Change Your Brain Every Day - A 911 Survivor and Country Music Star’s Story of Physical & Emotional Recovery – PT. 1 with Michael Peterson and Colonel Jill Chambers

Episode Date: August 13, 2018

Michael Peterson is a famous country singer, and his song “From Here to Eternity” is one of the most popular country songs of all time. Earlier in life, he had suffered a brain injury from smashing concrete blocks with his head, and it left him feeling foggy and confused. His wife, Jill Chambers, is a retired U.S. Army Colonel. She had suffered PTSD after her experience inside the Pentagon while it was attacked on 9/11. Michael and Jill share their amazing stories with Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Welcome, everybody. We have Country Music Week with our really wonderful friends, Michael Peterson and Jill Chambers. And they're both so much fun and so interesting. So awesome. You'll remember Michael, who's a million-selling,

Grammy-nominated country music star, whose songs have hit number one on the charts five times, including the fourth most popular country wedding song of all time from Here to Eternity, which I've heard over and over again. That was like the best song. Like awesome. My favorite song of his is the iconic drink, swear and lie,

which is not what you think. If you listen to it, it's not what you think. It's actually a very positive message. He's been a songwriter for the stars with the unusual good fortune to have had his compositions recorded by the Hall of Famers and Grammy winners of country, rock, pop, gospel, Latin, including Travis Tritt, Timothy Schmidt of the Eagles, pop superstar Denise Williams, the Imperials. Wow. Contributing author for eight books, including the number one New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

We're actually friends with Mark Victor Hansen. But, you know, how I met Michael was when he came to the clinic, when Michael and his wife, Jill Jill who I'll introduce in a second were married one of their gifts to themselves was a scan at Amen Clinics and my staff goes oh you have to meet these two really awesome people and we've just become close friends since then well before you go too far you need to introduce introduce Jill. And Jill Chambers, Colonel Jill Chambers. That by itself is just so cool. Renowned for her path as a woman in the military and for creating a PTSD program for soldiers

after her own experience surviving the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, which we want her to talk about. She's widely recognized as the first person in the history of the U.S. military to develop a successful, sustainable strategy to reduce stigma associated with mental health challenges in the military culture, which as a former Army medic and then Army psychiatrist, that's a hard thing to do with all those macho guys. It's pretty awesome. So just welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. You are what I

both consider brain warriors. And what a combo. I mean, that's so cool. Oh, that's sweet. Thank you. Thanks so much. We've had such a privilege to be with you today. You guys inspire us every day, and I mean that literally every day. Well, and vice versa.

So both of your stories are so cool. Our day. We think about how are we going to take care of our brains today. So we think of you guys all the time. Awesome. So how did you guys – tell the story of how you guys ended up at Amen Clinics. clinics? Jill and I, when Jill got out of the military, you know, she began to sort of contemplate what she was going to do next. And we decided that as we began to learn about different modalities to deal with post-traumatic stress and mild traumatic brain injuries, that we wouldn't talk

about any modality that we hadn't tried. And so, you know, there were several things we learned along the way. We learned about, you know, neurofeedback and guided imagery and heart math. And we were doing a show in Wisconsin and there was a little bookstore next to the hotel. And we were over there just sort of killing some time, you know, looking for some sugar. That'll be real quick right there. Looking for some ice cream or something, you know. And so I probably had an ice cream cone in my hand when I picked up

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. That's hilarious. It was the Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, the women's. No, no, no. No, it wasn't that yet. Okay, all right. So it's just Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. So I picked the book up, started looking through it, and then I't that yet? Okay, all right. So it's just change your brain, change your life. So I picked the book.

I started looking through it. Then I'm eating my ice cream, you know. And I probably had pancakes for lunch or something, you know. Oh, no, that would be stupid. Yeah. So I said, Jill, look at this book. So she started looking at it. And so we bought the book.

We read the book. We were like, wow, blown away. We said, well, we should learn more about this and right about that time i found uh a new book that you wrote uh the one that was focused on on women and you can say the title yeah so i gave it to jill as a gift and and at this point i'll hand the story over so we got married on the 1st of January, 2013. He gave me the book several weeks after that. So I read it. And now, you know, we're living together.

It's our first three months of living together. And, you know, things are happening like in the kitchen. Like, Jill, if you just put these bowls here, it should be easier. Jill, if you just did this, you can make it. After a while, it was just read the book. I can just did this you can make it after a while it just reads the book I can just see this he's talking to a US like army colonel

like I'm trying to envision this whole conversation and these dynamics this is hilarious this is great it was very funny there's no fights but it was if you did put this just all those kinds of situations.

Right. So we read the book. That's awesome. Shortly after that, so now we're getting to April because that's when we went to see you. It's a really cool story how this all worked out. So we're actually at a friend's house in April of 2013. We're in Nashville, actually. And I'm up in our room that we're staying in and

I have your book, Daniel, and I've obviously already read it, but now I'm just cruising through it again because I was so intrigued by it. And at this point, I just, I think Daniel had told you this story, but I just kind of looked up and I said, hey, Michael and I are supposed to get this brain spec imaging thing done. How about a sign? Daniel, have I told you this? No.

Because this was, well, I had your book laying open and it was like in the midsection. So both sides, it's even and Steven, right? Books just would just lay that way. Your book. No, right when you said, give me a sign and she turned around to do something, right? She turned back around. Your book had flipped all the way to the back. It didn't close, but it left it on the page where it said, contact us. Oh, that's so funny. It couldn't have been any easier.

There was the phone number, right there. I was like, wow. That was easy. I wish I had my phone. You know, because when it flips over and there's not all the weight on one side, you'd think the whole thing would close. That's so weird. That's great. Exactly.

At that point, I thought I started to get it. Well, I wish I had my phone. And there it is on the side table. Well, okay. That's awesome. I don't remember the name of the gentleman that we spoke with, but he was super kind. And he told us that, you know, it could take a while to get an appointment. And when I mentioned my name, gave my information, you know, mentioned Michael's name, gave the information.

And then at that point, he sort of drew back and he said, wait a minute, is this the Michael Peterson that used to do? First, he said, is this the Michael Peterson? I thought, OK, he must be a country fan. But he said, is he the guy that used to go around to schools and do all these strengths to speak to kids and read things through his head? I was like, oh, wow. That's how we knew him. That's so funny. It was super coincidence.

I think I was a kid. This guy got all excited. I got all excited. Very quickly we were able to get an appointment with you. And of course, I ran downstairs like, Michael, Michael, Michael, you have to talk to this guy. He knows you. And so it was just a fun series of beautiful coincidences that happened on purpose. That's so great. That's so great. Yeah, if you believe in coincidence, right? So which we don't. That's awesome. So then what happened? So you came.

Yeah, we came. And really, the sales pitch that Jill gave to me was, we're going to go to do this so that we can equip ourselves per our protocol of not talking about things that we haven't experienced. We're going to equip ourselves to help veterans. So that's the reason why we went. Of course, I had no idea at that point really that there was a greater, deeper, more profound life changing.

I love that. And actually, while we were there, I think I was in my second day. And I did this thing again. I said, boy, I sure would like to meet Dr. Daniel. Amen. Yeah, this is great. I'd really like to meet him in person. I wish that could happen.

So, well, you know, look at her. I called your secretary again, who's a beautiful woman whose name I don't remember. I should. I've been doing memory rescue, but that's okay. Anyway, I called her, and I asked her, is it possible? And she couldn't have been sweeter, and she said, oh, I'm so sorry. He's up in San Francisco, and he won't be back until Saturday, and you guys are done on Friday. It's like, oh, well, you know what?

I tried. Daniel, within 30 minutes, she called me back and she said, weirdest thing. Daniel just called me and said he's cutting his trip short and he's coming home. You can meet him on Friday. And that's how we met you. I don't know if you even knew that. But that's exactly how we met you because I asked if we could just meet you in person. And there you have the story.

That's so cool. And then so we fell in love with each other. I remember that. But how did the evaluation change your life? You take that first. You go first. Well, for me, I love the fact that you all and your team were able to identify that I actually did have a post-traumatic experience. You showed me the triangle and just so much more interesting things that you could tell about what was going on from my brain spec imaging. One of the key things that you taught me is that after we met and you looked at my brain scan, you asked me how

my bone density was. Had I ever had a bone density test? And I thought, well, okay. No, but I'm sure I'm fine. I mean, I get lots of sun. I'm doing calcium. I'm good to go. And I work out. I'm good. And you challenged me and you said, yeah, you know what? Do me a favor and go ahead and just get this bone density test. Okay, you know, I went to Nellis, got it done. Ooh, I was literally on the verge of osteoporosis. Oh, geez. I would have never in a million years even wanted to get that test.

Well, you'd had your yearly physical and they said, oh, you're fine. Yeah, but they don't check for all that stuff. See, we check for stuff people don't check for. I know. So I remember on the outside, your brain looked super healthy because you do a lot of the right things. But on the inside, so it's this thing we call the diamond pattern where your emotional brain is, wow, really busy. And then I went, so where's the trauma?

Because I didn't actually know about the connection. Yeah, that question with you in 9 11. so talk about that a little bit and we see that a lot people actually don't say look i'm really struggling with these symptoms or that well especially when you're someone like her who's like this colonel and she's like, she's tough. So it only shows on your brain scan. Yeah, but after your 11th funeral, you're not tough anymore, right? Right. So tell, you know, just a little bit of that story. Sure.

Well, I didn't, obviously I didn't realize that I had post-traumatic stress. You know, you know, you know how it is in the Army. Just, you know, drive on in the Army. Just drive on. I did for nine years, but over that period of time, I was able and had a pretty interesting job of trying to figure out what was going on with our service members and why were they coming back with not visible wounds, but more the invisible wounds. So that started leading me down the road of, oh, you know, there's some problems here and things that we actually need to talk about. For me personally, well, it didn't involve me. I was

too busy taking care of everybody else and thinking about that. But once I actually, and before we met you, Daniel, and once I got out, I started doing things. I realized that pharmaceuticals weren't the way because I was seeing what was happening with our service members. Granted, some need those. I get that. I'm not discounting that, but they don't need all of them. I've actually learned that. So I began just, okay, how can I sort of get past these nightmares and just sort of stressing out about airplanes and just a lot of emotional stuff? And I started doing guided imagery and neurofeedback and biofeedback so that was really a an interesting thing and Daniel you've talked about this now too is post-traumatic growth really three months time period I was so happy that

at my nightmares actually haven't had a nightmare since August of 2009 Wow marking on my calendar just to know. Because I've learned ways to actually do some good coping skills, along with good nutrition, activity, and good sleep. So just so our listeners know, tell them a little bit about what happened on 9-11. Well, for me personally, being in the Pentagon, that was... You were in the Pentagon. Wait, back up. You were in the Pentagon on 9-11? Yes, yes. And you didn't think you had PTSD? No. Okay, let's just clarify. Okay, go ahead. She slept for two hours a night for seven

years after that. Dear Lord. Okay. Go ahead. Sorry. No, you just kind of get up and go. But you're busy. But it should be noted that Jill, when I met her, she made caffeine nervous. I get that. I get that. She's a real high energy person. So for her to sleep two hours a night, I think she probably looked and said, you know, it's just a function of who I am.

Right. So you were in the Pentagon. Obviously, you survived. But that was – what was that day like for you? It was quite traumatic. But, you know, we were all – when we saw everything that was happening with the towers, that was New York. We're fine. Everything's okay.

And I remember one of the cooks for the, I was actually the military secretary to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time. And the cooks worked across the hall. And, you know, they reported to me. And all these young cooks started coming in because we had a TV in our office. And several of them said, man, you know, these things happen in threes. This, you know, both towers have been hit this time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And right after I was finishing my last, yeah, yeah, you know, all of a sudden one of my service members who worked for me, Sergeant Lobo, stood up and she

had the phone in her hand and she said, oh my God, something just happened to Mildred. Mildred was actually a woman who worked in the Pentagon, but in a different section. But what do you mean something just happened to Mildred? I just, everything just went silent. Everything's gone. No. Then it was just, everything was just immediate at that point. People are rushing by our doors. Where I was located, we didn't even hear anything. But we just saw the rush of people, the rush of people. And then my other sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant Brown, said, all right, we need to lock up everything. You know, he's a security guy, too. We need to lock up everything. He's like, forget the lockup.

We need to go. And the three of us got out of the building. So we were very close to the – we were on the E-ring so we could get out. And as soon as we stepped out, you could literally lift your hand up and touch that black smoke. You had to go back in, though, to find the rest of your team. That wasn't the end of it. No, part of our job, the three of us, the military secretary team, we're responsible for the 300 people that work directly for the chairman.

So that means all the people that were in the different offices, whether in public affairs, the history office, the legal guys. So now you're back in the building while this is all going on. Right. And then, you know, what happened with the funerals? That was part of the trouble, too, for you. Well, that was, you know, where the plane hit was on, well, for me, anyway, it was on the Adjutant General Corps side. I call it that because that was the wing where, i'm an adjunct general corps officer so a lot of my friends that i grew up with over the years

from lieutenant times were over there so there were i think there were 23 or 24 service members military members that i knew personally that i grew up with that were lost that day. And then we will start. So I was like, Did you, were you actually, I don't even want to ask too many of those questions, but I don't mind. I'm fine. Did you,

I mean, you had to go back in and find your friends. Were those some of the friends you ended up finding? No, no. We were on the side where the plane didn't hit. So we were, it was just smoky and it was just chaotic.

You're trying to get 25,000 people out of the building at one time. You can do that at five o'clock on a good day, but not when a plane hits. Right. That's craziness. And then trying to, you know, recognize the people. Okay, you belong to us. You know, and Daniel, you know this in the Army, we all have evacuation routes. And we're all supposed to participate in exercises so we know where to gather now but you know being on the joint staff but you go into another three or four star general officer and say okay we're practicing today we need to get you up and go out you know it's it's been check the block i mean it really was the secretaries

they're not going to go out because the boss didn't go out. So a lot of people honestly didn't know. And we knew that. We knew every time we had to do it. You know, every quarter, that clock, did they go? Do they know where to go? So really, we felt incredibly responsible now. Okay, this is like the real deal. And the great news is we did.

We found everybody, all 300 that we need to find. We got them to where they needed to be. And then, of course, later on during the day, you know, we were able to get – there was bus transportation, all that kind of stuff to get people home. You know, it's also – I think it's – to me, it was one of those things you could overlook easily. But what happened the next day was – Yeah, exactly. When they said to you, we're going – everybody, they basically said, okay, we're all coming

back. We're coming, we're going back to work tomorrow. Yeah. Like, it's kind of like. People don't think about stuff like that. Like life goes on, but it doesn't just go on. Right. So it was just like, put your game face on and go back to work.

Seven years later, when she hadn't slept for seven years, she realized that something's wrong. But you made a good point the funerals start and like it just keeps going and going and going exactly i think i made seven of them and then thought okay i'm for everybody else who's my friend i know where you are i can call on you anytime things are good i just can't do this anymore. It was incredibly draining. So I just stopped. I stopped going. And I felt okay about that. I didn't feel any remorse about not going back to any of those. But still, it was just stressful. And the Pentagon was quiet for

the longest time, for weeks and weeks and weeks. People were just like zombies walking down the hall. You were just sort zombies walking down the hall and just you were just sort of in lockstep motion and doing everything that you knew how to do by habit so it was a very very surreal thing everything that happened at the pentagon even my daughter said this is exactly the kind of movies that your mother would never let you go to right which was no isn't it true that's so i couldn't even get through wizard of oz when i was a kid right not oh that's hysterical we just talked i think it's a terrible movie he loves it anyway so it's a whole nother story i love it too no it's terrible it's a terrible movie

but so we see you in 2013 which is 12 years after this horrific event. And even though the nightmares are gone and you're doing much better, it's still imprinted on your brain. And, uh, but, and this is the thing nobody talks about is by really engaging in brain healthy habits, it can help heal it over time. And so I just remember looking at it and you're like, no, I'm fine. And I'm like, well,

there's something there still. And I want to hear how that turns out. But then I saw Michael and I'm like, Michael, what did you do to your brain? And then Michael tells me about his – He shows me this picture, and I'm like, who does that? Who does that with their head? So when Tana and I wrote The Brain Warrior's Way, and then we filmed our PBS special, Brain Fit, 50 Ways to Grow Your Brain,

Michael allows us to tell his story. Everybody in the audience gasped. So talk to us, Michael, about what you were doing with your head. Well, I think the first indication that I was having brain function problems was the fact that I would break bricks with your head well i think the first indication that i was having uh brain function problems was the fact that i would break bricks with my head oh you that you even you said the first indication he was having brain function problems is that he started to break bricks with his head yeah i mean that's you know what's your first clue? Right, right, right. How did that come about? You asked, you know, me to contemplate, before Jill shared, how this had changed my life.

And, you know, what occurred to me is, you know, there's a saying that we grew up a lot with that says you can't change your past. You can never change your past you can never change your past and I just thinking about your question and I realized you know in a really interesting and powerful way you can change your past and how my brain scan changed my past was it created a reframe right me on how I judged myself and my past behaviors. Because, you know, I found myself in my – this was been six years ago now that we came to see you. So I was, you know, I was in my early 50s. And so I had a good bit of life that I've lived.

And there were things in my life that happened to me and things that I had done that I felt bad about. And I didn't quite know how to process all of that. And my only real paradigm, the most prominent paradigm that I had for making those evaluations on myself, judgments on myself, was a spiritual paradigm. It was a paradigm that I kind of grew up with. And so I saw myself in many ways, you know, as having had some failures. I felt bad about that. And I remember sitting in your office, Daniel, and I remember you telling me that if I had a broken leg,

I wouldn't feel like a moral failure because I walked with a limp. And you shared with me the stories of people who have come to your office and come to understand that when you have a brain injury, it makes it almost impossible to not have certain things that show up in your life that are behaviorally related. And so for me, as I heard you tell that story about the people that sit in your office and understand for the first time that they've had a brain injury, and suddenly they have a reframe where they realize the odds of them not having those challenges in their life were slim to none. And as Jill says, slim's out of town.

I love that. I love that. I love that. And so for me, it changed my past. In that moment, as I sat there in your office and started to cry a little bit, I had a new paradigm by which I could look at myself and say, you know, I've had some problems in my life because I've had a brain injury, not because I'm a moral failure. This is powerful.

And that was very healing for me. And that began to be a real healing process for me. And I think the second way that brain scan and everything that's followed since has changed my life is it's changed many of my behaviors. It's changed my health behaviors. It's changed my sleep. It's changed how I look at exercise. It's changed how I look at nutrition. And so I made some profound changes. You know, I found out I had sleep apnea after I was with you. You said you ought to go get a sleep test. I found out I was

completely stopping breathing up to 27 times an hour. I was 50 pounds overweight. But I'm not those things anymore. I sleep good now. My weight's back to where it's a healthy weight for me. And I'm more careful about my exercise routine. So it's changed my behaviors. And then the third change, really, that if I had to encapsulate all of this that's come about as a result um I have more I have I feel more like the person I always thought I was there's more joy there's more happiness there's more um uh I'm less impulsive you know I'm more thoughtful before before I make decisions and do things in my life. And I got to tell you, that makes me so happy. Me too. That's awesome. So, you know, you can't change your past.

Well, in some ways you can. And in a sense, you can really change your destiny. I love this. At the time that I met Jill, you know, both my dads were dead before they were 60. I didn't look at the future and see a long life. And now I look forward and I see that I have a real opportunity to have a vibrant, long, healthy life. So it's changed my perception about what's possible in the future.

I love it. We also did before and after scans. So what we didn't say is Michael holds some record about being able to break bricks with his skull. And he was part of a group that went to inspire teenagers. And he found he had this gift where he could actually break things with his head. So let me get this straight. You were inspiring teenagers to break bricks with their head. No. We're using that as a hook to get their attention. Okay. Hold on. I want to back up because I'm teasing you. First of all, I want to thank both of you for sharing those stories because both of those stories were not only incredibly powerful, but they're very personal.

And when people like you who are very powerful people, successful people, um, share stories like that, you know, it just, it gets, it grabs people's attention because it's hard to share stories like that. And I just, I want to thank you both so much. And, and Michael, what you said, um, it's just, it's so many people's story. It's so many people's story. You know, we, we, we can forgive people for being in accidents or doing things, but we don't understand when people struggle with this moral dilemma or whatever's going on in their lives and they do things that are not explainable. And what you just said was just so beautiful and so powerful. And thank you for sharing that. That was just, it was perfect. It was perfect. I love

what you said about reframe. Well, you know, I, I, I wondered, should I share this or not? But I realized, um, there's probably a lot of people watching this podcast. You're wondering if they're the only one and you're not. Yes. And it's okay to say I had a challenge and it wasn't, it was because I had some struggles with my brain and there's, I can get help and you can get help. And that's why I'm willing to share that is because I know there's people that need help. And I can tell you, I know for a fact that people say, if someone like that can do it, I can too. I know they do, and I know they've told you that. So when you share a story like that, it just, it inspires people because they're like, wait,

if someone like that, that's not successful has struggled and they can do it, then I can do it too. And same, you know, same, Jill. People look at you and they're like, wow, she's so powerful. She's so successful. You know, I mean, a female Colonel, that's a big deal deal for women, especially looking at that. That's a big deal. I have this soft spot. I'm a sucker for soldiers. I just am. I just, I don't think we treat her. Especially me. Especially you. No, I do. I collect them. I drive him crazy. I collect them. I just, I go on,

I took my daughter on a survival trip recently to teach survival skills. You know, we're like stupid. We slept out in the wilderness and built our own shelter and had to start fires with nothing. And he's like, don't I take good care of you? Why do you do this stuff? But it's just something I do. But anyways, the guy teaching it was, he was a veteran who was just severely, severely hurt and damaged and had severe PTSD. And he was just a product of that system that didn't work. Right. And so, I mean, I collect these guys and I'm like,

call Daniel. I'm like, you need to, we're taking care of this kid. And so, you know, he's like, okay, what am I supposed to say? So I do this because I have a soft spot for it. So when you guys tell these stories about hope and healing, people listen and they're like, if they can do it, I can do it. And I just, thank you. Oh, well, thank you. I love that you do that though. That's a beautiful soul. Thank you.

So I want to thank you both again for opening up like you have. And in our next segment, Michael, I want to talk to you about how all of this has affected your creativity. You as well, Jill. And I want to talk about how it's all of this has affected your creativity. You as well, Jill. And I want to talk about how it's affected your relationship together, all these changes. So stay with us. Use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com or on our supplements at brainmdhealth.com.

Thank you for listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Go to iTunes and leave a review and you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to get a free signed copy of the Brain Warriors Way and the Brain Warriors Way cookbook we give away every month.