Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman
Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman is presented by The Mac Parkman Foundation
The mission of this show and the foundation is To serve as a source of information, resources, and communications to the community of parents, coaches/Athletic trainers, medical staff, and athletes that are affected by sports-related concussions and to raise awareness of the long-term implications of concussive and sub-concussive trauma to our children.
Broken Brains will also explore how Concussive Trauma impacts our Service Members and Veterans.
Join us every week as Bruce interviews leaders and experts in various Medical fields, as well as survivors of Concussive trauma.
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Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman
From Ballet to Brain Advocacy: Alexandra de Roos’s Inspiring Journey
In this episode of "Broken Brains," host Bruce Parkman welcomes Alexandra de Roos, a former pre-professional ballerina turned brain injury advocate. Alexandra shares her journey from the prestigious School of American Ballet to her unexpected pivot towards advocacy after a severe concussion ended her dance career. Now a student at the University of South Florida, Alexandra is on a mission to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries and mental health. She discusses the importance of brain health, the challenges of recovery, and her work with nonprofit organizations like the Blue Project. Tune in to hear her inspiring story of resilience and her efforts to make a meaningful impact in the world of brain injury advocacy.
If you're a veteran, first responder, or someone interested in the future of trauma treatment, this episode is packed with insights and practical knowledge.
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Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman is sponsored by The Mac Parkman Foundation
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Chapters
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:02:15] Alexandra's Background
[00:05:30] Concussion Impact
[00:12:45] Recovery Challenges
[00:20:10] Blue Project
[00:28:00] Arts and Healing
[00:35:20] Advocacy Work
[00:42:50] Future Goals
[00:50:30] Conclusion
https://www.mpfact.com/headsmart-app/
Follow Alexandra on LinkedIn today!
LinkedIn: Alexandra de Roos
Website: https://www.alexandraderoos.org/
Two Days. One Mission. Protecting Brains, Saving Lives. September 3rd and 4th in Tampa, Florida.
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honoring our veterans through real solutions to brain trauma.
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Saturday, June 28th, 1:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Produced by Security Halt Media
Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman, sponsored by the Mack Parkman, the national voice, repetitive brain trauma, where we look at the issues of repetitive head impacts from contact sports and repetitive blast exposure for our military veterans and what these conditions are doing to the brains of our children, athletes and vets and causing what is basically the largest preventable cause of mental illness in this country. And we reach out on these shows to scientists, researchers, patients, advocates, people who have suffered in silence, to come on the show and talk about their experiences so that you are informed, because this is not trained in medical, nursing, psychological curricula, and so you must take care of you, of those that you know and those that you love, because you're the first line of defense on this issue. Today's guest, another amazing young lady who I had the pleasure of meeting earlier in Washington DC, alexandra DeRuse, is a multifaceted advocate, dancer and student whose journey from the ballet stage to brain injury. Advocacy exemplifies resilience and purpose, and she does. A former pre-professional ballerina, alexandra trained at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City from age 14 to 18, and her promising dance career was unexpectedly halted due to a severe concussion, leading her to pivot towards advocacy and education. She's currently a student at the University of South Florida's Judy Genshaft Honors College, pursuing a double major in biomedical sciences and psychology.
Speaker 1:Busy young lady and her academic focus is driven by a goal to become a neuropsychiatrist specializing in post-concussion syndrome rehabilitation In 2025, she was crowned Miss Tampa Wow, good for you. A title she uses to amplify awareness about brain injuries and mental health. And if that's not enough, she's the founder of two non-profit organizations. At age eight, she initiated Peace Love Leotards Inc. Which provides dancewear and virtual training to underprivileged children, aiming to bridge the socioeconomic gap in the performing arts. Later, inspired by her own experience with TBI, she established the Blue Project integrating neuroscience in the arts, inc, promoting the healing power of the arts in brain trauma recovery. Through her podcast, the Blue Project podcast, she shares stories of resilience and mental health awareness, and her dedication to service and empowerment continues to inspire many, including myself. She combines her passion for science, the arts and advocacy to make a meaningful impact. Alexandra, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me today, Bruce. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I'm beside myself. This is great. So we met at the big BIAA function in Washington DC and I got to hear your story several times. Tell our audience about this amazing, well, this unfortunate yet amazing journey that you've been placed on.
Speaker 2:So ballet is something that I consider to be my first love.
Speaker 2:I moved away from home at the age of 14 to live in a dormitory and train year round at the School of American Ballet as a part of their winter term program.
Speaker 2:The School of American Ballet is the feeder school for the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, so it's one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world, and I was so fortunate to be able to pursue my dream in this way. I trained there for five years four years of high school and then my first year of undergraduate studies, where I started at Columbia University as a part of their general studies program. So I went to school and also continued my ballet training at the same time, but unfortunately during that year I sustained an incredibly severe concussion that I didn't know at the time would completely change the trajectory of my life and into my dance career. I developed post concussive syndrome and underwent a year and a half of post concussive physical therapy as well as neuropsychological therapy, and it basically just sparked a fire in me to create the blue project and advocate for traumatic brain injuries and the brain injury community as a whole.
Speaker 1:Wow, man, I mean, I mean unfortunately, I mean your, your career was derailed and, um, you know how did you get through the darkness? I mean, here's your dream, right? Here's your first love, and you know, and this is taken away and here you are, you know, an amazing young lady with a bright future and a plan and all that you know. But you know, how did you get through those dark days? Because I can't imagine that there weren't.
Speaker 2:You know, it was all sunshine and brightness after your incident, I learned that the brain actually doesn't distinguish between emotional and physical trauma, and so not only did I have this issue, where I sustained a very severe concussion and was dealing with the physical impacts of that, but I was also dealing with the emotional impacts of basically the death of a large piece of my identity.
Speaker 2:From the age of two and a half, when anybody asked me who I was, I always said I'm a dancer, that's what I am, that's just who I am, and it's something that I loved, and so to experience that and essentially like the death of a part of my identity, was something that was really hard.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to lie this concussion did spark issues with my anxiety. I did experience depressive symptoms, as so many people do when they experience a traumatic brain injury, so it was something that was very difficult to go through, but I was so blessed to have an incredible support system in my family and friends, and I can confidently say that if I didn't have those individuals around me that I would not be where I am today and doing what I am doing. My mom was a huge part of ensuring that I healed from this injury. She made sure that I was going to the right doctors that I was staying happy and healthy. She told me to find something that I was passionate about, whether it was a small goal, and just look towards that goal every single day, and I think that's something that really helped me in the midst of my injury, just kind of get through this really dark time that I was experiencing.
Speaker 1:And that is so important to have those, that family support system, and we know just so many people that have to deal with this, you know, on their own, and it sounds like you know you're trying to reach those people right now with with your, with your concussion. Was it immediately diagnosed or was it something that came on and all of a sudden you figured out? I mean, I had the, you know, jesus knocked out of my head and I'm, I'm hurting. How did, how did you determine that you had had a severe concussion and not know about it?
Speaker 2:Well, um, I, my concussion was really the result of a freak accident. A lot of people ask me oh, alex, did a guy drop you on your head during partnering class? And I'm like, well, I wish, because that would be a much more interesting story to tell. But I was actually rushing to my dorm room in between my classes to change my ballet uniform that we had, and I mistimed shutting the door in my rushing habits and so the door closed and it hit the left side of my head right here, and I didn't pass out. So I didn't lose consciousness, I didn't throw up, I just got extremely dizzy.
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like most people in their life have little bumps to the head here and there, and so I really didn't think much of it. But I was on the phone with my mom at the time and I was like, oh my goodness, I am dizzy, I'm spinning, but I think I'll be fine. I have class in 30 minutes and so I'm just going to sit down for a second and I'm going to go to class and I'm just going to get through it. I was in my last year at SAB, so that's the year where we're really working towards garnering a professional ballet contract, and so I was in the midst of having directors from all different parts of the world, all different companies, come in to observe us, to teach us where we could learn from them, and so I was really focused on getting a job as opposed to not really thinking about my head injury, and the dancers were taught to push through any injuries that we have which isn't necessarily the healthiest habit, but that was just something that I was used to.
Speaker 2:So I went to class and it got to the point where after two days, I could not see straight lots dancing. I was having the biggest headache, I was dizzy, I was nauseous and my personality started to change, which I think was probably one of the biggest indicators that something was wrong. My resident assistant at the time so our AAs that live with us and help us while we live in the residence hall just kind of looked at me and they were like are you okay? My speech had slowed dramatically, I was exhausted, I basically lost the light in my eyes, and so they were very concerned and they watched me over the course of those days and finally, after two days, they were like you need to go to the emergency room. Something's wrong. This is not just a typical knock to the head, alex, you have to go. So we went to the emergency room and they diagnosed me with a concussion and they said that I needed to stop dancing until my symptoms subsided, which should be in about two weeks.
Speaker 1:Dancing until my symptoms subsided, which should be in about two weeks. Two weeks, that's the norm, yeah. The magical, magical two weeks where all concussions are just somehow healed, yeah, and I was just like okay, that's fine.
Speaker 2:You know, I had had probably every injury that you could name. I'd injured my back, my foot, my hip. So I'm like all right, two weeks, piece of cake. I got this. We'll take some time off and we'll resume. Well, I tried to dance again and it was even worse and I just I couldn't see and nobody said anything other than just take more time off. So at the time New York City was experiencing the Omicron variant of COVID and that was running rampant. We were dealing with an extended winter break. So I went home for winter break and it was about four weeks long and I stayed there and I rested and I naturally assumed that at the end of this winter break everything would be fine Again after the sport.
Speaker 2:I tried to dance. I tried to dance, I was ill. I could not figure out why I was as sick as I was, and my parents were like I think you need to see a neurologist, because this sounds like something happened that is a lot bigger than what a lot of doctors and physicians are telling you.
Speaker 1:And you're slightly past the two week magical time window at this time right.
Speaker 2:I hit my head on november 30th of 2021. By the time I saw a neurologist, it was the second week of february wow, yeah, yeah, dang yeah, they tell you that it will just magically go away.
Speaker 2:And you know, I had heard of concussions growing up. I'm just like, oh, you hit your head. It's. It's the result of that. I didn't realize and maybe this is through a mistake of my own. I consider myself to be pretty well educated, pretty intelligent Um, I didn't know it was brain damage. I didn't know that there was bruising to my brain with this concussion. So that's something that I emphasize when I talk to people about traumatic brain injuries is that with a concussion, you are having brain damage. It's not just a little bump to the head. And that's something that I learned when I did see a neurologist. She finally scheduled an MRI and she said it looks like there had been remnants of brain bruising and brain swelling, and so that was when she told me that I would need to stop dancing indefinitely if I wanted a chance to live life normally.
Speaker 1:And so you know we never think of ballet or dance as being a sport that impacts the brain, sport that impacts the brain. Now, earlier today, we had a young lady come on and say you wouldn't believe the top concussive sport for females in this big research study was cheer right, because they're tossing these girls in the hair and they're laying on their heads or whatever. Tell us about ballet, because I'm fascinated about this. First of all, how do you stand on your toes with them shoes? I don't understand how that stuff works. And then the the ability to do all those revolutions. I see the hands snap around. I mean it is amazing.
Speaker 1:But at the same time, with all that spinning and we talk about gymnastics and the gyrations and the g-force that could be contributing to some of the gymnastic community's mental health issues from a a brain trauma perspective, talk to us about ballet and dance. Nobody gets to talk to a ballet dancer. You know I'm 63 years old. I never met a ballet dancer in my life. So tell us about ballet. And I mean the regimen supposedly is horrific man. I mean like this is full on, you know, this is full on combat man.
Speaker 2:It's one of the most intense. I don't know whether you consider it a sport. I have always considered ballet to be an athletic art form. You can compete, dance in different styles at dance competitions, but to me, dance, and particularly ballet, has always been an athletic art form, but it is probably the most rigorous thing. I believe there was actually a study that was put out that said, comparing all of sports and all of the athletic events, that dance and ballet was the hardest.
Speaker 1:So I would not doubt that, and I will say this I've never met a fat ballet person or seen one on TV. All right, so you're burning calories, man, when you guys are that fit and that ripped, whether it's a dancer or a ballet. And I'm not talking about these twerking people that they call that dancing. I'm talking about a lifestyle that demands rigor, that demands attention to detail, that I mean I don't even know how you memorize all them, hundreds of moves, and I mean I'm just, I'm fascinated by it. To tell you the truth, I mean I went to the Nutcracker every year with my wife and my family and I'm just fascinated with something I don't know anything about. But I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2:So I'll tell you a little bit of the negative and I'll tell you a little bit of the positive in terms of brain injury and how it relates to that. The negative was that when you're very young, as a ballet dancer, you are taught how to spot your head. This is great because it means that when you rotate and do pirouettes you don't get dizzy, or it severely eliminates the dizziness that you experience. So you leave your head behind for as long as possible when you're rotating and then snap it around very sharply. Well, if you've experienced a concussion, this is probably the exact opposite of what you want to be doing.
Speaker 2:And particularly the two days after my concussion, we were doing ballet variations, so like pieces from ballet performances that involved a lot of pirouettes or meneges where you jump in a circle and rotate.
Speaker 2:So I was consistently snapping my head like this after my injury.
Speaker 2:So that definitely contributed to the extreme injury that I experienced. For sure, people with traumatic brain injuries and neurological disorders, I'm kind of reading research studies that have already been done and I found out that dance has actually been shown to increase neuroplasticity in the brain, which is a vital component that is necessary for healing from brain injuries Because of like like you said, we memorize all of the steps that we have to do and we have to think very quickly on our feet and all the muscles that we have to engage. It all comes from our brain. So this is developing our neuroplasticity over time and they're saying that because I've had increased neuroplasticity, that could be contributing to how I was able to heal so well from my TBI. Because my TBI was extremely severe. I could not have conversations, I would completely lose my train of thought, I had a memory stutter, my speech was slowed, it was terrible. But now I'm studying biomedical sciences and I'm talking on television and on podcasts and advocating for the brain injury community.
Speaker 1:So I attribute a lot of that to being a dancer from a very young age and the increased neuroplasticity that gave me no, I, I cannot, I, I just I'm just fascinated by the whole and I and I think it is I, I think your description as as an athletic art is absolutely spot on. I mean, it's uh, anything that demands that much rigor, um is uh, I mean, it is a lifestyle and it must have, from the you know, from the emotional trauma perspective, the pressure that you're on under for all, what's your typical day, you know, while you know those five years that you were practicing ballet, I mean you're also going to school. What's the? What's the typical day in a ballerina's life for me, when? Or ballet, yeah, I guess I don't know what the dudes call themselves ballet dudes, what?
Speaker 2:but we all refer to ourselves as ballet dancers okay, across the board across the board.
Speaker 1:So um yeah okay, so you want me to walk you through a day no, yeah, just I'll be like I'm sure everybody like me is kind of fascinated like nobody gets to speak peek into this world. I mean, we just know that. You know, I know that it just seems like there's a lot of I mean it's hard work, man, it's really hard. You know it's not, you just don't show up, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, not at all. So I would start getting ready for the day and then we would go down. I was really lucky because our cafeteria that served our dorm was in the same building, so everything was all there, and my ballet studio was also in the same building, so that was really nice. But I would go down, get breakfast and then I would walk to school five blocks there and I would attend school classes for about two and a half hours. I had two classes in the morning and then I would walk back to my ballet studio, have a class in the morning and then go back to school after eating lunch in the afternoon, take two more classes, walk back to the ballet studio. So if you're keeping track and doing the math, I've walked about 20 blocks at least every single day, which is quite a lot in addition to the dance, and then in the afternoon I would have a second class A ballet class.
Speaker 2:Yes, so there would be like a ballet technique class in the morning, and then there would be a point or variations or pas de deux, which is partnering class, in the afternoon, and then after that, depending on what season we were in, it would be rehearsals for the rest of the day, or I would be going to Pilates and I would spend probably two hours in Pilates just cross training and making sure that my body was strong and fit to be able to handle what was going on in the ballet classroom, and then at night I would do all of my homework and repeat again the next day.
Speaker 1:Yes, you get weekends off.
Speaker 2:No, I had Sunday off Sunday.
Speaker 1:all right, at least they gave you one day off. Wow, that's amazing, man, that's amazing. So all right. So here we are. Young Alexander is out there Talk about. You know a little bit about. What is your message to anyone about? You know, tbis, what are you advocating for when you say I'm do you? What do you? What do you? What are you advocating for when you say I'm an advocate? What do you? What do you look in the change right now from you know, from your, you know from your, from your perspective.
Speaker 2:I think the biggest thing with public knowledge is trying to get people to understand that it's vitally important that we protect our brains, because our brains influence so much of the way that we not only behave, but the way that we are physically able to respond to things, and so I always say that the brain is kind of like the conductor of the orchestra, which is the body, and so if your brain's not healthy, you're not going to be able to do what you need to do on a daily basis.
Speaker 2:And then beyond that, beyond brain health, if you do experience a bump to the head or something that you think is not serious, I encourage you to take it seriously, because it's always better to be safe than sorry. I wish that I had immediately taken my injury seriously and not danced on it and knew that the injury that I experienced was truly brain damage. I think that would have changed a lot in the trajectory of my healing path, but I'm so glad that I'm able to now talk to other people about my experience. So I think that's the biggest thing is just ensuring that we're taking care of our brains on the daily, but then also recognizing when these traumatic brain injuries occur and getting them checked out as soon as possible. A little statistic I want to throw in is that I've noticed about 50% of concussions go completely unreported. So that's half. And I think it's important that that's out there, because then you understand how misunderstood this injury is and how it's not being reported nearly enough, as it should be.
Speaker 1:So just yeah, no, that's I mean and and that's true, I mean a lot of, you know, a lot of people have no idea that brain health is not a priority in this country. I mean we, I mean we talked about this they check your lungs, they check your heart, they tap your knee, but you know, they, they don't, they don't ask you about the brain.
Speaker 2:Well, and the biggest thing is, too, is that we have a mental health crisis going on in the country. I believe about one in five adults have a mental health disorder, and when you experience a brain injury, that becomes one in two. So that number drastically increases once you experience a brain injury, and I always have found it interesting that you go to the doctor and you say you have an injury and they scan your knee, they scan your back, but they don't scan your brain as much when you're dealing with a mental health disorder. So that's why I want to go into neuropsychiatry, because I want to see how the physical aspects of the brain correlate with emotional responses and reactions.
Speaker 1:And you know and that's a great point, alexandra because every hospital has an MRI. They have a functional MRI and there's other scans out there QEEG and diffusal tensor imaging scans that can literally see in the brain and identify abnormalities. So I mean, do you think scanning should be part of any mental illness check to see if there is a physiological component to it?
Speaker 2:I do. I do Absolutely. I think that scanning should just become a regular part of like. We scan so many things in our body, especially as we get older, to screen for things preventatively. I think it's also something that we should be doing preventatively, if possible, just because then we might gain more insight into how the physical components of our brain affect us emotionally and psychologically.
Speaker 1:And that's a great point, because if 50% of them are unreported, most people like yourself don't even know they had a concussion Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, I know so many people that are involved in sports. My younger brother is a soccer player. That's another sport besides football that is heavily you see concussions a lot in, and so I think that it's really important that we're making sure that our younger athletes especially because your brain is not fully developed until you're 25, are getting scans, are monitoring their brain health, are making sure that when they get bumped in the head or if they're tackled or if a ball hits them, that they're making sure that they're okay and that they're not just brushing it off and prioritizing the game.
Speaker 1:that they're playing more than the person that's playing. You know, I'm finding out that younger generations are really more focused on brain health, like they're just more aware, and I don't know why. Why do you think that is Like. I talked to a lot of younger folks and they're like my kids ain't playing contact sports. You know they're not hitting soccer balls. I mean they're they're they're they don't love football the way you know older generations do, but they're they're much more focused on, you know, the brain. Why? Why do you think that is Cause it's really cool.
Speaker 2:I think so that probably has to do a lot with conversation and, overall, just us being open. My younger generation is very open about their mental and emotional struggles and if we're starting to see a correlation between physical impacts and those mental and emotional struggles, I wouldn't be surprised that my generation is less likely to be involved in contact sports because they want to protect their brain, they want to make sure that they're not struggling physically, mentally or emotionally. So I think a lot of it has to do with conversation, which is why I completely stress the importance of advocacy and just having conversations with people who are survivors of these injuries so we can continue to spread awareness about how serious these injuries can be.
Speaker 1:Do you think it's also that you know, besides you know, besides you know they, they. A lot more conversation with your generation takes place, you know, on phones and social media and stuff, but there's, so that means there's a lot more of information out there. Do you think they're just more informed too, they're more aware?
Speaker 2:I think so. I think as a whole where we have um a lot of information at our fingertips. And course there are the negative ramifications of social media I won't deny that but there's also a lot of positives in that too. I mean, personally, as Miss Tampa and with my nonprofit, the Blue Project, I have the opportunity to get my message out on social media to a broader audience than I would if I was just having conversations every single day, even though that's important. So I think that using social media and creating videos, creating graphics, just creating any sort of informational, um educational source, is something that's really important and I'm glad that my generation utilizes that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my producer is laughing right now Cause he's always after my old butt to make a video, just video. And I, I, I'm not good at self-promotion, man, I just, I just want to get the word around to talk to you and just have you talk, right. But you know, but you're right and I think, um, we are. I am so gratified when I talk to younger people about the issues of rhi and rbe and you know, I think, I think we're absolutely moving towards a more informed generation that's going to look at, you know, social, I mean, we just did a study in Florida and 83% of our inmates in this study had a history of 4.2 TBIs and a lot of them played contact sports 40 something percent of our juvie population has the same statistical background.
Speaker 1:Now we're looking at, you know, how can we change the way we look at not only brain health, but how? How can we change in your mind? Uh, you know public policy on these issues. I mean you, you're a, I mean you, you, you, I mean you're miss tampa, right, I, I mean you have a platform. So how are you using that platform and what can we do to help you? You know sponsor, because you've talked about making brain health more aware. What other fronts are you continuing to challenge with your knowledge on TBI and concussions?
Speaker 2:So I do a lot with Brain Injury Florida. Currently I serve on their Brain Injury Advisory Board, which is responsible for creating the Brain Injury State Action Plan, and with that plan we've developed these work groups that will be implementing all of our ideas and plans into the state of Florida to make it easier for brain injury survivors to get more adequate care. So that's something that I'm kind of doing with another organization and then just personally and with organizations together, talking with our state legislators, talking with our national legislators. That's why I felt it was so important to go to Washington DC, because you can't know about something unless someone you research it or someone sits down and talks to you about it, and that's why I think personal stories are so important. So the more that we connect you know senators that are making these decisions in our state and nationwide, the more that I feel that we're going to be able to have an impact.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean, and if we look at what the impact could be on our society if we could get mental health people scanned, and then, yeah, I don't know how familiar you are, but all these other modalities that can help heal their brain, from HBOT to, you know, the psychedelics, the brain stimulator I don't know if you've been to the Brent Genesis Brain Institute in Tampa. They've got, yeah, nine or 10 different modalities from HBOT all the way down transcranial magnetic stimulation, photobiomodulation that are available. Then you've got brain supplementation. I mean, all these things that can help heal the brain. None of them are covered by insurance, none of them are FDA approved.
Speaker 2:A huge factor.
Speaker 2:Insurance is actually one of the biggest factors that I usually talk about when they talk about barriers, because of my own experience with insurance.
Speaker 2:I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I have access to insurance, but even with that, when I was undergoing my post-concussive physical therapy, the insurance companies were trying to tell my doctors whether or not I was healed, and so they were saying, oh, she's healed, she's fine.
Speaker 2:But my doctors were saying, no, she's not, she's still experiencing symptoms. So after my physical therapy appointment, I would literally have to sit there and write down a paragraph of all of the symptoms I was still experiencing and why I was not completely healed and the tasks that I could not do every day that it would be expected that someone who was completely healed would be able to do, in order to convince them to get cover more appointments and to cover more sessions. That would help me heal completely. And so insurance is a huge aspect, especially with brain injuries, but with any type of injury, and I think that that's something that we're really important, or we're really. I think that's something that it's important that we're discussing and it's that we target. That way, other people don't have to have go through those same challenging experiences.
Speaker 1:No, and you know you bring up something too, because you understood, because you're your mom and I met your mom and, like you, she's a force in nature, okay, and, and you know you got, you, you've, you were both all over it and, and you know, after you got hurt. But you also mentioned that your personality changed. You know, right now there are so many young people that have personality changes that are being labeled mental illness and, instead of being checked out for the possibility of a concussion or a TBI related problem or a lifestyle of heading soccer balls, whatever, they're given drugs and they're given drugs and more drugs and they end up on a lifetime of these medications. And here you are, you know, years later, not many years later back on track, maybe not fulfilling your life dream, but you have a mission, you have a focus, you're back at school, you're not on medication. All these things matter so much.
Speaker 1:What's your perspective on? You know, mental illness is the largest problem we have with our young. I lost my son to mental illness. Okay, and we are medicating the live and be Jesus out of all of our generations. I mean, we consume 85% of prescription drugs on the planet. Just our country. It, just our country. How can we, how and if we could scan a brain, and, and and and determine that we have a problem here? But and we can help these people much like you helped yourself, without the drugs right To get back to themselves. I mean the benefit for society that this would have.
Speaker 2:Yes. So, like I said, I want to be a neuropsychiatrist and one of the things that I really want to look into is kind of the positives and negatives of these drugs and the effects that they have on the people that are taking them. Because, I will not lie, I had major anxiety disorder, I had a depressive disorder and it got to the point where my sports medicine doctor was very concerned. She went to my mom and she said I think we need to put her on an antidepressant, but I want to know your thoughts on it and I also want to cross cross reference that with her neuropsychologist. So I sat down with my neuropsychologist and he said yes, you know your mental state is not looking good, but I want you to think about this and if you can get through this experience with no drugs of any kind, I want you to try to.
Speaker 1:Good for him or her.
Speaker 2:Yes Wow.
Speaker 1:She actually said oh, they said that that's great.
Speaker 2:Oh, my sports medicine doctor was hesitant. She said that it might be something that I wanted to consider, but she wanted to cross-reference it with my neuropsychologist and he said if you can get through this experience without going on medication, I want you to, and if you need to go on it, then that's fine, because mental health disorders are very extreme and medications do help in certain cases. But over-prescribing these medications is also something you don't want to do, and I will forever be grateful for the fact that he challenged me and saw that I could get through this experience, doing more natural exercises and just kind of like monitoring myself and going to PT, doing things without medication, because I never was on medication and I completely recovered and I never experienced some of the devastating side effects that we see from these medications. So I yes, I'm definitely an advocate for, if you can avoid it, to start the natural way.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, if you need it and if it's necessary and it's really going to help you in the long run, then go ahead and take the medication and there's no doubt that in acute circuit you know circumstance, with this suicidal ideation or whatever there's, there's a reason to start with these drugs, but there's no reason to have them people on them for a lifetime. And we have got, we've made a continuous you know, an entire industry out of you know, you know, and these drugs call side effects. So there's a pill for that. And next thing you know, I talked to veterans all the time got a bag, you know, a gallon bag of pills that they've got to take. I talked to a gentleman the other day, rodeo star, who's you know, and later on in life he's got 26 different pills and supplements that he has to take to stay on mother earth.
Speaker 1:And it's and it's we. Yeah, and this happens all the time. We are over-medicating a society of children that have number one, never had the opportunity, like your doctor said, to stick this out and let's get back on your feet or who could get scanned to see if there's a physiological component to their mental illness that could be heated, healed or allowed to heal. By the way, you had to stop dancing right Because of its impact on your brain. So, yeah, I just think I'm horrified with how we're approaching mental health here in this country.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's something I keep in mind too. Going into my future and wanting to be a neuropsychiatrist, I really do want to take a look at the way that these drugs negatively affect our population and, like I said, if it gets to the point where it is necessary to go on them, then that's amazing. I'm glad that we have them for people that need them, but if we can solve things in a more natural way, then I think that's also a really good thing.
Speaker 1:I have people that are in the psychiatric world and they literally have a 25% expectation that any drug they prescribe is actually going to work and then if that doesn't work, they try something else till they find something that the patient says help me. And then they're on them and things like these benzos. I mean, there's only two things that will kill you that when you try to come off them alcohol and benzos. If you're addicted to them and we prescribe benzos like for sleeping aids, it's nuts. But let's talk about you, because you are an amazing young lady with an amazing story and I just love having you on the show let's talk about. So do you still have Peace, love Leotards? Is that still ongoing Cause? That sounds like an amazing. How did you start a nonprofit at eight man? That is amazing.
Speaker 2:Well it is. It has currently taken a little bit of a pause because I am busy with my schooling and also with advocacy, but it is an organization that I'm incredibly proud of. It started as a small initiative when I was young, because dance can be very expensive as an art form to get into and I wanted to find a way that more people would have access to the arts and be able to reap the benefits that they provide, and one of the main costs for dance is the dancewear, and so, at a very young age, I decided to collect gently used dancewear and distribute it back out to dancers in need. I was growing so fast, I'm very tall, and so my mom and I were talking.
Speaker 2:I was just like, what do you think about collecting dancewear? And she's like that's a great idea. Like this, this is how much it costs. And she kind of like, informed me a little bit more on the things that I wasn't aware of, and so it just started as a very small initiative, and then, when I was 16, I incorporated it into a nonprofit organization that went global. I had a global ambassador program, would collect from all across the country and send it to our headquarters. I sent dancewear globally, all the way to the Philippines. I had national partnerships with dancewear sponsors as far as Australia and France, so it was an incredible organization that I am so, so proud to have started, and I think it made a major impact in the lives of dancers around the world.
Speaker 1:Good for you. That's amazing, awesome. And then, if that wasn't up, you got another one here. So talk to us about the Blue Project. Obviously, that came out of this current experience, this unfortunate experience with a concussion. What do you have going on, what's your focus and what are you trying to accomplish?
Speaker 2:part of a thesis paper that I was writing. During my freshman year of college I had a class called Acquisition of Knowledge and they took us on a trip to the Dolly Museum in St Petersburg and I stumbled across a painting called the Broken Bridge and the Dream, and it's a bridge that has, in my opinion, little ghost-like dancers floating across it. And when I saw that I was overcome with emotion and almost had this visceral reaction which had never really happened to me before. But it made me reflect on my experience with my injury and just all the things that had happened in my life and it kind of made me wonder can healing and the arts somehow be connected in some way, especially for those with traumatic brain injuries and neurological disorders? So luckily, the thesis paper we had to write for that class we could pick whatever topic we wanted.
Speaker 2:So I dove headfirst into that and I started reading a bunch of literature and research papers that had been conducted and I found that the arts are extremely beneficial for everyone, but for people with traumatic brain injuries and neurological disorders. So, like I talked about earlier, dance increasing neuroplasticity in the brain. It's also been shown that music has reduced stress and concussed athletes, and the creation of artwork helps with the reformulation of identity and sense of self after a brain injury or neurological disorder. And then with coloring, which is something I find so fascinating because I've loved to color since I was little. Coloring has been shown to lower cortisol, which is the stress hormone in the brain and body, so that really facilitates a more positive mental health. So that's why, actually, I have a coloring book coming out on May 18th on Amazon and that's why I created that, so that way it shows your cortisol levels.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what. All right, so we had this and you are 100% correct. So Denny brought on this art therapist person. I'm like what am I going to tell an art therapist? What am I going to talk about? On brains, we had a fascinating conversation and now I'm laughing because I have been giving my friends so much guff when I see a 50-year-old man with a coloring book. I'm like will you grow up? I mean no kidding, we have this. We've been very blessed. I have a ski house in Breckenridge and one day we have these. All these people come up to ski. They're all French, and one day I looked at the table and there's eight grownups coloring.
Speaker 2:And. I'm, and there's eight grown-ups color and I'm like I love it. I love it, but it really helps. I mean well, things that I did during my brain injury was paint.
Speaker 1:I had no idea, you know cortisol levels or whatever. Now I've got to go back and say all right, give me your coloring book, you know, go in here, give me fred flintstone or something man. So that is fascinating and I, you know, going to give me Fred Flintstone or something man. So that is fascinating and I, you know. But you are absolutely right.
Speaker 1:From a recovery perspective, those therapies and again, like you know, some of the treatments you might've went through, and a lot of treatments that we talk about on this show, nobody knows about them, like they're, they're so hard to find, they're so hard to find people that you know can help. You know, add, you know patients with them. I mean, but if you do find them and I'll tell everybody that's listening right now to Alexander man, if you can find, if you're, if you're hurting and I don't think it's just it, just mental illness alone these modalities can help you process without pills and find some purpose. I mean some of these people, I've seen some of the paintings that these veterans have painted before. I mean, I was like, oh my God, I was at an ayahuasca facility and there was a picture of a veteran in a circle with a young Afghani child, and this was a vision that the soldier had under ayahuasca and he painted it and it was so realistic, right, and they were surrounded by an aura. There was so much love in there and he's got his rifle, his nods, his helmet, and there was this young child and he was trying to protect the child. Yet he's got to protect us.
Speaker 1:I mean, these are the crazy situations we put our people in, you know, but you, I mean that is absolutely amazing that you've been able to put this all together. Well, Alexander. So, as we close the show, let's talk about uh. First of all, ms Tampa, did they teach you how to do the parade wave, or is that?
Speaker 2:just so I actually one time I was. I've been in quite a few parades over and um. You know, everyone always kind of expects you to wave like this, like that at all. Someone actually said why don't you show us your real wave? Because I was waving like this. I have like a little spastic wave, but I love it. I think it's fun. I like interacting with children and waving to them like that. So, uh, no, nobody taught me that. I came up with my own little funny way. Your.
Speaker 1:Your own. So the Alexander wave Good on you, man, and uh, yeah, that's good. I um, yeah, the uh, I think that is amazing. So this is the type of this is the part of show we want you to talk about yourself what do you have going on? Um, what's next? And how can people find you so that they can stay in touch with you, however, that you know, however, they can.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'm going to go through on Instagram I am Alexandra Del Toros and the blue dot project, and so you'll find my nonprofit there, and then my website is wwwalexandradorosorg. And on Facebook you'll find me just at Alexandra Durose or the Blue Project. So it's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. And then I have a lot of fun things coming up.
Speaker 2:I will be competing for Miss Florida at the end of June and I'm really excited for that because I get to bring brain injuries. My nonprofit is my community service initiative, so that's what I spend my year talking about and advocating for. So when I go to compete at Miss Florida, I get to bring brain injuries to that statewide stage which I'm so excited about. So that's coming up. Preparing for that actually have orientation this weekend, which is so exciting. But I'm also a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Brain Injury Association of America, so I am able to speak and give speeches across the state and virtually across the nation. I'll actually I can fly too, but I've spoken to students across the country. I just recently did a presentation at Dallas College in Texas, which is really exciting, so I'm available to speak. I'd love to be contacted to speak to your students.
Speaker 1:All right, we have our summit on repetitive brain trauma coming up on September 3rd and 4th. We'll definitely get you invites. Are you going to the BIA conference next week in Lake Nona?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm hoping to.
Speaker 1:Ah good, all right, well, I'll see you there. We'll go ahead and catch up on there. So, no, well, thank you so much for the time. Alexander, your commitment not only to yourself, right, and we have to take care of ourselves but your commitment to others that have suffered, you know, from brain injuries, and your ongoing drive to make things better. You are the type of just citizens that we need. You know, and it's so amazing.
Speaker 1:You know a lot of us older people poo-poo our younger generations and they're like, ah, they're not tough. You know what our younger generations are. They're full of love, and I will tell you this For the first time. You know my generation. I'm the last of the boomers. Right, we were raised by some pretty tough cats and a lot of us raised our kids like that. I was not one of those, family was not one of those, but I do think that you know the lack of you know, perceived toughness of our generation is actually because these newer generations is because they're more full of love, and we need love, because love is the true power in this world and without it we are not going to get far. So hats off to you and your generation for bringing love into this world and to continue to push on it, because we need a lot more Alexandria DeRusso's. I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much and thank you so much for having me on your show today. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:No, I love it. Another great episode. I love having these young kids on the show. Danny, let's get some more young kids on the show. Man, this is amazing man. So hey want to say once again the summit's coming up 3rd and 4th September, please. It's on our website. Better be on our website. I was talking to the staff. Today. We're going to have an amazing line of speakers, the only summit on repetitive brain trauma in the country. Don't forget your free book. Go to our website, wwwmpfactorg, get your downloaded copy. Our HeadSmart app is on the Google Store and the Apple Store. You can find me on Twitter at BruceMacParkman and really remember, like us, share us, subscribe to us, put the word out all you can, but take care of those brains. You only got one and it's all you're going to be, so take care of it. God bless you all. We'll see you on the next episode of Broken Brains. Take care.