Veterans struggling with trauma and mental health issues must communicate and seek professional help rather than isolating themselves.

“the way that you deal with it isn't by shutting it all down and sticking in a box and never talking about it”

Wilson advocates for breaking the stigma surrounding veteran mental health by fostering open communication and community support systems.

“we got to break down that stigma we got to change the conversation we got to own it when we're not doing well create a tribe around us that supports us and then we can push forward”

Open dialogue and vulnerability, even regarding painful experiences like veteran suicide, are essential for healing and connection.

“Suicide is not something that we should cower from. It's not something that shouldn't be talked about. It's not something that shouldn't be discussed openly. I mean, it's it's a massive component of existence, right?”

Preventing suicide among veterans is best achieved by focusing on transitions and relationships rather than only addressing issues once they exist.

“I keep coming back to Transitions and relationships and I'm fortunate and that I've I have I had great you know my big thing was I love the people I worked with and I was in the same organization for over 17 years last 17 plus years of my career was with the same people”

Veterans need to maintain connection with their community and tribe to prevent suicide and manage mental health.

“one is being away from the tribe that's a humongous thing you know you're part of something I was eight years in I did eight years in the military 25 years you've been in athletics your whole life and then let's say that you can't be around that Community anymore you know how does that make you feel”

Veterans should choose to live positively and not let trauma make them victims.

“make a choice because it really is it's choose to be a victim or not because if you choose to be a victim you're going to always look at it from a victim standpoint you know look at what happened to me oh war is woe is me you know what use it don't use it as a crutch to lean on”

Veterans must take active, personal responsibility for seeking assistance and utilizing mental health tools rather than adopting a victim mentality.

“nobody owes you a [ __ ] thing man yeah like I did this for my country Roose a volunteer army yeah volunteer military no I didn't get drafted yeah now I believe in the workman's comp aspect of it you know what I mean as far as entries that I got like okay on that piece”

Veterans must actively take responsibility for their own lives and adopt a higher purpose to overcome entitled, victimized mindsets rather than waiting for others to fix them.

“you have to work on yourself in order for me to be able to help you you can't call me up on the phone after you just blew through three bottles of Jack to tell me that life isn't worth it and you're [ __ ] up what are you doing for yourself to as the military would say unfuck yourself”

Psychedelic therapy is highly effective for treating mental trauma and addiction in veterans.

“I would recommend that to anybody who's dealing with any type of mental trauma not just military people there's there's just so much benefit that comes out of that”

Tu Lam claims that healing from his trauma and transition required a deliberate shift to eastern practices that focus on internal work rather than just western medication.

“The army the military practices western style medication right western style medicine is i'm gonna fill you up with meds to make that go away but all of it's temporary the eastern side of medication is internal right you're you're not you're relying on the externals you're relying on the internal to”

The veteran mental health treatment model at the VA is fundamentally broken because it prioritizes pharmaceutical intervention over holistic healing, intentionally keeping veterans dependent on medica

“they want to put everything in that PTS box cuz that means pharmaceuticals, they can throw all the all the money makers at it that just keep you sick and unhealthy.”