Latest / Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk / Oscar Mike Radio -382 - Dr. Aaron P Bryant – Mental Health

Transcript

Oscar Mike Radio -382 - Dr. Aaron P Bryant – Mental Health · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

1:06
This month is the annual EP Magazine guide Navigating
1:09
Special Needs Resources. This issue contains articles on
1:12
newborn screening, dental health resources for parents who have a
1:16
child with birth defects, raising more than one child with
1:19
dyslexia and more. As always, we have our dedicated
1:23
military section. Our digital version can be read
1:26
with Universal access features to those with visual, and you
1:29
can download pages if you want a hard copy of an article.
1:33
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at
1:36
epmagazine.vp@gmail.com. Suicide is preventable, and each
2:32
of us has a role to play in suicide prevention.
2:43
Suicide is complex. There is no single cause.
2:47
And it's not always a mental health issue.
2:50
It could be loss of a job or home, financial or relationship
2:54
issues, pain or leaving the military.
2:57
Suicide does not discriminate. It affects all ages, races and
3:02
genders, veterans or not. If you know a veteran who is
3:06
struggling, connect with them. Let them know.
3:08
Help is available. There is quick and easy access
3:12
to services in times of crisis. Dial 988 then press 1 talking
3:18
about it is OK. Don't keep it inside.
3:21
Don't be ashamed. Don't wait.
3:23
Reach out. Find resources@va.gov/reach.
3:37
Hello and welcome again to Oscar Mic Radio.
3:40
My name is Travis. I'm your host.
3:42
Oscar Mic Radio is part of the Huba Zoo network.
3:44
You can find out more on hubazoo.com.
3:49
I want to thank my sponsors Joyce ASIC of ASIC Real Estate,
3:52
Army National Guard veteran Mark Holmes of Reapers detailing
3:55
power washing and my supporters Caisson Shaving Company,
3:59
Exceptional Parent Magazine and Black Cat Designs.
4:04
Look folks, we're starting off 2024 hot hot, hot it.
4:09
It's great. And I've had to be semper Gumby.
4:12
I've had to be, you know a, you know a just fire.
4:15
All that good stuff, and I get this message in my inbox.
4:19
Hey, I'm doctor Aaron Bryant. I want to check you out.
4:21
I got this book coming out. I looked at his LinkedIn folks,
4:25
and I don't know if we can fit all of Doctor Aaron Bryant in
4:29
one hour. We're going to try or maybe have
4:31
him back. But I want to introduce to you
4:34
author, golfer, podcaster. You know, MBA doctor, for real.
4:41
He's like a doctor. All this stuff.
4:44
Coach, Mill, Wellness professional, Doctor Aaron
4:47
Bryant, Army veteran, Airborne Ranger, Welcome to OM radio.
4:51
I mean, that's a mouthful. Dr. Thank you so much.
4:55
Hey, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for allowing
4:57
me to do this and be on your show.
4:59
Thanks. No problem.
5:01
This this is one of the best aspects of doing OM Radio is
5:06
getting to talk with someone like yourself who you know, a
5:09
lot of us veterans reinvent ourselves, You know, a couple
5:12
times, right. You know the average American
5:14
you know, changes careers two to three times during their whole
5:17
career where we do it six or seven times.
5:19
But you have this real pattern of of reinvention.
5:24
And then you figure out a way to really write about the middle
5:27
aspect of Wellness and mental health and you have a new book
5:30
coming out, which we'll get to. And it's a really interesting
5:33
story. It's one of the best things
5:35
about getting to do this show before we get into the really
5:38
good stuff. And it's it's all good.
5:40
Doctor, can I can I give us a background of who you were
5:43
growing up and then going to the military, please?
5:46
Yeah, so I grew up in Compton, CA, which is down in LA area.
5:51
People hear about it on the rap song.
5:54
So that's where I grew up, born and raised, and try to
5:58
transition it to Northern Cal, where my parents took us and
6:02
from there went to the military, didn't want to do the typical
6:07
standard thing because my personality and the choices that
6:11
my brother and I thought about, I wanted something that was a
6:15
challenge and so I wanted to be a Ranger.
6:18
Didn't really understand totally what it was.
6:20
But I knew that it was something that was supposed to be very
6:24
difficult, very challenging, something that most people
6:27
cannot even achieve. And so I said I want to give it
6:31
a try and probably bit more than I could chew, but I was there,
6:35
did it, been there, done it, and I served with my brothers.
6:39
And that's a whole nother story in the book, probably more so in
6:43
my first book. Didn't get into it too much in
6:46
the second book, but that's how I kid, did that and then came
6:50
back out and I was a different person.
6:53
As you all know. Things were much, much different
6:56
after that. So I'm sure we can get into
6:58
that. In in what way?
7:00
I mean, I mean you go through, you know, it's not just people
7:03
don't understand that there's the infantry and then things
7:06
like the Green Berets and the Airborne Rangers, right?
7:10
But that's a very high and I'm a Marine.
7:13
But much respect to the Rangers, right?
7:15
Rangers lead the way. All that good stuff, high level
7:18
of expectations and accountability and standards
7:21
extremely high. You know there's no like well,
7:24
you you you kind of got on target.
7:26
You either pass or fail. You go from that right doctor
7:30
back to the civilian world was what was that like?
7:34
Yeah. So let me, let me elaborate a
7:36
little bit. So you have military standards
7:39
here and then you have an army. We have our PT scores and the
7:44
perfect score is like IS300. So an army standards just to
7:49
stay in a stable to not get written up or you know there's
7:54
like 240 well Rangers we're expected to be at 272 and
7:58
maintain it. So that's to give you an idea of
8:00
the physical demand, just the physical demand.
8:03
So to maintain that throughout and the challenges and
8:06
everything that goes with it, all that is kind of happening.
8:09
So you're right. As you transition back to
8:12
civilian you're literally having a certain level of expectation
8:18
of life and it's not the same. People are taking life for
8:22
granted, especially when you're in combat and you things you've
8:25
done, you put your life on the line.
8:27
Your brothers have been, you know, hurt, mangled or killed
8:31
things of these natures. And then you cysts, you go on
8:33
the streets. And I recall, like, people just
8:36
didn't care. They just took me for granted.
8:39
They just had this BLOB nature about him and it makes you
8:43
angry. And The thing is, I, you know, I
8:47
did not know who I was. I know people started telling me
8:50
I was different, but I didn't even realize that I had changed.
8:53
It's me. I live with myself every day.
8:55
It's like when you gain weight, you know, you don't really
8:58
notice that you're gaining weight until somebody brings it
9:00
to your attention and you realize, oh, you know, you don't
9:03
really quite look the same. So you lost weight or you gain
9:05
weight, so you don't know. And I didn't feel it, but I
9:08
obviously was. Friends just start falling off
9:12
arguments with family members, challenges at work.
9:16
And I've realized that I've kind of come up with a common
9:18
denominator that's just the interpersonal relations are just
9:21
not quite there and it's not them.
9:24
It's typically going to fall back on how I am actually acted.
9:28
I say to me because I don't want to blanket all soldiers, but
9:33
there is this existence of your demeanor and nature of who you
9:37
are. It's not quite functioning at
9:39
along the same parallel of most people and as they exist as
9:42
civilians. Wouldn't you start realizing
9:45
that you had to change your approach?
9:48
I honestly didn't. I'm still going through it.
9:51
I'm still working through it. And you'll read that in the
9:53
book, the second book, because I'm still working through that
9:57
and figuring that out. But that whole coaching thing,
10:00
everything else came way later. I mean you got to get past the
10:04
you got to get past the divorces, you got to get past
10:10
all that other stuff first You know isolations of people that
10:14
the termination of jobs or quitting of jobs and all that.
10:18
But you know the answer question.
10:20
I, I I guess I was lucky enough and I say I was lucky enough to
10:24
have a bit of an A type personality that's that same
10:27
personality that got me through Rangers.
10:28
So the being able to not be a quitter being able to find
10:33
something inside you intestinal fortitude that type of person
10:37
that got me to be an excellent soldier is still who I am
10:41
inside. So that part of not quitting
10:46
existed. So when you I was already going
10:48
to school. I had actually when I went in
10:50
the military I only, I was just shushed shy of my a a degree.
10:53
So I had to finish that oh I have the GI Bill.
10:56
So we finished that and it continued to push myself on the
10:59
education side. Well that's something I control
11:02
so that I'm good with that. So let's keep going.
11:05
So I'm, you know I'm an intelligent guy obviously I'm a
11:08
Ranger. I'm doing well.
11:09
I, you know I got my strikes and all that.
11:11
So I continued, but everything else around me was falling
11:15
apart. But I can control my education,
11:18
so the education also contributed to competition being
11:23
better. So even though I couldn't
11:25
maintain stable jobs, like I would go into a job and then I
11:29
would have issues and I would lose the job then as I'm also
11:33
escalating myself because thank God I was a military soldier.
11:37
People love vets at that time. We started seeing the thank you
11:41
for your service, started evolving.
11:44
It was like, OK, I can still get a job because somebody saw that
11:47
I was a veteran. So even though I might have been
11:49
terminated or I quit, they still would give me another chance and
11:54
I took advantage of those chances.
11:56
But then I started shifting into contracting, which allowed me to
12:00
maintain a short period of time of employment.
12:03
So when I'm not existing within the same amount of people who
12:07
are irritating me too long, that saved me.
12:11
That is exactly what allowed me to continue to rise in my
12:14
employment, to get more education, and then start
12:17
commanding more money. However, as I'm rising
12:21
professionally, everything else is still from crumbling around
12:24
me and to kind of get to the point of my divorce, lack of
12:30
relationship with my kids. I find myself still pursuing
12:35
education, trying to make myself better compete in the employment
12:39
world. Became a professor, teacher 1st
12:44
and teaching at the colleges, teaching at Phoenix and
12:46
Brandman, surrounded by other vets.
12:49
Then that's when things started shifting.
12:51
I started really enjoying being around fellow vets I wasn't
12:56
going to. Keep in mind this is in the time
12:59
period was in the 2005 period, VA was not really that great, so
13:08
didn't have a lot of these resources that we have now.
13:11
You know, ever since we fired that Under Secretary and things
13:13
like that, we've gotten a lot better.
13:15
So at that time you're on your own.
13:18
So I, you know, I'm just trying to figure things out.
13:21
But as I'm teaching and I'm surrounded by fellows, vets and
13:25
their students in my class, and then I'm realizing A vibe and I
13:29
enjoy it. I feel that they're coming to me
13:31
as at that time I wasn't a doctor.
13:33
I was teaching undergrad as a Masters and they're still coming
13:36
to me for guidance because at this time, but I'm a
13:39
professional employer, you know, I'm working, I'm making six
13:42
figures and it felt good. And so continuing that
13:47
transition as I continue my education to eventually become
13:52
ADAPHD, then I get to move my status into teaching grad
13:56
school, my employment started rising.
14:00
I still felt wonderful being around these vets and that's
14:04
when I started picking up things as not only am I helping myself,
14:07
I'm also can help others. So got into coaching and I
14:12
started getting into things where I can have resources to
14:14
help. I didn't want to be a
14:16
psychiatrist or psychologist or anything like that because I
14:19
recall at this time I'm now going to the new VA.
14:23
I'm now seeing my therapist or my view therapist and how they
14:27
keep jumping around and quitting.
14:29
And then I got a new therapist. They do their little one to two
14:32
years and they disappear. And I know you guys know the
14:34
story, but I didn't want to do that.
14:36
I want to do something a little bit more direct.
14:39
And so one-on-one, it's something that was a little more
14:43
hands on, a little bit more lifeline because that's what I
14:48
needed. I wanted not to be on a, you
14:51
know, this whole couch thing and writing prescriptions with.
14:54
That's no, that's because that's, again, that's what VA
14:57
was feeding us. So the coaching, developmental,
15:01
coaching is what I really started doing.
15:03
But I did it pro bono and I've been doing it for the last 40-5
15:07
years, just doing it because I wanted to do it because it was
15:12
not just helping them, but helping me.
15:15
So explain the books to me because it seems like looking at
15:19
your books and I'll have the links to those books in the OM
15:22
radio show post. Is that the books really kind of
15:26
encapsulate all that, but also show your progression as a care
15:30
provider in in the realm of mental health.
15:34
How the books figure into your story, please?
15:38
Yeah, so I must. You know, the whole education
15:41
thing relates to also being a student of myself, busy again.
15:47
When I was going through the divorce, I started this path of
15:51
trying to understand. One of the things I love about
15:54
my PhD program is that people don't realize that when you go
15:58
into PhD, most of its research, writing and research.
16:01
And I really captivated that and I transitioned that to also
16:05
understanding me. So I've been researching and
16:08
researching and researching just trying to understand this mental
16:11
health thing. This is years ago.
16:14
The first book, Permission to Heal, was about me capturing my
16:19
life from beginning to end again, trying to understand who
16:23
I am. Why am I in this situation?
16:26
I was an intelligent kid. I worked at Wells Fargo as a
16:29
teller when I was like barely 18.
16:32
I've had assistant manager jobs, top scorers in my I working at
16:36
KFC and all these different companies.
16:38
I've always been the best employee and always got along
16:43
with people. But why is it that I'm failing
16:45
in so many different areas at this point in time?
16:48
And so I wanted to capture what happened but I had to go back to
16:52
the beginning. My therapist told me sometimes
16:55
it's rooted from the beginning so but I wanted to blame the
16:57
military. But again, who you are as a
17:01
person, because everybody is different.
17:03
Not every vet comes out with the same types of challenges.
17:07
So it was interesting for me to go all the way back.
17:10
So the first book captures a history, but I wanted to make it
17:14
interesting. I didn't want to just make it
17:15
about Doctor Aaron Bryant. So I took the time, my, my, my,
17:20
my wife. I wanted to capture this story
17:23
to make it more interesting. So it's a slightly non fiction
17:27
fiction where I take two people in the history of the world, two
17:32
different dynamics and you follow their path in life.
17:36
She's from Haiti, I'm from Compton, She's in a hostile
17:40
environment. I'm in a hostile environment,
17:42
but she grows through this path where she ends up becoming
17:45
recruited by a top company. I don't know if I should say
17:48
their name, but she ends up working with this really top
17:51
corporate firm and at at this point she's living this amazing
17:54
life and doing everything correctly.
17:56
Where I go in the military and everything goes incorrectly.
18:00
If you look at it in that position, again, non fiction
18:03
into slash fiction, but the concept that I took to make it
18:08
interesting, you still follow this individual who goes in the
18:12
military and you see his life falling apart.
18:15
You see him with successes, highs and lows, and you watch
18:18
his challenges, his mental illnesses.
18:21
He watched everything that he's going through.
18:23
And you see how he merges eventually with this woman who
18:26
has a certain lifestyle that she has, which is strong in
18:30
religion, strong in culture because she's from Haiti, she's
18:34
Catholic, etcetera, etcetera. And how she merges with this
18:37
individual who's from Compton, who's, you know, military, PTSD,
18:42
etcetera, etcetera, and how she's somehow able to hit, give
18:46
him some light. So the story, you know, 'cause
18:49
permission to heal is the title, but the subtitle is Violence,
18:53
Faith and Family. And that's kind of how this
18:55
story exists. And that's the, you know, like I
18:58
said, it gives it an interesting twist.
19:00
But the second one, mental health, that one is more direct
19:05
in your face. But at this point in time,
19:07
'cause I just finished it, this book now is Doctor Brian in a
19:13
new era where now I have a little bit.
19:15
I have AI never tried to claim that I know so much about mental
19:20
health because I talk about that in my book.
19:22
The brain is a very complex organ, so still learning.
19:26
But the thing with mental health is that now I'm giving an
19:29
insight on somebody who's actually going through things
19:34
and how they're managing it. And it's really a toolbox of
19:39
guidance. And I read it.
19:42
I wrote the book in a way that a 12 year old and an adult could
19:46
appreciate it because I didn't want it to be too complex
19:49
because mental challenges, trauma, etcetera exists even in
19:53
young adults. So it's a conversational piece.
19:56
I'm talking to the reader. So that way somebody in their
20:00
teens, in their early 20s can actually pick it up, read it,
20:05
pull something out of it and be able to hopefully utilize it.
20:10
What is it about the topic of mental health that instantly
20:15
puts up, you know, guards, Shields, the the, the, the DMZ
20:20
if you will, Where we don't want to talk about it, we don't want
20:24
to admit we have a problem and it just seems like no matter how
20:30
we, you know, classify it, society, you know from the past,
20:35
present, and even the future looks at you differently if you
20:39
sit there and say, I have a mental health problem.
20:42
Why? Why is that?
20:44
Yeah, you know, it's like saying the word suicide.
20:46
I I had a somebody told me that, oh, you can't say that word on
20:52
the air or something like that. And I was like, really?
20:55
I like what happened to freedom of speech, you know?
20:57
But apparently things are certain.
20:59
They're taboo. I think mental health kind of
21:02
falls close to that, where it kind of gives people the
21:06
impression that there's something wrong with you.
21:07
And when there's something where people tend to want to, you
21:10
know, step away from that because especially the word
21:14
mental health, it's such a umbrella word that you don't
21:18
even know what the elements are related to.
21:20
So people again get fearful because they're not sure what's
21:24
going to happen. But I applaud so many people
21:28
today. And you know what?
21:30
I always believed things happen for a reason.
21:32
You know, when he started hearing about it the most, we
21:35
started hearing about it mostly related to the military.
21:38
Now thank you know, again I'm a, I'm a spiritual man.
21:42
I don't go to church every Sunday, but I did.
21:44
I grew up in the church and I always believed that I don't
21:46
want to go into it if in case you have, you know, certain
21:49
listeners who are not is atheist.
21:51
But I always believe things happen for a reason and you have
21:54
the evolution of us going through as military soldiers
21:58
going through this thing where now people are saying thank you
22:01
for your service. Well, that courage, the bravery
22:04
of saying that now we're hearing mental health, that is a spin
22:09
off of that. I think it's designed for a
22:11
reason. I think that we not being looked
22:15
at differently because remember you just said thank you for
22:17
service, we're strong and we're brave.
22:19
Now we have a transition of saying, okay, there's something
22:22
wrong. And it's not so bad because you
22:24
just said thank you for your service.
22:26
And now we're saying we have some mental illnesses, we have
22:29
some challenges. OK, That's OK because I just
22:32
said thank you for your service. So I'm not going to blackball
22:35
you too quick. I'm not, you know, I'm not
22:37
afraid of you because you just proved who you are.
22:39
Now we're starting to see another movement where we're
22:43
seeing athletes are stepping out.
22:45
We're seeing actors and actresses stepping out.
22:48
You know, the tennis star Naomi who won the Wimbledon.
22:52
And for her to be able to step away and say she's having mental
22:56
health issues and she needs to step away.
22:59
Selena Gomez, who's I applaud them because the bravery is
23:03
coming out because it's not so much of A stigma.
23:06
And then when you hear, which is really difficult and sad, is
23:10
when we hear about the media saying there's certain actor is
23:15
committing suicide and they're suffering from it or the family
23:19
will mention it. I applaud them for putting it
23:21
out there because that wasn't something they talked about.
23:24
So we're getting closer to where it's understood, you know, get
23:29
the point where remember when alcoholism and people that do
23:32
like you know, it was, you know, something wrong with you.
23:35
But now we understand it's a disease.
23:37
What we're getting there everybody started to truly to
23:39
understand. So as a veteran, it's almost
23:43
like I feel proud that we were able to allow some sort of shift
23:48
of acceptance because it came spun out of being us who we knew
23:53
of, even though our grandfathers already had it.
23:55
They called it shell shock. We had all the terms in this
23:58
stuff already. That was it's already been here,
24:01
but society didn't want to acknowledge it and they didn't
24:04
want to do anything about it. So of course are in the United
24:07
States of America the way we are.
24:08
We have to kind of do things a couple of times before we
24:11
realize it. You do coaching now and
24:18
advisement on, you know, health and mental health.
24:23
Let's just say I'm, I'm listening to the show or I come
24:26
across your book and I engage you to help me.
24:32
What's your process when someone comes in and says, hey, you
24:35
know, Doctor Bryant, I need help.
24:39
How do you work through that? So I, you know, I, as I
24:43
mentioned, I used to do this pro bone all the time, but it got to
24:46
the point where I had to put it in the formality of a business
24:50
because I had to manage my time and it became difficult to try
24:55
to keep helping everybody. But to answer your question and
24:59
I'm going to, I'm going to lean on a story, a very specific
25:01
story or this young lady called got contacted me out of the blue
25:07
and what makes this interesting is I was actually in Mexico and
25:09
she was in Mexico. She was up in the Cancun area.
25:12
I was down in Puerto Vallarta. So I think that's how we found
25:15
each other somehow she how she heard I was the commander for
25:18
the American Legion down in Puerto Vallarta.
25:21
So she reached out to me and this it really just starts off
25:26
with a conversation. It's you know let the the, the
25:29
common denominator being veterans makes it a lot easier.
25:33
So we have that call that conversation just like when you
25:36
and I first, you know got on this zoom we just started
25:39
talking. That is always the easiest and
25:42
the best way because I want to get to know you.
25:44
It's not about, you know how many hours we're going to do,
25:47
how long we're going to have this session what package you're
25:50
going to choose. I could care less about that.
25:52
My first and foremost is why I choose to do this.
25:55
Now I want to clarify, I'm a developmental coach, which goes
26:00
a little deeper than like a life coach.
26:04
People typically hire life coaches.
26:05
Like for instance, if you want to do an interview for a job or
26:08
you're trying to get a promotion, you have some
26:11
specific you're trying to achieve.
26:12
I kind of go with the person themselves and I want to help
26:16
them develop. So I go a little deeper and we
26:19
kind of, you know, take care of a bigger picture because my goal
26:23
is to get you to launch and be independent.
26:26
Even though my website, it kind of categorizes things, it really
26:31
isn't. I do that because it just gives
26:33
the some people just feel they need to look at certain things
26:37
in their life. But truth of the matter is, at
26:39
the end of the day, we're going to tackle the big picture.
26:42
And that starts off with a conversation.
26:45
And then we kind of, as we're communicating, you start picking
26:48
up keywords, you start picking up certain things that bothers
26:52
the person, their expressions, their actions, the things they
26:56
may say about somebody, things they may say about them.
26:59
And I obviously have the background of training to
27:02
understand these things. And the unique thing about it is
27:05
I've been there. This is why I do it, because I
27:08
had been there. I don't like you told me
27:10
everybody in the beginning. You looked at my my, my bio and
27:13
My Portfolio. You know, I've kind of been
27:16
everywhere. I work for Fortune 5 hundreds,
27:18
Fortune 20 fives. I consulted with Fortune 20
27:21
fives. Public sector politics.
27:24
I mean, trust me, you talked about bringing me back.
27:27
I can go on and on. I got secrets about politicians.
27:32
I even somebody who's currently in office really high up because
27:36
that person started in California and I was in that
27:38
arena. So there's like all these things
27:41
that I've been around and seen witness been a part of as post
27:48
military. So having to manage these
27:51
emotions and everything I've seen it been there.
27:54
So adding the layer of education training and as anybody knows
27:59
coaches, psychiatrists, psychologists etcetera, you have
28:02
to go through real life you know process of learning.
28:05
It's not just books. So yeah, it's I take it very,
28:11
very seriously when I on every calls, every confidential, you
28:16
know, one O 1 and it's not a matter of how long is when
28:20
you're ready. One of the things that a lot of
28:25
you know, us, myself included, think you know when you talk to
28:28
somebody in counseling is you know what am I doing here.
28:32
This person has no idea who I really AM.
28:36
And you know they're they're they seem to have more
28:39
education, more this more that how they possibly going to
28:42
relate to me And is it is it what you said that you have all
28:47
these various experiences that allow you to connect with that
28:51
person in a real and authentic way?
28:54
Absolutely. You, you nailed it on the head.
28:56
Because that's exactly what I say when I go to these sessions,
29:00
when I'm in there, when I go to my counselor, my therapist
29:04
there, you know, and then we clarify.
29:07
I never call myself a therapist. I never call myself.
29:11
We're not counseling. You know I'm not trying to
29:13
pickle words. I just because those that's a
29:16
psychiatrist that's the the psychologist and those are
29:19
people that we as bets BA expects us to go see them.
29:22
I just saw one not too long ago, since I transitioned here to my
29:26
new city, and I had to go check in and see this person.
29:29
And I'm sitting here going, you know, you don't know me, you
29:32
don't. You probably hook me up on the
29:34
VA computer and looked at my notes in my history and we're
29:37
going to see here talking like, Nah, Nah.
29:39
And that's exactly it. But I do try to reveal my past.
29:44
I'm very transparent. Hits the book again.
29:47
My first book, my second book is so especially the second book,
29:51
so transparent. It's me as an open book, my
29:55
podcast. When you look, listen to my
29:57
story, you hear me on that, Those YouTube and all those, my
30:00
podcast, I say everything. I don't hold back.
30:03
So going back to you talked about how people are afraid to
30:07
say mental health and all that. I got over that a long time ago.
30:10
I got tired of trying to hide and protect is just wasn't
30:16
healthy. The more I felt that I just had
30:19
to be honest, the better I felt in a way that it allowed me to
30:24
say I know I have my shortcomings so I'm letting you
30:27
know and then therefore it allowed me to show the
30:30
vulnerability because I shouldn't be asking anybody else
30:33
to do that if I can't do it myself.
30:36
I was part of a motorcycle club Buffalo Soldiers and and The
30:40
thing is it's a very family oriented organization love them.
30:44
We ride everywhere. We give back to community and I
30:48
was there was a time where I when I was having some
30:51
challenges as you know we go up and down, we have our days and
30:54
and I just felt like I need to let them know, like I need to
30:58
let you know. So I sent an e-mail as a
31:00
secretary of the chapter at the time, and I sent this pretty
31:04
lengthy e-mail to the entire chapter.
31:07
And I had to let them know what is happening with me and what's
31:10
going on because I think there was moments of my actions that
31:14
they saw based on things that took place and it was not fair
31:18
to them to not understand. So this is some of the things
31:22
that I try to communicate. I get it.
31:26
I understand it doesn't matter about race, it doesn't matter
31:31
about gender, doesn't matter about age, doesn't matter about
31:35
military era. I trust me.
31:38
There's not much you can say that I probably won't either
31:40
relate to understand or I have assisted somebody else.
31:46
Going back to the that the Mexico, the person that called
31:49
me in Mexico, this was a white, female, alcoholic, drug addict
31:55
veteran. So you're talking about checking
31:58
boxes and probably one of my most challenging circumstances
32:02
that I had to deal with and she was in Mexico.
32:05
So she was isolated from family. You couldn't leverage that
32:09
isolated, isolated from medical resources because she's in
32:14
Cancun, there's no VA hospitals or anything.
32:17
And I, one of the, you know, one of the things we talked about it
32:20
because, you know, your listeners are probably aware of
32:23
this, is that when you have your sessions with the you're
32:27
supposed to be in country, you're not allowed to do that
32:30
outside of country because that resource, that therapist has to
32:33
be able to call 911 or get somebody to you if necessary.
32:37
So this person was, you know, I don't know if she was doing that
32:41
out of country, but this is where she was living.
32:43
So she's definitely not getting her resources and not getting
32:46
any type of help, which is again probably why she called me.
32:50
So very delicate situation and I'm proud to say she's doing so
32:55
oh and I'm sorry, maybe had a fifth component relationship.
32:58
She had a boyfriend that was that I could tell was probably
33:02
not necessarily abusive, but definitely mentally abusive, but
33:06
not so much on the physical side.
33:08
She was a veteran, so I think she could stand for, stand up
33:10
for herself, but the mental abuse was definitely there,
33:14
taking advantage of her, things like that.
33:15
So yeah, pretty complex, but happy to say she's doing much
33:20
better. She's back in the States, able
33:23
to help her transition back to the States, be with her family,
33:26
living with her mother, doing so much better, attending sessions
33:30
away from me. Now.
33:31
Now she's doing sessions with NBA, which is fine as long as I
33:36
checked on her regularly. And I feel like she's doing
33:39
much, much better. But in the beginning, I tell you
33:43
you, you you get those calls where it's challenging.
33:45
And I and I'm proud to say that my history of life has come to
33:49
the point where I feel like I have enough tools to help
33:53
people. You know, as I tell my kids, I
33:55
went through a lot. So I can share with you what you
33:57
need to do to be better and successful better than I was.
34:02
You talk about certain groups like the American Legion.
34:05
You're very upfront that you, you know, are heavily involved
34:08
in American Legion. You talk about the Buffalo
34:11
Soldiers Motorcycle Club. How key were being with these
34:17
groups and being around other veterans to helping you, being
34:23
able to relate to people as a whole?
34:26
Because you got around veterans and people who kind of knew you
34:30
and you knew them. You were able to foster
34:33
relationships and kind of understand people again and then
34:36
go out there and help people. And the reason I'm asking that
34:39
is, is a lot of veterans kind of shy away from the American
34:43
Legion of VFW. It's it's still kind of stigma
34:47
in certain areas to be a part of like a motorcycle club in any
34:50
capacity. But it seems like looking at
34:53
your story, organizations like these and other things that you
34:57
have done, we're really kind of the foundation for you to be
35:02
able to do this work now. That's a great question, so let
35:06
me answer that this way. First of all, for those who are
35:10
listening and probably trying to choose a particular
35:14
organization, I want to say very clearly, make sure the
35:18
organization fits you. Make sure you spend time like in
35:22
a motorcycle club. There's this process where
35:24
you're a prospect even before prospecting.
35:27
There's a process where you call a hang around, do that time of
35:30
just getting to know the organization before you join it.
35:34
Don't join it just because it says they're veteran
35:36
organizations. So he said, oh, I'm a vet, I'm
35:38
gonna join, spend the time because the elements of every
35:42
one of those organizations is a little different.
35:45
I learned that. So to answer your question, the
35:47
Buffalo Soldiers, even though the name was related, goes back
35:52
to these, the black Calvary soldiers who helped with this
35:55
entire evolution of our country. It's not really a military
36:00
organization. It's just the name.
36:01
The founder is actually a police officer out of Chicago, but he
36:05
had such a passion for the black Calvary soldiers, he chose to
36:10
name it that. So not to say that that's we
36:13
don't have a lot of vets because we absolutely do have a lot of
36:16
vets. But I probably in my particular
36:19
chapter, I think I was, you know, out of like maybe I think
36:22
30 something members. I think nine of us were
36:25
veterans. So again, knowing where you go
36:29
now, yes, I'm the commander, current commander of the
36:31
American Legion and down in Puerto Vallarta and that
36:35
obviously is a military organization.
36:39
And I find myself surrounded by my Vietnam vets.
36:43
I am probably one of the youngest.
36:46
So again figuring out what you're getting involved with and
36:50
the Vietnam vets obviously 60 plus, you know you find that
36:55
they are disconnected you find that they don't even know about
36:58
the resources anymore. Now keep in mind I just said I'm
37:01
for this is the this is a post in Puerto Vallarta.
37:04
So they they've already left the states.
37:06
You know they have no clue of what's going on with the new
37:10
changes at VA what's new with the you know you know how we can
37:15
get resources They they probably been living in Puerto Vallarta
37:19
for 20 years plus because they got tired they got fed up.
37:23
You know I we don't have to That's a whole nother show where
37:25
we can talk about you know how you know how a lot of our older
37:30
vets have you know been angry with the society and how they
37:33
become Hells Angels and all this stuff.
37:35
But yeah, these guys have house, they left, so they're like sick
37:38
of it. So having them in my in my post
37:42
and being able to that's more or less me being the one that's
37:46
trying to bother them and helping them figure out, hey
37:50
guys, you're eligible for this, you're eligible for that.
37:53
So that is that's actually humbling.
37:56
So to answer your question, very humbling and it goes back to my
37:59
passion of helping. So that's hat there is much
38:03
different than my hat at Buffalo Soldiers now VFW again I hear
38:09
that it's going through the transition where there's
38:11
becoming more younger younger vets are getting involved more
38:15
so than when he. I remember when they first asked
38:18
me and I'm like I looked around and all these guys were 70 plus
38:21
and I was like, I don't think so.
38:23
So I get annoying where you're at and where you're getting
38:27
associated with, but it definitely does help me get
38:31
grounded. I maintain a level of passion.
38:36
I don't have to put on the whole, you know, the coaching
38:39
hat because these guys been there, done that.
38:42
They, you know, they've seen things much more and deeper than
38:46
I have, so. But I am the one that gives them
38:49
the up to date guidance. I am the one that kind of looks
38:52
out for them. I'm like the young grand son
38:55
because they're isolated from their family.
38:57
So I'm kind of like, hey, you know what, let me make sure you
39:00
get to your doctor's appointment and that kind of thing, making
39:04
sure they get resources because it is a challenge between the
39:06
two countries. So but it's that's, yeah, it's a
39:11
different hat, different situation and I play each one in
39:14
its own silo. Well, the thing I'm hearing.
39:18
If if listening to you is there's this aspect of being a
39:22
part of this organization but also helping people and and and
39:27
helping others, is there a powerful component into helping
39:31
others to help yourself? Yes, I.
39:36
Probably should have touched on that earlier, but absolutely.
39:39
The thing when I was going through my divorce, I realized
39:46
as I'm learning and understanding why I was getting
39:50
a divorce, I was starting to learn about myself.
39:54
When you go to the divorce counselor and then you go to
40:01
your own counselor. Because I I started going to my
40:04
own interpersonal class separate from my counseling sessions.
40:09
And this is outside VA, by the way.
40:11
It was doing. I was doing my own thing and I
40:15
started realizing in my interpersonal class how I wasn't
40:19
able to get along with people. Again, tie that back to all
40:22
those jobs and all that. You know, I just could not
40:26
function around people. So I'm starting to really go,
40:29
wow, what is going on here? And I just couldn't, you know,
40:33
'cause like I I'll never forget the first day of that
40:36
interpersonal class. You know, I go there and I'm.
40:39
I'm doing whatever I can because I'm trying to save my marriage,
40:43
so I'm. Telling my my.
40:45
At the time, my wife, I'm going to go to this, I'm going to try,
40:47
I'm going to go to hear this class.
40:49
So and even though I did not want to go, I sit in this class,
40:53
this, this, this course or interpersonal thing and they got
40:56
these people who don't, who don't know me, who have nothing
40:59
to do with me, not military. It was not military.
41:02
This is just civilians and I'm hating it.
41:04
But I learned that there was definitely something with me and
41:08
I learned some things. So that was the start.
41:12
And then by more, I got involved with others, more I got involved
41:16
with veterans, more I started seeing, more I started doing, I
41:20
started learning. So every time I do research,
41:22
every time I'm helping somebody, every time I'm communicating,
41:25
every time I do a podcast, the things I say, it's because I've
41:29
either already researched it, been through it, or it's helping
41:33
me. I'm conversing what I'm actually
41:36
doing for myself. I never talk about anything or
41:39
say anything. I don't do the homework on or
41:41
has it benefited me in some way? So everything that I am
41:46
delivering is because I already brought it to myself.
41:48
So again, going way back to the beginning of your show, I'm
41:53
still in transition. I'm still going through it and
41:57
the mental health book circling back to my book that is giving
42:01
you a perspective of that. I'm giving you walking you
42:04
through my path of what's happening and how I'm managing
42:09
day-to-day, and then yet still trying to figure out my next
42:13
step as I'm sitting here. I'm going.
42:16
Back to the Marine Corps thinking of a saying that says
42:19
maybe the Army has it to know yourself and seek self
42:22
improvement and it no, we don't have that, but I.
42:25
Like it? Well, yeah, it's something that
42:27
that. You know our our NC OS drilled
42:30
into us right. And now it makes sense, right?
42:32
You're there's never time off if you're doing it right to
42:37
understand that there's always something to improve and you got
42:40
to know yourself to do that. So I I thought that was very
42:43
interesting how, yeah, you have all these education, you all the
42:47
accolades and the experience behind it, but you're still
42:51
learning about yourself, Doctor. That's very interesting.
42:54
Absolutely. Every.
42:56
Day. And I hope that doesn't deter
42:58
somebody from seeking help and wanting to call me because it's,
43:03
you know, as I mentioned, the brain is a very complex thing
43:06
and no person can be an expert in this.
43:09
And when you talk about mental health, the elements, there's so
43:13
many. And when you combine that with
43:15
the brain, I mean, come on, it's an ongoing learning thing.
43:18
And that's why I'm continuously doing that.
43:21
I constantly continue to try to educate myself.
43:24
Read again, being a student of this is amazing because I
43:28
learned something. And the more people I work with,
43:31
more people I'm involved with, the more I pick up and learn.
43:34
So combining that with education in real life it's just gives me
43:37
more tools, and the more tools I have, the more I can create.
43:42
You have your first book. And your second book.
43:44
The second book folks, is mental health.
43:46
I'll have the link to an OM radio show post you've mentioned
43:49
you're you're thinking about a third book, 4th.
43:53
Actually, I'm. On, I'm on, I'm on.
43:56
I actually have to be honest. I already have the next two
43:59
books in draft and I have another one, an idea concept.
44:05
So it just keeps coming. I it's amazing.
44:08
It keeps coming. But I will tell you this, I
44:11
don't want people to feel like, oh, he's just writing.
44:14
It's actually very difficult for me to write it, this mental
44:17
health book. I had the notes of this two
44:20
years ago, but my mental challenges made it difficult me
44:26
for me to kind of get it out and write it down.
44:30
The transparency taking me back to certain time the the IT was
44:37
hard. It was hard and it was really
44:40
difficult. My first book was so much easier
44:42
and it's much more thicker, bigger.
44:44
I I don't remember how many pages it's like look at it here,
44:48
almost 200 pages. My first one and I knocked that
44:52
out not because a lot of it is, like I said, biographer is
44:56
history. So I put a lot of history and a
44:58
lot of information and knowledge in it.
45:00
So it wasn't as challenging. This one is like half and it was
45:05
really difficult. So I can just jot down the
45:08
notes, I can have the concept and the ideas create my outline.
45:13
But when it gets to putting the cross and the TS and dot in the
45:17
IS, it becomes challenging when you start to really have it to
45:20
be honest and reflective, transparent.
45:24
So moving forward, I can't say when it's coming out.
45:28
I I I don't want to put a date because this date for mental
45:31
health kept changing. But it's there.
45:34
It's just a matter of me being me and being a, you know, a
45:41
broken soldier, having to be able to get this going.
45:44
But again, and I say this in my book, that gives me the reason
45:51
to get out of bed, that gives me the reason to continue pushing
45:55
forward. Because I feel like if I could
45:57
get this on paper, I'm going to be, I'm going to help somebody.
46:01
And this, again, is why I do what I do.
46:03
Because if they have the client, if I have a patient, if I have
46:06
somebody who's relying on me and waiting on me, then I can get
46:10
out of bed. Because I do not want people to
46:11
think, oh, he's got it all taken care of.
46:14
I can honestly tell you that is not true.
46:18
You have the books but. What's next?
46:22
Do you have any other goal besides?
46:25
Not just besides, but do you have any other goal outside the
46:29
books that you're going for with your career, with your outreach
46:33
personally, You know what's next for for you, doctor?
46:37
I almost had to. Think about that because the
46:40
book was so you know the last few months just finalizing it
46:44
kind of kept me pretty much engaged, but I actually, yes,
46:48
there is something that's happening.
46:50
So going back to my MDI, am actually a part of a company
46:57
where we are a healthcare consulting firm and we
47:01
collaborate with bigger other healthcare medical facilities to
47:05
help them improve their efficiency.
47:08
My background bringing that back into play with some partners of
47:12
mine, we are working with other companies that help them with
47:15
their healthcare. Healthcare is kind of again
47:18
going back to my background has in the last since you know I I
47:23
hate to put politics in it, but it's unfortunately it's the
47:26
timeline. So the Obamacare period
47:29
etcetera, etcetera. A lot of our medical resources
47:32
and options has has shifted, I'm just going to say shifted and so
47:37
there's a demand for improving that.
47:39
So, so partners and I and another 13 other professional
47:44
advisors have gotten together and we're working on improving
47:47
that as a consulting firm. And that's been keeping me
47:50
pretty engaged. In fact, I'm flying to Florida
47:53
here in a couple of weeks to speak at something, it's on my
47:56
website. And then I go back to Mexico to
48:00
meet, see my soldiers, see my, my, my American Legion guy.
48:05
So I got to go check in on them. I could kind of wind this.
48:09
Down a couple questions, kind of kind of light ones here.
48:14
Do you ride a motorcycle still? I do.
48:16
I have ACVO. Rogue Glide?
48:17
Yes, absolutely. You like You like the CVO?
48:20
I do. I do.
48:21
I like. The warm seats and the warm and
48:23
the grips. I ride a Yamaha.
48:27
Straddle liner and I'm I'm, it's getting old.
48:30
I'm looking at new stuff and I'm trying to slide between Harley
48:33
or Indian. We'll see what happens there.
48:35
Well, it depends on your budget if you.
48:37
Don't want to have something that you have to take in all the
48:39
time. Everybody say stay away from the
48:41
Harley, but unfortunately, you know, ever since I saw the
48:44
history of Harley-Davidson on, I don't know, some history channel
48:48
or whatever, I just felt that there's there's a certain love
48:52
for the Harley-Davidson. So I just kind of stick with
48:56
that for that reason and you're into Martial.
48:58
Arts too. Do you have a favorite?
49:02
What do you think about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?
49:04
Is it really the the Supreme King daddy of all martial arts?
49:08
Well, I OK. So I'm going to say no, because
49:11
I've beaten quite a few. I I have a black belt in Chinese
49:15
kimple and a black belt in Japanese kimple.
49:18
Sakoso Shorikai, which is my Japanese kimple, comes from the
49:22
Maitosi family clan out of Japan, and Majane Maitosi who
49:26
passed away in Hawaii. I I've, you know trained under
49:29
two of his students and my Chinese kempo I have some
49:33
history there. That was with Black Karate
49:37
Federation was shifted into the Ikka International Kempo Karate
49:40
Association. Our legacy is like my instructor
49:44
Clarence McGee Junior was in the first Karate Kid movie.
49:47
My, my, the senior sensei. He was the black, the dark, the
49:51
tall. He trained especially snipes and
49:55
things like that. So I I come from a kempo
49:58
background. So I and I fought all types of
50:02
different arts and I have to say that I, you know I'm a
50:07
passionate with my Japanese kempo because I learned aikido,
50:10
I learned Shotokan with Japanese, how to write Japanese.
50:14
I learned rotation. It really took my kempo to
50:17
another level. So Jiu Jitsu is an amazing art,
50:21
but I will I you won't get me on the ground, so it won't really
50:24
be useless. I always think that's my whole
50:29
problem with this. Like like I'm like, wait a
50:31
minute guys, The whole point's not to get exactly right.
50:34
Well, it's. Like, you know, John, everybody
50:36
says like Jean Claude that damn you know, I I hope he be.
50:39
I hope he listens. It'd be great that if he's one
50:41
of your listeners, but I'll, I'll, I'll be the first to tell
50:44
him I'm like, look, you know, why are you jumping in the air?
50:47
You know, because if you jump in the air to try to kick me, trust
50:50
me, you're not going to get because I won't be standing in
50:53
that same spot while you're jumping doing this 360 kick.
50:56
I won't be in the same spot. It's just.
51:01
Funny. It's really funny how that's
51:04
something else. Golf.
51:06
Now, I'm not a golfer, but I know a lot of vets who are.
51:10
What's your favorite part of golfing?
51:13
Oh, so I actually. And I need to put this on my
51:15
website. I've actually been a advocate
51:19
for golf or mental health for a long time, way before the PGA
51:23
Hope started. So the P Just to let everybody
51:25
know, PGA Hope is affiliated with the PGA, and it allows for
51:30
veteran golfers to get involved. You learn how to play golf.
51:33
They teach you from beginning to just learning how to hold the
51:36
Club Amazing program. Depending on what region you're
51:40
in, you get to actually play on real courses at a discounted
51:46
rate. I miss Northern California where
51:49
I'm from because they had an amazing PGAO program.
51:53
We played golf once a month easy and some of all the courses for
51:56
like 30 bucks courses that normally would cost $8090.00.
52:00
We got to play Pebble. We would play the affiliated
52:03
course of Pebble. All because of we're PGA Hope
52:06
graduates, so absolutely love this.
52:09
Swear by it, but golf is definitely a sport if your body
52:14
can manage it. Now I'm going to tell you right
52:15
now I have to get a massage twice a week.
52:19
And not to mention I soak in my tub for about an hour and a half
52:23
after I played because my body can't.
52:26
I should not be playing golf, but I love it so much and I know
52:30
if I'm VA probably listening and they're probably going to go
52:32
check my file. Hey, I'm telling you now, my
52:35
disclaimer. I shouldn't be playing.
52:37
I just do it because of the mental side.
52:39
My physical is broken, but at my back, my knees, my feet.
52:44
I can't walk for three days after, but when I'm out there
52:48
for the 4 1/2 hours, I'm get to be in peace.
52:53
Especially if I'm playing by myself, which is why I I live on
52:55
a golf course now, so I can just go out anytime.
52:58
I don't have to play with 2-3 other knuckleheads and I could
53:01
just be alone. And it's between me and that
53:04
course and the challenge, the fortitude, the ability to not
53:09
beat it, because you'll never beat it, but you go out there
53:12
and do it again, it's very it's it's, it has something to do
53:16
with that mentalness in your head because it's soldiers, it's
53:19
veterans. We're not quitters.
53:21
So we wanna keep trying. And yet the challenge of it is
53:25
pretty amazing. And I swear by it, I think golf
53:28
is amazing. You just have to get by the
53:30
frustration because it's the sport that you'll never win, it
53:33
sucks and you'll have a good day and you'll shoot a good score
53:37
and then the next day you can't even hit it off the tee.
53:40
But if you could get past that knowing you're not going well, I
53:43
don't want to say that. I would hope somebody can get to
53:45
the PGA. But likely the, you know, the
53:47
odds are not there because most of the PGA guys started with
53:50
their kids. But the fact that it's such a
53:54
competitive and and challenging sport, it truly has something to
53:58
do with that. So I actually been interviewed a
54:02
few times about that and I've been swearing by it since the
54:05
beginning. But it's just hurts.
54:07
It hurts. It hurts in the body.
54:11
The mental part gets a little bit of stimulation, but the body
54:15
breaks down every time. So closing this out.
54:18
Folks, I'm with doctor Aaron Bryant.
54:21
Army Ranger veteran. A plethora cornucopia of
54:25
experience both, you know, academically and in you know the
54:30
workforce and things he's done. You know author.
54:33
The book is mental health. I'll have the link in the OM
54:35
radio show post. Doctor, how can people connect
54:38
with you about your book, about what you do or if they want to
54:42
see about, you know, particular your services.
54:45
Yeah, real easy my. Website is my name Doctor Aaron
54:49
P Add the P Papa bryant.com no dots, just straightacross.com
54:55
Doctor Aaron P bryant.com and you'll be able to reach me.
54:59
It's really simple now and all my social media is the same too.
55:04
We'll have those links in the Oscar.
55:05
Mike Rito show post. Look folks, this is, This is why
55:08
I do OM Rito's to talk to people like this just like you and me
55:12
who have you know gotten out of the military and rebuilt their
55:15
lives or reboot their lives several times.
55:18
And doctor, it's been a pleasure having you on.
55:20
Hope to come back on when you, you know write more or have
55:23
something to talk about. Just hit me up and we'll make
55:26
this happen. Hey, pleasure and thank you.
55:28
For doing what you're doing as well.
55:30
Appreciate it. Well, this is Saint OM Rita We.
55:32
Are mission flight. I'll talk to you soon.
55:34
Take care. Remember Anna teaches on.
55:38
Mission we care about it. We do it every day.
55:41
But I think there are things that just hit you and give you a
55:44
reason to go on the. Theme for our 20. 24 Freeze
55:48
Crush America is live with Purpose.
55:52
It just seemed to fit in. With the bows of the reef, the
55:55
10 attributes that we feel represent our United States
55:59
military, I thought what a great opportunity to put those two
56:02
things together and show our kids to how we act.
56:05
Some of the things that can make their lives better for their
56:08
communities better and by doing that the country better for me
56:12
live with purpose I think is that it's mindset set some.
56:16
Guidelines. And then go out and purposefully
56:20
make life different. Make a change.
56:22
It's an opportunity to set an example.
56:35
you for listening and. Watching OM Radio where our
56:39
active duty service members and veterans are in action and the
56:43
mission is in flight. Oscar.
56:48
Mike Radio is an. Oversized load Co since the one
56:52
production. If you are a veteran.
56:56
Or know a veteran who needs help?
56:58
Please dial 988 and press one for the Veterans Crisis Line.