University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Brain injuries and psychedelics: Transcript

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Copyright 2023 Maryssa Rillo

BRAIN INJURIES AND PSYCHEDELICS

by

Maryssa Rillo

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

May 2023

ii

Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………. iii
Chapter One: TV Magazine Piece Link and Summary……………………………………….1
Chapter Two: Script……………………………………………………………………………..4
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………….18
iii
Abstract

Ian McCall is a former professional MMA fighter who suffered from symptoms of
traumatic brain injuries. Like many athletes in high-impact sports, McCall felt hopeless.
After retirement, McCall experienced confusion, anger issues, depression, and suicidal
ideation. Traditional forms of therapy didn’t work. He knew something had to change, so
he turned to a less traditional form of therapy, psilocybin mushrooms.
This video follows the life of McCall and the struggles he went through. It shows how
traumatic brain injuries affected his life and what he did to change. My video also shows
what his life looks like today, now that he’s used psilocybin mushrooms to heal his
brain. This piece features the voices of a practicing neurosurgeon and a Native
American spiritual healer. In the video, viewers can see how badly these athletes
struggle while also learning about a possible solution to this issue.
.

1
Chapter One: TV Magazine Piece Link and Summary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIM1_QcaLbs
Athletes in high-impact Sports such as football, hockey and mixed martial arts
are at high risk of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
(CTE). Symptoms include anger issues, memory loss, confusion, depression and
suicidal ideation. As of now, there is no cure, so many athletes who endure brain
trauma suffer from these symptoms for the rest of their lives. But recently, athletes have
been finding benefits from a less traditional, often illegal, form of treatment: psychedelic
therapy.
Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that produce changes in perception,
mood and cognitive processes. There are different types of psychedelics including,
psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), Lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD) and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
My piece follows the life of Ian McCall, a former professional mixed martial arts
fighter. I read a few articles about athletes who struggled with symptoms of TBI and
found relief through psychedelics. On Instagram, I direct messaged about a dozen of
them. I interviewed several on Zoom, and I ultimately decided McCall would be the best
to feature. He was open, vulnerable and easily accessible since he lived in Orange
County. We spoke via Zoom twice before I asked if I could meet him in person. I
interviewed McCall twice in person, attended his Muay Thai class and attended his Jui
Jitsu class.

2
Another benefit of featuring McCall in my piece was that his psychedelic healer
was a Native American man in California. There are a lot of articles on the healing
potentials of psychedelics, but oftentimes, Native voices are not included. Before
doctors and scientists began studying these drugs, Native Americans used mother
nature for their benefit. It was important to me that I highlighted Native voices in my
piece.
I also wanted to include a doctor’s voice to add more legitimacy to the drugs. A
USC professor told me about Dr. Daniel F. Kelly. I found his website and emailed him.
He agreed to speak with me, and I went to his office a few weeks later for an interview.
He also gave me permission to use up to 30 seconds of his video for my piece.
Once I had all my videos and interviews, I created a rundown and went through it
with Stacy Scholder, my thesis chair. From there, I worked on many drafts and sat with
Stacy several times to go over edits.
Athletes like McCall often suffer in silence. Some even commit suicide. Plant
medicine has been used by Native Americans and other cultures for their healing
properties before the War on Drugs started in 1971. It’s sad that these drugs could
provide help for people in pain but are deemed illegal. With this broadcast package, I
want to bring attention to a form of healing that could potentially help athletes who feel
that there is no hope. My goal is to show that these drugs are safe and legitimate while
also highlighting the Native community within this space. I also want to show that people
don't need to leave the country to receive this form of healing. There are Native
communities in the U.S. who also believe in the power of mother nature.

3
I want to give a special thanks to Ian McCall for being so vulnerable and allowing
me to tell his story. I also would like to thank Shane Norte for his time and for allowing
me to come to the La Jolla Indian Reservation. Dr. Daniel F. Kelly is someone else I
would like to thank for responding so quickly and taking the time to sit with me and
explain the science behind psychedelic medicine. My piece would not have been what it
is without the time and patience of Stacy Scholder. She sat with me several times and
went over every edit with me-big or small. Another thanks to my thesis committee, Alan
Abrahamson and Diane Winston, for taking part in this thesis subject and taking the
time to look it over. I appreciate everyone that gave their input and helped me along the
way.

4
Chapter Two: Script
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIM1_QcaLbs

TRIGGER WARNING 00:00 – 00:05

SOTVO FOOTBALL HITS 00:05 – 00:13
- COURTESY YOUTUBE//SIMPLYAS10

SOTVO NHL FIGHTS 00:13 – 00:24
- COURTESY YOUTUBE//NBC
SPORTS

SOT UFC FIGHTS 00:24 – 00:32
- COURTESY YOUTUBE//UFC

SOT IAN MCCALL VOILENT NATURE 00:32
– 00:42

**SOUNDS/VIDEO OF NFL
HELMETS HITTING
AT LEAST 320 FORMER NFL
PLAYERS HAVE BEEN
DIAGNOSED WITH A FATAL BRAIN
DISEASE CAUSED BY HEAD
INJURIES.

** SOUNDS/VIDEO OF NHL FIGHTS
RESEARCHERS AT BOSTON
UNIVERISTY SAY THAT HOCKEY
PLAYERS MAY INCREASE THEIR
CHANCES OF GETTING THAT
SAME BRAIN DISEASE BY MORE
THAN 20% EVERY YEAR THAT
THEY PLAY.

**SOUNDS/VIDEO UFC HITS
A FIGHTER SUFFERS FROM A
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ALSO
KNOWN AS TBI IN ABOUT ONE
THIRD OF U-F-C FIGHTS.

“We are the most fucked up people
on the planet who choose to do this.
And, and I’m not gonna mince words
and soften it up. No, we are. All of us
have tons of trauma.”

5
VO PHOTO 00:42 – 00:51

SOT IAN MCCALL 00:51 – 00:56

VO TBI AND CTE 00:56 – 1:08
- COURTESY:YOUTUBE//ASSOCIATED
PRESS

ANCG TBI NUMBERS 1:08 – 1:18

ANCG TBI SYMPTOMS 1:18 – 1:26

VO IAN MCCALL INTRO 1:26 – 1:31
- FIGHTING PHOTOS FROM IAN’S IG

SOT MCCALL BLOOD MONEY 1:31 – 1:45
IAN MCCALL IS A IS A FORMER
PROFESSIONAL M-M-A FIGHTER.
HE COMPETED IN SEVERAL
COMPETITIONS INCLUDING THE
UFC.

“But, I’ve been good at violence my
whole life. And that’s all I ever wanted
to do.”

TBI’S ARE CAUSED BY VIOLENT
HITS TO THE HEAD. CHRONIC
TRAUMATIC ENCAPHALAPOTHY
ALSO KNOWN AS CTE IS CAUSED
BY MULTIPLE BRAIN INJURIES
AND CANNOT BE DIAGNOSED
UNTIL DEATH.

ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL
LIBRARY OF MEDICINE BETWEEN
1-AND-A-HALF AND NEARLY 4
MILLION SPORTS RELATED TBI’S
OCCUR EVERY YEAR.

SYMPTOMS INCLUDE MEMORY
LOSS, ANGER ISSUES, ANXIETY,
DEPRESSION, AND SUICIDAL
IDEATION.

IAN FOUGHT FOR 16 YEARS AND
ENDURED GRUELING HEAD
TRAUMA.

6

SOTVO MCCALL FIGHTING 1:45 – 1:59
- VO IS MCCALL’S VOICE OVER
- YOUTUBE VIDEO COURTESY
ARM.sonnen
- VIDEO COURTESY IAN’S IG
@IANMCCALL

SOT MCCALL SYMPTOMS 1:59 – 2:17

VO MCCALL RETIREMENT 2:17 – 2:26
- YOUTUBE VIDEO OF HIM BEING
KNOCKED OUT IN HIS LAST FIGHT
COURTESY YOUTUBE//RIZIN
FIGHTING FEDERATION
- MMA HOUR ARTICLE

SOT MCCALL LAST FIGHT 2:26 –2:41

“my life was, was to get in my
underwear and to climb into a cage
and to fight people for blood money.
This is what I wanted to do. I had to
become a monster to do it.”

“Like I am a very loving, happy
person and I wasn’t for um for a large
portion of my life. Because I was just
tortured. I was tortured, and then I
was confused and I was addicted and
I was just I was just crazy for a long
time”

“you know at the very end of my UFC
career is when it started to get bad.”
“the confusion, the suicidal ideations,
the um, the negative talk, the, um, the
addictive qualities of it all. Cuz you
just want to feel better.

IAN WAS SNORTING OXYCOTIN
BEFORE HIS LAST FIGHT IN 2018.
HIS OPPONENT KNOCKED HIM
OUT AND HE ANNOUNCED HIS
RETIREMENT SHORTLY AFTER.

“Then once you're done, once you
retire, it's over. You lose a sense of
self and you get one more ceremonial
goodbye, and then there's nothing,
there's no money, there's no, you

7

VO FIGHTING PHOTOS 2:41 – 2:48
- FIGHTING PHOTOS COURTESY OF
IAN’S IG @IANMCCALL

SOT MCCALL ADDICTION 2:48 – 2:51

VO PYSCHEDELICS INTRO 2:51 – 2:57
- PHOTO OF MUSHROOMS
COURTESY AP PHOTOS

SOT MCCALL FINDS PSYCHEDELICS 2:57
– 3:08

VO PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOM DEFINITION
3:08 – 3:21
- UNSPLASH FREE ROYALTY FREE
PHOTO
know, there's nothing there. There's
no substance, there's no life..”

IAN KNEW SOMETHING HAD TO
CHANGE. THE UFC
RECOMMENDED BRAIN
STIMULATION THERAPY, BUT
THAT DIDN’T WORK.

“And then I was so addicted. I, I had
to find other ways to heal.”

SO, IAN TURNED TO A LESS
TRADITIONAL FORM OF
MEDICINE, PSILOCYBIN
MUSHROOMS.

“you know, being friends with
someone like Joe Rogan was really
nice cuz he also opened the door. My
dad always talked about psychedelics
as he was a drug smuggling hippie
around the world. He smuggled
cannabis around the world ”

PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS, ALSO
KNOWN AS MAGIC MUSHROOMS
OR SHROOMS, ARE NATURALLY
OCURRING PSYCHEDELICS THAT

8

SOT DR KELLY 3:21 – 3:34
- DR. DANIEL F KELLY
- CEO PACIFIC NEUROSCIENCE
INSTITUTE FOUNDATION AND
PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCHER

VO DR KELLY 3:34 – 3:41
- COURTESY PACIFIC
NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE

SOT DR KELLY 3:41 – 3:58

SOT PSYCHEDELICS HEALING 3:58 – 4:05

VO 4:05 – 4:25
CAN AFFECT ALL SENSES. THEY
CAN ALTER A PERSON’S WAY OF
THINKING AND CAN CAUSE
HALLUCINATIONS.

“the most important thing to know is
that they're, um, particularly if you
take psilocybin or LSD, they're
incredibly safe from a physiologic
standpoint. You can't really overdose
on them.

DR. DANIEL F KELLY IS A
PRACTICING NEUROSERGEON IN
SANTA MONICA. HE’S ALSO
INVOLVED WITH PSYCHEDELIC
RESEARCH.

“LSD and psilocybin and even
MDMA are not addictive. They, they
don't create an addictive behavior like
say opiates or alcohol do or nicotine.
And in fact, as you probably know,
they're used to break addiction.”

”And then one of my best friends is
like here... Cuz they knew that I was
thinking about killing myself every
single day.”

SHORTLY AFTER, IAN MET WITH
SHANE NORTE, A SPIRTUAL

9
- PHOTO OF SHANE FROM WEBSITE
- SCREEN SHOT OF COFTPFCME
LOGO
- FOOTAGE FROM THE
RESERVATION

SOTVO 4:25 – 4:33
- SOT IS SHANE NORTE
FOUNDER OF CHURCH OF THE
PEOPLE
- VIDEOS OF THE RESERVATION
WHERE CEREMONIES TAKE PLACE

VO 4:33 – 4:42
- VIDEO FROM THE RESERVATION

SOTVO 4:42 – 4:55
- IAN MCCALL SPEAKING
- VIDEO OF WAMKISH WITHOUT
TARP
- VIDEO BUILDING OF WAMKISH
CREDIT TO SHANE NORTE
YOUTUBE
- COURTESY YOUTUBE//SHANE
MICHAEL

HEALER FROM THE
PAYOMKAWICHUM NATIVE
AMERICAN TRIBE WHO HE MET
THROUGH INSTAGRAM. HE
FOUNDED CHURCH OF THE
PEOPLE FOR CREATOR AND
MOTHER EARTH, AT THE LA
JOLLA INDIAN RESERVATION IN
SAN DIEGO COUNTY. IT’S A
PLACE WHERE HE LEADS
PSYCHEDELIC CEREMONIES.

“I still give the mushroom that respect
because it holds that knowledge of
the earth and creator and the people
and here we are today.”

NORTE STARTED CHURCH OF
THE PEOPLE FOR CREATOR AND
MOTHER EARTH IN 2019. HE
WANTED TO CREATE A SPACE
WHERE HE COULD HOLD HIS
CEREMONIES.

“I’ve had my first realistic experience
in his uhm little Wamkish. It’s a
teepee sort of thing with no top.”

“it was amazing. And I, And I, That
was my first real crazy experience
where I saw my future.”

10

SOTVO 4:55 – 5:15
- NORTE TALKING OVER VIDEO OF
WAMKISH AND HIM WALKING IN
THE WAMKISH

VO 5:15 – 5:27
- VIDEO FROM DOC OF CEREMONY
AND MUSHROOMS

SOT MCCALL 5:27 – 5:44

VO SWEAT LODGE 5:44 – 5:52
- VIDEOS OF THE SWEAT LODGE
AND THEM GATHERING THE
BRANCHES AND STONES TO START
THE FIRE
“The wamkish means big house and
uh where we come from uh you know
we had our lives revolve around the
wamkish.”

“the wamkish has withstood the rise
and fall of many human civilizations
and we're still here today helping
other people within the, like, minds of
wanting to help themselves and
reconnect back to the earth. And uh,
this is definitely a place to do it”

THE CEREMONY BEGINS AROUND
9 P.M. EVERYONE IS GIVEN A
WAMKISH DOSE OF MUSHROOMS
WHICH IS ABOUT 15 GRAMS. A
NORMAL HIGH DOSE IS ONLY 3
AND A HALF.

“And as you go through the process,
you start to talk about your intentions
and you know, obviously why you're
there.”

“a lot of hardened men talking about
their traumas, talking about their
issues, veterans, athletes…Um, but it
is, is it’s an incredible place to heal.”

THE NEXT DAY AT ABOUT 6 A.M.
EVERYONE HELPS BUILD A
SWEAT LODGE AND THEY SWEAT
TOGETHER FOR ABOUT 60 TO 90
MINUTES.

11
- VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE//SHANE
NORTE

SOTVO SHANE NORTE 5:52 – 6:15
- SHANE’S VOICE OVER MORE
SWEAT LODGE VIDEOS

SOT IAN EXPERIENCE 6:15 – 6:44

VO 6:44 – 6:51
- CEREMONY FROM DOC

“Cuz when you come into the
wamkish and you take, um, you
know, earth-based sacraments, you
know, they can cause your mind to
go to a lot of places. So it's good to
have that mental fortitude and that
mental toughness and that mental
endurance that the, the sweat can
help people build with. Cuz I always
tell people that, you know, the things
that we endure here, you know, life is
a lot harder than just sitting here
taking some heat.”

“it gets so hot and like a good, you
know, person, good native going
through the ceremony, you sit up and
you take it and then you just have this
blast off of colors and the DMT
release. Um, it's really intense.”

“But you go in there and you, you
open up, you again, you talk in circle,
you talk about where you're going
with your life, how you're gonna be
better, how you're gonna take care of
people and be, be a protector and
how to be a good example and, and
all that sort of stuff.”

PSYCHEDELIC CEREMONIES ARE
SACRED IN THE NATIVE
AMERICAN COMMUNITY, SO OUT
OF RESPECT A HEALING WAS
NOT RECORDED.

12
SOT SHANE 6:51 – 7:09

VO 7:09 – 7:13
- CEREMONY FROM DOC

SOT IAN MCCALL 7:13 – 7:17

VO MICRODOSING DEFINITION 7:17 – 7:28
- COURTESY AP PHOTOS

SOT IAN 7:28 – 7:39
- PHOTOS OF IAN SMILING
- LOCATION SAN CLAMENTE

VO LEGALIZATION 7:39 – 8:02
- VIDEO FROM RESERVATION
- PHOTO OF MUSHROOMS

“the importance of sacredness with
these ceremonies is, um,
reconnecting. Cuz the fact of the
matter is, is a lot of people are
disconnected.”
“I think the reason why we're in the
mess is human beings is the lack of
connectivity to the earth and to the
creator or whatever people want to
call it.”

IAN’S PSYCHEDELIC EXPEREINCE
HELPED HIM HEAL.

“My life in psychedelics started with
the healing of my brain, my physical
brain.”

THOUGH THE PSYCHEDELIC
CEREMONY HELPED IAN,
MICRODOSING OR TAKING NO
MORE THAN A HALF OF A GRAM
OF PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS
DAILY IS WHAT REALLY TURNED
HIS LIFE AROUND.

“Just the fact of waking up every
morning and looking in the mirror, the
first thing I did was I wasn’t gonna sit
in bed and think about killing myself
anymore. I got up and I looked in the
mirror and I laughed and I smiled.”

13

ANCG OR AND CO MAP 8:02 – 8:07
- U.S. MAP

ANCG CALIFORNIA CITIES 8:07 – 8:12

ANCG AMA REPORT 8:12 – 8:19

ANCG AMA QUOTE 8:19 – 8:26

VO DR KELLY 8:26 – 8:30
- COURTESY PACIFIC
NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE

SOT DR KELLY 8:30 – 9:21
- DR KELLY NEUROSURGEON AND
PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCHER
THIS FORM OF HEALING IS NOT
ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL.
PSYCHEDELICS INCLUDING
PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS ARE
FEDERALLY ILLEGAL UNDER THE
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE ACT
OF 1978. CRITICS FEAR THAT
PEOPLE WILL ABUSE THE DRUGS
FOR RECREATIONAL USE.

SHANE’S CEREMONIES ARE
PROTECTED BY THE AMERICAN
INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
ACT.

STATES LIKE OREGON AND
COLORADO HAVE CHOSEN TO
LEGALIZE PSYCHEDELICS.

PSILOCYBIN IS NOT A CRIME IN
FOUR CALIFORNIA CITIES.

IN A REPORT, THE AMERICAN
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION STATED
THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THE USE
OF PSYCHEDELICS BECAUSE

QUOTE “To change the schedule of
these drugs before medical use is
established is pre-mature and
dangerous.”

DR. KELLY EXPLAINED HOW
PSYCHEDELICS WORK IN THE
BRAIN.

14
- Maybe find video to cover his voice

VO IAN LIFE NOW 9:21 – 9:34
- VIDEO OF IAN COACHING

SOT IAN 9:34 – 9:48

VO MCCALL METHOD 9:48 – 10:04
- SCREEN RECORDING OF HIS
WEBSITE

“The, the effects of psilocybin LSD
turn down the gating and they let
your, they let all this sensory stuff
flow up into your cortex and all these
different parts of your brain that don't
normally communicate,
communicate. And this is probably
part of the therapeutic basis, um,
that, you know, by shutting down the
default mode network or your ego,
you are allowed to have these sorts
of epiphanies. And this, this new
interconnectedness helps people
come up with a different, a, a, a shift
in their perspective on what they think
about why they're drinking, for
example, or why they're so
depressed. And they get to kind of
the core. And, um, that's really the,
the essence of, of the healing.”

THAT’S MOST LIKELY WHAT
HAPPENED DURING IAN’S
HEALING JOURNEY WITH
PSYCHEDELICS. TODAY, IAN
LIVES A DIFFERENT LIFE. HE NOW
SPENDS HIS DAYS COACHING
MUAY THAI AND JIU JITSU TO
BOTH CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

“ it's been a beautiful journey. It's
been a lot of fun. Makes me really
happy every day. And sure it's not
the, uh, the type of money I'm used
to, but I, I don't care. It's not about
money.”

IAN ALSO USES HIS PAST
STRUGGLES TO HELP OTHERS.
HE CAME UP WITH THE MCCALL
METHOD – AN ONLINE

15

SOT IAN 10:04 – 10:23

VO 10:23 – 10:33
- VIDEOS OF IAN COACHING

SOT IAN 10:33 – 10:45

SOT DR KELLY 10:45 – 11:02

PSYCHEDELIC INTEGRATION
PROGRAM FOR HIGH LEVEL
SPORTS AND PERFORMERS. HE
HELPS PEOPLE INTEGRATE THE
LESSONS THEY LEARN FROM
PSYCHEDELICS INTO THEIR
EVERYDAY LIVES.

“ I'm just trying to help as many
people as possible. You know, I see
all these athletes coming down the
pipe and I just don't want them to
make the same mistakes I did cuz I'm
not perfect. None of us are. And I've
made big mistakes. Taking
psychedelics and teach harm
prevention and to teach integration is,
is where I wanna be.”

EVEN THOUGH IAN IS LIVING A
HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER LIFE,
HIS DARK SIDE STILL HAUNTS
HIM EVERY NOW AND THEN. BUT,
HE NOW HAS A BETTER WAY OF
DEALING WITH IT.

“ that suicidal person, he comes and
all the time I'm sitting there watching
a sunset with my kid. He'll come and
sit right next to you, like hey bro
wanna go and kill yourself today and
I’m like fuck you, of course not”
“And it’s more of a joke now. You
know? It’s something I’ll never do.”

16

VO 11:02 – 11:07
- PHOTO OF IAN WITH HIS
DAUGHTER

SOTVO IAN 11:07 – 11:34
- VO PHOTOS/VIDEOS WITH HIS
DAUGHTER FROM IG

VO 11:34 – 11:44
- PHOTO FROM IAN’S INSTAGRAM
- VIDEO OF HIM COACHNG

SOT IAN 11:44 – 11:53

“probably it will be reasonable for
people to have redosing a repeat
journey, you know in a year or two
years later for certain things where
they feel that they’re, they’re getting
stuck again in their depression or the
anxiety and they need to do it again.”

IAN ALSO FINDS HAPPINESS IN
SPENDING TIME WITH HIS 11-
YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER LONDON.

“I'm really enjoying our space
together because it's, it's important
to, to show her what a man should be
like, how a person should treat her,
you know, how, how she should, uh,
interact with someone who loves her,
you know, and, and just see a
different perspective.”
“and let her know she's always loved
and she's always accepted and she's,
you know, she can be her weird little
self. And, and daddy's always gonna
love her. And, and she's always
gonna have a safe space in my
house to just be her.”

IAN SAYS HE PRACTICES
MEDITATION AND BREATHWORK
EVERY MORNING. HE WORKS
OUT DAILY AND TRIES TO MAKE
THE MOST OUT OF EVERYDAY.

17

VO 11:53 – 12:02
“The presence is the only thing that’s
real. The past gone and the future is
inevitable. We have to understand
these things. Today is all we have.”

FOR ANNENBERG MEDIA, I’M
MARYSSA RILLO

18
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract Ian McCall is a former professional MMA fighter who suffered from symptoms of traumatic brain injuries. Like many athletes in high-impact sports, McCall felt hopeless. After retirement, McCall experienced confusion, anger issues, depression, and suicidal ideation. Traditional forms of therapy didn’t work. He knew something had to change, so he turned to a less traditional form of therapy, psilocybin mushrooms.
This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIM1_QcaLbs) follows the life of McCall and the struggles he went through. It shows how traumatic brain injuries affected his life and what he did to change. My video also shows what his life looks like today, now that he’s used psilocybin mushrooms to heal his brain. This piece features the voices of a practicing neurosurgeon and a Native American spiritual healer. In the video, viewers can see how badly these athletes struggle while also learning about a possible solution to this issue.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Rillo, Maryssa (author)

Core Title Brain injuries and psychedelics: Transcript

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 05/16/2023

Defense Date 05/16/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag athlete mental health,CTE,Fighting,Football,Hockey,Mental Health,MMA,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional athletes,psilocybin mushrooms,psychedelic therapy,psychedelics,TBI,traumatic brain injuries,UFC

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Language English

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Creator Email maryssarillo@gmail.com,mrillo@usc.edu

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