Special Forces Mountaineer Bryan Ray - Part 2 | Mike Drop Episode 132

About this video

Ritland’s guest (unnamed in this excerpt) recounts a traumatic combat incident from his 2016-17 Afghanistan deployment when an AC-130 strike he called killed two children the Taliban had armed and positioned as fighters. He describes the immediate aftermath, the villagers’ response, his own acceptance of potential death as deserved punishment, and the years-long struggle with guilt and PTSD that followed. He eventually sought treatment after realizing the danger his dissociation posed to his family, and shares how therapy helped him process the trauma without eliminating success from his life.

Key takeaways

• The guest attributes his killing of two armed children to the Taliban’s deliberate use of minors as combatants, though he carried profound guilt for years afterward
• According to the guest, he suppressed PTSD symptoms for years, believing he deserved to suffer and that seeking help showed weakness, until dissociative episodes while driving with his children forced him to get treatment
• The guest describes how prolonged exposure therapy required reliving the traumatic event weekly for months, which eventually reduced its debilitating emotional impact and allowed him to function without constant guilt

Episode details: published April 9, 2023 · 48.7K views · 1:35:39 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

← Previous: Special Forces Mountaineer Bryan Ray - Part 1 | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 131 · Next: A RON Site Tragedy | Mike Drop Clip - Episode 132 →

All Mike Ritland videos · Mike Ritland profile · Mike Drop (official site)