Would you ever get him stoned?" And she just
29:03
looked at me like I was so stupid. And and then I'm like, "Why?
29:09
He would never live up to his potential."
29:12
>> Wow.
29:14
>> So, why do we eat junk food? Or why do we drink alcohol? or why do we get
29:20
stoned when we're going to damage the organ
29:25
that runs everything and then not live up to our potential.
29:34
And that's what my life has been about, teaching people to love and care for
29:41
their brain. And as a psychiatrist, I hate the term mental illness. It shames
29:46
people. It's stigmatizing. And it's flat out wrong. These are brain health
29:53
issues. You get your brain healthy, your mind is going to be better. And always
30:02
comes down to cost. Well, I can't afford to get a scan. And I just go, well, what
30:06
is it costing you to have a brain that isn't as good as it could be? And you
30:12
know, the estimate is anywhere from five to $20,000
30:17
a year. And so, you know, we think of it as an
30:22
investment and obviously not everybody can do it. Um, but everybody can go to
30:27
the library and check out Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. Uh, and that
30:31
book has changed so many people's lives.
30:36
>> This episode of the Head Rush podcast is brought to you by our personal doctor
30:41
and team of doctors, uh, Dr. Misel Meisel Deo and she's with the Paradise
30:47
Behavioral Health and we are in the
30:50
>> Brainwell program which is also part of the Millennium Health Center. Uh Dr.
30:57
Mark Gordon, you've seen him on Joe Rogan and even on our show, the Head
31:03
Rush podcast. Um
31:06
and the hormones and Myelle is awesome. We love her. She's she's our doctor of
31:14
psychiatry. She works with the Mark Gordon program with the hormones and uh
31:18
and she she adds her twist of genetics and um and it's it's it basically is
31:26
melding two wonderful uh uh mediums together and we're getting great help
31:31
from Dr. Myisel Deo. So please check out her website at paradisebehavioral.com.
31:39
>> Look up the brainwell program. get involved.
31:43
>> She's sponsoring us. They're sponsoring us for the next year. So, we are excited
31:47
to have them on board and uh and and shout the new the good news to everybody
31:53
uh that is watching these broadcasts. So,
31:57
>> is she helping you, Paul?
31:58
>> Absolutely.
31:59
>> She's helping me. So, go check her out. Paradise Behavioral Health.com.
32:06
>> And we got both of them. We got change your brain, change your pain and change
32:10
your brain and change your life up there. We got them both right here on
32:14
the bookshelf.
32:14
>> So, and that chapter 20 is just huge. And so, you talk about red light
32:21
therapy, you talk about uh hyperbarics, and the best and I love what you you're
32:30
saying. I really do because I just we just talked to Dr. Coffler
32:35
>> at University of Pittsburgh
32:36
>> at University of Pittsburgh and I've asked Jeremy Tanner and I've asked Chris
32:41
Ninsky and I've sat down with Mark Gordon a few
32:46
times and as you know we got direct contact with Gordon and it's so funny
32:52
because Gordon it's all inflammation
32:58
and it it's all and you and we just asked Coffler
33:04
Does repeated head impacts cause mental health? Well, we can't correlate that
33:11
just yet. We need more studies. And I'm like, if I go bang my head against that
33:15
brick wall 30 times, is it going to cause me to go dingy?
33:19
>> That is complete. I mean, he's just not paying attention to the research because
33:25
traumatic brain injury is a major cause of psychiatric illness. It's a major
33:32
cause of depression, addiction, anxiety disorders, suicide. Um, I mean there's
33:40
just no question in my mind and you know based on the hundreds of thousands of
33:49
people we've seen, the more you hit your head, the more likely you are to
33:57
struggle with your mood, with your memory, with your relationships, with
34:02
your money, with your temper. Um it it's just so obvious.
34:10
>> Getting back to some of the therapies or modalities. Um do you already held up
34:15
your red light therapy or photobiomodulation?
34:19
I guess that that's how you explain it. And uh uh what about uh other um uh TMS
34:27
uh neuro feedback supplements talk therapy and we're going to talk about
34:31
diet in the next question but EMDR we've we've heard you talk about EMDR in
34:38
podcasts do they really you know how how can they
34:43
help? So, you know, I always think of my
34:47
patients in four big circles. It's what's the biology,
34:52
the physical functioning of your brain. What's the psychology? How do you think?
34:58
What's your development? What's the social circle? How are you getting along
35:03
with the people in your life? How's your money? How's your job? And the spiritual
35:09
circle, which is why the heck do you care? What is your deepest sense of
35:14
meaning? and purpose and so the interventions
35:19
are always around those four circles. So um
35:26
I have uh one of my uh basketball players who I just love dearly who did
35:33
my podcast, Julius Randall, the NBA superstar, the power forward for the
35:40
Minnesota Timberwolves. He first came to see me and he was smoking pot. He was
35:46
depressed. He was about to get divorced. And I'm like, I am going to be your best
35:52
investment.
35:54
>> But it was it was all for circles. He had stop smoking pot. So the first
36:00
treatment intervention, stop doing things that hurt your brain.
36:06
Alcohol, marijuana, magic mushrooms, whatever. not a fan of any of that
36:12
stuff. And and then you have to eat right. I mean, it was a huge part of him
36:17
playing well was making sure his blood sugar is stable. And then I put them on
36:24
a group of supplements, multiple vitamin, uh, omega-3 fatty acid, fish
36:30
oil, a brain boost to help repair some of the damage from the marijuana use,
36:37
uh, something we make called happy saffron. saffron in 35 randomized
36:45
control trials show that it's equally effective to anti-depressants,
36:50
but rather than sort of steal your sexual interest and performance, it
36:56
enhances it, which is why I got so interested in it. Good for your mood and
37:01
your love life. And their five studies show that it enhances memory in
37:08
Alzheimer's patients. So I'm like memory, mood, sex, I think I'm going to
37:12
take that. So I put him on that and he has red light therapy. He has hyperbaric
37:18
oxygen. Um I'm a fan of neuro feedback for many of my NFL players. We did that.
37:26
Um I like TMS if someone's depressed uh or they're really anxious. It just helps
37:33
reboot reset your brain. Um, there's a new form of
37:40
TMS I like. It's a one day procedure where you're there 10 hours, but they
37:47
actually stimulate your brain 20 times. Uh, so I think you're going to hear more
37:53
and more about that coming up in the near future. Um,
37:59
you know, I like anything that can reset or balance the brain. So, but that's all
38:06
in the biological circle. I love teaching my patients not to believe
38:11
every stupid thing they think. Uh, it's every day we win, have a good day, or we
38:19
learn that we're curious and we're not furious. And I teach my patients the
38:25
rule of 12. It's, you know, you are a flexible problem solver. So in Julius
38:31
Randall's sort of visualization, I am a flexible problem solver who does not get
38:38
upset until the 12th thing has gone wrong. He used to spend a lot of money
38:43
because of all the technical fouls that he would get. And since I've treated him
38:48
the last two years, he's only gotten two. So I'm a good investment. And I
38:54
thought both of them were unfair because he stopped arguing with reality, which
39:00
is, you know, the ref's not going to change his mind. If you want them to
39:03
review the play, get your coach to do that. Stop arguing with the refs. Um,
39:11
and then he had trauma. We talked about it on our podcast. He had lots of trauma
39:18
when he was young. And we've done 70 EMDR sessions uh where we go into the
39:26
trauma, process it so we can get the past out of the present and I love that
39:34
so much in the social circle doing better with his wife than ever before.
39:40
We also talk about being a good dad and he grew up in the church and that was
39:45
very important to him and uh we often talk about two Bible verses. Uh I went
39:53
to Oral Roberts University that's where I went to medical school. So I learned
39:57
medicine in the context of my faith. Romans 12 1 and2 in view of God's mercy
40:04
offer your body as a living sacrifice. Love that term living sacrifice holy and
40:10
pleasing to God. That is your true worship. Romans 12:1, Romans 12:2, be
40:17
transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then you can test to see if it
40:23
fits God's good, perfect, and pleasing will. And you go, well, what's God's
40:29
will? Go to John 10:10. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy,
40:36
but I have come that you might have life abundantly. And so we take each thought
40:42
captive. And is this the thief? Is this a thought that comes to kill, steal, and
40:48
destroy you? Or is it a thought that leads to abundant life? And no matter
40:56
what your religious beliefs, you're on the planet. You are not here by random
41:01
chance. You are on the planet to make the world better. And are you living
41:11
consistently with the purpose you're on earth? And so
41:17
I do an exercise with all of my patients called the onepage miracle. What do you
41:22
want? Relationships, work, money, physical, emotional, spiritual health.
41:29
And is your behavior getting you what you want? So I think of all four circles
41:36
all the time and it really comes down the national brain health revolution is
41:42
going to be around one question. Is what I'm doing now talking to you guys good
41:49
for my brain or bad for it? And does it make the world better? And the answer is
41:56
it's good for my brain and it makes the world better. So, I'm having a good
42:00
time.
42:02
>> So, I'm I'm a preachers's kid and my former uh uh she's a graduate of Oral
42:09
Roberts University as well. One one thing I struggle with is you you the the
42:15
uh negative thoughts the uh don't don't believe well the the ants I I've read
42:21
that many times but and then the don't believe every stupid thought you know
42:26
you think can you kind of expound on that please I need help
42:32
>> well and and thoughts come from all sorts of places thoughts come from
42:38
your parents so your thoughts may not even be yours fors. They come from the
42:42
voices of your mom and dad, your siblings, your friends, your foes, the
42:46
news you watch, the music you listen to. And just because you have a thought has
42:53
nothing to do with whether or not it's true, whether or not it's helpful.
43:00
Thoughts are automatic. They just happen and they lie a lot. And taking each
43:07
thought captive. And so if you have a lot of negative thoughts, what I would
43:11
want you to do is just write them down and go, "Well, is that true? Do I
43:18
absolutely know that that's true? How does that thought make me feel? It's
43:23
awful. How would I feel if I didn't have the thought?" Just fine.
43:28
And then take the original thought, maybe you have an example and I could
43:32
work on it with you. and we just flip it to the opposite and see if the opposite
43:38
of the thought you're having isn't also true. It really will blow your mind, but
43:46
you don't have to believe every stupid thing you think. I mean, I'll give you
43:50
an example. I was uh we have a German Shepherd who's gorgeous and I love him
43:56
so much, but he loves my wife way more than me. Like, if I come home, he's
44:02
like, "Hey, dude." And then he leaves. If she comes home, he like just comes
44:07
out of his body so excited. And you know, I was seeing patients in my office
44:15
and when whenever she's not here, he comes and you know, lays by my feet
44:20
because I know he loves me. And so I just had the thought, well, if I killed
44:24
my wife, um, he would get really excited when I came home.
44:28
>> Oh god. And I'm like, "No, we're not going to kill her. So the dog will love
44:34
you more. So I have a white shepherd and she loves me more and so we can balance
44:39
out my need for approval." Um, but right, just because I had that
44:46
thought doesn't mean I need to attach to it. Doesn't mean I need to do anything.
44:52
You know, I'm not a bad person. Thoughts are just thoughts. And if you being a
44:59
preacher's kid go, is this a thought from the devil, is this a thought that
45:06
comes to steal, kill, and destroy me, or is this a thought that gives me abundant
45:13
life? Just that simple filter, you begin to train your mind to go to a
45:22
better place. And there's nowhere in school where they teach you not to
45:27
believe every stupid thing you think.
45:30
>> If you or someone you love is living with Parkinson's, MS or symptoms
45:34
associated with CTE, this is worth knowing. Ambio Life Sciences offers a
45:40
novel alternative medicine called Ibane and operates the only ibo clinic in the
45:46
world for people with neurodeenerative disorders. Many are reporting meaningful
45:51
improvements in their quality of life after ibeane treatment. Interested? You
45:57
can learn more about ibagane and apply at ambio.life.
46:04
This episode of the Headrush podcast is brought to you by the Patrick Risha CTE
46:09
awareness foundation. Their goal is to to spread awareness about the dangers of
46:15
RHI, repetitive head impacts, after losing their son Patrick to CTE. Sadly,
46:22
there are too many like Patrick that have lost their families, jobs, and
46:26
sometimes their lives. And this foundation is working hard to stop the
46:30
devastation than that can come from not protecting the brain. This foundation
46:37
provides parents of schoolage children with information about the dangers of
46:42
sports, concussive sports, and activities which involve head trauma.
46:48
They advertise on social media, print media, and billboards. Please follow
46:53
them on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok, and share their ads with others.
46:58
And please visit their website, stopct.org,
47:03
or to find ways to help people recognize the disease if confronted with it in
47:09
their family and how to prevent the suffering that can come to families when
47:14
a brain is damaged. The website has medical forms to take to doctor's visits
47:21
and advocacy letters if you want to help make change in your community. and their
47:28
most recent campaign is geared up to help coaches build brainhealthy teams.
47:34
You can use the information on stopct.org
47:37
website to understand CTE, live with CTE, and prevent CTE. Please
47:44
visit. Thank you. And don't knock it. Stop
47:50
>> stopct.org.
47:53
>> Yeah.
47:54
>> Well, and see that's me. I got vestibular issues. I got optical
47:59
nerve damage. I got memory loss. I got barometric pressure makes me go haywire.
48:06
And so a lot of times I'll do something. Well, I talk about it on the podcast.
48:12
I've been a hands-on cowboy my whole life. I'm a master nothing but a jack of
48:19
all trades. I can do concrete, lay brick, plumbing, build fence, build the
48:25
barn. I can do so much. Operate equipment.
48:29
And I was uh here's a prime example. I was uh cleaning the P traps in the sink.
48:38
And so I took the P trap out and I dumped the P trap down the sink.
48:46
Then I ran the water and cleaned the P trap out.
48:52
And then I grabbed a paper towel, dried it off, set it to side, and then I
48:55
washed my hands. And I was like, I'm the biggest [ __ ] in
49:02
the world. How stupid can someone be? And it just pissed me off because I just
49:07
did all that. That P trap needed to be underneath for me to run the water. Now
49:12
I got water flowing all over the floor. I've made a huge mess and I'm so
49:17
negative on myself and or if I go do something and I trip or something. It's
49:24
like
49:28
>> why someone if you had someone you loved would you
49:35
go you're a [ __ ]
49:41
>> Wow.
49:43
>> Me? Yeah.
49:45
>> Me
49:46
>> probably. No, you
49:49
>> And then I And then I would go if you would. I'm like, "All right, that's not
49:53
helpful, right? It like I I have this hockey player who I really love and he's
50:00
so hard on himself." And I'm like, "Tell me about your best coaches." and his
50:05
best coaches noticed what he did right and taught him
50:11
when he could be better.
50:13
>> And I said, "Tell me about your worst coaches. Notice what he did wrong and
50:19
never let him forget it." And so I want you to yourself to be a good parent, a
50:28
good teacher, a good coach. And when you make a mistake, all of us do.
50:35
You win or you learn. And the rule of 12, which is you can't
50:42
be upset until the 12th thing has gone wrong because you're a flexible problem
50:47
solver. And uh you know I think bearback writing I mean you have made
50:55
you have solved probably so many problems
50:58
>> in your career that when you nurture that part of you well you feel good when
51:07
you beat yourself up it's like you're being abusive like a bad dad. Um and
51:15
it's just not helpful. And ultimately, you want to be helpful to yourself
51:23
because the kinder you are to yourself, the kinder you're going to be to other
51:29
people. And May 16th, I don't know if this will come out before that, but May
51:35
16th, in honor of our 250th birthday, is called Good Neighbor Day. And I'm um one
51:43
of the spokespeople for uh Good Neighbor Day. And what we're launching is 250
51:50
million acts of kindness uh across the United States. I'm very excited about
51:56
this. But what I realized is when I'm thinking too much about me, I suffer.
52:02
But when I think about helping other people, the worry part in my brain
52:08
settles down
52:11
>> and I feel so much happier.
52:15
>> Yeah, that's great. And we're
52:17
>> and I can agree with that because when my new goal when I got in a major car
52:23
wreck uh in 2022 and for like four months I couldn't have a light on. I
52:30
couldn't have a TV on. I couldn't do nothing. I was in sheer pain for months.
52:36
And you want to talk about suicide ideiation? Oh man, it was my wife would
52:42
tell you right now for the first three months,
52:47
she wouldn't know if I'd be alive tomorrow.
52:51
And I forgot where I was going with this.
52:56
>> Then I know you didn't have that suicide ideation before the
52:59
>> action. And I went to u a therapy and she goes,
53:06
"I no longer can work. I no longer can be a cowboy. I no longer can do
53:10
everything I enjoyed. Um because my brain wasn't right. She goes, "We got to
53:15
find you a new goal." And my goal was to walk my water down my daughter down the
53:21
aisle. And so I worked every day until I walked
53:25
her down the aisle.
53:26
>> And you had the first dance
53:28
>> and had that the first dance. And I was able to do that. And I went back and she
53:33
goes, "Okay, what's your new goal now?" Because I text her. I said, "Uhoh, I'm
53:37
in trouble. I need a new goal before things get horrible. And it was and it
53:42
became the podcast, helping others, bringing awareness,
53:48
and doing all of this. So, this is my new goal. And I work every day to try to
53:53
help people. And we I've talked to veterans. I've talked to athletes. I've
53:58
talked to many people and talked a few off the ledge.
54:03
>> Right. Yeah, you have. And at the same point,
54:07
>> on Friday, I can be on that ledge.
54:10
>> So,
54:11
>> well, let me say this because I want because you know, if we're dealing with
54:15
an audience of people who've had head trauma,
54:18
>> is suicidal thoughts come up a lot. And what I tell my patients, it's a
54:25
permanent solution to a temporary feeling. M
54:29
>> uh but if you kill yourself, you've just taught your loved ones that's how
54:35
grown-ups solve problems. You've just increased the risk of your children
54:41
killing themselves 500%.
54:44
>> Wow.
54:45
>> And that is not something you want to do.
54:50
>> No. And I I think it's so important because when
54:55
you were depressed, it's like your brain got in a tunnel and the tunnel had no
55:02
windows and no doors. It's just darkness. And you don't see the impact
55:10
of your choices on other people. And cuz you begin to think, "Oh, they'll be
55:18
better off if I'm dead." And it's like, "No, they'll be better off if you're
55:24
better." And so that's the thing to work toward. But, you know, most therapists,
55:32
they they won't speak to you with that level of honesty. But I have dealt with
55:39
so many patients whose parents or loved ones committed suicide and it is
55:48
such a massive hurt. Plus, you're modeling something you don't want to
55:54
model.
55:56
>> That's that's powerful.
55:58
>> Well, and I refuse to kill myself. That's I excuse my French and excuse I
56:05
know a lot of people say it. Suicide ain't an excuse for nothing. It
56:10
says it in the Bible. And I'm not going to do that to my family. Leave my wife
56:14
alone. Leave my daughter alone. And if you commit suicide, you're taking the
56:20
cheesy way out. And and I still get suicide ideiation
56:27
today. It's still current. My hormones are up to par. I just met with my zel.
56:33
My cortisol is still a little high, but my hormones are up to par. My genetics,
56:39
but I got chronic inflammation. And I got to figure out a way to get that
56:42
inflammation out. And my vestibular coach, she'd touch the back of my neck
56:46
and go, "Dude, you're hot. Your inflammation's crazy." And it's trying
56:52
to figure it out. And yeah, I wish I could afford, but like I said, I'm on
56:58
disability. I wish I could go get that spec scan and see someone like Dr. Aman
57:02
that you have such that positivity. I listen to your shorts and I get excited
57:07
and I listen. I just wish I could train myself to go,
57:13
>> dude. Let's let's We're down about eight
57:17
minutes left. We're we're going to go we're going to go rapid question because
57:21
we have three topics that I want to cover really quick. Um you include in
57:25
your chapter your your books chapter 20 uh change your brain change your life
57:31
superfoods and then you talk about it in section seven in change your brain
57:38
change your pain can food really make a difference Dr. Raymond,
57:43
>> there's a linear correlation between the number of fruits and vegetables you eat
57:47
a day and your level of happiness. Uh the nutritionists at Aean Clinics have
57:54
more successes than almost any of our other providers. It's crazy. I had one
58:00
patient who was chronically suicidal, had ECT, electrocomvulsive therapy three
58:08
times, u had been on like 40 different medications. We put them on an
58:14
elimination diet because for some people, whether it's gluten, corn, soy,
58:20
dairy, their brains are very sensitive to it. Increases inflammation.
58:26
And so we put them on an elimination diet. eliminated gluten, dairy, corn,
58:31
soy, artificial dyes, and sweeteners and sugar. And he was better. Three weeks
58:37
later, he's so much better. He's like, "Doc, it's like the fog has lifted." And
58:43
I'm so excited. I said, "So, let's start adding things back just to see if we
58:47
could see what the culprit is." And so, we added back gluten. Nothing happened.
58:52
He was just fine. We added back dairy. Nothing happened. He was fine. We added
58:58
back corn. 20 minutes later, he said he had a vision of a gun in his mouth
59:04
pulling the trigger. Wow. I'm like,
59:07
>> "Well, you're going to have to break up with corn." He said, "But I love
59:11
popcorn." I said, "But it doesn't love you back. Why would you ever put
59:17
something in your body that abuses you?" And it's one of the major principles in
59:25
change your brain, change your pain in the food chapter is, you know, you're in
59:29
a relationship with food. Um, you don't want it to be habitual. You eat it
59:35
because you eat it. You want it to be thoughtful. Um, because your brain is 2%
59:43
of your body's weight, but uses 20 to 30% of the calories you consume. And if
59:50
you consume pro-inflammatory calories, you're much more likely to be
59:57
depressed. And so you only want to love food that loves you back.
1:00:05
>> Last uh thing about food. Um you my my dear dear friend, she's telling me about
1:00:12
boiling avocado seeds and and boiling cloves and eugenol from the cloves. And
1:00:18
she asked she wanted me to ask the question about aloe vera.
1:00:23
Um um have you seen a lot of she's talking about um they're they're they
1:00:29
kind of say it's lowers the inflammation. It's like acts like a
1:00:35
radiator for the for the body or have you heard of studies with aloe vera?
1:00:40
>> You know I I I have not. So um it sounds interesting. I'd like to learn more
1:00:46
about that, but uh personally I'm not.
1:00:49
>> We'll go on to now my big thing is and this is huge for
1:00:56
me because I didn't find faith until I was in my mid4s.
1:01:04
Um my dad, he wasn't a believer, but he he wasn't a non-believer. He just
1:01:13
didn't care. I love today. He would say, "Look at the beautiful morning. Look at
1:01:17
the beautiful trees." And now, a matter of fact, he called the Bible gobbly
1:01:21
[ __ ]
1:01:23
>> But we would go to Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. And he would very
1:01:27
respectfully those that want to pray, pray. Those that don't, we will sit here
1:01:32
and wait for those that want to pray. So, he wasn't horrible.
1:01:38
But I found faith in my 40s thanks to a preacher here in Texas that was in
1:01:45
Oregon and uh I know the answer to this in my heart.
1:01:53
Does faith help us? Is there a difference in recovery for people with
1:01:57
faith?
1:01:59
>> Yes. People of faith get better faster.
1:02:04
people of faith um when they get depressed they get better faster. They
1:02:09
have less anxiety. There is less addiction. We have a brand new program
1:02:14
we're doing a hundred pilots around the country called the Aean Whole 4 where we
1:02:19
get groups especially in faith-based organizations
1:02:25
healthy. And what we've noticed is there's less alcohol, there's less
1:02:29
marijuana, there's less loneliness and isolation.
1:02:35
Um, and you know, it just never worked for me that we're here by random chance
1:02:41
that I believe we're having this discussion. Uh, because there is a
1:02:48
creator and creative design in the universe. Um, and that when I die, it's
1:02:54
not the end of it. that you know my essence, my energy, my soul will go on
1:03:01
and I'm very excited about it. You know, I'm not gonna encourage death today.
1:03:07
>> I have hope for whatever is next. Millions live with depression, anxiety,
1:03:14
fatigue, or emotional chaos believing it's permanent. It's not. The Millennium
1:03:22
Protocol targets hidden inflammation and hormone disruption caused by trauma,
1:03:28
stress, and time. Created by Dr. Mark Gordon, featured
1:03:34
multiple times on Joe Rogan and the Head Rush podcast, plus the documentary movie
1:03:40
Quiet Explosions. This approach has transformed lives once written off as
1:03:47
hopeless. Visit tbiehealthnow.org and take the 10 question brain health
1:03:55
assessment. Healing is possible. Your story isn't over. Let's begin again with
1:04:04
your brain.
1:04:04
>> You talk about neuroplasticity being neither good or bad. And it it it just
1:04:10
is. But you say neuroplasticity doesn't care if it helps or hurts you.
1:04:17
It simply follows your lead. Can you explain this?
1:04:22
>> Well, you teach your brain how to behave that if you're negative and you allow
1:04:29
those thoughts to build ruts in your brain, you're going to be chronically
1:04:34
negative. So, you're teaching your brain to be negative. If you're positive, if
1:04:40
you play the glad game, if every day you go, "Hey, today is going to be a great
1:04:45
day." or when you go to bed at night, you go, "What went well?" Um, your brain
1:04:50
builds those pathways and you can learn to be much more positive over time or
1:04:59
you can learn to be much more negative over time. Like say you have the news
1:05:03
on, you know, 12 hours a day. Well, the news is negative. It's purposefully that
1:05:09
way to hook you and it's going to have a negative impact on you.
1:05:16
>> I barely drink alcohol. I won't say I don't, but I may have one drink every
1:05:21
six months. You know, I I'm not an and I don't do marijuana. I don't do any
1:05:28
illegals. Um, but I just love what you just said
1:05:34
because you explained me to a tea very easy is
1:05:40
I used to be when I was rodeoing I was most positive if you told me I couldn't
1:05:45
do something you better watch the hell because here I'm going to do it. And I
1:05:49
still have that a little bit in me. But here lately, I've become more isolated
1:05:55
and more negative. And, you know, I've always been the kind of guy that, you
1:06:01
know, I hope for the best, but I expect the
1:06:06
worst. And the reason for that is is when I own my trucking company, if I had
1:06:12
engine problems, let's just hope it's a fuel line. And
1:06:18
but I better expect that $15,000 rebuild,
1:06:22
you know, just in case. I don't want to just be demolished when they tell me I
1:06:26
need a rebuild. And what you just said and going to bed and going, "What went
1:06:31
well today?"
1:06:34
>> You know, I've never done that. And when I wake up in the morning, I don't go,
1:06:39
"Man, this is going to be a great day." It's kind of like I look outside and go,
1:06:44
"Hm, I wonder how today's going to go. What's going to affect me today? Am I
1:06:49
going to yell at my wife? Am I going to want to kick the dog, beat the cat? Am
1:06:53
I, you know, and God, I need to learn some positivity. I
1:07:01
need to learn some. I need that aiming brain, that aiming treatment of
1:07:06
positivity because my therapist, it was funny. I was so
1:07:12
negative and
1:07:16
I was like, I'm so tired of this and I'm tired of dealing with what I'm dealing
1:07:21
with. You know, I've been fighting it. Well, I got diagnosed with cognitive
1:07:25
nerve damage in 1998. And I've been dealing with it my whole
1:07:33
life since then. And I get so tired of fighting it that, you know, it's like,
1:07:38
God, please give me a break.
1:07:41
>> Here you are 27 years later.
1:07:44
>> That's right.
1:07:44
>> And you're doing podcasts that's helping people. You're asking smart questions.
1:07:49
If you just do that one exercise, what went well today? In three weeks, your
1:07:56
mood is going to be much better. That's what the research says. And I've been
1:08:02
doing it 15 years. Every night when I go to bed, I say a prayer and then I go,
1:08:06
"What went well today?" And I go hour by hour in my schedule just looking for
1:08:14
what I liked about the day. And it sets your dreams up to be more positive. And
1:08:22
six years ago, you remember we were going through COVID. And in about 2
1:08:27
weeks, my 91year-old dad died. And it was the worst day of my adult life. And
1:08:36
it was a lot of trauma that day. And when I went to bed that night, I went,
1:08:42
"What went well today?" And you, you know, the supervising voice goes,
1:08:48
"Really? We're going to do that today?" But because it was my habit, because
1:08:55
it's what I had done for a decade, my mind immediately went to an interaction
1:09:02
between my mother and the police officer. And it was very funny cuz she's
1:09:08
like, "Mrs. Aean, we have to do an investigation cuz he died at home." And
1:09:13
she goes, "Do you think I was cheating on him? Do you think I had him killed?"
1:09:18
And I mean it was just so hysterically funny. And then my mind went to all the
1:09:25
texts I got from his friends on how much they loved him and my friends how much
1:09:30
they loved me. And then I went to hold his hand before the mortuary took
1:09:38
him away and it was just so soft. And then I went to sleep. Why? because I
1:09:45
build habits to be able to deal with the worst days
1:09:51
of my life, but I never live there. If you have hope, if you have faith, you
1:09:59
realize you're not alone. That when we die, it's not the end and it's all going
1:10:06
to be okay. and having that mindset and during the
1:10:12
pandemic I must have prayed the serenity prayer 500 times. God grant me the
1:10:17
serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things
1:10:22
I can
1:10:23
>> and the wisdom to know the difference.
1:10:26
>> This is agency and hope. And we just published this monster study on 6,000
1:10:34
patients with hope. And when you have low frontal lobe, you have low hope,
1:10:40
which is why you shouldn't hit soccer balls with your forehead. But hope is
1:10:45
tomorrow can be better. And I have a role in it. And if you just do that one
1:10:53
exercise, what went well today before bed? Um, write to me in three weeks
1:10:58
because I would just love for you to do it and I would love to hear the result.
1:11:04
you just answered our last question that we ask our guests to uh give hope, a
1:11:10
word of hope uh to close it out. Um so thank you. Thank you. And if if you want
1:11:16
to expound on that, please please do uh what my last question and really quick
1:11:22
before you answer that. My last question, have you ever in the 15 years
1:11:28
you've been doing this exercise not found something that went well
1:11:33
today?
1:11:34
>> No. No.
1:11:36
>> You know, my dad used to say he's never had a bad day in his life,
1:11:41
>> right?
1:11:41
>> Just bad moments.
1:11:44
>> That's how my dad
1:11:47
>> plenty of those. But even days when I got attacked for my work, because that's
1:11:52
happened a lot. Um, no, they're still awesome parts of the day. And one of my
1:11:58
NFL players who read sort of a hate piece on me, he came into my office. He
1:12:03
goes, "You know, they only try to tackle the person with the ball."
1:12:08
>> I I tried to tackle Eric Dickerson one time,
1:12:13
>> chin strap up against the, you know, the helmet twisted. Yeah. He went down, but
1:12:18
he not backwards. Did you ever try to attack people without the ball?
1:12:23
>> Oh, yeah. There there's the there was Yeah, it Yeah. And I felt bad about it
1:12:29
afterwards. So, anyway, Dr. Agman, anything else you want to share? And we
1:12:34
can we could talk for hours and hours. I I' I've seen some of your podcasts that
1:12:39
go on two or three hours, but uh what a treat it's been.
1:12:43
>> We got to have him back on. This is awesome. I I tell you, I think I just
1:12:47
got an hour of therapy, Aiman style, and I really enjoy it. And I w you know, and
1:12:54
I got to say something. You talked about your killing your wife for your dog.
1:13:00
I've seen you and your wife in the hyperaric chambers having having your
1:13:04
cuddling sessions. She's way too beautiful to do that.
1:13:08
>> Oh, no. She's not dying. It's just it's just thoughts. Thoughts just come in to
1:13:14
your head. You just don't have to believe the nonsense and laugh at it a
1:13:21
little bit.
1:13:23
>> Well, this has been
1:13:25
>> Well, it's been a joy for me to chat with both of you. You know, my work with
1:13:30
traumatic brain injury and athletes has been very special to me. And you know, I
1:13:37
really want to sort of break this idea that CTE is chronic, progressive, and
1:13:44
untreatable because, you know, like my dad would say, [ __ ] No.
1:13:51
>> Well, you got a you got a clinic right here in Frisco, Texas
1:13:56
>> in Los Kenus. Right. And I would still would love to go there
1:14:02
someday and get the scan and all of that and do all the work.
1:14:06
>> And you know,
1:14:08
>> well, you know, I didn't talk about our foundation. We have a foundation called
1:14:12
the Change Your Brain Foundation that raises money for research, education,
1:14:17
and service for people who can't afford it. So, if anybody's interested in
1:14:24
donating, change yourbrain uh.org. Uh, but uh we just finished a huge
1:14:32
firefighter study because we haven't talked about firefighters, but they have
1:14:35
a very high incidence of suicide and brain trauma and toxicity. Um,
1:14:43
>> was the gentleman the foundation
1:14:46
>> was the gentleman in in the quiet quiet explosions, the fireman that was
1:14:51
survived the 911 tragedy, would was he one of your clients?
1:14:56
>> No.
1:14:57
>> Okay. But you mentioned that in quiet explosions too about firefighting being
1:15:01
such a toxic, dangerous uh traumatic job. So,
1:15:06
>> oh, and our, you know, our first responders, our military, my hat goes
1:15:11
off to them like there's no tomorrow. They're more, and I hate to say it this
1:15:16
way, but I believe it core in my heart when it comes to getting help. They
1:15:20
deserve it more than I do. I'm strong enough. I'll take care of it. But get
1:15:25
the help to the people that protect and save us. And um you know, I just love
1:15:33
how you and Gordon are on the same path. You both help first responders and
1:15:39
veterans and everything. And I think that's just tremendous work and I want
1:15:44
to thank you so much. It's just Yeah. I And that thing you just did with
1:15:51
the firefighters, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I got a question.
1:15:56
is I think our cowboy friend said Dr. Johnson in California. Is he still with
1:16:03
you or he's the one that he saw?
1:16:08
>> The scans that you pul Yeah, the scans that you pulled up earlier,
1:16:12
>> right? The scans I pulled up earlier. Have you talked to any rodeo cowboys and
1:16:16
seen any or done anything with them?
1:16:20
>> We have. We have a number of them.
1:16:24
>> And it's not good news. M. Yeah. But what went well today, doctor?
1:16:31
>> So, what's worse? Okay, that scan I showed you, he told me that the doctor
1:16:36
said that's one of the worst scans he's
1:16:39
>> he was saying it was worse than any NFL player he'd ever seen.
1:16:42
>> Some of the NFL players he's seen.
1:16:46
>> What's worse? Is it
1:16:48
>> It depends,
1:16:49
>> right?
1:16:49
>> It It depends, right? that I have.
1:16:55
You know, athletes really evolve. One of the worst brains I've seen is a
1:16:58
jockeyy's.
1:17:00
>> Oh, really? Oh, yeah.
1:17:01
>> Because of the falls
1:17:04
>> that they have. Um Yeah.
1:17:08
>> Wow.
1:17:09
>> Um but it can be better. That's the
1:17:14
message. I have to run, but it's the message that I want to leave people
1:17:18
with. You are not stuck with the brand you have. You can make it better.
1:17:23
>> Love it. Love it. All right.
1:17:25
>> That's absolutely awesome. You are not stuck with the brain you have.
1:17:29
>> You can make it better, Corey Barry.
1:17:32
>> I would love to, but you know, I just, you know, it's kind of what was the one
1:17:38
doc what the one doctor asked me if I
1:17:41
>> I think it was Gordon. So, when we heal you, will you go back
1:17:46
to work? I said, "Well, if you can get me healed enough to go back to work,
1:17:49
I'll definitely go back to work, you know."
1:17:53
>> All right.
1:17:54
>> But thank you so much for everything you do, Amen. I really do appreciate it.
1:17:59
Doc, Dr. Aean, I really do appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming on the
1:18:04
Head Rush podcast. Thank you for your positivity and everything you preach and
1:18:09
everything you do for traumatic brain injury. And we're not great about the
1:18:13
the social media stuff, but please go visit Dr. Aean on Instagram. Dr. A I
1:18:19
think it's Dr. Aean.com. Uh your medical
1:18:22
>> ammon clinics.com.
1:18:23
>> Aman clinics. Go there, please. We we have it up on the on the screen right
1:18:28
now. And uh uh he's got 11 um clinics across the country. Talked to uh he's
1:18:35
worked with people from what is how many scans? Over 300,000. Right.
1:18:40
probably
1:18:41
>> just about. It's not quite just about 300,000.
1:18:44
>> We we thank you. You've been very gracious with your time and uh hopefully
1:18:50
we get to do it again sometime soon. So
1:18:53
>> I look forward to it.
1:18:54
>> Thank you. Thank you.
1:18:56
>> Bye everybody.
1:18:57
>> Bye.
1:19:00
>> That's awesome, dude.
1:19:01
>> Yeah, it was. Absolutely.
1:19:03
>> That's awesome.
1:19:04
>> Yeah. He gave me hope just by on the positiveness of what went well today.
1:19:09
>> And that and that went well today. And that that's what I'm going to say when I
1:19:13
put my head on my pillow. What went well today?
1:19:16
>> Yeah.
1:19:17
>> Corey got a little hope.
1:19:19
>> Well, I think you got even a little hope from today. And if you didn't, you need
1:19:24
to get knocked out.
1:19:26
>> No. Yeah. So, it it is absolutely been been a pleasure. It's we very very
1:19:31
fortunate to got do Dr. for aiming on and uh so
1:19:35
>> great great episode.
1:19:37
>> Yeah.
1:19:38
>> So stay
1:19:40
>> stay alive. Have a beautiful day. We'll talk to y'all next time.
1:19:45
Like, share, follow, subscribe, double tap, do whatever you need to do, just
1:19:50
>> what other whatever those young kids do. So, thank you.
1:19:53
>> Thank you.
1:19:54
>> This podcast is for general information only and does not constitute the
1:19:57
practice of medicine. The use of this information and the materials linked to
1:20:02
this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not
1:20:07
intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis,
1:20:11
or treatment. Users should not disregard and delay in obtaining medical advice
1:20:15
from any medical condition they have, and they should seek the assistance of
1:20:19
their health care professionals for any such conditions.