The War Within: Helping Vets Combat PTSD, Brain Injuries and Trauma - Dr. Damon Friedman

Dr. Damon Freeman is a retired U.S. Air Force Special Warfare Lieutenant Colonel, combat veteran, author and founder of Shield of Faith Missions, who served four combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and earned three Bronze Stars, including one with Valor. He and his wife, Dana, have two children and his own difficult transition home from war forced him to confront a deeper question of identity and purpose. His turning point came through surrendering his life and mission to God, which ultimately fueled a new calling, helping warriors heal, rediscover purpose, and become resilient. That just gave me massive chills. This guy is a hero. This is the Counterculture Mom Show. I'm your host, Tina Griffin. Veterans Day is the fitting topic of the week. To celebrate all veterans, I'm with Dr. Damon Friedman, president and founder of Shield of Faith Missions Incorporated. Damon, thank you for putting your life on the line. How are you doing, young man? Well, I'm just doing awesome today. Grateful to be a part of the team. And thanks a lot for having me on the show. Absolutely. You were telling me during pre-show setup that you're out there as a warrior on the front of the battle lines trying to save America. We get that in three seconds of even the first line of your bio. You are just the real deal. You're currently at Harvard. Fill us in on what God did to bless you for a full ride there and what you're doing to impact lives on the Harvard campus. Yeah, so I'm super blessed. I'm the American Service Fellow. I'm one of them here at Harvard University receiving a master's in public administration. And just the field here of all the individuals in this degree are just top notch here to help kind of establish a new strategic plan that would scale the organization of SOF missions so that we can help out more warriors. As you already know, we have 18.8 million. Veterans, last time I checked, in America, 1.5 million in Florida, and we're just wanting to figure out how we can help out more warriors, and Harvard University is going to help me scale this program that we have at SOF Missions, and I'm excited about being here learning a lot. And also being able to contribute a lot of that I have learned, my years of experience and how other nonprofit leaders can excel and also be careful of some of the challenges that I kind of stumbled throughout. That's part of the process and growing and really excited to be here at Harvard University. Damon, you lead SOF Mission's national effort to reduce warrior suicide through whole health care that addresses psychological, physical, spiritual, and social wellness. Way to go for doing that. You speak and write on purpose-driven leadership, faith, resilience, and servant leadership. Yes and amen. A lot of vets are landing up on the streets, coming back, putting their life on the line. Alcohol, drug use, suicide attempts. What struck a nerve with you coming back? What was that moment where you're like, I have to do something to help the vets that are landing up in these catastrophic situations? So, I'm going to be very transparent. I think many of us veterans, as we have served in the war, have experienced a lot of trauma. And when you're dealing with the trauma, it's being processed in multiple domains. You've got PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, you've got mild traumatic brain injury, synonymous with concussion, you've got moral injury, which is a spiritual wound, you've got chronic pain, you've got insomnia, you put all those things together, and you're in a constant stressful state. You become more vulnerable to this suicide epidemic, and so for me in 2010, I came back from the Korangal Death Valley, and that was my tipping point. It was a time where I came home and I was not doing well at all. It was a seven-day disruption operation, and I was the JTAC with the commander of US forces with a couple of other combat controllers. And, um, you know, it was just, it was just a turning point for me. Um, and so I found myself in a very dark place. I remember sitting in the living room, like so many of us veterans with their Glock 19 and just having that conversation of, uh, the advantages and disadvantages of pulling the trigger. And so this is a, and the thing is, is, um, 20 veterans take their lives, over 20 veterans, and who knows how many take their lives every single day. And I'm going to be very honest with you. I completely understand why they do it. And you get to this point where you're so overwhelmed with pain and you just don't know where to go, what to do. You have no idea how you're going to get out of this dark place. And it's just so consuming. And you come to this term, this point where you're like, Like, you know, and for me, I have a I have a pretty large. Um, insurance policy. And I figured, uh, I figured, you know, um, if I, if I pull the trigger, uh, the monster doesn't have to come home anymore. My, my kids don't have to be exposed to that individual and nor does my spouse. And, you know, at the end of the day, you're showing pictures of my family. Yeah. They're amazing people. And, uh, it's just kind of crazy how you get to this point where you just feel like, It's a sensible thing to do. I remember being in that living room and God showed up. It's another reason why I am a person of faith, that in my darkest moments, when no one was there in the darkest times, God showed up. I remember Him speaking to me, and I don't understand why I'm being so emotional here, But I just remember he said, I have great plans for you. He plans to win and persevere and not to lose. And so that night, I decided I wasn't going to blow my head off. And I was also thinking like, what would my son think if I start walking, if he starts coming down the stairs, and he finds his dad, you know, dead, you know, brain matter and blood all over the place. And I thought to myself, you know, my family deserves better than this. I'm like, maybe I'll just do this. You know, I'll drive my car somewhere and do it. But that next morning, I just thought, wow, you're not okay. Like you've crossed the line, like to not just from consideration, but like you're planning, right? Like this is legit. Right. And so I remember making a phone call and saying, hey, I'm not okay. And I need help. And man, there were so many people. That rallied around and not active duty. I totally did not trust the system at that point. It was a dark mark, you know, to have mental health issues. They'll easily ground you from everything, not just deployments, but from jumping and diving and shooting. And so all of a sudden there were just some great people that came around. And I went on this journey and I had the best practitioners. In America, help me out. The top physical therapist, the top psychologist, the top cognitive experts, the TBI experts, all this stuff. And then I started pursuing my faith in a way that was so deep. Because I think it's interesting, right? When people say they have faith, why? Why do you have faith? Man, my soul was so in dire need of hope. And that there's only one that could possibly provide that, and that's my creator. And God came down, and man, he salvaged me, and he put me back together. After a year, year and a half, he started putting everything together. And I started, I remember waking up one morning, looking up, you know, we have these windows up on the ceiling area on the wall. And you can, and, and. I noticed like birds and sunshine and trees and I'm like, I've never even recognized this and it'd been years that I've been living in this house. And so I started feeling better. And then I got redeployed. But here's the coolest part. In 2011, November, I call up my wife and I said, babe, what would it look like if, what would it look like? If we stood up an organization and we were able to take care of veterans and take care of my brothers and sisters in a way that they've never been taken care of before. And the first thing, if you ever had her on the show, I always like to ask her publicly and she goes, you know what I'm going to say? I'm like, I know. Say it. She says, you're crazy. And so, you know what? I'm a little nuts. I mean, you got to be to do what it is that I do. And. So we started packaging up these programs. And fast forward, this is the birth of SOF Missions, where we're providing this holistic paradigm, this interdisciplinary approach with the top health care professionals in the country. And so it's psychological, it's physical, it's cognitive, it's social, it's spiritual. And all these practitioners are working as a collective, not in silos. And we're able to solve these problems with these veterans at Mach 1 speed. That's really what SOF Missions is about, being able to address all of these issues, and not just the symptoms, but the actual core problems, and that's what makes us. It's undeniably, you know, one of the top programs in the nation and we're really excited about it. We've got the best team in the world. I'll go toe to toe on any program at all. We're working collectively with the VA in different systems and our network is powerful and we're able to do so much with a fraction of the cost compared to the VA and some of the other health care systems. This is just an absolutely phenomenal. testimony that you have. I wrote down our trials lead to our testimony leads to phenomenal organizations, missions, visions from God up above. People like you going through it, other vets will be able to understand and cling to what you've done and what you've survived and gone through. Not just someone that wants to help vets, but you came from an angle that only other people going through this trauma will be able to cling to understand and that's how you You can serve them the best. Hands down, phenomenal message. Three seconds into your testimony, the Lord told me this needs to go on the airwaves. We are picking yours for Veterans Day theme to go on the airwaves because people listening to this right now, Damon, I know that there's gonna be people listening right now that were on their way to fulfill their suicide that stopped in their tracks while hearing your voice on the radio. That's how powerful this is right now. What God is literally doing as we tape it now, he knows the perfect timing and place that he's gonna be stopping the enemy's plans for wiping out more people. Vets, non-vets, I'm telling you right now, if that was you, please email us at show at counterculturemom.com and tell us your story so we can send it back to Damon to encourage him even more and even get you on as a guest in the near future on the topic of suicide and how God spared your life. This is insane. I just learned that at birth, we have peak levels of IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor 1, which assists in muscle development, tissue repair, and recovery. Over time, IGF-1 levels naturally decline, contributing to the aging process. Women who want to stay young usually take the synthetic HGH, human growth hormone, but it's expensive, not safe, and there's a much better natural option. Through scientific research, deer antler velvet has been identified as a top method of increasing and maintaining IGF-1 levels. 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After downloading the app, click yes for receiving notifications so you're not left in the dust. You can download the CounterCulture Mom app at Google Play or the iTunes Store. You can also send us a message if you see insanity you need to report and our team will send a notification through our app so that no one is left behind. Damon, veteran suicide is often discussed as a mental health issue. That's what we've been hearing for the last couple of decades. What is missing from that conversation and how does SOF Mission's whole health approach address the deeper causes of suffering for our vets? So that's a golden question right there. I recently wrote an article called Talk Therapy's Killing Our Veterans. And the reason why is because, let's just pause for a split second. Can anybody explain why veterans have been attending the VA for, I don't even know, like decades and still be in the suicidal mental conditions that they are today? So research has showed that the signature injury of the war is actually mild traumatic brain injury. Which is synonymous with concussion. So here we are, two completely different actual challenges, right? You've got PTSD in the psychological realm. You've got mild traumatic brain injury in the cognitive realm. And then you've got moral injury, the spiritual component. And let me just say this. When I was hospitalized in 2019, I was there inpatient for three months dealing with post-concussive syndrome. And I remember specifically, well, That was actually the first time I started doing some deep psychotherapy, addressing some of the traumas that had happened, not just in my military career, but also in my adolescent years. Before in the 2010 was more operational psychologists. You kind of figure out how you can overcome these challenges psychologically so that you can continue to move forward. But in 2019 was the first time we were digging deep into some stuff Buried beyond even my understanding that it was that it was there all along influencing my mental health So here you have these individuals like me. I'm going in I'm talking to my psychologist by the way phenomenal But then I asked a very significant question. Why would God allow this and there I received a very disappointing answer We don't talk about God here. I'm not a spiritual expert. And so that dawned on me as to what some of the major challenges are. So here you are. You have a traumatic experience. That trauma has the potential of traveling not just in the psychological, PTSD, but cognitive, mild traumatic brain injury, and spiritual. Moral injury. So here you have trauma being processed throughout three different domains. And so a guy like me comes to the VA and says, I need help. And the only thing that they're willing to do is talk therapy. This becomes extremely problematic. So we're not addressing the actual issue in itself. So here you have all these veterans with potentially, most likely, highly likely with cognitive issues and moral injuries, not just psychological. And so this is where we're completely different. What we do is we understand the different domains and then we provide an alternative treatment and modality to the cognitive, to the PTSD to the psychological, and to the spiritual. And with that being said, we are bulletproof in that fashion and we're trying to understand where all the problems are, where all the bad guys are in every room of, you know, in our heads. And so that's what we solve. We solve problems. And we've had over 600, I think, close to 600, around 600 inpatient that come to our program. It's a handful of days. We do head to toe. We have about 20 to 30 practitioners, the best in the absolute business. And we figure out what all the problems are. And when we figure out what those problems are, we provide a script for them. This is your follow on care plan. And we're going to do this not just now, not just for Not just for 30 days, not just for 90 days, not just for half a year, but one complete year. And our warriors journey together. So we get like 10 together and that becomes their new squad. And then we have all these spiritual mentors. We have these case managers. We have the entire network of physical therapists, chiropractors. Check this out. In one day, in one day, hear this out. All you people who are listening right now, this is going to blow your mind. In one day, imagine waking up. You do physical training with a NFL-level physical trainer. You see the nutritionist, same NFL. Then you see the head physician, who's the former president, Air Force One physician. Then you see the physical therapist, which is the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning. Wow. And then massage therapist and the pain management from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You see the cognitive expert, which is like the top over at the VA at the Haley's Hospital for the TBI clinics. Then you see acupuncturists, then you see the social reintegration experts, and you're doing PGA. You're doing adaptive golf with a PGA pro, an adaptive golf specialist, and also adaptive jiu-jitsu. And then you close out with spiritualities. Sister. Unless you have a ton of money and you're a person of wealth or you're an NFL-caliber athlete getting paid millions of dollars, you can never experience this at all. Absolutely not. Packaged up from all my years of this therapy that I've received from EXOS, from the Intrepid Centers, from Functional Medicine, from Andrews Institute. We package it all together, and this is what SOF Missions is all about. I mean, this is just phenomenal. I think you might go down in 1,200 episodes we shot to date over a five and a half year period as the best way to explain exactly what happened to you, why you started something, and what you're doing with that program. I have chills from head to toe. I don't have any rock that I haven't unturned that I wanted to ask you about what you do. This is exactly why Satan had that gun in your hand. several years ago right here to stop what God wanted accomplished. This is why anybody tuning in right now, you think your life is over. That is Satan trying to stop you from something magnificent a millisecond later. I've been talking to teens around this country for three decades about the lies of suicide. Let me tell you something. You have suicidal tendencies, thoughts, or a plan of action. It's because Satan wants to wipe out exactly the massive purpose that God has for you. Don't sell yourself short. Praise God you're alive, Damon. 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Yes and amen. Grab it now. Five star, of course, on Amazon, everybody. Once again, Special Warfare CEO helping leaders make dynamic impact. Practical tips from a former special operations officer. Get it now. Get a box of books. Give them to your teens for Christmas. Fantastic gift. Give us a one-two punch and we can learn from that beast. Yeah, you know, at the end of the day, these are all my lessons learned throughout my time in special operations, but also as a nonprofit leader and also in the corporate arena, even dealing with government. So this is all about really being an unstoppable force for good. It's purely pragmatic, and it's really talking about who you are as an individual identity and empowering you so that you are that force that God's called you to be. Amen to that. And I'm going to have all four of my kids read it. I don't even have to force them. I'm going to say, check this book out. They'll look at the cover and say, I'm in. I've got to get these teens on board. Last but not least, damonfriedman.com is your website. Everybody go there now. Damonfriedman, F-R-I-E-D-M-A-N.com. Subscribe to his newsletter. It's going to be fantastic content. And can you tell us where we can go to donate to your cause? Because I know people are absolutely going to be coming in your direction to donate. Yeah, just go to SOFmissions.org, SOFmissions.org, which is ShieldOfFaithMissions.org. And you can donate there and 100% of all the money goes straight into the veteran. That's a guarantee. This is fantastic. So once again, SOFmissions.org is your website to donate. This is so cool. How can you not want to donate to this cause just from what this beast looks like? This is fantastic. Everybody out there, if you know of vets, send them this information as well because they might want to jump on board and learn more about what Damon is working on. And then your personal website to bring in to speak, grab your books, Special Warfare CEO, book right here, Fox News contributor. All of this information, once again, is at DamonFreeman.com. One last one-two punch reminder question for you. If a person is feeling stuck, Doesn't know what their purpose is. What is one of the first practical steps they can take today to get on track for the calling God wants them to live out? I 100% recommend that whenever you find yourself in that place, pop that red star cluster. God is got open airway and communicating. And at the end of the day, it's what I did. I reached out to him and I'm here to tell you he answered. And it's exactly why I am what I'm who I am and where I am and what I'm doing. So give it a shot because God is always faithful. Damon, I'm watching you. Keep at it, buddy.