Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
Join us as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, proving that even after the mission changes, the call to serve and thrive never ends.
Security Halt!
#241 Turning Grief into Purpose: Brandt McCartney’s 38 Challenge and Mental Health Advocacy
In this powerful episode of Security Halt!, host Deny Caballero sits down with Brandt McCartney, founder of the 38 Challenge, to share his transformative journey after the heartbreaking loss of his brother, Matt, to suicide. Brandt opens up about the challenges of grief, the impact of childhood trauma, and the mental health struggles often faced by veterans and high performers.
This candid conversation explores the importance of brain health, integrative therapies, faith, and community support as critical tools for healing. Brandt highlights the need for proactive mental health care, healthy habits, and the power of channeling pain into purpose to honor his brother's legacy. Through the 38 Challenge, he aims to inspire others to take action, embrace recovery, and build meaningful lives.
Tune in now for an inspiring discussion on grief, healing, and creating a legacy. Don’t forget to like, share, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts to support this vital conversation!
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Journey
03:03 The Impact of Loss and Legacy
05:55 Childhood Trauma and High Performance
09:01 Navigating Grief and Finding Purpose
11:47 The 38 Challenge: A New Mission
14:56 Understanding Brain Health and CTE
18:08 Exploring Integrative Therapies
20:58 The Science Behind Healing Modalities
26:11 Navigating Mental Health Resources for Veterans
30:17 Building Healthy Habits for Recovery
34:02 The Journey of Healing and Acceptance
39:40 The Impact of Medication on Mental Health
42:20 Creating a Life Worth Living
46:14 Faith as a Pillar in Recovery
50:59 Taking Action: Resources and Support
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Follow Brandt on LinkedIn, on social media and check out the 38 Challenge today!
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LinkedIn: Brandt McCartney
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Website: the38challenge.com
Produced by Security Halt Media
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Speaker 2:Let's go, you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best with guns, with knives, with his bare hands, a man who's been trained to ignore, ignore weather, to live off the land. Job was disposed of enemy personnel to kill period win by attrition brett mccartney.
Speaker 1:Welcome, dude, how you doing, doing well man, very blessed, grateful for another day heck.
Speaker 1:yeah, man, dude, it's, um, it's remarkable being able to meet somebody that is, uh, in the fight, as we like to say, fighting back against something that that's affecting so many of our veterans. And you have, you know, we always think that these causes, that these initiatives, are being led by individuals that are, you know, veterans, and they're led by guys who are on the ground. But we have to remember that our families are also sometimes the ones leading the way, to remember that our families are also sometimes the ones leading the way. And your story, man, it hits home and it resonates with so many people that have lost a loved one to these demons. And today, man, I am just excited to have you on to share your testimony, but also to discuss the way that your journey shifted from one of, you know, mourning, grieving and dealing with the loss of a brother into finding your new mission.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, man, absolutely. Yeah, I think you know it's interesting. I had a conversation with a mentor when I first lost Matt right, when I was thinking about starting the 38 Challenge, and what I really wanted to do was become a SEAL, right, or an operator in some point, and he said, hey, do everything, and Matt's saving a lot more people in heaven through his legacy than he ever could have on the battlefield and, I think, from just the nonprofits in this space, the landscape of it all. I mean, there's pros and cons, right.
Speaker 2:I don't know what it's like to watch my best friend die. I don't know what it's like to see. I don't know what it's like to watch my best friend die. I don't know what it's like to see, um, uh, a baby dead on the side of the road. I don't know what it's like to take someone's life, um, but at some for in some ways it's an advantage, right, because I'm not led down by those demons, um, and I can take it from a different perspective, right, I can take it from a unbiased kind of outside of the circle perspective, right, which in our case, has worked out well. But yeah, man, I'm just grateful to be able to have this conversation and to, like I said, be able to help people through my brother's legacy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the thing that's impactful that I want to start off with is we tend to think of our exposure to blast as being like everything that happened in the military. Exposure to blast as being like everything that happened in the military, like, like I didn't. We don't take into account, like the vast majority of us were athletes, we were football players, we were wrestlers, we were guys in the gridiron and we failed to recognize that as being some of the most impactful issues, some of the places where we were impacted the most by these, uh, concussive blasts like tell us your story about growing up with your brother absolutely, absolutely, yeah, I think you know.
Speaker 2:Just to add to that, it's um, yeah, like a lot of you guys were, were athletes, um, especially in the operations, the special operations community. But, um, you also carry a lot of baggage from your childhood. You know that takes up to be a high performer typically takes um a traumatic childhood, right, because you know how to operate in chaos, because your life growing up was chaos and then your brain was developed that way, so you feel the most comfortable in chaos and so, and so you're bringing in that, not only bringing in extra, um, you know, impact to the brain, right, and extra hits to the head, but you're also bringing in, you know, more and in most cases, a lot more baggage and trauma from your childhood. So just wanted to make that point. But, yeah, man, so, um, so I was born in St Louis Missouri, um, my brother, matt Brewer, was, um, was my half brother. So, uh, matt actually lost his dad to suicide when he was younger. Um, it's just another layer to the story, man, but, um, his dad was a phenomenal pastor. Um got into a really bad accident where he ended up losing his leg. Um, because of the, you know, because of the, the pain medication, those types of things that ended up taking his life. Um, but yeah, I remember the when hearing a story of when Matt heard that I was, that he was going to have a brother, he just started doing the worm on the floor and like knocked over a bunch of dishes.
Speaker 2:I think he was 10 or 11 at the time, right, so he was. He was 10 years older than I was. So, yeah, and that I mean that just kind of sums up our relationship. He basically raised me, you know know, he was very protective of me. Um, I looked up to him as a, as a superhero, right, as a um, as as a best friend and as a great older brother. Um, so, yeah, I mean, I learned most things of how to be a man through him, right, um, he would. He would get me on, um, he would put a samurai sword in my hand and we would chop over watermelons. We'd watch Rocky movies together. He'd teach me about James Bond bobbing my first bottle of cologne. You know, I'd be six years old looking at beautiful women by the pool, like it definitely grew up.
Speaker 2:I definitely grew up at an early age, but yeah, I mean, matt in high school was a all school was. Uh. Um was a all state wrestler, all state linebacker, all state running back. Um, you know, excelled in everything that he did. I took that up, right, um just playing, just playing football, baseball sports. My whole life um being taught by Matt.
Speaker 2:Um, matt ended up going to the Naval Academy where he wore the number 38 there Hence you know why there are a bunch of gold 38s on my body Was a two-year starter there, a middle linebacker, tied the school record of forced fumbles, was a heavyweight boxing champion there and then after that, he served in the Marine Corps for three years doing heavy artillery special operations work. Did the same with the United Nations and Mali. So, yeah, man, I mean, I got Matt's dog tags tattooed on my back, attached to a crown of thorns next to a cross, and he was alive, right, we were very, very, very close. So, as you can imagine, was definitely um the worst day of my life. You know, getting that phone call and um a feeling you can't explain, right, just your, your heart being ripped out, right, um and uh. But again, very, very grateful for the opportunity to wake up every day with with passion and um purpose, right and the ability to to help others through his legacy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the thing I always go back to is if we just sit with our suffering and do nothing with it rather than turn it into a purpose and a new mission, we don't do anything for that. In honoring the people that we lost, we just continue to suffer, and suffering for the sake of suffering leads to nothing. It doesn't do anything, but you can take that and make it a powerful motivator into doing so much good for the world, for others, and that's what I really advocate for. Our veterans are out there struggling like get healthy, get better and then find a way to help others overcome what they're dealing with. How did you find yourself in this space after you lose your brother, and I would imagine there's a lot of self-reflection. What was that initial catalyst to say like I got to dive into this, I got to study this.
Speaker 2:For sure, man, yeah, I think I mean so when and I always get emotional this but, um, you know, Valentine's day 2021, um, it had been a couple of weeks since my me and my brother last spoke. Um, you know, leading up to his, uh, he was in a transition period after he got out of the Marine Corps, right, which is brutal in and of itself, right, a massive reason why veterans take their life because their identity, their community, their schedule, everything has now been stripped from them. And I don't I mean that's, I don't like the term real world, because killing people overseas and doing those things is very, very real life. But absolutely, you know, uh, real society, american society, being being integrated back into it. Right, it's a very, very tough, tough transition. And um, so, when he was home, you know, I could tell that he was, he was back in san luis.
Speaker 2:Um, I was, it was during covid. So I for, from school, I was at TCU at the time, back from school, he had just got out of the Marine Corps, kind of figuring out what was next for him, and I could tell something was it was off, right, cause there was this weird kind of tension, right, um, uh, at that time I didn't know to the extent of what it was. I never really had to have hard conversations or even knew how to approach it. So I didn't. And I remember, on Valentine's Day it had been a couple of weeks since we last spoke and I remember him and I saying we're going to talk on Valentine's Day. And I remember looking at my phone, with his contact pulled up, and I was just like man, I do not want to feel that awkward tension, I don't want to feel that anxiety. Um, I don't want to do it. I don't want to ask what's wrong, I just, you know, I didn't want to have that conversation and I didn't. And I'm sure he was looking at his phone, thinking the same thing, you know, um, and then you know, five days later, on February 19th, five or six days later, he, I got the call from my mom that he had taken his life.
Speaker 2:So for me, man, talk about self-reflection, right, it's like with anyone, with any family member who goes through losing someone from suicide. Um, it's always the what ifs. You know, if we talked that day without have saved his life, right, what could I have done differently? Um, thankfully, that shame and that guilt didn't take me down too much of a of a rabbit hole, um, and I just knew that I, that God put it on my heart that I needed to, you know, um, channel this grief and this mourning into something impactful, right, because there's really there's three ways to respond after something like that happens. Right, you can let that shame and guilt eat you alive and fall into self-destructive patterns like addiction and, you know, depression and anxiety and I certainly had some of that looking back at it, you know, and I certainly had some of that um looking back at it. You know you can take the numb approach right, which is to completely block it out, um, and to just lock those demons in the basement, um, which will come up later in life. And then the third thing is, like you said, right, how do you take that into um, how do you take that energy right and put it into something positive? And thankfully, that's the route that, that, that that God had for me, um, so really, it just started off with, uh, the 38 challenge, right?
Speaker 2:Um, you know I was familiar with, with warrior workouts and the Murph challenge, um, you know my brother, when I was back from college, would wake me up at 6am to go outside and you know, negative degree weather in St Louis and we'd, you know, sprint up hills together. So I was like, well, this seems, this seems appropriate, right To, to make a um, to make a, a workout in his memory. So, um, but I wanted the, I wanted the meaning behind the workout to be the most important thing. So, when I created the 38 challenge, it was all about how do we create a community where people feel comfortable suffering together, right, and leaning on one another when suffering. So I created the 38 challenge, the workout, um, it's a 400 meter run, 38 pushups, 38 sit-ups, 38 squats, doing as many rounds of that as you can in 38 minutes, right, with an optional 20 or 40 pound vest, um, however, the beautiful thing about suffering is that it's different for everyone, right? So, as long as you're using 38 as a variable to create your own um idea of suffering and something that's challenging for you, then you're doing the 38 challenge, right?
Speaker 2:So, um, and and I've mentioned this before but at our events, you know, we we host large school workout events where we invite different nonprofit partners to be there. Um, but we've had, you know, toddlers crawling for 38 minutes to, to, to elevate people walking up and downstairs for 38 minutes to, you know adaptive athletes and wheelchairs doing pushups right and and and and skiers and all that kind of stuff. So and then we have you know special operators with 40 pound vests cranking out 10 rounds. You know it's, it's whatever suffering looks like to the individual Um, but yeah, that's, that's, that's really the purpose of the 38 challenge and um. Originally I got into understanding um CTE, right, chronic chronic traumatic encephalopathy, um, and that's originally where the dollars went to. So that that was kind of my introduction to the space Um and just really learning about the problem in the brain. And you know that has, you know, evolved over time. But that's kind of how it, how it all happened initially.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's important to understand that the research continues to drive on and we are learning new things. Each, it feels like each and every day, new things are coming out, new studies are being published, things. Each, it feels like each and every day, new things are coming out, new studies are being published and it's insane to me that I never knew a fraction of it. What I was in, I had no understanding that. The exposures that we were, uh, you know, on a daily basis, just simple range days, simple. You know what we tend to think while we're in uniform. You know, just a mortar range, just sending rounds down range. None of that was in my you know my headspace of how dangerous this stuff really is, and the precautions just weren't there. Like when you started studying this. How did you eventually say, okay, like we have to grow bigger? It can't just be about the 38 Challenge. We need to start looking at what we can do to help these guys out.
Speaker 2:For sure, for sure, yeah, so. So in the beginning, when I created the 38 Challenge, it was all about awareness One how do we empower a hard population of warriors to do a hard thing, which is to ask for help? Thankfully, as you alluded to, we're definitely going in that direction. The vulnerability piece people understanding that you can't ask for help, like that's that has evolved tremendously Right, which is which is amazing. Um, and for the CTE route, you know, in the in the brain injury space, like, I just kind of got the conviction that I was just raising awareness for a problem that everyone's very, very aware of. You know, um, the last thing that my brother Googled before taking his life was what happened to junior say out and what happened to junior sales family.
Speaker 1:No shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 2:Oh man, yeah, so he knew that he that something was very wrong with his brain and he was worried that he was going to hurt people around him, as the only is the only possible conclusion, right From that last Googling thing. But the narrative on right now is all fear, right, there's not that much hope out there, you know. So, from my perspective, I was always fascinated about these emerging modalities that you hear so much about hyperaric oxygen, psychedelics, right, Like all these different things which are becoming more popular. So I was like I want to actually deploy something that helps to solve the problem. So then I created the Brain Optimization Lab, which is essentially like the for-profit arm of the of the 38 challenge. Um, and the focus there is to be a research and development company, right, so that we can um research some of these, these integrative therapies, Right, so that's, um, that's kind of when I got that conviction of you know, let's, let's, let's move towards.
Speaker 1:That's kind of when I got that conviction of you know, let's move towards that route. Absolutely, man. I just had Brian Peters on NFL veteran and, you know, a huge advocate for breath, cold water, exposure that the thing that really aggravates me is seeing and personally witnessing in my own life my own, my own uh, uh, adventures into that, that realm of doing uncomfortable things early in the morning, getting cold, understanding that there is science, there is efficacy, and understand but, more importantly, seeing the lives are being changed. I've got a great friend, uh, that runs non-centerorg and their whole purpose of that mission is to get ice barrels in the hand of our soft. Guys are asking for it, but people are still saying like, oh, that's witchcraft, there's no science behind it.
Speaker 1:Literally, I've seen people's lives change once they start doing this and it's not about if it works. If we have a large amount of individual who are changing, who are getting better, we should listen to that. But there's such a pushback from individuals within the community like, ah, there's not enough evidence into it and I completely applaud you for being willing to dive into integrative space because there are so many things that are changing lives right now. I just had to get that shameless plug to nonstandardorg. Adam, what you, what you're doing, is amazing, being able to get this out into the guy's hands, like it's. I mean, and you've probably seen it yourself you get into the cold tub and you make it a part of your daily life, like it changes you I actually just talked about this morning.
Speaker 2:I mean, and from my perspective, I don't think there's any more powerful tool than than a cold plunging breath work, truthfully, um, and so you know one of the points you just made. So that's the purpose of the brain optimization lab? Right, because it's so in the scientific community. Right, with these, with these modalities, like you said, there's not enough research for it to be um, you know, for it to be respected and integrated. Hyperbaric oxygen is a great example of this. Right, you know someone whose life's been saved by hyperbaric oxygen. I do, yep, and so do I. And so when I was hearing these things, it's like, okay, well, this guy showed me his before and after of his brain imaging and credits this HBOT to saving his life. Like you know, why does the science not back that? And the reason is because there's in the space right, especially for HBOP, there's a lot of inconsistent data, right? So two part one any pharmaceutical, any biotech technology, right, a lot of the data which a company is presenting is going to be biased. Right, because they're going to make sure that their numbers look good. So that already creates a lot of skepticism and smoke and mirrors, right? The second piece, especially with hyper oxygen, is that there's a lot of inconsistency in the actual protocols implemented. So when HBOT started to hit the scene about, you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago, it was used for wound healing and that's from two to three atmospheric pressure at 100% oxygen, especially for brain injuries. You can OD, you can overdose on oxygen. There's a point where it's too much and it actually becomes damaging, right. So the protocols which are effective are typically between 1.5 and 2 atmospheric pressure, breathing at 95% oxygen, creating something called hypoxia, right. So what that means is that after 20, so you get in the chamber right, let's say it's an hour session at 2.0 atmospheric pressure. After 20 minutes you take the mask off. You're breathing 95% air. After 20 minutes you take it off for five minutes. So then you go back to the typical oxygen there I believe it's 23% and then after five minutes you put it back on. That induces a hypoxia-like effect, right, which then releases things like, which then, uh, releases things like stem cells, right, which can, um, it's and I'm not gonna, I'm not, um, equipped enough to talk about this, the science that deeply. We have people. We have people a lot smarter than I uh, to, to, to, to do all that. But, um, that's just an example right Of. Of. So if you, if you, if you have 20 have 20 different protocols, right, and 10 of them are effective and 10 of them are not, are not effective, right, then of course there's going to be inconsistent data. So what we need to do is find the protocol which is effective and then spread that protocol over 100, 500, 1000 individuals so that we can we can get that scientifically rigorous data right, and that's an example of something that the Brain Optimization Lab is trying to do.
Speaker 2:Take that to cold punch right. So one of the studies we're most excited about is sauna, cold punch and breathwork, right. How does that impact those impacted by brain injuries, as well as those suffering with PCS and dealing with trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. So we're looking at it from a mechanistic perspective, meaning, how does this protocol and the individual mechanisms of sauna, cold plunge and breath, how do just the mechanisms impact someone with brain injury, right? For example, cold therapy right, cold therapy increases dopamine and norepinephrine by 200%. Adderall also does the same thing, right. So you can I mean, adderall is like 1000%, but you can imagine and Adderall, we don't have to get into that, but obviously it's incredibly addictive and has gnarly side effects and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:But when someone's dealing with a brain injury, one of the main things from someone who's dealing with a TBI is dopamine-seeking activities, right, that's why you see so much addiction, that's why you see hypervigilance, that's why you get these obsessive thoughts of not being able to escape certain thought loops, because your brain is being rewarded for having the same thought loop over and over and over again. That's the dopamine system. So, just with cold therapy, you're increasing dopamine and norepinephrine by 200%. So, so you're satisfying those needs that are in your brain so you can then get motivated and focus on the task at hand, right, and then increase, you know, the feel good molecules, all that kind of stuff. You're also reducing oxidative stress, right Another massive problem experienced by operators. Right, you are releasing cold shock proteins, right, which increases BDNF, your brain's ability to be plastic right, and create new pathways, right.
Speaker 2:So from a scientific perspective, it's not woo-woo Like. This is all known science and out there. It just hasn't been applied to the brain injury community and also hasn't not been applied at scale. So that's one of the things that that's the purpose of the Brain Optimization Lab and our thought process is hey, the best results will come from a multimodality approach. So when I mentioned hyperbaric oxygen, we're studying as hyperbaric oxygen in combination with photobiomodulation or red light stimulation, right, something called targeted HBOT. So real high level. Once you increase oxygen in the body through targeted photobiomodulation transcranially, we can direct that oxygen to go to different parts of the brain.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:So HBOT has its own mechanisms, right, um, and, and how it it? It deals with the brain, from reducing inflammation, releasing stem cells, um, reducing oxidative stress, right, these are all scientifically proven things from um hyperoxygen photobiomodulation, um increases the, the um, uh, mitochondria strength, right, mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, which then increases ADP, your body's ability to create energy, right, so. And then it also has regenerative effects, right, so we can start to repair some of the damaged cells in the brain. That's just. Those are two mechanisms of HBOT and photobiomodulation, separate from each other. It makes sense that if we put them together, their mechanisms will complement each other, so we get even better results.
Speaker 2:Same same thought process, with sonic hole plunge, breath work, our goal. And you know, from a, from just a um common sense perspective, you're like, yeah, of course that makes a lot of sense, but the way that the scientific method is, you know it's it's one modality, right For over a certain period of time. And so we're trying to, we're trying to go the scientific method, use a scientific method, to then prove this kind of holistic protocol approach so that down the road these protocols can be prescribed and given to um people suffering, you know, through insurance companies et cetera. That's kind of the long-term goal of VOL.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's something that's needed, the way that we're treating, especially when you get out. And that's why I tell guys all the time before you get out, before you leave, especially within the soft community get treated, get referrals to these amazing brain treatment facilities, get vulnerable, get to the point where you're willing to sit down in front of that provider and say, hey, I've been at this for 20, 23 years. I really think I should be able to go to the STAR program or to prep to get treated, to get checked out, because once you get on the outside, the VA is not going to take, it's not going to send you to a polytrauma treatment center. They're just not Like. You are going to sit in front of that VA provider and I'm sorry, but this is the reality, and I know right now it's like well, it's not. Not every VA is the same, not every VA doctor is the same. Yeah, I get it, but for the majority of us, the VA doctor is going to sit down in front of you and look at you and he's just going to start prescribing medication. And in my case, you're going to sit down in front of a provider and he's going to tell you the same thing for the next three sessions and you're never going to make progress on anything. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Get the treatment you deserve before you get out. Get referred to all these. Like Nyko, you have access to these and on the outside, the work is done by a lot of nonprofits and there is hope. There is resources out there. But before you get out, start getting these issues treated. It's a lot easier On the outside and I'll share some resources at the end of this and I'll put them on the episode description. There are places you can go, there are people that will help, but it's a lot easier to start getting the treatment now.
Speaker 1:So, if you're dealing with anything and if anything that we've shared resonates with you and it's piqued your interest, sit in front of your provider today or make an appointment and start getting help, because, man, I don't want guys or girls to suffer any longer. The reality is, for the past 20 years years you've been deployed. You've been getting repeated impacts. It's time to get your brain checked out. Um, with the, the people that you have worked with, what are some of the? I mean like you have to have data like how fast are you seeing results?
Speaker 2:For sure. Yeah, so we. So I mean full transparency. We're just now kind of starting to collect data, but I think our good case study is is is my partner I won't disclose his name but he, you know he played. He played NFL football for seven years, eight years was a, you know, was a, was a two time pro bowler right, Was a, I mean top, top 100 player. Um had to retire due to too many concussions. Um, I mean he, especially with, like the sauna, cold punch breath work, if done the right way, because a lot of athletes and operators they're used to like the kind of white knuckle approach ice bath, right, like I just gotta get in there and grit it out, like that's not, that's not the right, that's not the approach that we take, right.
Speaker 2:So so we take, we teach them how to surrender, we teach them how to breathe, right, and these are all skills that be that can be translated to life. And so, with something like cold plunge right where it's impacting, for example, if you take Adderall, you're going to feel it right and you're probably going to feel pretty good for for a little bit, and it I'm not saying definitely do not take Adderall because it's addictive, but it's the same thing with a cold punch, like you're going to the the, the feeling and the mechanisms that happen in the brain are instantaneous, right. So you, you start to see those, those results. So I mean things can turn around quick because, especially with things like like depression and anxiety right, it's all about depression especially it's all about momentum, right. So if we can give you a pocket where you feel good and you start to put things together, you clean your house, you make a couple calls, right, you think more about your future that's going to feed into this momentum that will then carry on to you getting out of that depression and excelling in life, right.
Speaker 2:So I mean the hope is that you know, with these like things like traumatic or transcranial magnetic stimulation, right. The same protocol, right, people are coming in suicidal and then after one day of treatment, their suicidal ideation is gone. Same thing with ketamine, right? So, from the data perspective, like people can start to feel a lot better quickly, right, but you have to like anything like you can't go to the gym for you know, for six months and then start to see results and then stop, right, you're going to go right back to where you were, right.
Speaker 2:So it's the same thing with your brain health. You have to have these practices and these rituals right and be consistent if you want to see that progress get better over time, but you can start seeing results. I mean system, if you want to see that that progress get better over time, but you can start seeing results. I mean something like cold plunge, right, you can start to see results within within hours and then you know, typically, for like something like hyperbaric oxygen, you need to get 40 sessions in, right, you have to um, you have to stay consistent with it, um, but then you know again, progressively that momentum will build and you'll start feeling like your old self again and then ultimately feel feel better than you ever have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you brought something that that's really important to reflect on for a little bit the importance of addressing these, these habits that are not self-serving, that ultimately derail our lives. And before we can, like literally, we have to be able to identify the bad habits and then build good ones alongside. Because, like, if you don't start establishing these great habits, like waking up early, I always tell people like, dude, you want to get up to the gym, you want to get better? Like, you have to start from like ground up. Look at your, your day-to-day, and start looking at your bad habits and start building a good one to remove that bad habit. So you eat like crap, all right, we've got to get you eating better, we've got to get you waking up a little bit earlier so you can go to the gym, and that's something that is missed. Everybody looks at the end result, everybody looks at that fit body you're going to have, but the reality is you've got to fall in love with the process falling.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent, yeah, and I think it's not a hard sell. It's hard to implement, right, because I mean, like, like I hate to say it, but there's no easy way out of dealing with depression and anxiety. It will be the hardest battle of your entire life, like it'll be way harder than than, you know, killing Taliban. You know it'll be way harder than that, right It'll. It will be the hardest battle of your life, but it's so worth it, right, because you get to live and you get to experience the joyness of life. And I mean, what is, what is life without suffering? You know, like, how, how can you, how can you, how can you experience the, the, the greatness of life without it? Right, and, and you know, one of the things that I, I have just taken to my heart is, you know, to accept, to accept suffering is to transcend suffering, right. So, if you can, just, if you can just accept that, hey, I'm depressed, I'm anxious, I'm dealing with trauma, I'm dealing with brain injuries, this sucks, I'm suffering, but you accept it and you and you and you lean into that discomfort, right, and you take it head on, then, dude, you've already transcended it right, you've accepted it and, like I would say I'm blessed with trauma dude. Like I'm so blessed to have as weird as it is to say like I'm and it still isn't, I don't know if I believe it yet but like I'm blessed to have lost my brother, right, because I'm so empathetic now, right, and I can understand people suffering right, and I've been to the point where I mean I've had, you know, I've had a gun up to my head, right, like I know what it's like to deal with those thoughts and I mean we can get into that, we don't have to. But, like I know what it's like to go down the Reddit, like to go down the, the, the, the, the Reddit, um, you know rabbit hole of ways to ways to kill yourself. Right, like, and this, this is only language of people who've been there can understand. Right, like I know what it's like to go on YouTube and just find videos of people dealing with depression and anxiety, because maybe they understand where I'm at Right, like, um, but without that suffering like, like I would have I would have no place in this space.
Speaker 2:You know, um, but to your point, it's like, um, you have, you have to be willing to fight, right, you have to. You have to understand that you know, once you raise your hand and you get vulnerable, that's step one. It's a hard step but that's just the beginning and you have to take initiative of the process right and have people around you to hold you accountable. And you have to stay consistent because you know without that continuing to take steps forward and building that momentum, like you're never going to get out of that, out of that darkness. And it's hard to hear, especially when you're in that spot, but like it's, it's the only way out.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, man, uh, it's the only way out. Man, it's absolutely true. You just said a little bit ago, and it takes me back to that we shouldn't be looking for a knight in shining armor to come save us. We should be looking for the knight with the fucked up, messed up armor to come along with us and help us find a way out. I can't do the work for you and I hope that my scars and my vulnerability will show you that the empathy that I'm displaying is not just empty words, that you can see the scars and the fails and all the trauma that I wear as vulnerability to show you that there's a way out, to show you there's a path out of it. And it's going to take work. It's not going to be easy, but you have to understand that a pain and suffering will dissipate. And the process, that journey, that's what you fall in love with, because there's no final destination. Here's the whole full disclosure, full truth moment. The journey is what you have to love. The end is that beautiful ending that we don't know what comes after. You meet your maker. He's with you and you walk off into the pearly gates. That's the end. The end is not. You're fit, you're happy, you're smiling and everything's rosy and better. No, that's the journey, and along that way, you have great days, you're going to have bad days, you're going to have indifferent days, and then you realize, oh shit, this is life. This is life. This is just a continuation of using the tools each and every day and living and getting better.
Speaker 1:And I wasn't there for the longest time. I had that false sense of understanding that it'll just get better. And I'm reaching, I'm working towards that happy moment where I'll always be better. That's not realistic. You want to get better, you want to improve. And then when you start, you know we always do the crawl, walk and run methodology. When you're suffering and you haven't found a way out, and you haven't, you're not, haven't found those resources, you're crawling, you're struggling, and then you get a little bit better and you start walking, and then you get really good and you start running. And that's when you start advocating and start helping others in your own journey.
Speaker 1:Brent, how did you start running again? Because I have to imagine suffering and going through the loss and knowing that you're intimately part of our community that have suffered with these things. What was the first thing that got you. Okay, I'm getting better. I'm going to do this to get better. Was it the conventional? Did you go to talk therapy? Did you start leaning into those conventional modalities or did you lean more into, like the physical fitness, the cold water and the breath work?
Speaker 2:For sure. Yeah, so I'll, I'll just kind of give a high level of my journey. So, um, you know, after Matt died um, you know, obviously it was dealing with a lot of the guilt and shame and grief and all that Um, you know, I was put on. I was having panic attacks at night, which is not not um unusual after losing, having such a traumatic event, like, you know, losing your best friend or brother to suicide. Um, but my doctor put me on um Ativan, which is a benzodiazepine.
Speaker 2:Um, you're supposed to be on a benzo for maybe two weeks, um, he prescribed it to me every night for sleep, right, for for four years, holy shit, yep, Um and um, and I would typically wash my benzo down with a glass of wine or two every night, um, and in the morning I would feel groggy. So he prescribed me Adderall and I was on that for four years as well. So I was on, you know, two narcotics for four years without any understanding of how that was impacting my brain. All I knew is that I was sleeping good and then I was crushing work, right, like, that's, like, like. But I was so numb to my feelings and I was so numb to to all those things. And I was just obsessed with how do I grow the 38 challenge, how do I just burning the candles, from all, all sides, you know, and that led to a crash and burn, burnout, yeah, hardcore, um, and so once you're getting, when you're, when you're withdrawing from, so a couple of stats for you. So, um, have you seen the movie smile? Yeah, yeah, okay. So so once, when you lose someone to suicide and it's not the exact same thing as, maybe, smile, but this is what I think about when I watch it If you lose a family member to suicide, you're the chances that you that you take your life are increased by 200%, because your brain now understands that that's a way out.
Speaker 2:Right, when you're withdrawing from benzodiazepines, you're at a six to 800% more likely to take your life when you're withdrawing from these medications, yeah, so you want to talk about the military problem, and that's the same thing with the SSRIs, is? There's literally a black box warning for suicide, right? So I think a major part of the military problem is the fact that these guys are being prescribed so many medications that after a couple months, they realize that this isn't working. As a matter of fact, it's making things worse. So then they rip themselves off the medication and now they're in this danger zone of their brain chemicals all out of whack, right, and they think that it's just the trauma and they think that it's just the, the um, they think that it's just the trauma and they think that it's just the brain injuries, which it definitely plays a part. But you're also now dealing with all the, the, the um, chemical imbalances in your brain because you're just cold Turkey, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 medications that's side note Um.
Speaker 2:So I went through all that, right, and that was like, literally, literally battling demons, like like actual demons, right, like, like, like that, people who go through that experience like it's, it's you can't really explain it, but it's not normal depression, anxiety, it's like you're literally like you know it's, it's, it's gnarly, gnarly stuff, man, like you know it's, it's, it's gnarly gnarly stuff, man, um. So I would say the most going through that, I mean, my faith was the most important thing, right, having a relationship with, with, with, you know, my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Um was a huge thing for me, right, and the spiritual fitness component of it, um. And then there was a couple of months where I wasn't exercising and I, you know just kind of the depression, staying in bed, all that kind of stuff. So, um, when I got, when I started to get out of that really, really dark spot, the first thing for me was just getting back in the gym, getting back into boxing.
Speaker 2:And then I discovered cold therapy and breathwork and that for me was when the momentum started to really pick up. Right, it's when I started doing the cold plunges, the breathwork, because naturally those were restoring some of the things that were lacking in my brain because of withdrawing from those medications. And then that momentum led into just being back on fire for the 38 challenge without the help of stimulus and those types of things, and then I was in a really good spot. And then it all happened again because of just failures in business, failures in the entrepreneurial journey, and then I kind of fell back into again those same dark spots. But then I just stuck to it, right, you know it was part of the just kind of accepted the suffering, understood that it was going to be shitty for a little bit, and it's just kind of waiting for that, you know, working hard each day and then waiting for that momentum to come back right and getting clear on the vision again, getting clear on you know where we want to go, and I think that's a major, that's a very important part too, right, because, as we've mentioned, like, we can do anything we want for the brain right, and we will help a lot with the brain and we will help to quiet the mind, right.
Speaker 2:But we have to help veterans and war fighters. We have to help them build a life outside of the military, where one they still feel like a warrior and understand that just because the uniform came off doesn't mean that they're no longer a warrior. And then we have to help them be plugged into communities and build a life that's worth living for them. Right, I think groups like Warrior Rising and veteran entrepreneurial organizations I mean you understand this yourself going into the corporate world works for some veterans, for most probably doesn't, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean you're not going to find that same level of fulfillment that you did, you know, when you were protecting your country with, with, with, brothers and sisters, um, so helping to, to find a life worth living, right, and creating that hero's journey right, understanding that the suffering that you're going through right now is necessary for you to become that higher version of yourself down the road, right. So we have to paint a picture of what you want that higher version of yourself to be, right. And then, once we have the destination and you understand where you're at now, then we create the blueprint and we start to fill that gap of that gap of how you get to that, that higher stuff. And then, once you get there if you ever do, which I hope that you do we're going to level. We're going to level it up even more. Like you said, there's no, the journey never stops, right, we always get better.
Speaker 2:Um, so, yeah, I would just to summarize I think for me, the spiritual fitness component of it was super, super important. Fitness component of it was super, super important. Um, the understanding things like sauna, cold, plunge, breath, work and, and I think, from like, the spiritual perspective, like I grew up, you know, um, just, you know stereotypical Christian, right, and my faith was not my own but understanding things like consciousness, right, understanding how shame and guilt and all these things like, like how it like how it plays into your life, right, that was a super, super important piece for me because I understood that the patterns that I was in directly correlated to how I was feeling from like an emotional and spiritual perspective, right. So then, understanding, how do you kind of transcend these levels to get up to, to, to where you, you know, can give back to other people, right, and and accept where you're at, and all those things. But that's a, that's a whole, nother another conversation, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's. I'm so glad you brought up the, the faith part, cause it truly is mind, body and spirit man, because it truly is mind, body and spirit man. And when my body failed, when my mind failed, I didn't have spirit, I didn't have faith. And that's why I know for a fact now, now that I'm back in my faith, now that I go to church, now that I believe 100% in my faith, I know without a shadow of a doubt the reason why I fell so low and I had just deteriorated was there was no pillar left to fall back on. And it's a beautiful reminder. I now get to advocate for it.
Speaker 1:And again, it doesn't matter what your faith is, proud Catholic, if that's also what your faith is, then great, awesome. I just want you to connect to your faith. Understand that, dude, we're great at going to the gym. Active duty guys, whether you're conventional, military or soft guys, you love to crush the gym. So the body is super important to us. The mind, dude. We fall apart when we don't take care of ourselves in the mental health space, when we don't address anxiety, when we don't address our depression. So that's also weak. But if you can strengthen the faith pillar, if you can strengthen, just by going to church, just by connecting with your faith, by you know doing what you need to do to make that pillar strong.
Speaker 2:When those other two fall apart, you're going to be okay, it's easier to rebound, it's easier, yeah, well, and I think you know, and I think I also really, really don't like, when people are like, just pray, you know, like, like it's, it's all going to be good, like that's not how it works, you know, and especially when you're, when you are so depressed and so dark, right, like, like, and you feel nothing right, then it's very, very hard to connect to your creator.
Speaker 2:There. You just have to have the faith and understand that he's there with you, right, even though, even though you don't feel it, even though you don't believe in it in that moment, like, just having that, that understanding right and like that, because that it's not up to you at that point, right, it's, it's, there's something else, that's, that's, that's carrying you Right, yeah, as as Jesus did in the cross and and and from from, from my view. But I certainly understand, like, like, our goal is to get people out of that darkness right Through these different protocols, so that they can get to a point where then connecting to a higher power right, to to the, to the source, right, becomes easier, because they have a brain that is not trying to kill them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right yes that's, that's our, that's our goal, um and like, like you know, when I talk to people who are really deep, who are really depressed and again, I'm not a doctor, right, I'm just someone who's been there, right, and I'm someone who's entrenched in it, but you know, a lot of the times when you're dealing with suicidal thoughts, it's a, you know, not to get political, but it's kind of ironic, right, like demons will use pronouns.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude but it's kind of a ironic.
Speaker 2:Right, like demons will use pronouns yeah, right, dude, like, like they'll say they'll, and and, yeah, when you understand it's like the demons, like for my case, like it was, like you are a piece of shit, yeah, you should kill yourself. You did this, you did that. It wasn't I am a piece of shit, I should kill myself. It was always the perspective of you. Yes, and that's how you know that there's something outside of you that's attacking, and that's why I say your brain's trying to kill you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, those aren't your thoughts, those are literally the thoughts from satan, the, the, the opposition, right, yeah, um, the one who wants to seek, kill and destroy, like you, you, you, you, you and, if it be, if it becomes I, I want kill myself. Then you just have to understand that these demons have trained you well enough that now you believe them. Right, now you believe that lie. Right, and they've convinced you that it's like a champion in sales, right, yeah, they've convinced they don't have to sell you anymore. Right, and if you're at that spot, like, there's still hope, right, like, do not cave to those voices, do not cave to those, to those thoughts, but you have to understand. That's where it starts, right, that's not. This is not your thoughts, it's not thoughts from God, it's thoughts from the evil and this world, right, that wants that, doesn't want you here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's important to highlight man, if you're in the trenches right now, like I'd say you're in this fight right now, reach out, man. I know it's hard, have to have to. You have to. This whole concept, this whole thing started with three friends that were in the thick of it in the fight and we just kept texting each other. We just kept texting, we just kept communicating. And I'm telling you, when that voice in your head tells you that nobody wants to hear from you, trust me, everybody wants to hear from you. Keep reaching out, keep connecting. That saves lives.
Speaker 1:And if you're'll say it's our little thing that we talk about LGOPS, man, form your little group of paratroopers. Form your little group of friends. It's, it's hokey, but get three or four friends every morning. Text each other. I'm up, I love you Headed off to work, headed off to the gym. Reconnect, man, we are gym. Reconnect man, before you, connect with your local community.
Speaker 1:I know it's hard to get out there, but at least connect with your veteran friends, reconnect with your military friends and start getting that morning up message. We all did accountability for 10, 15, 20 years of your military career. Continue getting accountability of your friends. It's a simple text message. It saves lives. I'm telling you 988,. It's a great resource, but you know an even better resource that friend that you served with that brother that you were in the trenches with in the fight, with reconnect with your friends.
Speaker 1:Brent, I can't thank you enough for being here, brother, and for being in this fight with all of us. What you're doing is saving lives and it truly is a blessing to have somebody else out there waving the banner and trying to change things. We like to think that somebody is coming for us at the Calvary, that's SOCOM and everybody else will come in and they'll save the day. But the truth is it's guys like you, brother, it's guys like you that are out there saying fuck you, I'll do it and I can't thank you enough for doing that. Man. If we want to find out more about the 38 Challenge and the Brain Optimization Lab, where do we go?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say the couple of things. Go to wwwthe38challengecom. The Brain Optimization Lab is still we're still kind of, you know, not not on the scene yet from a public perspective. We want to, you know, win some of these contracts first. So you know we can, once guys do come that route, you know we can, we can for sure help them.
Speaker 2:But I'm also part of a group called the Genesis Brain Institute, um here in Tampa, florida, right. So for those, for people who are out here suffering like we have, we can help to diagnose what's going on. We have treatments and modalities to help you and we'll take care of the cost through the 38 challenge Um. So if you are suffering, reach out to my email, brant at the 38challengecom, and we will get you help. So, yeah, I would say, go to 38challenge, reach out to my line, my email, directly, if you're suffering, and we'll get you the help that you deserve. But you got to take that first step and you got to ask for help and if you're not willing to put in the work, then don't come. Simple as that, because we can't help people who don't want to put on the work. I wish that we could, but we can't.
Speaker 1:You gotta be willing to want it, man.
Speaker 2:You gotta. You have to be willing to want it, Cause nothing's going to work if you don't want it and if you don't believe that you can get that you can heal right. I promise that you can right. So it's just now. Now it's up for you to to have that faith and that that belief, that, um, you'll get better and you're you're willing to put in the work.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, man. Yeah, again, thank you for being here for everybody tuning in. Thank you Appreciate you guys tuning in and checking us out. Um, please check out Brant's website and again, reconnect with your friends, stay in touch, connect with each other every morning, send that text message and until we see you guys next time, please take care of each other and take care.
Speaker 2:Thank you, brother, thanks for having me, absolutely man.
Speaker 1:If you like what we're doing and you're enjoying the show, don't forget to share us. Like us, subscribe.
