0:00

Hi.

0:00

I am Rashan McDonald, a host the weekly Money

0:03

Making Conversation Masterclass show. The

0:05

interviews and information that this show provides

0:07

are for everyone. It's time to stop reading

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other people's success stories and start.

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Living your own.

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If you want to be a guest on my show, please

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visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations

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Press submit and information will come

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directly to me. Now, let's get this show

0:25

started. My guess is the founder

0:27

well Med Atlanta. It's a coalition

0:30

of psychiatric, medical, psychology,

0:32

counseling, and special education providers

0:35

serving the Atlanta metro area. His

0:37

singular mission is to help people take

0:39

control of their life and gain chronic

0:42

strength. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation

0:44

Masterclass. Jackson Dunbar.

0:46

Howy doing, sir, I'm great,

0:49

I'm great.

0:50

Well, you know, so it's gonna be all good

0:53

because because we're communicating,

0:55

and that's when you start talking about mental health,

0:57

you start talking about stress, you're talking about depression.

1:00

Communication is really one of the key elements

1:02

that's lacking in that whole process.

1:04

Correct, Yes, yes, I'm

1:07

very much so.

1:08

Because the person who's going through the challenges

1:11

for the most part, they're focused

1:13

on what they've lost, and

1:17

when you are fixated on that,

1:20

that is a really dark place.

1:24

And and for myself,

1:27

I was just lucky enough to come back from it.

1:30

But it is hard to

1:32

communicate about anything to

1:34

your spouse, your coworkers, even

1:36

your best friend when you are stuck

1:40

on this is what I can't do,

1:42

this is what's happened to me, et

1:45

cetera, et cetera.

1:46

Well, you know, we we we've had

1:48

some high profile shootings,

1:51

attempted shootings. One was Donald

1:54

Trump, uh, the Atlanta area high

1:56

school shootings. There'll be a number one over

1:59

the past years, and

2:01

we know another one's going to happen. It

2:03

always comes down to mental health care. They always

2:06

bring that up, you know, but

2:09

why isn't mental health And we know there's

2:11

a growing problem because people are talking about

2:14

it more. Why is there a lack of access

2:16

to proper mental health care?

2:19

Yeah, and I think that's the

2:21

right phrase to use, the lack of access

2:24

child psychiatry. For example, they're less

2:26

than ten thousand child psychiatrists in the

2:28

country, less than ten

2:31

thousand, thousand, ten thousand,

2:33

an environment where three out of every

2:35

five children they're

2:37

standing now having mental health diagnosis.

2:41

Now, a fair amount of these people that are

2:43

committing these atrocities are under the age

2:45

of twenty one, and so

2:47

you got to look at hey, let's

2:50

see you hear you've got thoughts

2:53

and prayers and some mental health issue.

2:55

Well, why weren't they able to get

2:58

access? And the issue is or not enough

3:00

psychiatrists out there, And

3:03

many don't take insurance because

3:06

the insurance because they've had problems

3:08

for insurance companies actually.

3:10

Paying them on time if you can.

3:13

For example, earlier this year, imagine

3:15

coming into work, your

3:17

boss says, hey, you know what you do, good work, but

3:19

I can't pay you. Why can't I pay you? It's

3:22

because there was a hack, a hack.

3:24

In my system.

3:25

Said, I don't know when I'm going to be be

3:27

able to pay you, but I want

3:29

you to keep coming in to

3:31

work. So you come in one week, two

3:33

week, three weeks, like, hey, where's our

3:35

money? And at that point the insurance

3:38

company says, you know what, I don't have the money,

3:40

but I can give you a payday loan. Excuse

3:42

me, yes, I can luan you

3:45

a sum of money at ten percent.

3:48

So instead of paying you, I'll give

3:50

you this payday loan. So at that point,

3:52

even more psychiatrists. That was when

3:54

we said no, stop take

3:56

stop taking insurance.

3:58

So the.

4:01

So basically you have

4:04

you know, because they're all talking about the middle class

4:07

and how everyone wants to help the middle class and things

4:09

of that nature. And what

4:11

happens is that a huge segment

4:13

of our population basically

4:16

who need this coverage can't get

4:19

it. And it

4:22

is sad because what

4:25

our doctors have been targeted

4:27

by headhunters to work

4:30

at blue chip firms where they don't take insurance,

4:33

to making four or five hundred dollars an hour. But

4:36

we believe that black and brown kids

4:38

need to access to good quality care. But

4:44

what the insurance companies have done, basically

4:46

what they said to the remaining providers who

4:49

did take insurance was you know what

4:53

what, we don't care and we're gonna

4:56

hold on this money because interest rates are

4:58

high.

4:58

It's this interest rate are high.

5:00

Make more money by

5:02

just holding on to the money longer.

5:04

Wow.

5:05

Let me ask you this, Jackson, when you see

5:07

a mass shooting, what's the

5:09

first thought that runs you all hear about a mass shooting,

5:11

What's the first thought runs to your mind?

5:14

Uh?

5:16

I pray it's not my kids school mm

5:18

hmmm. I have I have

5:20

two children in high school.

5:23

And my son.

5:27

Told me he has a plan. He

5:29

has a piece of an evacuation plan. And

5:32

this is something yes, yes, and this

5:34

is something that we were teaching our

5:36

in our household, in our household, wherever

5:39

we go. Okay, we're looking

5:41

for the exits. We

5:43

are we

5:46

are looking for the exit strategy.

5:48

We all know what we need to do just

5:50

in case there's a mass shooting.

5:52

M hmm.

5:53

And if you look at COVID, the

5:57

the.

5:58

Need for mental health coverage.

6:01

Went up almost one hundred percent after COVID,

6:05

But at the same time, the

6:09

the supply of medical doctors

6:11

who were able to treat those conditions went

6:13

down. They went down because

6:15

you have few people taking assurance. They

6:17

went down because you had older psychiatrists.

6:20

He said, you know what, I'm not going to deal with

6:22

it clients coming in and out. I'm

6:24

afraid I might get SIT or COVID. And

6:28

then unfortunately, you had many

6:30

that we knew of who passed

6:32

from COVID. So

6:34

so so basically you

6:37

have this huge need, but the

6:39

supply of people that can

6:41

actually treat these people, it

6:44

just it just.

6:45

Breaks my heart.

6:46

And every time I see

6:48

a shooting, two

6:51

things that two things I need to make sure. First,

6:54

is this a situation

6:56

where there is a mental health challenge. I

6:59

don't like that people will go right to mental

7:01

health challenge whenever there

7:03

is a mass shooting right.

7:05

Uh.

7:06

Nine out of ten times, if I see a former

7:08

VET living on the street, it's

7:12

because of a mental health challenge. And

7:15

I come from five generations of army,

7:17

and I'm proud of it.

7:20

If you ever come to my home, you'll see you'll see

7:23

the You'll see the flags honored

7:26

on my chimney, and

7:29

and and the thought that you

7:32

know, we were the first ones to lose

7:35

our blood in defense of this country.

7:39

We're when the when

7:43

we're called to do battle, we're often

7:45

the first ones there. However

7:48

when we come back, we get the least. And

7:51

when I see these vets out on the street,

7:53

it's just it's

7:56

hard, just a crime of shame. It's hard.

7:59

There's some Jackson when I suicide

8:01

explained to me, you

8:03

know what, they're not expecting

8:05

you to be detailed about

8:08

it. What drives people to

8:10

that state when it becomes suicide, Because

8:12

we want to talk about we have one month

8:14

a year that we set aside

8:17

to recognize there's an issue and a concern

8:19

for suicides. But what

8:21

takes a person to that point? Because I remember,

8:24

you know, I was in college. They would tell the students,

8:27

you know, don't stay over the Thanksgiving holidays,

8:29

find a friend, a

8:31

loved one, just don't stay by yourself.

8:33

Don't get into a state where you are

8:36

isolated. What puts a person in

8:38

that state that will push them to committee

8:41

suicide?

8:43

I would say it's probably the

8:46

I would say it's the loss of hope

8:50

if I For example, between

8:54

between twenty ten and twenty nineteen.

8:56

There were about three hundred and

8:59

sixty thousand deaths I

9:02

opiate drugs, but the

9:04

CDC is estimating that a third of those

9:07

were actually suicide by

9:10

overdose. Ideally,

9:13

these were chronic pain patients. These that

9:15

is, a person that's been in pain longer, longer

9:18

than six months, and they

9:20

finally realized that for

9:22

whatever reason, the doctors reduced their meds,

9:24

cut their meds, and so

9:27

they saw a lot when when presented

9:29

with a life of living in constant

9:31

pain, they decided to

9:34

end themselves. And I

9:37

was in that situation myself as a chronic

9:39

pain patient. I

9:41

was in a car accident. It produced

9:45

in into a serious back injury, permanent

9:49

nerve damage, and

9:51

my doctors at one point didn't believe that

9:53

I was sick for

9:56

good three to four months. Let's

9:59

see, I went without the proper paint pain

10:02

care. I had to I couldn't

10:04

sleep. I had to drink

10:06

Stolely's vodka shots

10:08

at night, used to get a few hours of sleep,

10:12

and and I was at the

10:14

point where I said, I can't live this way.

10:17

And I think by the saving grace, I

10:20

had the providers over at

10:22

Willman because every day

10:24

they would say, hey, listen, man, you need

10:26

to go and get

10:28

checked. I'm like, I am, I am, I

10:31

got a I got a team together. I

10:33

saw my PCP, I

10:35

saw my back person, like,

10:37

no, you need someone for your mental health, and

10:41

I said, and I said no. And

10:43

the whole time, these are years, I'm not getting

10:45

worse, and I'm surrounded

10:48

by some of the best psychiatrists

10:50

in town. Narrow time, I'm

10:53

denying it. I'm denying it, and

10:56

and it was it was nuts

10:58

until finally I got to the point where I

11:00

realized, Hey, you know what, Yeah,

11:05

I'm not the person I used to be. And

11:08

I think what saved me was I

11:10

found a really good psychologist

11:13

that specialized in chronic pain and

11:16

a psychiatrist. And

11:19

what the psychologist did was that

11:21

I'm a real I'm a real believer in smart

11:23

goals. How do you become successful

11:26

is one smart goal after another

11:28

being being completed. So

11:31

applied that concept over to my health

11:33

and I'm like, what are the smart goals to get

11:36

me to to where I need

11:38

to be in order to be functional? And she on

11:40

me define what functional? Was functional

11:42

for me was well, I couldn't make

11:44

money. I couldn't work,

11:47

So how how can I make money?

11:49

Being in this position?

11:52

Did you've giving you back your value?

11:54

Exactly? Exactly, exactly

11:56

exactly.

11:57

Please don't go anywhere. We'll be

11:59

right back with more Money Making Conversations

12:02

Masterclass. Welcome

12:09

back to the Money Making Conversations Masterclass

12:12

hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money

12:14

Making Conversations Masterclass

12:16

continues online at Moneymakingconversations

12:18

dot com and follow money Making Conversations

12:21

Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and

12:23

Instagram.

12:26

I gained I gained like what I

12:29

gained like eighty pounds and

12:33

lost over.

12:34

One hundred pounds of it.

12:36

But what happened is these

12:39

meds that make you gain weight, the more

12:41

wing you gain, the more pain you're in. And

12:44

then some of them make you suicidal.

12:48

And if they don't, you're so famished.

12:52

How does it?

12:53

Because I'm trying to get in that mindset of

12:56

what that suicidal state look because

12:58

you said some meds make you feel

13:00

so suicidal?

13:02

What is that?

13:03

What's the feeling about?

13:04

I can tell you and imagine, imagine

13:07

Atlanta's Winner as stark as rainy,

13:10

and you're home, your kids are at school,

13:13

your spouse is at work near

13:15

there alone, and all of a sudden,

13:17

the darkness of the house just criefs into you.

13:20

You try to walk up the stairs, you can't. You

13:22

try to use the bathroom, you can't. You try

13:24

to stand up, you can't. And

13:27

you're on and you're on what

13:29

the ninetieth day of this crap? And

13:34

it's and all you keep thinking

13:36

about is, Hey, you know, I am

13:38

an educated person. I did all the

13:40

stuff in order to in order

13:42

to be a positive impact

13:45

on my family and my community, and

13:48

I just lost at all at a young

13:50

age. And so you're so focused

13:52

on what you're lost, okay,

13:56

that you see no hope. You

13:58

go and see no value So

14:01

the good thing about having a

14:03

psychologist and for me, someone

14:05

who specialized in chronic pain, she

14:08

helped. She helped turn my focus

14:11

away from focusing on what I lost,

14:13

especially on focusing on

14:15

what I on what.

14:17

I could do. Yeah. For example,

14:20

vacationing was miserable.

14:23

I couldn't walk, I

14:25

would always be in the back, I was always

14:28

complaining because of the pain, et cetera. Then

14:31

one vacation, we were in Florida and I

14:33

rented a scooter and

14:36

I got in this thing and it was, oh

14:38

great. I was carrying all the bags. I was

14:40

carrying all the booze. I was going

14:42

back and forth.

14:44

Uh.

14:45

And I'm like your value,

14:48

I value Yeah, And the

14:50

way she put it to me, because I'm in the comic books.

14:53

Hey, if technology was good

14:55

for Tony Stark, why can't it be

14:57

good for you?

14:58

And absolutely,

15:02

let me ask you real quickly because because

15:04

you said something early in the conversation, because

15:06

I want to make sure people understand that well

15:08

med Atlanta, even though it's based in Atlanta,

15:11

virtually it's.

15:12

Available, like you said, the southeast, Yeah,

15:16

southeast New

15:18

York, Atlanta, I mean Jackson

15:21

because virtually because the COVID really

15:23

opened up that teleman that

15:25

virtual consulting

15:28

in the medical front really big during

15:30

the COVID. What is that experience

15:32

like? Because I want people who are listening to this interview

15:35

understand that they could reach out to

15:37

well made Atlanta at least

15:39

to start a conversation. And

15:41

that's what you're on this call about, Jackson,

15:44

is to start a conversation, because

15:46

I want people to realize it's

15:49

nothing's ever easy, because their first phone

15:51

call is the is the hard part.

15:53

But once they contact you,

15:55

you can make their life easy and give them

15:57

value.

15:58

Yes, yes, yes, And and

16:02

I think whether you live five minutes

16:04

away from us in Tucker, five miles

16:06

away or five hundred miles away.

16:10

But let's see, as long as you're a Georgia

16:12

resident, we're able to treat you. And

16:15

we have doctor We've had doctors in

16:17

Florida. So's tell you. We had a couple

16:19

who what it's

16:22

a hurricane, and so we're

16:24

trying to figure out how to provide services

16:26

even though they're dealing with the hurricane. We

16:29

had a provider up in Maine who

16:31

had a Georgia license. And so

16:33

basically what we've seen

16:36

is instead

16:38

instead of most of our patients

16:40

being within twenty miles of us. They're

16:44

all over the state, especially those

16:46

that go to college. Yes,

16:50

you know, these got these people are

16:52

all over the state, and it's

16:54

often interesting to see, Hey, what

16:57

city are you in, especially if it's

16:59

one I've never heard. There's some areas

17:01

in Savannah where where

17:03

basically, uh, you know, they've

17:05

been looking for a black psychiatrist and they couldn't find

17:07

one. And then they saw us and

17:10

they figured out, hey, you know what, we can do everything

17:12

by email and as long as your WiFi is tight

17:14

or good. So I

17:17

think it's been a blessing. It's

17:19

been a blessing not for us, but

17:21

but also for the people that we serve.

17:24

Well, you know that's why I got this call. I'm be honest

17:27

with you, Jackson, because of the fact that I

17:29

can't. You know, it's money making conversations

17:31

master class, but it also deals

17:34

with the whole aspect. You can't make money

17:36

if you're not physically right or mentally right. And

17:39

the middle aspect can really be

17:42

become a detriment to your physical because

17:44

it just like you said, like you said, weight gain,

17:47

and that weight gain can lead to more

17:49

chronic behavior that's not

17:52

good for you. And then because

17:54

of the fact that you experienced that, that

17:56

to me not saying that everybody

17:58

who leads a company should actual I

18:01

have a knowledge experience of that particular

18:04

purpose, but because you've had that

18:06

personal experience, that allows me to believe

18:08

that your purpose is even stronger

18:11

to make sure people get the care

18:13

that they need.

18:13

Correct. I agree.

18:16

And that's why whenever I

18:18

can, I just go out and speak and speak

18:21

about this issue. And

18:24

I think for me, I really try to hone in on

18:27

brothers because what

18:30

I think, what I've seen in my years

18:32

is that you know that

18:36

thought that we're weak if we need, if

18:38

we if we need if

18:40

we have a mental health challenge, and if we need help.

18:44

If I could hit on that again again and again,

18:48

I think that is what my purpose is.

18:51

And what I want to say to

18:53

these guys is that listen the power of

18:56

having a psychiatrists, a

18:58

medical doctor who can look at all your

19:00

medications and say, hey, you know what,

19:02

that's making you gain weight, that's making you

19:04

crazy, that's making you fidgety,

19:08

Okay, this is going to destroy your liver. So

19:11

here are the things we're going to do. The psychiatrists,

19:13

because they need to know all your body systems

19:16

that they're able to be at a quarterback, they're

19:19

able to make sure that, hey, everything

19:21

is an alignment before they start giving

19:23

you the medications

19:25

that will help with your mental health. The psychologists,

19:28

on the other hand, they're all about

19:30

the smart goals. And I think

19:32

for me, it's like, Okay, how do I make

19:34

money? See,

19:37

how do I make money when I can't work? How

19:39

do I lose weight when I'm on bus I make me gain

19:41

weight and I've lost I'm

19:43

down one hundred and fifteen pounds.

19:47

And how do I and

19:49

how do I thrive when I'm on medication

19:51

that may make me focus on bad

19:53

stuff and make me want to do best

19:55

stuff to my body. So and

19:59

I tell people, Okay, these should

20:01

be the first two people on your team. They

20:03

were my last two, and honestly, I

20:05

think my and honestly

20:09

I think my

20:11

my ability to give them where I was to hear it

20:13

took a lot longer because

20:15

I was doing stuff the hard way. And

20:18

once I got these guys, we were

20:20

even able to go through my my health

20:22

team. Hey,

20:25

this PCP is listening to you. Great,

20:27

this paying doctor not working. You

20:29

need to be You need to be on these medications

20:31

as well. Get them to listen to you

20:34

that you need to get a PhD in you,

20:37

right, because it's like managing your money.

20:39

No one's going to do it better than you. And

20:43

once you get that, once you get that,

20:46

you can go on there with power to the doctor and say,

20:48

hey, your plan isn't working.

20:50

Can we change it or not? And if the answer is

20:53

no, then hey fire them,

20:56

okay, and then and then get someone

20:58

else. The goal is to get a

21:00

good team of people psychologists,

21:02

a psychiatrist, a PCP, and

21:06

the chronologist, a

21:08

good rehab person let's

21:10

see, a good swimming coach,

21:13

which is what I do for rehab, massage

21:16

therapy, and get a good team

21:19

of people together that whose

21:21

sole purpose is to make sure you go forward.

21:24

And once you get that, are your focus

21:26

about us what you can do. And

21:29

now you'll go to your team like, hey, I want

21:31

to do ABC and D. How can we do it?

21:34

You know, let's see, uh, give

21:36

them my limitations. And then once

21:38

you're focused on that, it becomes

21:40

a great problem solving game. And

21:44

I love nothing better than doing those.

21:47

I know that. Right.

21:47

Talking to Jackson Dunbar, founder

21:50

Well Made Atlanta, how can we get in touch with Jackson.

21:52

Okay, Hey, you can reach out to us at Wellmeadatalanta

21:55

dot com. That's Wellmetalanta

21:57

dot com. The number seven I

22:00

know nine three nine six

22:02

four eight zero.

22:04

Well, you know, I'm gonna just tell you

22:06

Jackson Dunbar and I can send him a good friend.

22:08

You know, we're doing a video interview

22:10

for the first time. We've talked to each other twice

22:13

on my radio show. His podcast

22:15

When I Air are very popular. By

22:17

the way, Jackson, I don't know if people contact you,

22:19

but boy, they downloaded you my

22:21

friend because you have a message. This book

22:24

was incredible. You should buy that book.

22:26

But more importantly, he's a great person. And

22:28

I want to thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation

22:30

master Class again. And we are advocates

22:33

that they are twelve months in a year. We

22:35

need to recognize there's an ongoing problem that

22:37

we need to resolve, and it shouldn't be when

22:39

it makes the news in a negative manner, and

22:41

that's when.

22:42

The people go, oh, we need to take care of that.

22:44

Well, it's too late because the problem is

22:46

now in the news. Thank you Jackson for coming

22:48

on my show again.

22:49

Hey, thank you for having me and hey, if you want

22:51

to in fact me again, please feel free.

22:54

This has been another edition of Money Making

22:56

Conversation master Class posted by me

22:58

Rashawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests

23:00

on the show today and thank you for

23:03

listening to the audience now. If you want to listen to

23:05

any episode I want to be a guest on the show,

23:07

visit Moneymakingconversations dot

23:09

com. Our social media handle is money

23:12

Making Conversation. Join us next week

23:14

and remember to always leave with your gifts.

23:16

Keep winning.