The Jordan Harbinger Show
1306: Bipolar Confession Could End Soldier's Pension | Feedback Friday
03 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: How does untreated Bipolar II affect military personnel?
This episode is sponsored in part by Conspirituality Podcast. You know how I'm always talking about critical thinking and spotting manipulation? Well, there's a podcast that's all about dismantling new age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy mad yogis. Basically the wild overlap of spirituality and misinformation. It's called the Conspirituality Podcast.
The hosts, a journalist, cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic, dive deep into how this stuff spreads, from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation's dystopian vision of the future to how former leftists get pulled into far-right conspiracies.
An interesting episode to check out is called Speaking Truth to Goop, where Jen Gunter breaks down the pseudoscience behind the wellness industry in a way that is super entertaining and eye-opening. It's sharp, funny, and makes you a lot harder to fool, which, if you listen to this show, you know I'm all about that.
From exploring cults to analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspirituality Podcast will help you stay informed against misinformation and resist fear tactics. Find Conspirituality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Feedback Friday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger.
As always, I'm here with Feedback Friday producer, the crystal is helping me turn these larvae of chaos and confusion into butterflies of insight and wisdom, Gabriel Mizrahi.
Ah, whimsical today.
You can tell by my voice I'm in a whimsical mood, yeah. I know that sounded like a description of someone's lower back tattoo, but I get a lot of emails about listeners spreading their wings this week. I don't know. It made me kind of happy.
Dude, our show, fam, really do be metamorphosing.
That's right. Liquefying into imaginal discs and reconstituting. On the Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. And our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker.
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Chapter 2: What options are available for reconnecting with estranged children?
Yeah, I know. So it's a really intense calculation to make. No two ways around it. That said, we also ran your story by Colonel Christian Magnell, pastor and army chaplain and friend of the show, just to see if there might be another angle here. And Christian came to the exact same conclusion that our first expert did. Disclose everything, get the help, risk being separated from the military.
It is not worth living with untreated bipolar disorder, which could quite possibly kill you. But also, Christian had some insight into what kind of money is actually at stake here, and I thought this was really interesting. He said, yes, opening up about this does risk being kicked out, but how much money is actually on the line is actually kind of an interesting calculation.
Now, we don't know your rank. We don't know which retirement system you opted for. There are a variety of factors that go into the pension calculation, but Since you're retiring at 39, you probably enlisted, so we're going to just assume a couple things.
Both Christian and I separately did some quick research on this, and it sounds like it'll be 50% of your current pay, which will probably come out to 30 to, say, $40,000 to $50,000 a year, somewhere between, say, $2,500 and $3,250 per month.
So that money is meaningful, definitely a good cushion, but it's not like I can buy a property and kick back for the next 40 years kind of money.
And that was Christian's point. Look, we understand that you don't come from money and it is super easy for us to just write off that amount and say, get better. But as Christian put it, it isn't generational wealth, right? In all likelihood, you would still need to work. So maybe that also lowers the potential sacrifice.
I think it does, although it's all relative. Also, Christian told us that even in a world where you are med boarded out, which again, we don't know is for sure going to happen, but if you are, there might be some disability money you'd have access to. Something else to consider might lower the stakes even further.
So let's talk about where to seek treatment. In the past, we've talked about MFLCs, military family and life counselors. They can be a great option for military folks who need to talk, but for someone with your level of risk, probably not appropriate.
And generally speaking, MFLCs aren't the most rigorous from what we understand. I'm pretty sure they don't have the same standards as a licensed therapist, which could, you know, that could be less than ideal.
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Chapter 3: How can someone regain confidence after a career change?
Oops, guess I left my boxer briefs on Charlize's floor.
It seems like a very deliberate oversight on both their parts.
Or he came home and he missed this guy by seconds or minutes.
Oh, I had not considered this possibility.
Like, oh, my God, my husband's home early and dude runs out of the shower and just like jumps his pants on and goes out the back door and then doesn't have time to fuck around with his dirty underwear.
Yep. The old David Duchovny.
Yeah, exactly. The old David Duchovny.
So you think he came home early. She didn't know he was coming. They heard him coming in the door. The guy bolted out the back and just. Yeah. Yeah. And left the thing behind.
Like he was either in the shower or in the wife. Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What role does AI play in managing healthcare logistics?
And so the question becomes, what exactly is that vulnerable spot and how did it get created?
Yeah, that is the question. Well, like you said, it sounds like a few things. There might be some pre-existing I'm not enough-ness that almost certainly goes back to childhood for most people. And by the way, I think every single human being has that fear to some degree. That's not unique to him. This is like one of the defining features of human beings.
For sure. Am I enough? Am I worthy? Can I handle this? Yeah, that's universal.
An especially interesting quality in a cop, though, because a lot of people drawn to law enforcement, not all, of course, but many, have a real desire to protect, to be of service, to be responsible for their fellow man. And so even though he's left that field, it is an interesting question.
Does this potential wound we're talking about partly explain the draw to a career where, to put it simply, you have to prove your value constantly, you know, where you have to step up to the plate and put yourself in harm's way and where sometimes you get to be the hero?
Maybe. That's really interesting. Especially because that's also kind of what he did for his ex. He was the hero while she was in school, logistically, financially. So in a similar way, I'm wondering, like, was that also a response to this fear of not being enough? Is it possible that that's what he was getting, quote unquote, out of that arrangement with his ex?
Was it a way to prove to himself and to her that he was enough?
And is that part of why it was so devastating to find out that it still wasn't enough for her?
Yeah, I mean, that tracks for me. I also suspect that this played a role in the whole, well, I did this to myself, so I can't regret it later thing.
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Chapter 5: How do generational values impact workplace boundaries?
And obviously, turning to AI for medical advice is dicey, not something anyone should do without a medical expert's input. And I also understand that there are very real privacy concerns. I also know I'm going to get emails from people raging about the data centers going up in their town so that my mom can write her endocrinologist an email about her calcium levels or whatever. I hear you.
I get it. I really do. I promise you can save us both the email.
Or just have ChatGPT write it for you. Make AI get mad at Gabe. Save a few minutes, just saying.
That's right. Then you're the asshole for putting up a data center. Also a great use case, by the way. But using AI just for the admin part of managing a health problem, like research and notes and generating summaries and asking it to move between the details and the bigger picture of what's happening, that is a total game changer. It has been an incredible help.
So that's my recommendation of the week, using AI to help you with the admin and the research layer of your healthcare. Having gone through this now with my mom, who by the way is doing much better now, we finally got some answers and some interventions we needed, which makes me very happy. Having dealt with all of this, I know that the system and the language are very daunting.
And as you get older, it gets harder to track the hundreds of details you need to track to get good healthcare, to get the answers you need and follow up with the right people. So this strikes me as also an excellent use case for AI. So just thought I would share that. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea,
I understand there are pros and cons, but if you need help with this stuff, I would give it a go. It has been a godsend. Okay, what's next? Hi, Jordan and Gabe. Love the show. A while back on episode 1236, you guys offered some great insights on a letter from a guy whose younger millennial girlfriend didn't want to work weekends and was maybe sending the wrong signals to her Gen X boss.
You remember this one?
Yes. This is the woman who, when her boss was like, hey, how's it going with our super important client that you are in charge of on a Monday morning? She's like, well, I haven't heard back yet, but also I didn't check my email because it was the weekend, you know, like boundaries.
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Chapter 6: What are the risks of disclosing mental health issues in the military?
The course is free. No shenanigans. It's at sixminutenetworking.com. The drills take a few minutes a day. Dig the well before you get thirsty. Build relationships before you need them. all free, sixminutenetworking.com. Show notes and transcripts on the website, advertisers, deals, discounts, ways to support the show at jordanharbinger.com slash deals.
I'm at jordanharbinger on Twitter and Instagram. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. Gabe is on Instagram, Gabriel Mizrahi. This show is created in association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Robert Fergerty, Ian Baird, Tata Sidlowskis, and of course, Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own. I'm a lawyer, but not your lawyer.
Consult a qualified professional before implementing anything you hear on the show. Ditto Corbin Payne. Our clinical experts input is general psychological information based on research and clinical experience. It's intended to be general and informational in nature. It does not represent or indicate an established clinical or professional relationship with those inquiring for guidance.
Ditto Christian Magnell. Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love. If you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use a good dose of the advice we gave here today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn. And we'll see you next time.
We're more connected than ever and somehow more vulnerable than we've ever been. Cyber crisis author Eric Cole explains how AI-driven attackers, corporate-scale scam operations, and aging systems have turned everyday tech into an open door.
So you want to be 100% secure? You want your family to be 100% secure? It's easy. Pack up your bags, sell everything, move to Pennsylvania, and become Amish. Because I'll tell you, I hacked a lot of things in my life. I have not been able to hack a candle and a horse and buggy. If you have no functionality or no benefit, you can be 100% secure.
And to give you a more realistic example, my smartphone. As soon as you add any functionality, you're decreasing security. Security and functionality are inverse. 100% security is zero functionality. What is the value and benefit? What is the risk and exposure? Is the value worth the risk? If the value of benefit is worth the risk, do it.
If the value of benefit is not worth the risk, don't do it. And the reality is, and I always tell people, the most dangerous word on the Internet is the F word. And it's not what you're thinking. The F word is free. Free is not free because all the times when you have a free app. you're basically allowing them to access your microphone or your camera or your pictures.
If they ask you and you say yes and you give them permission, that's actually an authorized app and it's allowed. And the reality is most people don't even realize when they install these apps, they're hitting yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and allowing access. If I want to make my smartphone 100% secure, Smash it, burn it, throw it in a ditch, turn it off, and it'll be 100% secure.
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Chapter 7: What lessons can be learned from personal stories shared in this episode?
You've got a journalist who knows the ins and outs of fact-checking. A cult researcher who's going down rabbit holes you didn't even know existed. A philosophical skeptic to keep everybody in check. They're taking on everything from RFK Jr.
's anti-vax talking points, which I mentioned on the show, and many of you had strong feelings about that, to the downright murky ideology followed by Yevgeny Prigozhin and members of the Wagner Group, the guy who just died in a very mysterious plane crash over in Russia, and
And they're not just throwing opinions at you, they're providing insights that make you go, huh, okay, I've never thought about it that way. And the best part is they're guided by one principle we should all get behind, which is good, proven science. You know, like Skeptical Sunday, for example.
Tons of interesting episodes like the one about the wellness industry or the episode on EMF and 5G and chemtrails. It is similar to Skeptical Sunday in a different format.
Chapter 8: How can one navigate the challenges of career and mental health?
From exploring cults to analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspirituality Podcast will help you stay informed against misinformation and resist fear tactics. Find Conspirituality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.