Jack Wagner

In part one, we met Jake, who is a Navy SWCC veteran who sustained a traumatic brain injury from heavy machine gun fire during his time in the military.

This injury, also known as a TBI, had horrible daily symptoms that only got worse with time and pushed Jake to the point where he considered taking his own life.

Unfortunately, humans have been fighting wars long before recorded history, and only recently have we begun to understand the hidden wounds that soldiers come back with and suffer from long after their time in the military, including PTSD, CTE, and traumatic brain injuries.

After exhausting every available doctor and resource at his disposal,

Jake decided to travel to Mexico to undergo a treatment using Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT.

It seems like every day we learn more and more about how devastating and widespread these types of trauma-related disorders are,

These are two ancient sacred medicines with long ceremonial histories that are now being examined by Western researchers for their potential to treat a wide range of conditions.

but also that it's much easier to get them than most people ever thought.

And the worst part is these are not at all limited to the military.

I know that part of the reason Jake wanted to share his own story on the show is that treatments like these might be intimidating or completely unknown to the people who need it most.

PTSD is something that can impact anyone who has gone through intense trauma.

Traumatic brain injuries and CTE are caused by concussions and especially impact athletes.

I think sharing this is important and also incredibly fascinating to hear such a vivid description of it.

We've been finding out more and more how many players in the NFL suffer from CTE, and a recent study has shown that even playing youth football could cause brain damage that leads to devastating consequences in adulthood.

With that, let's get back into the second part of Jake's story.

He has just woken up in Rosarito, Mexico after taking Ibogaine and is about to begin his day of DMT.

This episode is called Down the Silver Strand Part Two, and you're listening to Otherworld.

It's tragic to think that we're only just now discovering how severe and common these things are, especially when you think about how many individuals went completely untreated up until this point.

But fortunately, we may have some treatments to give relief to people suffering from these disorders, thanks to emerging research in psychedelic and plant medicine.

Even though these types of treatments are new to Western medicine, most of them have been used by shamans, healers, and medicine men for thousands of years in ceremonies that combine health, spirituality, and a bit of the supernatural.