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Ben Forest spent 25 years in the Air Force, rose to Lieutenant Colonel, and hit rock bottom.
On Veterans Day, he walked into a hospital and told the nurse, “I want to die.”
That moment changed everything.
He quit his job. He left the military. And in one heroic dose of psilocybin, he found something he never thought he’d feel again…peace.
In this conversation, Ben and I dive deep into psychedelics, masculinity, healing, and the emotional constipation that keeps so many men stuck.
This isn’t a drug story. It’s a story about awakening, and what happens when men finally face themselves.
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 – The day Ben almost ended his life
07:00 – The “American Dream” that became a nightmare
10:45 – Walking into the psych ward: the moment everything changed
14:00 – The first psilocybin ceremony that rewired his life
18:45 – What it feels like to release generations of pain
22:00 – From military commander to spiritual seeker
27:30 – Why psychedelics are so hard to describe
32:15 – DMT, ego death, and seeing “God” for the first time
40:00 – Why psychedelics help men feel again
43:00 – Shame, masculinity, and the epidemic of emotional constipation
46:15 – The courage to say “I’m sad”
49:00 – The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek
51:00 – Psychedelics as a rite of passage for men
57:00 – The rise of “grandfather energy” and secure masculinity
01:00:00 – The crisis of modern manhood
01:07:00 – What rites of passage and adversity teach men
01:15:00 – How men can heal men
01:22:00 – What it truly means to be a man
This episode is a mirror.
For men who’ve shut down. For men who’ve lost their fire.
And for anyone ready to turn their pain into purpose.
🎧 Listen now. Subscribe to The Optimist.
Because healing isn’t soft. It’s dangerous.
