Brigadier General Paul Peters Retires After More Than 30 Years
Brigadier General Paul Peters retired in July 2025 following a military career spanning more than 30 years. Peters joined the Army National Guard in the 1990s at age 19 and earned the rank of first lieutenant in 1997. Over the next 25 years, he completed five overseas deployments to Kuwait, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Iraq. He reached the rank of brigadier general in 2022 during his deployment to Iraq before finishing his service in North Carolina and Virginia.
Decades of deployments left lingering psychological impacts that followed Peters into civilian life. He experienced nightmares, racing thoughts, and difficulty managing anger long before his retirement. “High vigilance, high stress, high anxiety,” Peters said. “It really affected about every interaction that I had.”
Post-Traumatic Stress Among Veterans
Peters’ experience aligns with broader statistics among returning military personnel. According to Department of Veterans Affairs figures, approximately 6% of servicemen and 13% of servicewomen receive a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis. The Mayo Clinic notes that post-traumatic stress stems from extremely stressful or terrifying events, bringing intrusive memories, behavioral changes, and avoidance.
In 2020, approximately 13 million Americans were diagnosed with PTSD. Cultural shifts within the military have altered how these conditions are handled. “In the early 2000s, it was just expected to kind of, ‘Suck it up, buttercup,’ as we used to say, and kind of drive on,” Peters said. “But as we started to learn more and more about the implications of PTSD… I started to become aware and open my eyes to some of that.”
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Regrows Damaged Dendritic Spines
Medical advancements have introduced magnetic wave therapies to address physical changes in the brain caused by trauma. Stress damages dendritic spines, which help nerve cells receive electrical impulses from other cells. Transcranial magnetic stimulation pulses magnetic waves to targeted brain areas to help regrow these damaged spines, according to Dr. Thomas Trevort, a nurse practitioner with Optimal TMS.
The Federal Drug Administration approved transcranial magnetic stimulation for medication-resistant depression in 2008 and expanded approval to obsessive-compulsive disorder a decade later. Research indicates an 80% chance of symptom improvement when traditional medications fail. Traditional treatment programs span 36 days with sessions lasting 10 to 30 minutes, though newer protocols can compress sessions into a single day.
Sleep Restored Following Magnetic Wave Treatment
Peters initially doubted the efficacy of the magnetic wave procedure. Following his first session, he questioned whether anything had changed, but that night he experienced uninterrupted sleep for the first time in years. His wife and therapist observed immediate behavioral improvements.
“Things still frustrate me, but I don’t get upset when they frustrate me,” Peters said. Both Peters and Trevort now advocate for broader awareness of the procedure among veterans. “I want people to know about the treatment more than anything else,” Trevort said, “because knowledge gets people to start looking, and that’s what matters most.”
Frequently Asked Questions About TMS Therapy
What are the primary risks associated with transcranial magnetic stimulation?
The Mayo Clinic reports that the risks of transcranial magnetic stimulation are very low, even among individuals unaffected by the conditions being treated.
How long do individual transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment sessions last?
Traditional treatment sessions last between 10 and 30 minutes, administered five days a week over a 36-day period, though newer research has explored condensed single-day formats.
When was transcranial magnetic stimulation first approved for medical use?
The Federal Drug Administration approved transcranial magnetic stimulation for medication-resistant depression in 2008 following years of clinical studies.
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