Ron Millward is a 7.5 year Air Force veteran. In this episode Ron discusses his handling of his own traumatic experiences, being placed on a cocktail of prescription drugs, a suicide attempt, and eventually a breakthrough using cannabis which lead him to path of emotional healing and an exploration with other mind-body therapies.
6:20 Ron and I highlight the trauma or anxiety that comes from transitioning from the regimented life in the military to going out into the world of the unknown.
10:00 We discuss what goes on when a unit "leaves the wire," even if there was no enemy contact but the stress of operating in a high alert status. Eventually Ron did make contact and received a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This conversation then roles right into discussing the amount of veterans who have committed suicide at home.
14:00 Ron shares his own post-military experiences which involved some "reckless behavior" that led to being placed on prescription medications and a suicide attempt.
16:40 Ron is introduced to the idea of using cannabis/marijuana to address his mental health. From here Ron talks about entering the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program and becomes an advocate for medical marijuana and education on marijuana, and the establishment of Balanced Veterans which promotes not only medical marijuana, but also alternative therapies and the use of mind-body practices for healing from trauma.
When we discuss the use of marijuana, Ron is very candid on the pro's and con's of its use, the different ways it can be used or consumed.
34:00 Ron shares his experiences with educating veterans and working with the VA.
39:10 We begin to wrap up the show and talk about the idea of a "wellness concierge" and Ron talks about his experience with acupuncture, yoga, and how to explain alternative forms of treatment and de-mystify the more lesser known about therapies.
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https://www.instagram.com/balancedveterans/
https://balancedveterans.com