Latest / Dispatched & Dysfunctional / Overcoming Trauma: A Path to Healing — Dr. Gregory Obert
Transcript
- Dr. Greg: seen people that I work with who, I the thought of ⁓ doing, of talking about what to them. that one thing that they just can't stop thinking about or showing up in their nightmares. They thought they would never talk about it. And by the end of treatment, it's the best compliment I can ever get, they're bored of talking about it. I mean, can you imagine the worst thing that's ever happened to you for maybe decades you've been running from and then by the end of a round of therapy, it's, can we stop talking about this? Because this is getting old, So. Chris Stockton: I thought that's a feeling. Dr. Greg: Yeah, it really is. And I love being able to bring that hope back for people because even if someone's experienced some kind of trauma, they don't have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Now, my caveat to this is the trauma treatment doesn't erase what happened. Unless they have a DeLorean that can go eight, miles an hour and take them back in time, we can't change what happened. But what we can do is Chris Stockton: reference. Dr. Greg: change, what was that? Thank you, appreciate it. But what we can do is change how people relate to that memory. So ⁓ for instance, instead of ⁓ say a Vietnam veteran looking out into the woods every time they see woods freaking out because it takes them right back to the jungles, ⁓ they can look at woods and they might feel uncomfortable. Chris Stockton: That's a nice reference. Dr. Greg: but their nervous system isn't jumping into that fight or flight state, freak out, I'm unsafe. That kind of thing is, it's just life changing. Chris Stockton: That's amazing. And it sounds like you've done this quite a bit. Like you said, used 15 years. So have you ever had someone come to you and just say, I have no other options. I have no options other than offing themselves or what have you. How would you go about listening or trying to alleviate that, I should say? Dr. Greg: Yeah, well, yes, ⁓ dealing with trauma, ⁓ suicidal ideation tends to come up fairly often. In fact, it's usually the exception to the rule that people aren't thinking about killing themselves. It's not that it's ⁓ a bad thing to have those thoughts. And what I mean by that is it's a normal reaction to something that feels hopeless. But the thing that I work with people on is, listen, this is a very permanent solution to what might be a temporary problem. You might not have had the education. You might not have had the knowledge about PTSD trauma treatments. You might have just felt like there is no hope. I mean, my heart goes out especially to some of the older guys and gals that I've worked with because PTSD as a diagnosis wasn't created until... to the 83 or 84, I think it was 84. So before that was Shellshock syndrome. And well, if I didn't go to Vietnam, I didn't have Shellshock syndrome. So they just kind of had to sit with that for who knows how long. I mean, even, I know some people really like him, but I never really got into George Carlin all that much. even he I saw in a standup of his once was just like, ⁓ they're changing the name from shell shock syndrome to PTSD. Well, that's just you know, PC culture and it's shell shock syndrome. And it's like, man, with that one clip, like how many people have you misled? Not maybe maliciously, but just because he was trying to be funny, or make a joke, where people who actually could have gotten help, were just like, Yeah, that's right. You know, I what I'm dealing with isn't the same as what those people in Vietnam dealt with. So anyways, I feel like I'm going down a tangent there, but to bring it back, the thing that I like to say to people who are having those suicidal thoughts is that you don't have to go through with it. And also ⁓ give me X number of weeks depending on the treatment that you select. Like I want you to live Chris Stockton: You good? Dr. Greg: I want you to get your life back. It's not gonna be an easy treatment. I don't bullshit people that I speak to, and this is gonna be the second hardest thing that you ever do. The first being living through the trauma itself. Even still, if you've already done the hardest part, then you can do this. Give me X number of weeks, and let's see how you feel after that. But don't just jump into, okay, I haven't. found anything that helps me up to this point, so it's better to just end it all. I mean, I've also worked with people who are, you know, the, for lack of better word, the survivors of someone who did kill themselves, and it's devastating, you know, what that suicide can do. And if someone is actively thinking about that, I mean, try and think about the people around you. I mean, what that would do to them. So, and get help. mean, there's help out there. The National Suicide Crisis Line is 988. ⁓ If you're a veteran, press one, and you get the veteran's crisis line. don't make a permanent solution to something that may actually have a fix.