Can First Responders Truly Heal from Burnout? - BJ

"It's going to be the work of the Holy Spirit that ultimately breaks through the barriers that people build." ~ BJ

BJ, a 24-year firefighter and special operations responder, opens up about the calls that never leave you—the wreckage he’s witnessed, the scenes he grew up around, and the cumulative weight of what first responders carry long after the sirens fade. His story reveals how years of service and personal loss pushed him to rethink what real healing looks like.

This episode explores why mental health is more than mindset—how sleep debt, hormone imbalance, gut health, and chronic stress impact the brain and body—and how faith, paired with biology, became a path forward. 

As CEO of Healing Hometown Heroes, BJ shares practical tools that actually work: post-shift decompression, peer support, honest family conversations, and movement as medicine.

If you serve—or love someone who does—this conversation offers hope you can use today.

Subscribe, share with a first responder, and leave a review telling us which tool you’ll try first.
You don’t have to carry this alone.

Connect with BJ and Healing Hometown Heroes:

https://www.h3adventures.com/

Mailing Address: 5851 Marion County Rd. Lady Lake, FL 32159

Email: info@h3adventures.org   

Tel: 352-250-5615

Hear Marly's episode: What if stress is the brain's response, not something wrong with you? https://www.buzzsprout.com/1771834/episodes/18288924

Learn more about THIS:www.thehealinginsharing.com

Follow: 

Instagram: @TheHealingInSharing

YouTube: @TheHealingInSharing11

Email: TheHealingInSharing@gmail.com

Subscribe: Apple podcast, Spotify, etc

Book: Why I Survived; Where Survival Becomes Strength

The background music is written, performed and produced exclusively by Melissa Turri.
https://melissaturrimusic.com/

Transcript

Welcome, Mission, And Prayer

SPEAKER_04 0:13

Imagine this. When you speak the truth about your darkest chapters, your story becomes the light someone else has been praying for. I'm Jennifer Lee, founder of the Healing and Sharing, host of the I Need Blue podcast, author, and a survivor who turned pain into purpose. God called me to use my story and share my voice to create this special space just for you. To learn more, visit iNeedblue.net. I must share a trigger warning. This podcast includes discussions of trauma, violence, and sensitive experiences meant to empower and support. Please prioritize your well-being. And remember there is strength in asking for help. A heartfelt thank you to my beautiful friend Melissa Turre for creating the opening melody. To learn more about her incredible journey, visit MelissaTurrymusic.com. Now let's begin today's story. Do you know what it feels like to have service in your heart? My guest today, BJ, does. He believes that a servant's heart is a God given gift, and every morning he wakes up determined to pour that gift back into the community he loves. As a first responder, he follows the path laid by those who came before him. His father, his grandfather, his uncle, and so many others who lived lives of courageous service. PJ grew up in a family that owned a wrecker service, and as a young boy, he often rode along to emergency calls. He witnessed situations that most children never see, some heartbreaking, some traumatic, all unforgettable. One scene in particular left him feeling powerless. And in that moment he knew. He had to learn how to help, how to answer the fire in his chest, how to live out the calling to serve that had been planted deep within him. For the past 24 years, BJ has done precisely that, working in the special operations unit as a paramedic and firefighter. His passion extends far beyond helping strangers. It includes standing shoulder to shoulder with his brothers and sisters in uniform. BJ has also walked through the unimaginable. He has lost multiple family members, all first responders, to suicide. Carrying that pain, he realized he was meant to serve in more ways than one. Today, he is the CEO of Healing Hometown Heroes, pouring hope into the lives of those who give everything to protect ours. He is a devoted Christ follower, a loving husband, a father of five, a grandfather, and a steadfast servant to his neighbors in his community. Today I welcome someone whose journey through pain, purpose, and faith has shaped him into a true beacon for his community. BJ, thank you for being my guest today, and welcome to the I Need Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Thank you so much. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

You're so welcome.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Do you want to have a quick word of prayer before we Yeah, go ahead. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for your blessings. Pray that what's said here today glorifies your name, Lord. Um that we are examples of your character. Pray that our message here today reaches uh the ears that need to hear it. And just pray for your safety over all of us uh in our families and friends, Lord. Just be with us today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Amen. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Whether people realize it or not, the only way to true healing is through the message of the truth, and that is a relationship with Christ. So and I don't I don't get into that a whole lot when I'm speaking to people. I try to let that come out in in the process organically as we're trying to build a relationship with the different individuals. Because you can you can try to force feed the truth to people all day long, but at the end of the day, it's only going to be the work of the Holy Spirit that ultimately breaks through the barriers that that people build.

Childhood On Crash Scenes

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Yeah, I have found that as well in what I do. I uh I go out and have a lot of simple conversations with people. And um, through listening and also listening to the Holy Spirit, we're guided to the direction that we're supposed to go. And in in that moment, it might be right, and it might take a few more conversations before we are meant to um, you know, guide that way. Well, as we started out in the introduction, uh, we dug into a little bit of your childhood and how your family owned this record service and how you would go on some of these calls. How old were you when you started to actually get in that truck with your dad and arrive on a scene?

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Oh, well, I mean, as far back as I can remember, I can picture some of the different scenes that uh barely able to look over the dashboard, but I was riding in the truck with my with my parents to different accident scenes to pick up, you know, vehicles involved in crashes uh and to them back to the storage yard. So as far back as I can remember, I have some images of different crash scenes, vehicle accident scenes, uh, that I would have ride to with my dad.

SPEAKER_04 6:46

You know, uh I never really stopped to think about the fact that a record service, they do have to show up on scenes.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah, a lot of times uh the record service is the driver is the individual cleaning up a lot of the a lot of the glass and debris from from the crash site. And with that, you know, that also includes any type of anything left over from the trauma of the accident scene. So I you know, I can remember vividly as a as a young kid rolling up on an underride where a vehicle uh slid up underneath a tractor trailer, and and I don't know how detailed you want to get in the podcast, but uh a decapitation was involved in it, and and I can remember the smell, I can remember the scene, everything surrounding that particular uh car crash. And the record company tows that vehicle back to their storage yard or to uh a facility, and usually you don't just see the vehicle once. I mean, as a record company, you're visiting the the storage lot numerous times. So that vehicle, in whatever condition you picked it up in, is sitting inside the storage lot for an extended period of time waiting on the investigation or what have you to be completed. So obviously curiosity will sometimes get you in and you'll walk over, take another look at the vehicle. And I can remember a number of different uh vehicles where someone lost their life and it was stored in our storage facility and you know open for for me as a young individual to be able to go over and take a look at. And it's it's kind of a when you look at somebody that's still developing it is kind of a catch-22. Do you want a young child looking at that? Maybe not necessarily, but in the same breath, early on, those lessons of consequence uh or the aftermath uh of an incident where bad decisions were made, you know, I began to learn and see the consequence of poor poor decision making. So that was long before you had YouTube or other sites that you could visit to see people doing stupid things and then the outcomes of those actions. I saw it firsthand within the uh record service, you know, the aftermath of poor decisions, DUI or or just not paying attention stored in you know inside of our storage law.

SPEAKER_04 9:26

I mean, how do you process that as a child? Was there any conversations with your parents? I I know that wasn't quite so common back in the day to have those types of conversations.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, no, it it it got to the point where it was it was normal growing up around that uh in that environment. It was it was a normal thing. I didn't really think anything of it, uh, although it was somewhat laying the groundwork for you know who I would ultimately become.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

I know as an adult, there's uh one accident I drove by. I will never ever forget uh because it involved a motorcycle. And you could see where they had hit the vehicle and you know, the blood on the vehicle of the individuals laying on the ground. And I know how just that one scene I I see it vividly, you know, and I can't imagine seeing that as a child, but then also, you know, as an adult. But there was a moment where you realize I need to know how to help. And that was one accident that you all had come upon. Can you take us into that moment?

Moments That Sparked The Calling

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Absolutely. Yeah, there were actually a few different accident scenes where I was more or less one of the first people on the scene. The incident had just occurred. The dust hadn't even settled, and and I rolled up in my personal vehicle or in or in the wrecker when I was actually old enough to drive the wrecker. It was she was actually one of the customers at our shop because we had we had a wrecker business and then a shop also. So I grew up turning wrenches inside of that shop, and she was one of our customers, and she pulled out in front of a concrete business truck, and she was T-boned, and the trauma was was pretty significant. Ultimately, she ended up passing away. And walking up on the vehicle, I immediately recognized who who this lady was, and she was a sweet old lady. Um, and you could obviously tell that she was either deceased right there or very close to being deceased. And it was one of three incidents where I sat there holding, basically holding the lady, not knowing anything about any type of emergency medicine or trying to stabilize, just sitting there holding and praying with no tools in a toolbox to actually be be able to do any meaningful assistance. I need to learn how to how to help people in these situations. I need to I need the knowledge and the experience and the skill sets to be able to actually make a meaningful difference. I think it was in either 87 or 88. It actually happened on on my birthday. We owned a gas station in Lady Lake, and long story short, the gentleman that was uh driving under the influence ran into our gas pumps and basically blew the whole front of our gas station up. It happened on my birthday. So when you talk about images that really sink in, my sister and I were standing in front of the of the station, the gas station, when all of this occurred. So we we watched the vehicle run into the gas pumps, erupt in the flames. Uh my dad grabbed a hold of my sister and I, took us to the opposite side of the station from the in-ground fuel tanks and the gas pumps, and then he ran back out and the guy was so he was either so drunk or the combination of being so drunk and injured that he was still sitting in the truck. And my dad ran out and grabbed him, pulled him out of the truck, threw him out in the the middle of the roadway. There were power lines down, power poles, the front of the station's on fire. We had people that were pumping gas at the time of the incident. So there were there were a number of different incidences like that growing up that kind of formed this mindset that, you know, this this is kind of the hand that I'm being dealt. I need to do something to be able to respond to it with meaningful actions.

SPEAKER_04 13:49

Yeah. I mean, the gas station one, that is so complex, right? I mean, so many different things could have occurred in that in that short amount of time.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yeah, and I think that day I had turned either seven or eight. I can't remember the exact age I was, with the final one where a mother she was hit, pushed into the median, and impact in the median ejected her out of the vehicle. She ended up passing away. Uh, Ian and a nurse sat there and basically watched her take her last breath while her son was in the vehicle and trapped between the dashboard and the seat, screaming out for his mom. So that last incident of not knowing what to do really kind of it it catapulted me into the mindset of I really need to get somewhere where I can start learning how to how to respond and actually make a meaningful difference, as opposed to sitting here and holding somebody's hand and praying with them and then watching them take their last breath.

SPEAKER_04 14:51

But you know, in in those last moments of their life, you holding the hands and praying um lasts uh such an impact on them that you'll never be able to hear about it. I mean, for them, they had they had to be so thankful in their last moments.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

That is the hope, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 15:09

Yeah. Was it before you became a first responder or after that you started to realize the emotions, uh, the unprocessed trauma that you had seen for so many years? Uh when did that kick in?

Unprocessed Trauma And Faith Tension

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Probably about 10 years into uh my professional career as a firefighter, I began to realize, you know, there are some injuries, there's some trauma that needs to be dealt with. Uh I I've always been a man of faith uh for many, many years. And having the the thoughts, the sense of hopelessness, it didn't sit right there because I had this strong faith. I knew exactly where my hope lies, but I was still dealing with emotions and thought processes that that didn't make sense. So I really sat down and began to evaluate, you know, what is the reason? Why am I feeling and thinking the way that I'm that I'm thinking? I have my faith, I know and I'm secure in my salvation, I know where my hope lies. Why it why do I still feel the way I do, and why do I still have the thoughts that I have? So I started digging digging deeper into not just the mental aspect of it, but also the the physical aspect, the biochemistry, the actual elements that have a huge influence on your mental health, a lot of times they derive from your physical health. And I would say probably in in most uh scenarios or or cases, the the initial unhealthy thought process is derived from an unhealthy body.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

Yeah, I think that's a side of things that is rarely, if ever, discussed. Now, you come from a family of first responders. So again, thank you all for your service. Were these types of conversations in regards to the heaviness, the emotional heaviness um they were carrying? Did that ever come up? Did they ever say to you before you decided to be a first responder, here's a little bit to expect?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

No, absolutely not. I was it was a different generation back then, kind of still in the mindset of, you know, kind of suck it up. Uh, this is it is what it is. Process what you can process at, you know, as a kid, this is this is life. And in some instances or from some angles, that is true, but there's also more to it than just it is what it is. There there are physical aspects of it that you can you can address that help you to process the information better. But back then, no, the fire service was completely different fire service back then. Uh the fire department in our local area where my father was a was a volunteer, my uncle were a volunteer, they were volunteer, uh strictly. And to give you an idea of the different uh the difference in services, me at a very young age, not even teenage age yet, I was able to ride along to to different calls with them. You know, jump up, jump up in the front seat of a super tanker or jump up in the in the engine and ride with my dad or uncle to some of the different emergency calls today. Oh my goodness, it never ever happened.

SPEAKER_04 18:44

Now, uh sadly, you have lost family members who were first responders. Do you think the unprocessed um trauma experiences contributed to that decision?

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Absolutely. Um Because you you don't only have the trauma and experience from just the work, you also have life, uh everything happening outside of the fire department or outside of the police department. You have all those all of those stressors as well that that can compound. But I absolutely believe that what my uncle and my great-grandfather, uh what they experienced within the fire service and within law enforcement contributed directly to their ultimate decision to uh in their own lives.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

It's like, how do you process that?

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Uh thought by thought. Um, go to the scriptures and and seek the truth in the scriptures and pray about it and take a good hard look at your own system of how you process information and experiences and and go from there. Research, continue to learn. Uh continue to teach yourself best practices, know your body, know how your body processes uh what it is you're experiencing.

Culture Shift In First Responder Mental Health

SPEAKER_04 20:09

Do you have a scripture that you lean into the most that you would like to share?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Well, yeah, within the last decade, I would say uh Hebrews 4.14, uh, where, and I'll paraphrase for you we don't serve a savior that is unable to empathize with our every weakness. So basically, what that is saying in black and white, it doesn't matter what we're dealing with, Christ knows exactly what we're dealing with. He has experienced it and he's able to, he's able to relate to us. It's just like whenever we uh go to a peer program or or any type of program where we sit around a bunch of of folks that we're we're able to communicate with. It's the relatability that that makes the huge difference in how we build a relationship with those people and allows us to let our guard down or express more freely and just do that that data dump things that we're dealing with. It's hard to do that when you're trying to communicate with somebody that's not able to relate to your situation. So for the last, I would say probably decade or so, I've leaned heavily into that scripture and and that, you know, my my savior, the one that that I place all of my faith into, is able to empathize and relate to all situations that I find myself in.

SPEAKER_04 21:33

Yes. You know, speaking of situations, your position in uh you've been in this field now for 24 years. Amazing. Um, but you're in a little bit more of a specialized field, a little bit more high-risk calls. Can you take us into what that looks like?

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Yeah, sure. So I'm I'm a member of a special operations team within the fire department that I work for. So what that entails is the more technical rescue aspects, high angle rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse, hazardous materials, uh confined spaces, any of those calls that come out that are more involved than just your typical house fire or car crash, any of those calls that are going to require more involvement and more technical aspect, we get called to. So with that, um our call low call load is generally a little bit higher than than the average fire truck. Uh if it's a major incident, major car crash with extrication where somebody's trapped in the vehicle, generally speaking, we get called to that because we have the education, the training, and the skill sets to hopefully accommodate a quicker extrication of the of the patient from the vehicle. We pour a lot more time into training uh and education than than just the average fire truck uh crew.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Aaron Powell And within that training, is there any of that, hey, here's a little bit of what to expect on the emotional side, and here's the resources available, please ask for help versus the whole, listen, we man up or we just don't talk about this type mentality.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Within the culture, there's really no extra training for the mental health side of it. It's getting a little bit better. There are some state um legislators that are pushing for more focus on the mental aspect of it. There's a lot more data, a lot more research that's coming out on uh what we experience, not just from not just from the specific incident view, but our sleep schedule, our exercise schedules, what it what that is actually doing physically to our bodies that contributes to poor mental health. So there are steps being taken to move in that direction, but as far as specific training, a lot of our training online now, and they'll send out the annual uh training on mental health. But I think a lot of the guys more than likely know it's a a click and delete. It's not an area that that men or women really want to delve into because they don't understand the importance of it. So it's a click and delete, or just play the video to get through it. That way you get the the training hours.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Yeah, absolutely. Because sometimes sitting with it is actually like, oh, I might feel something, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yeah. It might actually bring to light something that I've been dealing with personally that's a problem, and everybody has kind of a hard time really looking inward and analyzing the problems that they're dealing with.

SPEAKER_04 24:55

Right. Being a first responder doesn't just affect the first responder, it affects their family too. And it's not easy.

Family Impact And Communication At Home

SPEAKER_00 25:06

No, it's it's not. A lot of firefighters, they'll go for their 24-hour shift and they don't have a proper system in place to decompress once they come off shift in the morning. Um, a lot of spouses really don't understand the details of the job. So when when I come home in the morning, my my wife has a pretty good idea because I'm very open, very open with her. I want her to understand if I come home and I'm in a bad mood, give me a little bit of time to decompress, and then we can talk about whatever it is that that I ran or experienced that is in my head. A lot of individuals think they're protecting their spouse from from the elements of the job, but in the long run, many times it does more damage by withholding information than than your protection. So being open with the spouse is absolutely paramount. Explain to them, this is how I'm feeling, this is what I ran, this is what I saw. If your children are old enough to comprehend and process the information, share with them. Look, dad's just, I'm I'm out of my element right now because I'm processing something that that I experienced at work. It has nothing to do with you. Just give me a little bit of time and you and I can sit down and we'll talk about it. Because again, being able, being able to bring the information home and educating our kids on consequence, we have a a a front row seat to consequence, and we should be sharing some of that with our kids and not just relying on social media or YouTube or something like that to educate and train our train our kids. But it is a difficult, yeah, it it it is very difficult within those relationships, and that's I think that's part of the reason why, or a major reason why the divorce rates are so extremely high within the first responder field because you're coming home and trying to explain what you've experienced to somebody that's not able to relate. But that's that's an obstacle that you have to navigate. That's a man or a woman that you've you've vowed the rest of your life to. So have a conversation about what it is exactly that you do for a living.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Yeah, communication and not shielding so so much, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Right.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

Yeah. And uh, it's interesting because you shared that you uh you know, share particular things with your son that feel age appropriate. And you learned as a young child as well, uh, just in a different way, visually, of what decisions looked like. So it's almost like full circle for you. And instead of shutting it all off, you're like, let's just have, you know, conversation and you know how to tailor it appropriately, you know?

SPEAKER_00 28:03

No, no, absolutely. And I can I'll give you an example. Constantly harping on my on my my son, because he loves to ride his bike, but he's constantly jumping on his bike without a helmet on. And I can't tell you how many kids I've ran on that have crashed their bike, no helmet on, and we've had to fly out to Arnold Palmer or ORMC. So you you can only you can only explain so much unless they see what you're trying to describe to them, it doesn't really sink in. So every now and then, if it's something that I'm having a hard time getting getting in the picture, I'll I'll pull up a YouTube video and show this is what this is what daddy see saw. This is why I want you to wear your helmet all the time. It doesn't matter if you're just doing one lap, throw your helmet on. Because you can easily, you can easily end up on the helicopter flying down the ORMC or R.O. Palmer because you didn't take the two seconds to put your helmet on. There are plenty of videos out there that you can utilize to this is to share and show this is this is why I'm so adamant about you putting your helmet on. Not that I'm trying to take fun away from you, but we see it all the time.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

Mm-hmm. And it's so important that you're the one having the conversation with him because uh otherwise he's gonna be having it with his friends, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Correct. Yeah.

Founding Healing Hometown Heroes

SPEAKER_04 29:31

Mm-hmm. Yep. Okay, so oh gosh, I want to get into healing hometown heroes because that was born from pain and purpose in basically a culmination of everything that you have seen within your family, outside of your family. And you said there is a need, and you felt that calling, that fire in your heart of I need to do something. I don't want to feel helpless. So take us into that moment of now how you are serving your brothers and sisters, other first responders.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah, absolutely. So the whole process of getting to where I am today with Healing Hometown Heroes was really, really an kind of an organic process. Years ago, when my oldest son was coming into to age where he'd be able to go hunting, I was looking for looking for other men to be able to invest in my son to kind of solidify the lessons that I was trying to teach him. The whole uh third-person psychology type thing where your kid will believe a total stranger 100% over what you try to teach them. So I was kind of looking for that from uh an organization with uh healthy male mentors to be able to teach them. And without going into a whole long um description, through that, getting my sons involved with that, I got involved with it over the process of a couple of years, got more and more involved with it, actually became vice president of that organization. And the founder of it was like, hey man, you're you're a firefighter. What do you think about marketing specifically to you know your people? And I was like, absolutely. We lose anywhere between 100 to 200 firefighters every single year to suicide. We lose more firefighters to suicide than than light of duty death. And law enforcement, right around the same statistics. Obviously, everybody recognizes 22 a day for for veterans. So I always had this kind of this nagging thought behind in in the back of my head, look, you're in this, and there is this need, and what are you doing about it? And at the time I wasn't really doing anything about it. So we talked about the formation of Healing Hometown Heroes. Uh, and I and uh my partner at the time running that program, Jimmy Butler, uh, we decided that we would we would spearhead this program within the other organization to specifically reach, reach out to and hopefully make a difference with first responder frontline worker um positions. So we began healing hometown heroes and and it it was really, really successful. Uh we had a lot of great interest in it. Um started doing a number of different uh outdoor adventure events just to try to get men and women that are in the fire service law enforcement out into the wilderness out of their own heads for a period of time with with peers that are able to relate, where they can kind of share their heart, show what they're dealing with. And that modality really began to make a difference in in a lot of lives. So we've we've since expanded upon that. In October of 2024, we filed, applied for our own EIN and nonprofit status, and we were granted. So we've been in operation independently since uh October of 2024.

SPEAKER_04 33:21

Now that we're into 2026, where do you see it going this year?

Programs: Hunts, Youth, Peer, Ruck

SPEAKER_00 33:27

This year, we we've got a number of different programs that that were taking on within Healing Hometown Heroes. So we still we still have the what we call the hero hunts, where where we try to get men and women out into the into the fields, you know, hunting. We have a youth program where we take our youth out and try to mentor them, teach them ethics, cons uh conservation, really begin to try to instill a more solid uh moral compass, uh, provide them with images and memories that are positive and healthy that they can lean into in the future whenever, you know, whenever life's kicking them in the teeth, they've got something to kind of lean into as a happy memory as opposed to just constant negativity. Um the message that we try to uh try to instill is one of hope. So all of our programs are built around that message of hope that there is improvement out there. You just have to look for it. Uh we have our peer-to-peer program that tries to uh facilitate peer programs where individuals come together with people that are like-minded in the same profession. We have our I-68 program, we have aquatics program where we take all the above uh mentioned fishing, and a new program that we're really working on for this year is building kind of a step process or a protocol for individuals to start looking at early on in the career. What we were talking about before, that is there any specific training for mental health? There's really not. So education is a huge key for improving mental health. What we're looking at within this protocol is determining a baseline for your hormone levels, because those play a huge pivotal role in your mental health, your diet, your physical exercise, and it gets deep into uh your gut biome, which your gut is considered your second brain because there are so many different signals that are being sent back and forth, also has a huge impact on your mental health, your methylation. Uh, one of the big ones within the fire service is our cortisol curve. Uh, because our circadian rhythm is so it's so interfered with and so manipulated by just by the schedule that we work, has an enormous uh people don't realize just what kind of a an effect an unhealthy cortisol curve has on mental health. So this year we're really trying to put together this process, this protocol for people to begin to educate themselves about their own body and trying to get their body and their brain physically healthy, that will in turn improve the mental health aspect of it. Because you can you can kind of look at it like a computer system with the brain itself being the hardware and the mind being the software. If if the hardware is not operating efficiently, if there's some corrupt some corruption or something broken within the hardware, then the software isn't going to operate efficiently. So we're focusing on education and resources to help individuals get their hardware back together and working more effectively, and then really they can expect the the software to operate more effectively as well.

SPEAKER_04 37:02

So, I mean, when did you realize that the body is this intricate part of the healing journey for people?

Protocol: Hormones, Sleep, Gut, Cortisol

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Well, for me personally, the realization started taking root probably, let's see, probably about 12 years ago. Because, like I was saying earlier on, I've been strong in my faith for many, many, many years. And I got to a point probably about 12 years ago where I was just in a dark place, depression, anxiety, and I didn't understand why I was feeling this way because I've, you know, I read the scriptures, I go to church, I practice what I preach, but I'm still having these negative thoughts, you know, even suicidal ideations, and I and I didn't understand why. So I started doing some research, looking around, paying attention, and started to realize rather the importance of healthy hormone levels. So I dug in deeper to that and come to find out, you know, my testosterone was absolutely in the dumps. I was at least 700 um points lower than where I really needed to be as a man. So did some more research into that. I'm not one for injecting anything into my body without knowing 100% what it is and what it's gonna do. So I did a kind of a deep dive into um hormone therapy. And ultimately, at the end of the day, getting my my testosterone to a healthy level where where it needed to be made a night and day difference. My mental state wasn't isn't just connected to what I see, what I experience. It's also connected to how my body is functionaling, functioning physically. So from that point, I've been kind of on a deep dive doing research, listening to different uh biologists, neuroscientists, trying to determine kind of what you'll see in the protocol that that we're putting out, all of these different dynamics of the physical body that affects the mental health.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

It's fascinating, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 39:21

There is so much there. A lot of people, a lot of I I think, this is my opinion, a lot of therapists and clinicians, if you walk into their office and say, I'm having a mental health problem, in my opinion, I think a lot of them will begin to try to treat that from a linear angle, from a single angle. When really, if you're gonna treat the brain, the brain operates so dynamically, you've got to look at a process that approaches from dynamic angles. Uh there's not a silver bullet out there that's going to fix mental health. It's it's cumulative from the physical to the mental. There's so many different aspects to improving mental health. And that information I just don't think is out there. Not not in any valuable numbers, anyhow. And not really not readily available.

SPEAKER_04 40:15

Right. There is a prior episode with Marley, and she talks about brain health, especially for first responders. So we encourage you to go back and listen to that episode as well. And I'll put the link in the show notes so it's easy for people to find. But like you are sharing today, it's fascinating. It's um a topic that's often overlooked. We I hear a lot about our gut health, but I don't hear a lot about our brain health. So this is all such great information today. Is there anything else you want to add? Maybe um how can people find you on Hometown Heroes?

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Yeah, we have a we have a Facebook page, uh H3 Adventures or Healing Hometown Heroes. You can find us at our website, uh Healing Hometown Heroes.com. One of our newer programs, H3ruckers. It's low impact physical fitness. We're ruckpack backpack with weight on it. Just get out and hike or walk on a trail with with peers. Um we've set up different events uh in different areas to support that. And it's amazing what the simple act of walking we will do for the body, add a little bit of weight, and it only expounds upon that. So a lot of this year's focus is gonna be on the physical side of it. But as a final note, there are your listeners that are dealing with stuff. Statistically speaking, 60% of your listeners have had suicidal thoughts. It doesn't mean that they're they're thinking about it right now, but in the past they've had suicidal thoughts. 60%. One in eight of your listeners is dealing with some type of mental health crisis, be it anxiety, depression, um, some other diagnosed uh mental health problem. So it is a very prominent problem. There is hope, there are methods to improve upon that. You don't have to sit and suffer alone. There are those of us that that want to help, there are those of us that that love our neighbor. We have this gifted gifting of servanthood. That's what we're here for. That's what uh kind of scratches our itch, if you will. Being able to help individuals overcome the obstacles in life that that make them feel hopeless. There is hope 100%. You have to look for it and you have to make the determination this isn't right, and I'm not gonna just sit here and live in in what I feel. There are processes for you to get better.

SPEAKER_04 42:57

Yes, I think you answered my last question I was gonna ask. That was beautiful. I'm gonna ask my question if you want to add anything, but I think you just did. So I was gonna ask if there's one thing you hope every first responder and every family member who loves them walks away with after hearing your story, what truth do you want them to hold on to?

SPEAKER_00 43:21

You're not alone. There are millions of other people that have and are dealing with what you're dealing with. So the the probability, the likelihood of there somebody being there that can 100% relate to what you're dealing with and have a have a an answer or a process that they've gone through to improve, the likelihood is there. So don't think you're alone in what what you're walking through. You know, the valley is big. There are a lot of people that are walking through the valley. We're here to walk through there with you. Uh just like Christ said, you know, I will be there with you in the valley, but you have to look. You have to knock. Keep knocking, and I'll be there with you. But he sends people out as well to help carry the load. Nobody should carry the load along. There are too many of us out here with heavy loads, and we can lean into one another to make it through that valley together.

Personal Breakthroughs And Biohealth

SPEAKER_04 44:20

Absolutely. And I end each episode with this saying, you are stronger than you think. And that strength, there is strength in asking for help.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 44:33

BJ, thank you for being my guest today on the I Need Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

No problem. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 44:41

Absolutely, and thank you for listening today. This is Jen, again, host of I Need Blue Podcast. To learn anything and everything about I Need Blue, visit my website, ineedblue.net. And remember, you are stronger than you think. Until next time.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Some days are better than others. Wake up and you put one foot in front of the other. Same routine, same places. You just keep on pushing through. Life you led before, putting everything on the line. Not sure if you would make it home, leaving it all open, God's hand. Just happy to see the sunrise again. Back to the borders on my shoulders. It will always be okay. You might be the heart when you wander lost. You will take the pain away. Then all the things I feel not to die. Don't be the whole start. Be replaced with all the new but until then. Eat enemy, let me be with everything. I'll keep you safe from all the harm. I'll heal you from the war. The thoughts that keep you up at night. Baby little brothers on my shoulders. It will always be okay. You a little older. Still a bit in the heart when you wanna run a lot. Take old, take the table and dog.