Dr. Eugene Lipov

"Jamie’s initial meeting with Toolan on the podcast—completely unrelated to PTSI—was fortuitous. Because of that interaction, Dr. Lipov was brought into Womack to do Grand Rounds, enabling him to then go into the clinic and talk to the doctors about adapting to the DSR versus SGB.

Also because of that interaction, Jamie was brought into contact with Toolan, Dardia, and a handful of Special Forces soldiers who are well-respected in the military community, a community which has been dealing with PTSD more openly and aggressively than any other sector in the United States, and so has an invaluable base of resources and knowledge.

At every intersection, Jamie was becoming increasingly focused on PTSI and how it was affecting people and society. Soon, his other projects were suffering as he did deep dive research and had long conversations with Dr. Lipov and others."

I advocate for the replacement of PTSD (disorder) with "PTSI" (injury) to eliminate the stigma and save lives.

Join me by signing a formal request to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for this change: https://lnkd.in/gCDEsTTU

Together, we can make a difference. Show your support by purchasing our "It's PTSI" pin, with all proceeds benefiting Erase PTSD NOW: https://lnkd.in/gkmYrsu

Let's eliminate the stigma associated with this curable injury.

Recognizing the physiological aspects of PTSI helps bridge the gap between mental and physical health. It highlights the interconnectedness of mind and body and emphasizes the significance of holistic approaches to healing. By acknowledging the physiological dimension, we promote integrated care that addresses both psychological and physiological aspects of post-traumatic stress.

I advocate for the replacement of PTSD (disorder) with "PTSI" (injury) to eliminate the stigma and save lives.

Join me by signing a formal request to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for this change: https://lnkd.in/gCDEsTTU

Together, we can make a difference. Show your support by purchasing our "It's PTSI" pin, with all proceeds benefiting Erase PTSD NOW: https://lnkd.in/gkmYrsu

Let's eliminate the stigma associated with this curable injury.

What is your first thought when you hear the term “disorder”?

The term "disorder" can perpetuate stigma and prevent those in need from seeking the support they deserve.

By reframing the diagnosis as PTSI, we remove the implied stigma and embrace a more accurate representation of the condition. This shift encourages survivors to seek treatment.

By advocating for this change, we break down barriers and encourage open conversations about mental health. Let's create an atmosphere where seeking help becomes a sign of strength, and where healing is prioritized. I was a guest on Passionate World Talk Radio and we discussed the importance of changing the narrative around PTSI and how the DSR procedure helps patients.

Thank you Betsy Wurzel for having me on the show. You can hear the whole conversation here: https://bit.ly/3CyI3Bx

Let's eliminate the stigma associated with this curable injury.

PTSD as a medical term carries a weight of disorder. For survivors, it implies that their mind is weak and fragile. Even though medical professionals know this is not true, the process of shifting the paradigm is not easy.

By embracing PTSI, we recognize the true nature of post-traumatic stress as an injury, changing the narrative and empowering individuals to seek help and treatment. Changing the name to PTSI sends a powerful message that we acknowledge the impact of trauma and stand by those affected.

I advocate for the replacement of PTSD (disorder) with "PTSI" (injury) to eliminate the stigma and save lives.

Join me by signing a formal request to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for this change: https://lnkd.in/gCDEsTTU

Together, we can make a difference. Show your support by purchasing our "It's PTSI" pin, with all proceeds benefiting Erase PTSD NOW: https://lnkd.in/gkmYrsu

Let's eliminate the stigma associated with this curable injury.

I DON'T believe "PTSD," post-traumatic stress disorder, is a disorder. It is an injury incurred by some inflicted trauma, much like breaking a leg or twisting an ankle.

And yet, there is no stigma with those and most injuries.

I advocate for "PTSI" (short for post-traumatic stress injury) to replace the clinical diagnosis of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) to ELIMINATE the stigma that comes with the diagnosis — and save lives in the process. I INVITE YOU to sign a formal request to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for this change; click here - https://lnkd.in/gCDEsTTU

In 1980, my friend, colleague, and founding father of trauma science, Dr. Frank Ochberg, was on the committee that initially defined the term PTSD as an operational diagnosis. By 2012, he came to believe that severe trauma is not a "disorder" but rather a physical injury. Informed by further research and advances in medical technology, Dr. Ochberg began lobbying to change the term from "PTSD" to "PTSI." I stand in solidarity with him in pushing for this change — along with other medical professionals, backed by leaders and organizations outside the medical community. Evidence-based research supports our conviction, and it is a fact that "disorder" is a term that has produced a damaging stigma, compounding the plight of survivors and their loved ones.

Additionally, we have created a lapel pin you can purchase to show your support in ELIMINATING the stigma associated with this curable injury. All proceeds will benefit Erase PTSD NOW, a 501c3 non-profit devoted to eradicating post-traumatic stress from the lives of those most impacted by it. To purchase the pin, click here - https://lnkd.in/gkmYrsuA

The stigma surrounding PTSD is strong and this can prevent individuals from seeking help by creating obstacles in their recovery process, and contributing to feelings of isolation and shame.

One simple, but strong change can help them and this is why we support the name change to "PTSI" - post-traumatic stress injury. This is why we submitted a formal request to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for consideration to the next update of The DIagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

By replacing the term "disorder" with "injury," we acknowledge the physical nature of the condition and remove the negative connotations that hinder healing and prevent individuals from seeking help and recovering.

Together, we can make a difference. Join us in spreading awareness, challenging misconceptions, and promoting empathy. You can help us by signing the petition here: https://bit.ly/ptsi-petition

I'm so honored to be featured in this month's issue of Formidable Men Magazine. Thank you for sharing my story and helping me raise awareness of PTSI.

"Most of my clients have been living with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress for quite some time and to witness the relief they experience after treatment is why I continue to do what I do. My entire mission is to reduce or eliminate the effects that trauma has on a person and restore hope to their spirit. I’m honored that people fly in from all over the world for this treatment."

To read the whole interview, click here: https://formidablemen.com/dr-eugene-lipov-founder-of.../

We are proud and pleased to announce that June 27th will become PTSI Awareness Day in Illinois. Thanks to the Governor of the state of Illinois JB Pritzker and his understanding of this pressing matter, public knowledge of this day will help us raise awareness of PTSI as a significant health threat.

You can also help raise awareness and support the cause by purchasing and wearing the "It's PTSI" pin. Get your pin here: https://dreugenelipov.com/get-the-pin/

Jamie made a connection with Toolan, who spends his days as a commander for the military’s special operation forces, working out of Fayetteville’s Fort Bragg. A week or so after the podcast, Toolan reached out and asked Jamie to come to Bragg and speak to the Psychological Operations division (PSYOPS) about his book and being an influencer. The last author to speak there had been Simon Sinek, the author of The Infinite Game and Leaders Eat Last, company Jamie found flattering. Toolan admitted the pay wasn’t great, but Jamie would be speaking at the JFK Auditorium and would have the DOD as a client.

Before calling back to discuss the logistics, Jamie mentioned the Special Forces, Fort Bragg invitation to Dr. Lipov, who was now a friend he spoke with frequently.

“I know they’re doing my procedure at Womack,” said Dr. Lipov. Womack Army Medical Center is located on Fort Bragg. “Maybe you can ask your Special Forces contact what kind of results they’re seeing. I haven’t been able to find out much about how they’re using it.”

When Jamie explained to Toolan about his growing interest in posttraumatic stress and Dr. Lipov, the lieutenant colonel did look into it. He found that Womack was performing the procedure over a thousand times a year. Toolan brought Jamie onto a Zoom call with Master Sergeant Geoff Dardia, who runs Bragg’s Health Initiatives Task Force.

Within a few minutes, Jamie realized the Womack doctors were using an older version of Dr. Lipov’s procedure (closer to the original SGB), injecting only once, on one side. Even with the old methodology, they were getting 70 percent efficacy, though the positive effects were often wearing off within a year or two. If not done with the modern and full protocols, regression is much more likely and the relief is substantially less. The spouses of the Special Forces who were undergoing the SBG/DSR called it the As***le Shot . . . they said they knew when it started to wear off because their husbands went back to being as****es. They’d urge them to get the procedure again because of its astounding effect to bring them back to who they were before the ravages of war.

The SGB (pre-DSR )has recently been reported as a successful treatment of trauma and PTSI symptoms by four military institutions (Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Long Beach (California), Tripler Army Medical Center (Hawaii), Naval Medical Center (San Diego), but the doctors will hopefully be using the DSR improvement across the board.

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

Six weeks before he was set to travel to North Carolina, Jamie got permission to bring Dr. Lipov onto Bragg as a guest during his Iconist lecture. More importantly, Toolan set up Dr. Lipov with grand rounds at Womack, an arrangement that usually takes over a year to schedule, if it happens at all.

Jamie would also end up to doing a separate talk for Special Forces Psychological Operations. He says, “I felt like Kelly McGillis’s character in Top Gun.” Toolan scheduled extracurricular meetings that included dinners with Special Forces and their spouses, dangling from a rope under a Black Hawk helicopter, and—after he mentioned he was kicking around the idea of a PTSI documentary—a face-to-face meeting with Dardia and a group of combat soldiers dealing with PTSI.

“As I sat down to dinner with Toolan and Chris Faris, I was introduced to Steve Delellis and his wife. Steve said he’d heard that I had a fun morning. I told him how I had ridden under a Blackhawk that morning with a bunch of trainees, all of hanging from ropes. It was like Blackhawk Down, I told him. To which Steve replied, ‘Yeah? I went down in the first chopper.’

He went on to tell about how another soldier who crashed with him on that terrible day in Mogadishu walked up with his nose hanging off and said to Steve, a medic, ‘What should we do?’ Steve had replied, ‘Start shooting!’”

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

While Michael was resting at the hotel, Michael’s wife Shaw and Jamie stepped out to grab some air. They stopped at a raw food café and perused the grab-and-go items. The woman behind the counter, the owner, surprised them when Jamie casually asked how she was doing. She responded, “Okay. I mean, it’s been a year. Our front window was smashed in twice during the riots . . . and my ex-husband killed himself by running out the window of a high-rise.” What came next stunned them even further. “The good thing is, my daughter was there when he did it.”

The two glanced at each other with disbelief. How could it be a “good thing” for a child to see their parent end their own life? And did a stranger really just share what felt like an ordained conversation?

The owner went on to explain how her daughter had seen in her father’s eye that it wasn’t actually him in there anymore. His eyes were empty; what made him him was gone long before he leapt to his death. That awareness gave the daughter closure, a closure that her brother did not have, unfortunately.

Leaving, Jamie and Shaw couldn’t help but compare their own cases with the man who had just jumped. Their trauma had not risen to the level of suicidal ideation, for which they were grateful. And they’d had access to Dr. Lipov and his procedure. If this man had known about DSR, he would likely still be here.

Later, Michael put a hand on Jamie’s arm, very serious. “Imagine if everyone did this? I feel like I have a second chance at life. Imagine a city full of people who could have this kind of relief. This peace.”
Jamie closed his eyes. “Yes. What would that world look like?”

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

While Michael dressed, Dr. Lipov went to speak to Michael’s wife, who was with Jamie in the hallway. When the doctor told her that Michael had woken up and said he felt amazing, she surprised him by bursting into tears.

“You don’t understand. My husband has never said that. He never feels amazing,” she said.
A smiling Michael joined them as a young woman walked into the lobby of the surgical center, bounded over to Dr. Lipov, and enthusiastically embraced the doctor. After a long second, she turned to the group, her eyes shining above her Covid mask, and she said, “This is a miracle man.”
Michael and Jamie nodded, fully in agreement. Jamie then said to the doctor, joking, “She must work for you, how much are you paying her?”

After she left, Dr. Lipov teared up as he told the group that this same girl had come in for the procedure the previous day. “Yesterday, she couldn’t have me in the same room with her, much less touch her! She’s a survivor of sexual trauma—probably the worst sexual assault victim I’ve ever treated.” Now, the day after receiving DSR, she was a different person, casting off a glow of energy that had replaced the fear and hyper-anxiety.

The air outside was chilly and damp, a drizzle that threatened to become more. To Michael, what could have been just another gray winter day in Chicago offered bright silver skies and shimmering drops hanging from the tree branches. Twenty feet from the doors of the Stella Center, Michael said to Jamie, “If this is the only reason I was ever meant to know you, it is because of what just happened to me.”

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

Michael’s procedure was over quickly, with no side effects except the expected numbing on one side of his face. Besides slight sinus pressure, there didn’t seem to be any other outcome.

“I was considering not going back for the injection on the left side the next day. It seemed like nothing was really happening.”

He laid in his hotel room the rest of the afternoon, unsure what he was supposed to be feeling—but it was not yet relief. His wife asked him if he still wanted to join Dr. Lipov and Jamie for dinner. Not until Michael got up and showered did he start to feel something new. It occurred to him as he was getting dressed that one side of his body was now peaceful, while the other was, by contrast, a live wire, buzzing and erratic. He realized that the side at rest was the side on which he had received DSR that morning.

Dr. Lipov pulled up to their hotel in a Tesla, chauffeuring Jamie, Michael, and his wife to the restaurant. “Michael, how are you feeling?”
“My left side feels like it is going a million miles an hour, while the right feels calm and steady, like it’s going two miles an hour.”
Back at the Stella Clinic the next morning, Michael opted for the twilight anesthesia, so he was out when the injections were made on the left side of his neck. The doctor was there when he woke up in post-op.

“How do you feel?”
“Ummm . . .” He focused. “Amazing! I feel so good! I don’t know how to describe the peace to you, Dr. Lipov, but it’s amazing, that’s just the best way to describe it.”

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

Michael insulated himself by never reacting; he forced himself to remain stable, calm, and predictable no matter what how he felt or what was happening around him. In the face of instability, he constructed a facade of inner strength, and he became the one who the family relied on to solve problems and make things happen.

He carried a heavy burden of responsibility starting in elementary school, becoming anxious and hypervigilant, living with a persistent sense of unease. Marrying at a young age, hoping a stable, secure relationship with someone he could count on would bring something assured and certain to his life, it was a bitter blow when his first wife left him with no perceived warning, deepening the unease he carried. Then, his father died from an overdose, leaving him to deal with regret and sadness, as well as guilt for feeling partially relieved.

As an adult, Michael appeared to be the embodiment of the great American Dream, having worked himself up the ranks rather quickly in the golf industry and living in a beautiful home with, eventually, a beautiful family; he strove for perfection in his profession and was well respected for his stability, appearing to be never phased by his demanding job. His extended family continued to lean on him to make the big decisions. A slow drip of low-level trauma and stress continued to build in him, year after year. When he and his new wife had children, his sense of responsibility and the desire to provide the loving environment he’d craved as a child left him in a non-stop agitated state.

“I felt like I was living at Def Con One every day,” Michael says. “I took everything seriously, and nothing was ever good enough.” Then, it was during his fortieth birthday weekend, traveling with his wife and friends, that his grandmother, the stoic, unshakeable matriarch of his paternal family passed away. Michael was faced with the thing he could not control—death—on the very weekend he was celebrating his life.

His allostatic load had become too heavy, his fight-or-flight mechanism had been on for far too long. His brain couldn’t back off.

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov

Michael Thomas’s Posttraumatic Stress Injury did not come from a major event or living on the frontlines. His story isn’t necessarily huge, but it is human and hard. He is someone who would be considered a regular guy by his neighbors, if not a bit annoyingly handsome and successful with a lovely family.

Michael’s trauma started with a childhood of long-term “benign” neglect, beginning the day he was born and his biological father left the hospital to go on a trip with his mistress. His mother worked hard to care for him and his older sister. She did the best she could with what she had, moving close to her family for help. She remarried and, when Michael was in middle school, they moved to a new state for his stepfather’s job. Within ninety days of the move, the stepfather he had come to love as a father discovered he had terminal cancer and died a few months later.

The next man his mother married was intense and often hard to live with. As soon as Michael acquired a driver’s license and a car, he spent every summer working and living away from home. His older sister turned to hard drugs in high school. Over the years, Michael’s biological father would occasionally call, making plans, inviting Michael on trips, or offering gifts that always fell through at the last minute.

The Invisible Machine is OUT NOW! To learn more about how trauma affects all of us, get your copy here - https://dreugenelipov.com/ and follow Dr. Eugene Lipov