Welcome to Otherworld.
I'm your host, Jack Wagner.
The story you're about to hear comes from a man named Jake,
who is a Navy Special Operations veteran with an incredible story that is not only relevant to the themes of the show,
but also sheds light on how ancient plant medicine is making major breakthroughs in Western medical science.
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.
It seems like every day we learn more and more about how devastating and widespread these types of trauma-related disorders are,
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.
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.
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.
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.