PTSD Recovery: From “I Had a Gun in My Head” to “I’m the Dad”
An Air Force veteran’s story of what five days of oxygen training unlocked — and why his daughter can finally ask him for help.
Tree Lipton’s recovery story in his own words — and his family’s.
Watch the extended interview →
The Wound Nobody Could See
Tree Lipton served in the US Air Force as fuels and security forces. He did his job. He kept others safe. He came home — but he didn’t come home whole.
The trauma happened in a place where he was supposed to be safe. He never reported it. He buried it. He moved from active duty to the reserves, hoping the change in pace would help. It didn’t.
Sleep fell apart. Mood fell apart. Drinking got worse. Two or three years later, Tree was in a VA psychiatric facility after a suicide attempt.
His motivation to keep living was simple: his wife and his daughter. That was it.
“Perpetual negative energy. Like a black hole. That’s what it feels like.”
— Tree Lipton, describing life with untreated PTSDFive Days in Colorado with No Expectations
Tree’s wife had a relative who’d been working with veterans. Mark Squibb reached out and offered an olive branch: “If you can make it out to my place, we’ll give something a shot.”
At that point, Tree was on a stack of medications that had turned him into what he calls “a zombie.” Stage 3 hypertension. Energy swings from nothing to uncontrollable. He drove to Colorado with zero expectations.
Over five days, he did multiple sessions per day on a stationary bike — at least 15 minutes each — with oxygen switching between high and low concentrations.
After the first few sessions, something he hadn’t expected started happening.
“I had a release. It felt like a cramp — like letting go of my head. Pins and needles in places I didn’t feel before. Some part of me has been reignited.”
— Tree Lipton, after his first sessionsWhat Day 5 Looked Like
The emotional “ping-pong” — the erratic highs and lows that had defined his days — slowed down. His emotional responses became more stable. He cried, but it wasn’t from sadness. It was understanding. The pieces fell back together.
“I felt more complete. Like a whole piece of something split apart, and the halves fell back together.”
Before Treatment
- Stage 3 hypertension
- Could not maintain anger or aggression levels
- Emotionally erratic — wide swings within hours
- VA hospitalization, long-term inpatient stays
- Suicide attempt
- Zombie state from medications
After Five Days
- Emotional swings stabilized
- Able to process memories without re-traumatization
- Speech and thought patterns clearer
- Returned home able to put daughter to bed
- “I’m still here. I did all the things. I’m still here.”
- Went on to complete full year of trade school
His Family Got Their Dad Back
The week after Tree returned home, he told his wife: “I’ll put Theresa to bed.”
She didn’t know what to do with herself. For years, bedtime had been impossible — too much noise in Tree’s head, not enough patience. His wife had been the sole parent by necessity.
In Their Own Words
“I got my husband back. It was like a miracle. I was able to get my life back, too — because I’d put myself on the back burner for both him and our daughter.”
— Tree’s wife“She comes and asks me for stuff. She asks my opinion. She asks what I think. She asks for help. She asks for advice. I’m the dad — I’m somebody she can come to, as opposed to somebody who needed to be avoided.”
— Tree LiptonWhy This Works Without Talking About the Trauma
Years of talk therapy hadn’t unlocked what five days of oxygen training did. Tree noticed the difference.
“Kind of magical to just breathe deep and seek peace and have that be the primary vehicle for healing. Kind of hilarious how easy it was and how quickly it changed things inside my head.”
The Biology Underneath the Trauma
Talk therapy addresses the psychological layer. Oxygen training addresses the biological layer underneath it.
Trauma — especially repeated trauma — creates inflammation and restricts blood flow to the brain’s regulatory centers. Those systems go offline. They’re not destroyed. They’re just starved of what they need to function.
When oxygenated blood reaches those dormant areas, they come back online. Often quickly. Often in ways that years of medication and therapy hadn’t been able to produce.
“You don’t need to talk about whatever it is you’re going through,” Tree says. “If you can get on a bike and spin, you can do this.”