What do you do when a traumatic brain injury takes away your health, your personality, and your sense of life's purpose?
I first met Pierre in Japan when we were both serving LDS missions. We were companions in the Mission Home for quite a while and we both thought we would be close friends forever. He came to my wedding shortly after he returned, and then we simply drifted apart with no interaction whatsoever. Life happened to both of us.
A few weeks ago, Pierre found my podcast and reached out. We spoke for a few minutes and then I forced us both to wait to catch up until I could record it for my podcast. So here we are more than three decades later. Pierre is on my podcast for far more than nostalgia. For some time, I'd been trying to talk with someone who had deconstructed life due to health reasons, and unfortunately, my former companion had that experience.
After witnessing 911. Pierre found his lifelong calling and he became a police officer in South Tahoe Police Department for over 15 years before he experienced a traumatic brain injury in the line of duty. That accident not only cost Pierre his career, his help, his identity, and his sense of purpose. It changed his personality and completely wiped out his fluent ability to speak and understand Japanese for long years of medical treatment, endless prescriptions, and every therapy he could manage couldn't wipe out his anxiety, agoraphobia, vertigo, migraines, or his thoughts of suicide.
Then, one day, as a last-ditch effort, his wife suggested he try hypnosis. That treatment saved his life. Hypnosis fixes medical conditions, gave him a new sense of purpose, and completely restored his Japanese. During our conversation, I felt like I had been talking with the same old Pierre I had known and loved. Half a lifetime ago in Fukuoka, Japan. I missed my friend Pierre and I am very excited for him to share his story with you and introduce him as another Stranger You Know.
CW: SI
Other Topics Include: sense of purpose, deconstruction, advocacy, integrity, core beliefs, changing world views, emotional hijacking, subconscious, hypnosis, training, experience, fear, comfort, anxiety, traumatic injury, healing.
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