Dr. Eugene Lipov on Stellate Ganglion Block and PTSD Recovery | Security Halt! Podcast Ep. 436

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What if trauma treatment could target the nervous system directly instead of relying solely on years of therapy and medication?

In Episode 436 of the Security Halt! Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Eugene Lipov, the pioneering physician behind the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) for PTSD treatment. Dr. Lipov shares the origin story of SGB, the neuroscience behind fight-or-flight trauma responses, and how this groundbreaking procedure is helping veterans, first responders, and trauma survivors find rapid relief.

This conversation goes beyond PTSD treatment. Dr. Lipov also discusses digital addiction, sleep hygiene, social media’s impact on mental health, family-centered healing, and why purpose and community are critical for long-term resilience.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Stellate Ganglion Block
02:52 Eugene Lipov's Journey into Medicine
06:01 The Discovery of Stellate Ganglion Block for PTSD
08:55 Understanding the Impact of SGB on Trauma
11:50 The Procedure: How Stellate Ganglion Block Works
14:48 Advancements in SGB Techniques
17:52 Real-Life Impact: Patient Stories and Outcomes
21:13 The Future of PTSD Treatment and Digital PTSD
23:55 Maintaining Passion in Medicine
27:34 The Impact of Digital Media on Society
30:26 The Rise of Digital Detox and Technoference
34:38 The Dangers of Digital Addiction
39:13 The Importance of Sleep and Mental Health
45:55 Addressing Trauma and Family Dynamics
51:58 Finding Purpose and Healing in Life

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Transcript

SGB As A Life-Saving Reset

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Still a ganglion block is something that our special operations community, our veteran community, has now been figuring out for the last few years. In our community, it is saving lives because it brings guys down to a level where they can understand that there's a different way to live. When you have been deploying, when you've been in non-stop operations for the better part of one or two decades, it is hard to understand that there is a true baseline zero. And what the Stella Ganglion block has done, given a second chance to guys and gals because trauma is very hard to deal with.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

That's crazy. So it turns out fight-and-flight nerves from the chest go to the neck and not to the brain. I said, ah, that's very good. So I called out my brother and I said, send me a PTSD patient. And he happened to have one that was abused during robbery. Two months later, he was on his way to be admitted to psychiatric. We took care of him. His poof, it disappeared. The PTSD symptoms went away.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Dr. Eugene Lipov, welcome to Security Hub Podcast. How are you, sir? Great. It's an honor to be on. Thank you. Absolutely, sir. What with uh we've just got done talking a little bit about it, but the uh stellar ganglion block is something that our special operations community, our veteran community, uh has now been figuring out for the last few years. In our community, it is saving lives because it brings guys down to a level where they can understand that wow, there's a there's a different way to live. When you have been deploying, when you've been in nonstop operations for the better part of one or two decades, it is hard to understand that there is a true baseline zero. And what the Stellar Ganglion block has done, it's given a second chance to guys and gals uh because trauma is very hard to deal with, especially when it becomes your normal pattern of life. So today I want to dive into the story. How did you figure this out? But before we get into that, how did you even get into medicine?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Ha. Okay. Well, let's talk about that. So my both of my parents were physicians. So I've one of the earliest

Lipov’s Background And Career Pivot

SPEAKER_02 2:15

memories I have as a five-year-old was my father was a chest surgeon. So one of my toys was we hadn't have that many toys. I'm not saying woo woo is me, but you know, one of my toys is it's a rib extender. So it's like basically crank it and it moves like this, moves like that. I would spend hours playing with that thing. It's like why why you I guess it's kind of fun. You you turn it and it opens, it closes, it opens, closes. It was designed to open the ribs when you operate in the lung. So I I kind of had a lot of both of my parents were physicians, so I have medicine in my blood from very early on. And I I found like years later, little notebook I was drawing pictures of various bacteria what they look like under microscope. I found it quite amusing.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

So you know, I'm kind of goofy in that direction. It's safe to say it's in your DNA.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Yeah, it's yeah. I'll uh we'll talk about all the uh, you know, we could also talk about multi-generational trauma. It's also in my DNA. Yes. Yeah. But the DNA, um absolutely. I mean, it's like I was exposed to it, you know, like most people have normal conversations at dinner. Ours was like, you know, this patient came close to dying and this kind of surgery. So, you know, it's like a little different. It's a different way to grow up a bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yeah, for sure. And I think it it gives you a little bit of foreshadowing, or at least like a little bit of the push towards looking into medicine.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Yeah, and you know, that I you know, honestly, when I was an undergrad, I had a choice between becoming a biochemistry scientist, biochemist, or a doctor. But, you know, I do like being with people. So I really didn't want to be in a lab with a bunch of pipettes. So I I I consider myself a people person. So I wanted to hang out with people. Plus, I I like seeing people, you know, when they get better. It's not conceptual, right? And by chemistry, you come up with this great thing and it helps a lot of people, but you're not gonna have a one-on-one interaction. So the part I love about what I do now, I get to see people's lives transformed, and that's beautiful. Never gets boring. Never gets old, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

No, and and I mean, to dive into it just straight off the shot, where did this, how did you come about this? Because it to me, it, you know, I'm not a medical guy, but to me, it just seems like after doing all the research, understanding a little bit more about, you know, DNA, the trauma that's locked in our body, the way we respond

From Sweating Treatment To PTSD Relief

SPEAKER_00 4:50

to trauma, all of it leads me back to the question of like, man, like, why didn't we know this before? Why did what did it take so long to bring this out?

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Well, so usually a lot of weirdo discoveries come when you combine multiple different fields, right? So let me give you my background and you'll see why I was even interested in this. So I was on my way to be a surgeon. So I finished Northwestern Medical School, nice medical school, I started the surgical residency. And then my mother killed, took her life three months into my residency. So I really didn't have the oomph anymore to finish surgical residence, it was very intense. And so I hated psychiatry. Not a huge fan right now. I'm a fan of good psychiatry, but well, psychiatry night, mm, not not not so good. Anyway, well, my mother saw psychiatrist the day before she took her life, so you know, it's like there are problems, right? Anyway, so I left surgery, went to anesthesia, hated anesthesia. It's one of the most boring things in the world, and then got into pain medicine. I like pain medicine because it's procedure-oriented, right? So I was minding my own business, I wasn't really thinking about psychiatry by any measure. So I took care of this lady who had severe neck pain, and then she also had half lashes. So she said, help me with half flesh. I was like, I don't know nothing about neck cough lashes. So I sent her my brother, who is a really brilliant physician. And then he tried to take care of her half lashes and couldn't do anything about it. She still had half lashes. So he says, you know, you do this procedure called Stelly Ganglion block, SGB, or hand sweats. It's true. It's been it's been done since 1925. He said, Well, hand sweats and the whole body sweating is the same thing. I was like, it's not. He said, Well, I should try stellate, see if it works. I was like, that's not gonna work. He said, How do you know? I said, I don't know. Nobody's done it. He said, eh, try it, see what happens. So I did it, took it away. I was like, what? That was really crazy. So I said I was like a one-off. So she comes back a year later, she said, I felt great for a year, do another one. I was like, okay, so I did another one, it worked great. So my brother sent me another 10 more patients, so I treated those, published on that. So then Chicago Tribune came by to write an article about me. And I thought, oh, great, yay! Promoting all this information. Well, it was not a not a good article. So the first line of this big newspaper from Chicago was Bianca Kennedy, this beautiful breast cancer survivor, was so desperate to get rid of half flesh, she let Dr. Lipov uh plunge a three-inch near into her neck and went downhill from there. Then they went to Northwestern and I asked him, What do you think about that? They go, Well, yeah, it works, but he doesn't know how it works, so it's dangerous, he's a terrible person. That's where I went to med school. Then I went to Rush where I did my advanced training, and I was an assistant professor, and they go, It's garbage, now this is bad, blah, blah, blah. So I was I was very upset, shall we say, and I was trying to understand why did it work for half pleasures. So as I was trying to understand it, I reviewed about 3,000 articles. And then one of the articles was in Finland where they did chest, they clipped fighting flight nerves in the chest, which is here, for hand sweats. And they found PTSD stuff. I was like, what? That's crazy. So it turns out fighting flight nerves from the chest go to the neck and up to the brain. I said, ah, that there you go. So I called up my brother and I said, send me a PTSD patient. And he happened to have one that was abused during robbery. Two months later, he was on his way to be admiral psychiatric uh hospital. We took care of him, his hoof disappeared. The PTSD symptoms went away. And that was 20 years ago, 2006. So I published that 2008, and here we are talking today.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

And like I mentioned earlier, it's it is such an important treatment modality that a lot of us at first were stumbling upon it. We we were getting referred to it sort of as a uh, you know, kind of like a last measure thing for the guys who are really struggling. And what we realized in in those, you know, those few first few days, the clarity of not being at the ready, not being at that that moment the that live wire, that switch is engaged. And the moment like you realize, like, oh, wait a second, I'm not reacting to anything. I'm responding. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

And that's the thing that was like not reacting. That's exactly right. Yes. Such a game changer for us. And and it oftentimes leads us into that path of being like, okay, well, I'm willing to talk about this now. It's not that big of a deal. Let me sit down and talk. And a lot of people can't even fathom that until they have their first SGB.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Uh, I mean, you're you're you're you're Christians to acquire, my friend. No, that's that's exactly true. So basically, the reason that happens, if you're riding at full speed, you don't have if you're riding from a tiger, you don't have time

What Changes For Sleep And Intimacy

SPEAKER_02 10:30

to type it up to stop and do anything else. The other part that I wrote a paper on uh was a gentleman, his name was Luke. So he, you know, he was uh SEAL, and then he stepped in the mind, almost took his leg off, unfortunately. So they you see me in the interview before the procedure with his wife, and then after a month later. So he goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He took away all the PTSD stuff, but frankly, the only thing I was interested in is my intimacy was gone. So now I can be intimate with my wife. I was like, yeah, but whatever. And she goes, Oh, he's so lovely now. He's such a lovely man now. I was like, thank the Lord. You know, it turns out I did it, I wrote a chapter on that. You know, it's like most people talk about it. I actually write papers and chapters or whatever. Anyway, so in this one, it turns out up to 85% of men have sexual dysfunction due to PTSD. Yes. And most people don't talk about it, right? So the way I present with the guys, being a male kind of helps. If you think about it, if you're running from the tiger, you don't want anything sticking out. Now you got your physiology right there. You got to understand all the great details involved.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Oh, absolutely. And that's why there's such a big issue with VA disability rating. That's one of the highest ratings. Uh, not being able to, you know, be able to do the deed. Uh sexual dysfunction, like it's deeply connected with being stuck in that fight or flight mentality. And you do it for so long and guys don't realize it. Um, and that's why the when we talk about the urgency of getting help, reaching out for help, being willing to talk. There's I've gotten to the point where I talk to somebody and I understand, like, okay, I'm not a physician, I'm not a clinician, I'm never going to tell somebody, hey, this is what you need to do. But I will share my lived experience as testimony of like, hey, I wasn't able to think, I wasn't able to calm down. It was like my brain couldn't function. I couldn't speak. And I could, I was constantly, if I got upregulated, if I got too angry, it's done. I'm not having a discussion. I want to break something, I want to hit something. But the what the first time I got that SGB was immediately different. It's immediately that that ability to take a deep breath.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

I bet you sleep better too.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Oh, yeah. But the one thing I did realize is the SGB is completely different depending on who you see, depending on where you go, because it for me, the first time I had one lasted a few days. And what I realized is it's almost like an art form. The person proceding the person that is doing the procedure, they're scanning a little region in your neck to deliver a very precise amount of um numbing agent to that nerve. And it it's oftentimes that's why it's anesthesiologists or surgeons doing it, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:28

You know, that's why I call it operator-dependent, not operated like you're an operator. Operate-dependent procedure, right? Yes. So it needs to be people who know what they're doing. Exactly. You need to have the right equipment, the right training. You need both. Yeah. You're 100% right.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah, it is such a small, it's like, can you talk and explain to us that nerve bundle and and like the procedure and how like I mean, there's there's a very small margin for error there.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yeah, I'm not, I mean, you're making it sound a little more magical than it is. It's not that small of a target. I mean, it's like, as a pain physician, a lot of times we have to go after smaller nerves than that, after yeah. Um, so it's this is called a field block. Field block in a sense that when you instead of uh B1 bumming, you're looking at B52,

How SGB Is Done Safely Today

SPEAKER_02 14:20

you kind of bum enough of it, it covers the whole area, right? Nice. It's not it's not a smart bomb, it's more of a in-the-hood bomb. Yeah. Um but you know, if you have the right, if somebody has a nice neck like you yourself, technically it's not that difficult to see because the blood vessels, you can see the blood vessels are pulsating. Also, if you turn on a Doppler mode, it shows a blood vessel in color, which is really easy to see. You can see all the bones, and you can see the muscles. And you know about where you have to be. So technically, again, if you have the right proficiency, uh it's a routine. I mean, my in my hands it takes five to seven minutes to do it from beginning to end. It's not that big a thing. You know, like pre-scan it, so you know what you're getting into first, right? Then you clean everything up and then you put the needle on. The great thing is technology now is great, so you can see on the ultrasound, you can see the location. And the needle, I have something called echogenic needle. It's a needle that reflects ultrasound. So you can you can actually see it curve in the right spot. So I mean it really is, I can give you more detail, but you know, I don't know how much detail you want.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Oh yeah. Full details, dive into this.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Uh that would involve diagrams and stuff. But the bottom line is you can see all the structures you're going after. Yeah. That's what's important. And that's what keeps it safe.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Yeah. And it like you stated earlier, this has been around for a while and it was utilized for different things. As you know, we've advanced, as the community and populations that are are requesting this has grown in the last, you know, 20 plus years of combat and warfare. Like, where is the treatment at now? How has it advanced?

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Oh. Okay. So, well, let's look at the history. You're asking historically, how has it been where we were at? So the first block done, first Stella Gangdam block done was 1925 in France. So it's been a few years. It's more than a member more than a century. First time I personally did the block was 1987. So it'll kind of give you the progression, right? So the original way of doing it was about palpation. You palpate the bone here and you palpate cricoid. Somewhere in there, you find the right spot, numb up the skin, and you put the needle in, you hit the bone inside, kind of where there's a targeted bone. It's called Schwasticov uh tubercle. You step over that and you put the medicine in, and it worked pretty good. Yeah. Then about probably 1991, we start using X-ray for guidance. So you can see where the needle goes, and I put dye and make sure it goes in the right spot. So I did 30 years of that. And then I switched to ultrasound, because ultrasound gives you information about where the blood vessels are, the bones are, what the nerves are. That's really helpful. Because X-ray doesn't it shows you what the bones are, but doesn't show the muscles, the nerves, or blood vessels. So it gives a lot more information, it makes it safer. And that probably, I you know, I've kind of come, I was slow to the party because I've been doing it so many years. But I still got that, which is I I love it now. But ultrasound became pretty big about 15 years ago, it's getting more and more accepted. So most of the people who are trained now all know how to do ultrasound. Keep in mind I finished my training in 1990.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

So it's been it's been around for a minute.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yeah, well, I finished medicals in 84, so it's been 41 years since I've been an MD. So, you know, it's a bit, a bit. I've been around a bit, yes. I've been around a minute, yes. A long minute. It's like I'm standing on, it's not just a minute, it's uh more of Einstein's minute, a little longer. Um but again, the the thing about the blocks can be around for a century. Procedures. And the great thing about it, even if you put the needle in the wrong spot, like in a blood vessel, people like myself are trained to deal with that. It's not just hope for the best. I mean, there is a whole procedure, like every place I interact with, I'm a chief medical officer for eraser uh for uh uh Stelling Mental Health Organization, and we have 24 different sites. But the point is, each site I supervise them, I train him, make sure we have safety protocols in place, everybody's in the right place. You know, some other places, I mean, there's plenty of other excellent physicians out there. Um, but I know the only place that I'm particularly comfortable with. But make sure that people, if people offer to do it without x-ray guidance, without any kind of guidance, round the other way, quick. Don't do nothing go there. Don't talk to them. And that that that that I've done thousands, it doesn't matter. Tell them thank you so much, have a nice day. Yeah. Between ultrasound and x-ray, uh, ultrasound is better, in my opinion. It's still acceptable. Uh but again, as you said, it's operator-dependent activity. Yeah, you know, how many have you done, and do you know how to use the equipment? So if you've only done a few stellates, probably want to go somewhere else. I mean, it depends how many you've done. When you've done your fellowship or residency, some people have done 100, some people have done two.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

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SPEAKER_02 20:52

Right? That is a it depends on like the place where I trained. We specialize in CRPS, which is a pain thing. So I've done probably 200 before I finished my training. And then I I was teaching that more and so on.

unknown 21:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

So it again, everybody's a little bit differently. But again, safety thing is the number one. Uh so assuming safety is good, two is efficacy. Uh there's no 100% procedure, right? There's nothing that works 100% of the time. That if somebody tells you everything I do, it's like works always, like, that's a direct lie, that's bullshit. Um but you know, if you have like you're supposed to have a Horners, which is if you hit the right spot, it doesn't mean it's gonna work for you. But you know you had the right thing if you have a Horners, which is the eyes drooping, eyes red, and the pupil is small. That's that's a Horner syndrome. That's I mean it's you're supposed to have that. Doesn't always happen. Ninety nine percent of the time it happens if it's gonna work. So I don't know drive you looking for.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And don't drive after the procedure.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

No. Because some people get, even if you have it local, some people get very sleepy. Some people get very

Two-Level Blocks And Nervous System Reset

SPEAKER_02 22:10

emotional because they're trying to process emotions. So yeah. So so one of the other questions said, you know, it's like about one one one procedure as opposed to dual procedure on one side, right? You had a question on that. So I have a great story on that one. So before I got to the PTSD world, I was treating half flesh that I was telling you. So I was in Norway and I was teaching them how to do the procedure, and I learned how to do a procedure there, which I went, I happened, to do so standard cell ganglion block is done at the bottom of the neck, C6, C7. If you go higher up, there is another target, which is C3 ganglion, which is superior cervical ganglion. It's a little more dicey to go put a needle in there, but it's a pretty important ganglion here. Anyway, so I learned how to do it. So I had a um, he was a sniper from the Marines. So he came in, I knew him because I took care of his back pain. I burned some nerves on his back, he was fine, blah, blah, blah. He comes back a year later with his wife, and they're both crying. I was like, So he said, I'm gonna kill myself. I was like, well, let's put you in the hospital. He said, No, if I go to the hospital, I'm gonna kill myself. I was like, well, I kind of have to put the hospital. You're putting me in a bad position. He said, Have shit. It's about me, not here. I was like, thanks, I really got that. Thanks. Um anyway, so anyway, one way or another, I do the procedure the next day, Stelling Inguns, one level. And this was years ago. And nothing. No effect. 40 minutes later, he says, Doug, thanks for trying. I'm still gonna go whole kid myself. I was like, okay, no pressure on me. Not at all. Thanks for that. I really appreciate that. So I said, you know, it's like kind of pushing the hospital. I said, no, it's okay. I mean, you've tried, you know. I I knew it was a long shot, but whatever. Anyway, so I said, All right, fine, let's try one more thing. I have one more thing I want to try. This is I have never done this before on somebody like yourself, but let's see what happens. Take him back, I do the C3 block, second level. On the way out, he gives me a high five. He said, I'm fine, Doc, thank you. So we follow him five years and um and you know he did great. So then I was like, what in the hell happened? I was like, I have not a clue, right? So that's never been described by anyone. Two levels like that's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

So I found a book. This is a book. Uh hold on. You don't see the cover on that. It's called Stelly Ganglion block.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

Published in 1954 by James Moore, brilliant guy. This is before I was born. I was born in 1958. So there's a great diagram I won't bore you with, but basically what it shows is that the fight-in-flight nerves from the chest go up to the neck, half of them go off to one part of the brain following one artery, and the other half go higher up and go to a different part of the brain following another artery. So when you do two levels, it seems to reset the nervous system better than one level. It's a more complete reset. That's why, I mean, proof is the pudding, right? This guy was going to die and he didn't. I mean, that that's pretty black and white, right? Like, there's no real gray area there at all. So um that's reality. That that that's where that came about. And then I've talked to some other people who followed my work and I adopted that, and I'm glad they're doing it.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah, it it's absolutely like I said before, and I can't I can't say it enough, it's saving lives. It's getting guys from the brink of doing guys from the brink of doing something that is a a horrible choice, and oftentimes we feel it's the only choice. But when you're able to breathe again, when you're able to sit back and understand that, like, okay, like this is gonna pass. Whatever I'm going through, whatever problems I think are too great, these are gonna pass. And it's giving people hope. Um, I want to dive into your book. You've been doing this for so long. How do you maintain passion for it? What keeps you in this field? Right there in frame.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Well, it's really simple. So every time I help somebody, I feel like my mother has given me a pat in the back, but I've done something good with something bad she gave me. So I mean I love going to work every day. It's amazing. I mean, there are occasional that is like, eh, not not the most optimal. You know, you can imagine some of the people I get to deal with are monky, technical term. Um, but you know what? It's an absolute honor to be able to help, and it's an absolute honor to see changes in lives, and it's just unbelievable. So technically, I'm pretty good at it also. I mean, most people like to do things they're pretty good at. But I gotta tell you, that the impact on the people and their families, um, it just it's a joy every day. I mean, it's like I want to operate, I I exercise, I dangle, I can now do pull-ups first time in 40 years, I take longevity medicine, I want to operate into my 90s, I'm ready to go. You're staying in the fight. I love it. Well, you better believe it. I mean, it's like, but the other thing is, you know, I'm still coming up with a bunch of new concepts. Well, the new thing I'm pursuing is digital PTSD. Turns out, you know,

Digital PTSD And The Attention Trap

SPEAKER_02 27:50

all the mimetic disease, I don't know if you've heard that term, mimetic disease. So memes giving you mental disorders. Well, it turns out, you know, in my speeches, all psychology is biology. So all the doomsday scrolling and all that stuff. Yes. Um, I'll tell you to have a similarity. So this is my new book that's gonna be out shortly. Nice. You like the explosive head? I love it. My specialty is subtlety, I was very subtle. Um so I'm actually writing a hardcore paper on that. So it turns out that PTSD increases inflammation in the body. So if you don't sleep, it increases inflammation, right? So if you do scroll, you can't sleep, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:39

It all increases inflammation.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Inflammation causes heart attacks and suppression of testosterone, strokes, all those things, cancers, all of that. So our new generations, they need to get their stuff together, and you know, and keep in mind it's not their fault. Like Meta was intentionally getting them hooked. Like big pushers, right? YouTube, TikTok actually is the most addictive of all of them. Yes, it is. But I mean, that does that reality. So my point is I still have hopefully a lot left in my tank. I want to operate in the next 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

And it's that's my goal. How did you dive into this? Because I think that this is something that people are, I only know about it because I live in the space. I mean, are you interested in that? Yes. Uh because what I've seen is it's not only at first you put we put a lot of focus on what's happening to kids because they're one of the small, there's one of the demographics that are impacted the most, uh, especially young girls. But then as we open up the aperture and look at everything, it's impacting everybody now. Uh the numbers are going up. It's not just relegated to our kids, our teenagers, our wives, our mothers. This episode is brought to you by Pure Liberty Labs. Quality supplements designed to elevate your health and performance. Check out their full line of quality supplements, whether you're looking for whey protein, pre-workout, creatine, or super greens drink, Pure Liberty Labs has you covered. Use my code SecurityHall10 at checkout today. Guys and guys, one of the things that's a really problem that we need to pay attention to is the more a young man spends time looking at pornography and girls on social media, the less time that they're spending interacting with real women, worrying about starting a family, starting a business.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Well, the great thing about women on uh you know on those machines is that you know they're they're like, oh, it's amazing. You're you're the most amazing thing. Never mind if you stink like hell. It's like, are you kidding me? No discernment at all. Well, let me give you an answer how I got into it. So I hopefully I'm a good observer. The difference between me and I think the average individual, I don't mind being wrong a lot. It's like, yeah, sometimes I've been spectacularly right and I've been spectacularly wrong. That's not a problem. Anyway, so the reason I got into it. So I'm not, I I have social media accounts, but I don't run them. Somebody else does that. I I don't I don't care. I could care less about that. But the reason I care about it is I want to promote my book and my other ideas, right? We'll talk about the name change shortly, hopefully, too. PTSI, post-training stress injury, as opposed to PTSD. Anyway, so my kid, like most children, he's 22 years old now. You know, he's been playing video games and social media and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So about a year ago, he came to me and he said, Hey Dad, now you're six months ago. He said, You know, I'm kind of bored of this stuff, which is right there, is mental health. And he said, I'd rather play Lagos or build Lagos. So now he's building big ass Lagos, three, four thousand pieces. So he's disengaging. So I thought, wow, that's interesting. What how what what? How does that happen? So it turns out there's a whole thing there now uh where it's called bricking. You take the phone make into a brick, disable digital phones. So about 10 to 15% of Gen Zs are trying to do that. About five to seven percent of Gen Zs, especially women, are trying to get flip phones, dumb phones. So actually, one of the things that you wanna may want to put in your sh in your notes is I have a website and see what you think of it. It's Dom D-U-M-B-I is I-Smarter.com.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Dom is smarter. Checking it out right now. Yeah, there it is. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Your brain is being hijacked. Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

So you can pre-order the book there if you like. It'll be I'm gonna self-publish it in uh on Amazon in about a month. Oh wow. Yeah, I'm also working in an app. So if you know anybody in digital space who's interested in developing, co-developing an app with me, I have a kick-ass app for the con for um breaking. Because they I I I've seen old apps now, and I think there is a really cool concept you can do. The point though is I think people are waking up, which is great. Now, the more the one's the scariest part for me is alpha generation, which is 16 and young. Because they don't know any different. So let me tell you another term that was introduced in literature, in medical literature in 2018. It's called teleference. Ever heard that term? Teleference. No. Technoference, I'm sorry, technopherce. Oh, technoference. No. Technoference is technology interference, technoference. So it turns out years ago, there were experiments. If if a child, like one-year-old, two-year-old, is looking at the mother, mother is looking at them, everybody's happy, right? You have oxytocin produced, everybody's happy. If the mother looks away from the child, they get very annoyed. They become anxious, right? And what you're finding with phones, when you have the phone and you're looking away, you're not looking at the child, they do not like that kind of thing at all. So we're looking at two, three-year-olds now having significant anxiety, and the mother's having significant depression. So one of the biggest users of those phones, breaking phone, is a mug because they're so upset that the children are being problematic. Then you also have, you know, one of my favorite, we live in this lovely part of town, and then so I see this child in a little stroller, cute little thing, you know, sure, big face, happy, happy, happy, happy. And then the mother is pushing along, but you know, and the stroller, the phone is sitting right in front of them and have a headset. You have a lake outside, and the birds don't care. You see this little moving thing. What what what what what in what universe is that a smart thing to do? That's just stupid. That's just stupid. You can buy the devices to hold in front of the face, but that's stupid. That's like idiotic. Like at one point, my son was like, you know, he's trying to look at the phone and talking to me, and I said, you know what, if you want something from me, guess what? No phone. Hell no. There's no way we're doing it. So the other thing I learned when I was writing the book, I found something interesting. The difference between the countries, how the legislature is dealing with this. Fascinating difference. So, six years ago, China basically said if you're 15 or younger, all devices shut off at 9 p.m. Like that. Goes back at 8. That's it. No discussion, no debate, nothing. Yeah, don't care. Now, I'm not saying we're in China, we're in Russia. I get that. But somewhere along the line, there have to be some kind of line because right now, you know, our guys, at you're looking at 16 years old, they're doom scrolling till 1 a.m., then they go to school and they're like, what's going on in school? I can't remember. And now there's a debate that should you allow phones in school. Are you out of your freaking mind? How is that every discussion? What what what what are we talking about? That should not be on the discussion. Now, if you wanted to just have people sit there like zombies and learn nothing, that's the way.

unknown 36:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. No, no, this is a perfect segue because I feel passionate about it as well. It's we've created these things that are now our digital gods. Uh it is absolutely, and you don't stop. I've never met somebody that just stopped with the version of phone they had. Like, I still have an iPhone 8. No. Everybody goes for the next, everybody upgrades, everybody downloads the next one.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Well, let me give you another name for the device: Soul Eader. Yeah. That's gonna eat your soul. Like, I could care less. I was like, I don't have my dick personality as I can phone. Oh, Twitter. Woo-hoo, maybe I don't care. Are you following me now? Oh, I'm really it's like I got it right here. So that I really um I mean I do care about people following my accounts, but it's because I'm promoting hopefully good information. Marketing, yes, absolutely. But I'm not talking about, you know, as as fascinating as I am, if you spend two, three minutes, then you can go. We're not talking about a year, you know. What are you gonna learn there that's gonna be unique? Oh, the kitten is so cute. Or my favorite people watch the news and seeing somebody shot in the face 20 times. All right, they got shot in the face once. You got it. All right, she got shot. Thank you. Done. Over. My soapbox. But the point is, the other thing I, the point I'm making is that all trauma, the brain doesn't know real trauma from unreal trauma. If you watch it, yes, watch it in the news continuously with all the blood and the gore, and it's like, oh my god, this is happening. Oh, the war is ending. Okay, so my suggestion, like, I was a pretty good consultant during COVID. People said, what do we do to stay calm during COVID? Right? You couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do this, couldn't do that. It's like, well, first of all, walk around your apartment, get some exercise done, something. But the other part is only listen to news, no more than an hour per day. That's it. It doesn't change. Even if if you're in law enforcement or military, you have to do something aggressive different. But most of us, I mean, it's like, okay, so the plane from Canada hit this fire engine. Okay. All right, done. Next. Why do you have to hear? Oh, but hold on. Well, this angle, this is this angle, this could this angle. Who cares? Why why do you care? It doesn't matter. It makes no difference to you, right? Unless you're a if you're a recovery worker, yes. But most of us are not that. So I think that's really important to remember. The other thing that's super, super, super important, if there's one thing people can take away, no phones

Sleep Rules, News Limits, And Recovery

SPEAKER_02 39:40

in the bedroom. Yep. Right? If you shut off digital devices two hours before you go to sleep, you're gonna sleep much better because what devices, not just iPhones, but computers, TVs, whatever, they reduce your melatonin.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Stories shape culture, they build trust, and when they're told the right way, they move people to action. That's what we do at Security Hall Media. We don't just produce content, we create authentic, impactful, and purpose-driven storytelling. Podcasters, nonprofits, brands, and leaders who are on a mission. For people who've lived real experiences and want their message to actually matter, from podcast production and video to strategic storytelling and distribution. We help you clarify your voice, elevate your brand, and connect with the audience you're trying to serve. You have a story worth telling and a purpose behind it. Security Hall Media is here to help you tell it the right way. Click the link in the episode description to learn more today.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

To make you go to sleep, he has other interesting effects. For example, shift nurses who work a different nights, their breast cancer risk is significantly higher because of melatonin.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

Blind women have less breast cancer. So, I mean, those damage is facts. That's all it is.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Yeah. No, we've we've known for a while, and I talk about sleep being one of the most crucial factors for not only just brain health, but your overall health. I mean, and we know the numbers show that if you're a shift worker, your the likelihood of you dying are a lot earlier, it's a lot higher than somebody who works normal.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

Because of inflammation. The other thing that's interesting is that sleep is when the brain is being billed in children. So if you don't sleep well, let's say between four and sixteen, your brain is going to be half baked. Huh. Do we know any generations like that? Only if I knew it also sleep for.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

Yeah. That's because the kids that they're sitting down, they're laying down in bed, parents are putting them away, they think they're going to sleep, and they scroll the phone.

SPEAKER_02 41:58

But the whole point is if it was a cultural, like in China, I mean, it's I'm not I'm not saying I really want to live an authoritarian society. But my point is, and people say, you know, the the response like from Meta during lawsuits, well, it's pets parents' responsibility. It's a massify. The other part is with all the respect to current generations, they're really not fans of input from parents currently. Yeah. They're like, nah, you know, whatever. Based on our social fabric, whatever, they're really not that respectful. Yeah. Whatever. That's my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

No, it's one of the things we brought you brought up earlier was the the ability to control. And yes, we don't want to live in uh China or in Russia, but at some point we have to step in and set boundaries and guidelines. If you're registered, if your phone is registered and it to a child, a 15-year-old, 16-year-old, it turns off automatically. Like we have to be able to protect our children.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Where there's responsibility of the government's starting stuff, right? So, I mean, can you go to a drugstore and buy PCP or morphine? No. Why? The government says, hold on, this is a problem. We can't avoid it. I would say this is the same level of addiction capability. I I've I've done pain medicine for years, so I'm used to dealing with people who are addicted to opioids. This is not pretty. You take away the phone, people start foaming in the mouth. They say, oh my God, what am I gonna do? Oh no, I have nothing to do. I'm bored. Oh, I'm gonna die. A, you're not gonna die. B, if you're bored, I mean it's probably sit with the boredom. But again, when when a sixty eight year old person says that as opposed to a fifteen year old, they will say he doesn't know what he's talking about. Fuck on. Okay.

unknown 43:53

All right, fine.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

You know, your your brain is rotted back at you, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 43:57

Yeah. It it's sad, it's become So important and so ingrained in daily life that, you know, I didn't grow up with them. But I I remember a time when we didn't have them and the ability to walk around and engage with people without a cell phone, finding information and data without the ability to just type it into a CLOD or ChatGPT AI agent.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

Well, now it's getting to the next level, though. Now Chad GPT, one of my friends, actually it's kind of interesting. He's in his 50s. Chad is one of his closest friends. I was like, no, there's nothing wrong with that at all. So it's interesting. You could set Chad in different settings. Do you want it to be a companion? Do you want it to be conciliatory, or do you want it just to give you information? What do you think I picked? I just have information. Yeah. And you know, I I I've I'm used to telling people what to do. I'm used to, you know, it's programming in a form. But it's been very helpful. So chat is actually an amazing device, but like, you know, a car is a great device unless you're running it over your foot. Not not as good of a device then. But you have to be responsible. It's a powerful technology, and it's getting more powerful by the moment, especially when you have billions of dollars being spent on computers to have algorithm chasing you around. Yeah. So you look at one thing, like you know, my my wife used my computer to buy, you know, some kind of swimsuit. Oh, for the next five years, I was looking at all types of swimsuits. It's like, what? Yeah. I was like, oh, but look at this, look at those flowers. It's like, uh, yeah, what am I gonna do with said flowers? I'm not gonna be able to. I'll speak very high if I put those on.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

We're making smart devices and dumb people, and that's a sad part of the the times we're living in. And few people, there are a few people out there championing the idea of like, hey, there's something to be said about acquiring the knowledge by yourself. Pick up a book, read, read an actual book, don't just listen to a book, read it. I am telling you, like, that's one of the problems that a lot of our guys quickly overcome the moment they get an SGB. As soon as they're able to reset and get back to a true baseline of zero, you see guys are willing to actually read a white paper study. All right, I'll read a book.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Well, I mean, uh honestly, reading a book to me is like a miraculous thing. Yeah. I mean, my my hate, my I'm happy when people don't do a underminute shorts. Yeah. It's like, are you kidding me? Audiobook is a dream. What are you talking about? Books? I mean, I wouldn't know anything about books. I mean, writing it, yeah. But you you see my point, it's a lot of times people are like, they and that's my favorite when they go, all right, send us a PDF. We can upload it to um Gemini, and I'll have an explainer that's 10 minutes long. It's like, okay, there you go. Why read? I mean it's so boring. But I think, I mean, as I I think reading is really very good for you. I think audiobooks is not bad. Um, but you know, it's like I I a lot of times I do get I do listen to a lot of audiobooks. But the point is, I think reading is a great thing, but getting in nature. Yes. Disconnecting, disconnect, do some exercise. You know, inflammation produces interleukin 6, that pre that makes you depressed, that makes you lose muscle, your equipment doesn't work. All of that is reversible. The other thing to remember is PTSD, you can pass it on to the next generation. It's a multi-generational trauma. So you should keep that in mind. I mean, it's like get treated to the point. That other concept that we haven't even touched on is called secondary PTSD. So my father was a flyer in World War II, he gave it to my mother electrical death. The point is remember the spouses. You know, just make sure they have symptoms of PTSD, it's called secondary PTSD. There's a nice chapter in our book there. Um but if you know, so the way I look at it, you need to treat the whole family. It's like STD. If you don't treat everybody, it's gonna come right back.

Family Trauma, Purpose, And Getting Help

SPEAKER_02 48:20

So the point is get treated, get everybody treated, get everybody evaluated at the very least. And if people are having sleep problems and all of that, it's a problem. That includes the children. I I I do procedures as young as eight years old. Oh wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. I'm a big believer. So I I did a block on my kid three times and it helped them a lot.

SPEAKER_00 48:45

Yeah. We always talk about um treating the family because when the service member is struggling, he's bringing all that home. All that PTSD, the anxiety, the depression, everything's bleeding off into the family.

SPEAKER_02 49:01

Yeah, everybody goes to war, right? Yes. That is my favorite term, which I hate this term, is alcohol utilization disorder, AUD. The problem for me, it's not a disorder, it's a symptom. So all you're doing is you're taking a person for a swim and taking your troubles for a swim, but you cannot kill them, they're gonna come right back. So treat the underlying condition, which is fight-in-flight nervous system.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Yeah. No, it's it's the the one thing that we have to remember. If if you guys don't take anything else away from this episode, if you're thinking about getting an SGB, if if it sounds like something you want to want to pursue, think about your wife, think about your spouse. Um it's centers like the Stella Center, like you can go there through with with nonprofits. There's tons of nonprofits that will help you get you and your wife there. So both of you can do a reset. Don't forget the kids. Don't forget the kids. And then you're not you're not sitting there coming home feeling amazing, and your wife's like, look at this motherfucker. Like, you think everything's great. What about me? So invest in the streets.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

The point is she can't sleep and she's already stuck going on. So uh I prefer to treat both people. I think it's mine's better.

SPEAKER_00 50:18

Absolutely. Well, Doc, I don't want to go without asking you a few questions in regards to your uh, you know, we always talk about on this show, mind, body, and spirit, the things that we actually have to do to get better and create a routine. And for a lot of us, that SGB was a gateway into getting a lot of help, talk therapy, EMDR, all these things that made us better. Once we get on the right side of their journey, we start finding those additional things. You talked about it a little bit, uh, you know, physical fitness, getting sleep. What are some other things that have kept you in the game for so long?

SPEAKER_02 50:54

Well, you need to have a focus. I mean, the the question is people go, well, have a great life. I mean, you know it's like, okay. What does that even mean? Uh, you need to have a focus. The people who do the best, if you focus, I think you're gonna have a better life. Also, if you donate your time to whatever the cause you choose, hopefully it's a good cause. That's been shown to add five years to your life. So, I mean, I want to operate in the minitis. I have a specific goal. I see specific improvements in people's lives, but it doesn't have to be a medical, right? I mean, there's all types of things you can volunteer, you know, at as operators, SOF. I think the discipline and the way of thinking, those are really, I think right now, especially the younger generation needs that more than ever. You know, I I I love your logo behind your Green Berets. Uh basically, it I mean, it's in Latin, but it says uh release the oppressed or set free the oppressed. So I think we're being oppressed by the digital devices and all that stuff right now. It doesn't have to be oppression and problem in another country, but the point is one of the things, you know, operators or rangers lead the way, right? Or whatever. Whatever logos there are. But the point is you guys as a group, I think is amazing. And then, you know, I think you need to have a focus. Why it's hard to separate, I think separation from service and finding happiness in civilian life is not an easy task. I think you need to find the right place. And you know, people think your best days are behind you. I don't think that's true. It doesn't have to be. You know, if you if you think you can, you think you cannot, you're right both times, right? Absolutely. And your family will appreciate you being there for them and going to the ball games, you're supporting it. Don't hide yourself in the bottle or just talking about all the stuff that happened overseas or whatever. I mean, that that's I'm not mitigating, I'm not saying that's not necessary. But the point is, people would like to have you around and integrate with them. Yep. Yes, they do. Once you do that, you need to have control of your nervous system. If you do, then you do great. If you don't, then it's not gonna be a pretty sight.

SPEAKER_00 53:22

Yeah. Doc, thank you so much for being here today. If people want to connect, where can they go?

SPEAKER_02 53:28

So, well, I'll I'll give you a couple of things. So if people want to be treated by me or my associates, uh stellamentalhealth.com. That has, I mean, you can talk to our people, they can try and figure out what you need, if you're healthy enough, do whatever and have it treated. We have 24 sites. If you want to read all the science stuff I've written, uh go to drugeneliakov.com. All the papers I've written is there. If you want to learn about digital stuff, that my journey is just starting, I think. Dumb is smarter.com, take a look at that. Uh, if you're interested in reading the book that talks about it was well written, not by me. Uh, there was a great writer here who wrote it. I think she did a great job. Uh that was out in February. This one will be out in if nothing else, you gotta love the cover.

SPEAKER_01 54:21

Oh, yeah. That's always trying to make it.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

Um, that should be out on Amazon in about a month. It's being edited right now. Um there you go. But you know, don't give up hope because you know, if there is hope, people don't kill themselves. If people lose hope, they die. So I mean I've seen it. I've seen it firsthand, I do not recommend it. It's a very ugly thing to go through. So for those people out there who are struggling, if you can't here, here's a few things to look for. If you can't sleep, if your equipment doesn't work, if you're hyper-sensitive to all type of things, hyper-responsive. If you have a feeling of doom, get treated. Not necessarily by me or stellate, but be treated sooner than later. Other than that, somebody's gonna find you with a gun in your hand, either discharged or not.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

So that's the truth right there, Doc. That's a perfect end statement right there. Get help sooner than later. And if you're a Green Beret, check out the Special Forces Foundation, hit us up, because we can help you get an SGB today. Not tomorrow. We can get you signed up and get you on your way today. Might not get the shot today, but we can help you get there starting today. So reach out.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

Well, I think just talking to the people to have a plan. Yes. Right? When you're floating around, there's no plan. You need a plan, especially if you're SOF, you need a plan. What is the mission? Your mission is to survive and not to be addicted to your feminine. It's not a complicated mission. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 56:11

It's not complicated. That's it. That is a mission right there. There's a briefing right there.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

That is a perfect end note. Doc, thank you so much for being here. I could have said it better myself. Take on this mission and start healing, guys. You deserve it. I've spent a lot of time with operators, so that's why I picked on the Greenco. I knew it. He's part of the tribe. I appreciate it. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you, Doc. And guys, thank you all for.

SPEAKER_02 56:41

Oh, go ahead. Last thing. So I'm trying to change the name PTSD to PTSI, post-semic stress injury, because it's true biologic injury. It's not an invisible wound. You can see it in advanced scanners. So if people can sign on to it's ptsi.com, itsptsi.com, fill out a survey. That may actually help us change the name. They could save lives.

SPEAKER_00 57:04

There you go, folks. Do me a favor. That's going to be the episode description. Click those links, connect with doc, and we'll see you all next time. Till then, take care.