Why Brain Health Matters for Veterans and First Responders: A Meridian Clinic Takes Action
September 13, 2025
***UPDATE: What Happened Next
After Idaho News 6 aired this story, more Idaho veterans reached out to our clinic seeking help. Channel 6 later returned to follow the journeys of Army veteran Michelle Pratt and former police officer Todd Harris. Read the follow-up story here →
Veterans and first responders spend their careers protecting others. But what happens when years of stress, trauma, head injuries, disrupted sleep, and high-pressure environments begin taking a toll on their own brains?
That question was at the center of a recent Idaho News 6 story featuring our team at Brain Restore Centers of Meridian and a special community initiative designed to help veterans and first responders better understand their brain health.
During Suicide Prevention Month, our Meridian clinic offered complimentary brain scans to veterans and first responders throughout the Treasure Valley—an effort designed to bring greater awareness to an often-overlooked piece of the mental health conversation:
The health and function of the brain itself.
Idaho News 6 reporter Allie Triepke visited our Meridian clinic to learn more about the initiative and follow the experience of U.S. Army veteran and retired law enforcement officer Gary Walker.
After decades of military service and law enforcement, Walker wanted to learn more about what those years may have meant for his brain.
“It will be interesting to see what kind of damage has been done or not been done,” Walker told Idaho News 6.
His comments highlight something we frequently hear from veterans, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders.
These individuals are trained to keep moving.
They respond to the emergency. They complete the mission. They take care of the person in front of them.
And then they move on to the next one.
Walker described it well during the news interview:
“We suppress a lot of things. We just kind of push it down and move through to the next activity.”
Over years—or even decades—the cumulative effects of those experiences deserve attention.
The connection between these professions and mental health deserves serious consideration.
The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has reported that occupational stress among first responders is associated with increased risk of problems including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, hopelessness, and suicidal behavior. Research cited by the CDC has also found that firefighters and law enforcement officers may be more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
Veterans face similar challenges.
According to the VA's National Center for PTSD, 6,398 U.S. veterans died by suicide in 2023—approximately 17 to 18 veterans every day.
But mental health is rarely explained by one factor alone.
Veterans and first responders may experience repeated psychological trauma, chronic stress, sleep disruption, physical injuries, blast exposure, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, relationship stress, and other challenges over the course of their careers.
For some, those experiences may continue affecting their quality of life long after their service ends.
One of the technologies we use at Brain Restore Centers of Meridian is quantitative electroencephalography, or QEEG.
A QEEG measures patterns of electrical activity produced by the brain.
Sensors placed on the scalp record this activity across different areas of the brain. The information can then be analyzed to identify patterns in brain-wave activity and communication.
Importantly, a QEEG by itself does not diagnose PTSD, traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, or suicidal risk.
Instead, it provides another source of objective information about how the brain is functioning.
When combined with a person's history, symptoms, neurological examination, cognitive testing, balance assessment, and other appropriate evaluations, this information can help create a more comprehensive picture of brain function.
For many people, simply seeing objective information about their brain can be powerful.
The conversation can begin to shift from:
“What's wrong with me?”
to:
“What might be happening in my brain—and what can I do to support it?”
That is an important distinction.
Brain health is particularly important when considering the history of head trauma that may occur during military service, law enforcement, firefighting, athletics, vehicle accidents, and other high-risk activities.
The CDC defines traumatic brain injury as an injury that affects how the brain works and notes that service members and veterans are among the populations more likely to be affected by TBI.
Emerging research also continues to demonstrate the importance of considering TBI history when evaluating long-term mental health.
A 2025 VA study following more than 800 veterans found that veterans reporting a history of traumatic brain injury continued to report higher levels of suicidal thoughts and behaviors 12 years after military service, even after researchers accounted for factors including PTSD, depression, and lifetime trauma.
That doesn't mean a previous concussion or TBI inevitably causes future mental health problems.
It does suggest something important:
Brain injuries shouldn't necessarily be forgotten simply because they happened years ago.
At Brain Restore Centers of Meridian, our goal is to look at brain health from multiple angles.
Rather than relying on one test or one piece of information, our comprehensive brain health evaluation may examine areas such as:
This allows us to ask a different question.
Instead of only asking, “What symptoms does this person have?”
we can also ask:
“What factors may be contributing to how this person's brain is functioning?”
That question can sometimes reveal areas worth investigating further.
Our decision to offer complimentary brain scans to veterans and first responders during Suicide Prevention Month came from a simple belief:
The men and women who have spent their careers protecting our communities deserve access to information that may help them better understand their own health.
As I shared with Idaho News 6:
“They deal with an abnormal amount of stress and an abnormal amount of challenges.”
That's why awareness matters.
Sometimes the first step isn't treatment.
It's understanding.
Understanding what someone has experienced.
Understanding the symptoms they're struggling with.
Understanding their history of concussions, trauma, stress, or sleep disruption.
And when appropriate, understanding more about how their brain is functioning today.
Brain Restore Centers of Meridian provides comprehensive brain health evaluations for people throughout Meridian, Boise, Eagle, Nampa, Kuna, and the greater Treasure Valley who are struggling with concerns such as brain fog, memory difficulties, previous concussions, cognitive changes, and other brain-health-related symptoms.
Our mission is simple:
Help people better understand their brain so they can make more informed decisions about their health.
We are grateful to Idaho News 6 for helping bring attention to this important issue—and especially grateful to the veterans, law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs, dispatchers, and other first responders who serve our communities every day.
Watch the original Idaho News 6 story:
Meridian Clinic Offers Free Brain Scans to Veterans, First Responders for Suicide Prevention Month
If you or someone you love has experienced concussions, brain fog, memory problems, cognitive changes, or other concerns about brain function, contact Brain Restore Centers of Meridian to learn more about our comprehensive brain health evaluation process.
Brain Restore Centers of Meridian
750 W. Ustick Rd., Suite 100
Meridian, Idaho 83646
208-639-1397
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of suicide, seek immediate professional help. Veterans can contact the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and pressing 1.
