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.

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.

Episode Timestamps:

Annemiek Schrijver over de veerkracht van de mens