Changing Your Mindset with Scott Medlin

In this conversation, we talk with Scott Medlin, a former Marine and law enforcement officer, who shares his journey through trauma, mental health challenges, and the importance of self-care in the law enforcement community. Scott discusses the need for better training and support for new recruits, emphasizing emotional intelligence and the stigma surrounding mental health. He highlights the significance of proactive coping mechanisms and the impact of addiction, particularly in the context of law enforcement. The discussion aims to raise awareness and promote a culture of support and understanding within the profession. In this conversation, we delve into the often-taboo subject of addiction within the law enforcement community, discussing its prevalence and the importance of sharing struggles to foster healing. We emphasize the significance of acknowledging one's humanity, the need for self-awareness, and the necessity of taking action to combat negative coping strategies. The discussion transitions into key lessons learned from a law enforcement career, highlighting the importance of family, mental health, and personal growth. Finally, Scott shares his post-career endeavors, including writing and speaking engagements aimed at empowering fellow officers and promoting mental wellness.

• Waking up early to prime mind, body, and spirit is crucial.
• Self-care is essential for better performance in law enforcement.
• There is a need for more comprehensive mental health training for recruits.
• Emotional intelligence plays a vital role in decision-making.
• Stigma around mental health still exists in law enforcement.
• Proactive coping strategies can prevent mental health issues.
• Support from peers is crucial for mental well-being.
• Mindset can be shifted for personal growth.
• Support networks are vital for well-being.
• Faith and fitness play significant roles in recovery.

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Transcript

Vernon Phillips (00:01.344)

All right, welcome back to Critical Aspects of Law Enforcement. I'm your host, Vernon Phillips. And today we've got a special guest. We've got Scott Medlin. He was a former Marine, former law enforcement. He's also the host of the 10 Code podcast and he's a speaker. He's an author. He's an all around, well-rounded individual. So I appreciate Scott. I just want to give it over to you. Just kind of give a background of yourself, kind of your history, your hobbies, all that kind of stuff.

Scott Medlin (00:29.646)

Well, I appreciate you having me on the show, Vernon. And wow, the pressure is on now. Okay. Thank you for that intro. Yeah. Right out of high school, I went into the Marine Corps and right after bootcamp, I graduated bootcamp August 31st, 2001. I go to my 10 day bootcamp leave. So if you can do the math, I report back in for Marine Corps combat training, September 11th, 2001. One, one, uh, interesting day to report in for combat training. I knew right then and there at some point it's probably going to go to war.

Vernon Phillips (00:33.92)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (00:59.898)

Fast forward two years later, not to it was related, we'd have a different conversation about the campaign itself. But I was deployed in 2003 and 2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. And that was the first time in my life I was exposed to the most visible, the most memorable, the most impacting trauma. And that was the first time I actually had to learn about trauma because a year after getting home from the 2005 deployment, relationships were falling apart. I was very irritable, negative thinking. Relationships were falling apart at home. If I didn't mention that, sorry. Too much coffee this morning. Anyway, but was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder a year after getting home from Iraq. And then fast forward a year after that, graduated from college and finally graduated from college and then went into law enforcement, was sworn from 2007 to 2022 really enjoyed the career overall, but it did have its heavy moments and unanticipated moments of struggle with mental health and relationships. over the last few years since leaving law enforcement entirely, I've just made it my mission to do what I can to help those who are struggling within, but also help raise morale and empower law enforcement across the country. And I've been blessed to speak to first responders in law enforcement across the country. So, and been blessed to land on many podcasts, including yours now. So thank you.

Vernon Phillips (02:26.196)

Well, and I appreciate it. There's a lot there that I want to unpack, but I know you've got your own podcast too, as well, that you've got that you set up. So we'll talk about that a little bit later, but obviously you're no stranger to the pressures of the job, the stress of the job, because you work several years in it. So what is something that you do, I mean, especially now looking back, because I'm sure that like most of us throughout the career, unless you were kind of educated early on, you didn't really do a great job taking care of ourselves. So what do you do on a regular basis to just take care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being?

Scott Medlin (03:02.638)

Mm-hmm.

Scott Medlin (03:10.37)

say a huge game changer has been waking up early enough to give myself time to prime my mind, body and spirit. I mean, really, I have three kids now and that's still, even though I'm not in law enforcement, it's crucial to wake up before the chaos starts. that, yeah, that has been a huge factor. And I wish I would have done that earlier in my law enforcement career. What I normally did was wake up, I gave myself enough time to wake up.

Vernon Phillips (03:27.057)

yes, absolutely.

Scott Medlin (03:40.598)

eat breakfast, get the uniform on, and hit the road. And of course, I would do things like watch the news and check social media. I made sure of that. But I mean, I was good about working out and praying and keeping my faith life going. But priming the mind and body and spirit, that was, particularly mindset, that would have been a game changer a lot earlier. So that's like a big thing. It's just...The priority is showing up for other people, but we have to make it a priority to up for ourselves as well, and therefore you'll show up that much better for others.

Vernon Phillips (04:16.554)

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's something that for us, you know, on our podcast, we really try to drive home as like, hey, making sure you're taking care of yourself because the more you take care of yourself, then in turn, you can actually take care of other people better. You know, especially starting at home. And, you you said you got three kids, I've got four, you know, and they're ages 12 all the way down to two. we're, yeah, so we're, we're a hopping house too. So making sure that you find that time to

Scott Medlin (04:30.702)

Mm-hmm.

Vernon Phillips (04:46.324)

to work in that. I know that for my wife, her big thing is she'll try to get up before everybody else so she can get her quiet time in. Because if you don't and they come out, man, that's it. It's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen.

Scott Medlin (04:59.586)

Yeah. Yeah. And it's almost like if you don't do that, then you're in survival mode and it's what's the talk about at the, at the department as well. It's surviving the career. And if we prime our minds and our bodies and always have that Victor mindset, that thriving mindset, then yeah, we're rising above and we're not just focused on getting through because that's existing in my opinion. We need to live. And sometimes that can be lost, particularly at home.

Vernon Phillips (05:22.208)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (05:27.902)

or at work when you're just, I just got to get through. And yeah, you might not be thinking that way on purpose, but it's all too easy to sink into that trap, which can ultimately lead to mental health issues down the road, particularly if you don't cope in a healthy way. So yeah, show up, show up for yourself.

Vernon Phillips (05:45.62)

Yeah, that's a great point and I appreciate you sharing that. So when you look at the law enforcement career and just everything that's going on, do you think that we do a good job or do a right by our new recruits and kind of onboarding them to, hey, this is what their career really looks like. These are really the stressors, the impacts you're gonna have. Where do think we are on that level of training?

Scott Medlin (06:13.774)

believe there's a shift, but there needs to be one heck of a more of a shift. I truly believe that the statistics are very alarming still to this day. And they are not alarming in the sense of we just need to be like, shoot, we need to do more. And then nothing changes. Change is hard. But I read a statistic the other day that 83 % of law enforcement officers believe that their mental health impacts their job.

Vernon Phillips (06:19.007)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (06:40.748)

performance, but thus in turn, at least sleep disturbances and irritability and stuff like that. And I read a stat on, I think it was police one that in the state of Florida, one out of every five law enforcement officers are suffering symptoms of depression or PTSD. And some of this a lot of times goes untreated. That's obviously not good. When it comes to the recruits, I do know of some states where there's maybe a four hour block of mental health stuff and you have veterans, veteran officers or coming in and just giving stories and then how they dealt with it, but we're not going over how we as humans are innately wired to focus on negativity. And good gosh, you're already going to be exposed to enough negativity as is in the career of law enforcement. We're not, the recruits are not being trained. Hey, if you decide to focus on negativity, if you decide to focus on the stressors, if you decide to focus on the trauma, then guess what? It's just going to exacerbate itself more and more in your mind and your body.

Vernon Phillips (07:23.726)

yeah.

Scott Medlin (07:36.35)

I'm not knocking those coming in and saying, Hey, you can rise above, and here's what I did to do that. But we've got to actually put in knowledge and then implement steps the same way you implement steps to patrol techniques. Like there's steps you do on a traffic stop to keep you safe. There's steps we need to put into place early on in these recruits and newer officers when, particularly because they're more impressionable, that they can take action on day in and day out, not just as a reactive state, but as a proactive state to say, Hey, look, I know I'm going to be exposed to things. I know I'm going to feel stressed. I have to maintain a routine of taking care of myself through steps like stretching or meditation or journaling. And I know these sound cheesy, but what are we going to do? Keep on doing what we've been doing? Well, we're going to keep getting the same results. And I know, let me go on a very tangent right quick. So many times, so many times, some officers have told me,

Vernon Phillips (08:05.61)

Thanks for listening.

Vernon Phillips (08:29.428)

No, go ahead.

Scott Medlin (08:34.018)

I've heard it a lot. Well, leadership needs to do better. OK, I'm, I'm all for effective leadership. It has to happen, yes. And a toxic environment can absolutely be draining on somebody. So you may be a victim of it. But it ultimately is up to you not to rely on or stay in victimhood. And ultimately, you can't rely on other people to bring you happiness and fulfillment. You're going to have to do it for yourself, even though you're going through hard times. So we have a lot of work to do, but overall, yes, I believe there's a shift. mean, your podcast, my podcast, many other people out there speaking on this stuff, there's clearly a shift. But we, like I said, we have more work to do.

Vernon Phillips (09:14.686)

No, absolutely. And there is a shift. I think that you're right on. I think the standard is people coming in and sharing their stories. I know for us here in Florida that in the intro block of intro to law enforcement, they kind of hit on emotional intelligence, and they hit on distress, and they hit on critical instances, things like that. But I think it's like a 12-hour block, but that's just a

That's just a short, a short, you know, section of just hitting on those little things. Just, but it's like, Hey, this is what it is. And then it's moving on. Right. So even having somebody come in and sharing a story and being like, Hey, this is what happened to me. This is what I did. It's like, but you have to give them, okay. So that story's great. Right. Just like you said, I'm not knocking that, but then you also have to give them something with that, right. Giving something tangible that they can take hold of and apply to their selves. So it's not just about sharing the story, it's also about giving that education, right? So educating them on the whole aspect of emotional intelligence. Hey, how do your emotions impact your day-to-day decision-making? How does it impact the way that you perceive yourself, express yourself, how you interact with other people, right? How it impacts your decision-making and how it impacts your stress management. So I mean, I was fortunate enough last year to go through

Scott Medlin (10:19.096)

Yes.

Scott Medlin (10:29.455)

big time.

Vernon Phillips (10:43.2)

and get trained in doing EQI and doing the assessments and doing those reports with people. I've got a little bit more of an insight on that, just to say, hey, is emotional intelligence is X, Y, Z, and it's good to have it. So what have we done for it? Right? We didn't give them a whole, hey, this is what it is. And if you actually take an assessment or, it measures you in these categories and then

Scott Medlin (11:02.06)

You're right. Right.

Vernon Phillips (11:12.568)

If you can tweak it here a little bit, tweak it there, you can be more emotionally balanced, which in turn makes you a more effective law enforcement officer, law enforcement professional. But not only that, but also a mom or a dad, a husband, a wife, friend, aunt, uncle, whatever that other category is that you fall into outside of law enforcement, it also gives you the ability to be more balanced there. So it's like...

Scott Medlin (11:38.723)

Yes.

Vernon Phillips (11:39.538)

Hey, let's give them the actual tools then and educate them and give them the resources. You know, so I'm fortunate enough to, you know, I get to, to teach different blocks that are in service training. And sometimes I get two hours. Sometimes I get an hour. So it's like, you know, I'm trying to cram as much information in as you can, but like, Hey, look, these are the things that happen like stress. Here's some ways to offset and mitigate stress, right? And you give them some of the practical applications. But then like you said, but then it's going to be up to the individual, right?

Scott Medlin (11:54.732)

Right, right.

Vernon Phillips (12:08.788)

We can talk about it, we can educate, and we can say, hey, here you go, but you have to be the one to put it into practice. You have to be the one to step back and say, okay, I'm worth it enough to invest in myself so that I can be the best version of myself for everybody else. But if you're held together with bubble gum and duct tape on the inside, how effective do you think you're gonna be interacting with other people if...

Scott Medlin (12:16.323)

Mm-hmm.

Vernon Phillips (12:36.616)

you could barely keep it together yourself.

Scott Medlin (12:39.374)

yeah. I mean, it's going to come tumbling down at some point. It really will. Whether it's on the outside, as in you lash out at somebody and all of a sudden now you're facing a massive complaint or worse, or you start crumbling in the inside, you're going to have physical health effects, relationships are going to start to deteriorate. That's another thing. Like we talk about complacency kills. Well, I want to say let's not be complacent with how we are doing. Like nobody is immune to this nobody, I don't care how tough you think you are. Just, it's, nobody, nobody's immune to it. But, but yeah, complacency and then knowing that if you don't address it, it will, it will address you. And it's not going to be good.

Vernon Phillips (13:23.776)

Oh yeah. Yeah, that's, mean, the complacently kills, you know, stress kills. That's the other thing. you, if you, if you don't, if you don't deal with the stress is going on in your life, right? Or if you're in that constant state of, know, hypervigilance, high drive, and you're just like dumping quarter solve, boom, boom, boom. That's going to wreak havoc on your body, right? Not physically, like, you know, not just

Scott Medlin (13:31.726)

Yeah, an unhealthy reaction to stress definitely kills. Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (13:53.652)

Cognitively because we always think you know if you're stressed out then cognitively you're you're like in on the mental aspect You're not you know, you've got you know brain clouding and things like that You can't think straight and it's like no it it affects so much more than that, right? It affects your your overall health it affects, you know, your gut your skin your you know, your breathing your cardiovascular burns out your adrenal glands and then you start getting disease and fatigue and sickness and that's something that we always try to hey look make sure you're addressing this stuff because it's like you said if you don't It's gonna it's gonna show up some way somehow It's gonna manifest in your life and it's gonna be there and then instead of dealing with whatever it was at the time now You're dealing with everything you've taken and internalized for the last 15 20 years so

Scott Medlin (14:43.522)

Yeah. And even though we are not, even though we may not be well at some points, it's like, it's so weird how our brain likes what's familiar and wants to conserve energy that actually doing something new to help yourself work your way out of a, either a physical harm or mental harm or fix a relationship like that's so hard to do, even though you know it's the right thing to do. And that's stuff that I talk about when I go speak across the country. It's like human nature to avoid pain and seek pleasure. And I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is the use of alcohol because it gives that instant sense of pleasure and escape. But let's face it, it's, it's a drug. It's a depressant. We got to keep that in perspective. But to avoid pain, it's like, even though you are not doing well and say you are coping in a way of adrenaline-seeking behavior or the alcohol or impulsivity through other actions, it's hard to change, even though you know what you're doing is unhealthy. And, and, but this is where I believe that support from others comes into play as well. This can be huge in our health, is having the right, the right people around us, particularly at home. That's why it's all the more reason to strengthen those relationships day in and day out at home, but also to make this more of a normal thing to speak about within the law enforcement culture, just to say, I've got your back on a call. But I've also got your back if you're going through something internally. It's, some people say the stigma is not there anymore. I, I would have a hard time with that. I think people are still maybe not worried about being judged, but more like consequences on their job, or they talk up to someone and they say, Hey, look, I'm really struggling this thought of this one call or this, this addiction I'm battling, it's just going on and on and on and on, and then they're like worried that someone's gonna go run their mouth and rather than be there to support them. So it's very complicated. It really is, but it's one of those where you ultimately have to take action and it'll be worth it 100%.

Vernon Phillips (16:56.81)

Yeah, and I agree with you. I think that it's getting better, but I definitely think that stigma, and I know some people don't like to use the term stigma, that let's stop using that, but it's like, well, unfortunately it is what it is, right? There is this thought, there is this negative belief in the first responder community, the law enforcement community that, hey, if I make use of resources, if I tell somebody that I'm struggling,

Scott Medlin (17:14.382)

Mm-hmm.

Vernon Phillips (17:25.586)

or I've got this going on, that means I'm weak or that means that I'm not gonna be able to do my job. They're gonna put me at a desk, they're gonna take my gun, they're gonna take my badge, they're gonna... So we don't say anything.

Scott Medlin (17:39.906)

Well, within the last year, believe it was 2,800 police officers were surveyed. I read this on Police One, 2,800 police officers surveyed. And I believe it was over half of them said there was still a stigma associated with seeking mental health support. I mean, you're right. It is what it is.

Vernon Phillips (17:58.292)

Yeah, and that's the thing and you know, and I always tell people this is that we are our own worst enemies because We don't want to share right because because of that thought so we're like, hey, I don't want to be looked at differently or I don't want my my gun to be taken so don't say anything internalize it keep pushing it down and then because We're not willing to go and seek out the help that we need or get the resources we need we actually create the very thing that we don't want to happen because it goes on so long that it gets to a point where somebody has to step in, the agency or the department has to step in and say, okay, hey, right? And then what we didn't want to happen to begin with happens because we weren't willing to go come to the table ourselves and be like, hey, this is what's going on. I need some help. And that's the reality of it is you can.

Unfortunately, you can either step in and say, hey, take responsibility. Like, hey, I need some help. Or eventually, it's going to manifest to the point where somebody else steps in your agency. Or you get to a place in your life where you're hopeless, you're helpless, and you feel worthless, right? That trifecta that puts people in a bad place. And then that's when we see suicide because they feel like they feel isolated. They feel like they're the only ones. They feel like nobody else is going through what I'm going through. And the reality of it is, is there's a lot of other people dealing with a lot of the same things. They may not be dealing with it the same way, but they're still dealing with a lot of the trauma, a lot of the hurt, a lot of the, you know, just the junk that you get from the job. Or even, you know, those who were veterans before they jumped into law enforcement, you know, they've got

Double dose of what's going on. Double.

Scott Medlin (19:54.894)

Yeah, definitely. And I, I'll share what I did when I was battling an addiction two years into my career. I, I'm not telling people to do this, but this is what I did. I got help on my own. Like I realized I was battling something and I didn't feel comfortable going to the EAP. So I just reached out to someone on my own and I got the, I got the treatment and I overcame it within seven months or something. I mean, it was, it was six to seven months.

I mean, I realized it right then. I was like, shoot, I can't, I got to get help. So like I said, I reached out to an outside source. Work never even found out about it. And I wasn't doing anything illegal. But it was unfortunate. I'll share what it is. I wrote about it in a book. I've been on podcasts talking. It was a porn addiction. And it's embarrassing to say it. But then again, that whole point about people feel like they're the only ones going through it. You're not. And one of the big relief in one of the guess a factor of relief whenever I went in to see the doctor was he said, You know how many men come to me and say they're battling this? A lot. He said, Your job, clergy. He said, All these different professions. He said, Do not shame yourself, and we're gonna get you better. And he did. But it was, yeah, I felt that whole, I'm struggling, I'm alone, this is embarrassing, why me? And it was, I'm not, I'm,

Vernon Phillips (21:04.805)

yeah.

Scott Medlin (21:19.022)

I'm not justifying the addiction. It was awful that I got into that. And I don't know how it started. It just did. I was but I was shaming myself. I was like, why is this happening? And, but like I said, I got outside help. That's what I did. I'm not telling anyone to do that, but if you feel like that's the way that you can get help without work necessarily being involved, well, that's what I did. And I'm glad I did it because it would have, it would have probably ended up bad if I didn't.

Vernon Phillips (21:44.672)

Yeah, and people don't understand that. And we could do a whole other episode probably just on that and that particular addiction. But people don't understand what that really does in your mind, what it does in your relationships, what it does moving forward. Because, and people are like, don't understand. What's the big deal about porn or pornography? It's like, once it gets its hooks,

Scott Medlin (21:51.063)

Mm-hmm.

Scott Medlin (22:10.882)

Nah, yeah.

Vernon Phillips (22:13.568)

It's there and unless you

Scott Medlin (22:15.17)

Yeah, the doctor told me, the doctor told me, said, well, I'm glad you came to me because that does the same thing that crack cocaine does to the brain, like the same exact chemical reaction. He said, that's why it's so addicting.

Vernon Phillips (22:27.188)

No, yeah, it's releasing that chemical and it's just every time it's giving you that hit, right? And when you think about law enforcement and that career, how much time do officers spend alone in their patrol car?

Scott Medlin (22:35.182)

Mm-hmm.

Scott Medlin (22:43.51)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I remember he asked me that he said you do you do this at work? said, gosh, no, I said I'm not that bad and I was like, thank goodness but still I mean he asked that because of the the time you have alone and there's not always someone watching you is that that can be a very bad demon within to fight. Yeah, no, I'm glad you brought that up

Vernon Phillips (22:44.798)

Right? Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (23:02.846)

Yeah. And definitely, could be, know, obviously it's a negative coping strategy, right? Because what it does is it's removing you out of the current reality that you're in. And that's what it is. But not only that, but it's also putting these unrealistic expectations on any future intimacy you might have with your significant other. Because none of that is real. Right? And we know that, and like I said, we could go on a whole other

Scott Medlin (23:09.325)

Yes.

Scott Medlin (23:27.436)

Right, right. Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (23:31.816)

you know, episode on just this. But, you know, I think this is probably one of those, you know, addictions or even coping strategies, negative coping strategies that we often don't talk about in the profession, right? Cause it's kind of one of those taboo, you know, like unspoken, but it's probably more prevalent than we think it is. And probably not just with male law enforcement professionals, because there's a lot of research that also

Scott Medlin (23:32.834)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (23:48.672)

it right

Vernon Phillips (23:59.956)

talks about how it's also climbing in with females as well. so it's just, we just had this idea that only men are the ones that struggle with it. Now, probably yes. Why? Because we're visual creatures, right? Like we get that satisfaction, that gratification through the visual stimulation where females are more intimate, more with the touch and all that. So, well.

Scott Medlin (24:05.006)

Wow.

Vernon Phillips (24:28.19)

without trying to go down this rabbit hole, right? But I'm glad you shared that because I think that it definitely is something that's there, something that people are struggling with. And absolutely, the devil will use that to his advantage and he will make you feel isolated. He will make you feel like you're the worst person in the world. He will make you say, no one else is doing this. Why would you even share with somebody? But that's with addiction or anything you're struggling with that's the key thing is when you share it with somebody else, right? You actually verbalize that now it's out. Now it's no longer a secret. Now it's no longer a secret battle that you can't do on your own. Now you're bringing somebody else in and saying, Hey, this is what's going on. can't, I can't keep doing this, whether it's alcohol, whether it's drugs, whether it's, you know, the pornography, whether it's, you know, extramarital affairs, whatever it is. Once you expose that, right.

Scott Medlin (25:22.606)

Mm-hmm.

Vernon Phillips (25:25.524)

bring that into the light, then there can be healing, then there can be recovery. But you got to be able to step to the plate and do that. before...

You know, and my belief before God comes in humbles you real quick. Right?

Scott Medlin (25:42.188)

very true. Yeah, very true. And one of my motivating factors was I was going to be getting married in less than a year. I was like, I cannot bring this into a marriage. So if anyone's battling it and they're married, even this, even with alcoholism or anything else, a negative coping strategy, please for the sake of your marriage, significant relationship, family relationships, parent, the child relationship, just step up because, yeah, because an addiction is very powerful. And it...

Vernon Phillips (26:02.944)

yeah.

Scott Medlin (26:09.774)

more times than not requires professional assistance. And that's okay. People go to the gym and hire a physical fitness trainer and nobody bats an eye. But you you reach out to a doctor for mental health or an addiction and everyone's like, what's wrong with you? Nothing's wrong with you. just, something's bothering you. You're dealing with it in a negative way and it's consuming you. But it doesn't have to and you don't have to let it and you don't have to settle for it at all. So definitely reach out, just like you said.

Vernon Phillips (26:14.048)

Absolutely.

Vernon Phillips (26:34.376)

No, yeah. don't have to live in that secret little box all by yourself. You can reach out, there's people. mean, and this is why we do this. This is why we have these conversations so that other people can see like, man, I'm not alone. And the thing is, if you've got something like that, that you're battling, let's say it's just the addiction to pornography and you're getting ready to go into marriage and you're like, that'll stop once I get married. And it ain't gonna stop. I'm just gonna tell you that right now.

Scott Medlin (26:42.529)

No.

Scott Medlin (27:01.358)

Yeah, right. Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (27:04.304)

Like if there's anything that's going on or you maybe even if there's complications in the relationship before you get married, right? You guys are having disagreements and things like that You got to get that flushed out because you're like, well once we get married it'll stop it's not gonna stop right if anything if anything marriage is just gonna exacerbate it because now you're You hey now we've both made this commitment So it's like you've got a you've got to be able to flush these things out and you've got to get somebody in there to help you out So and I appreciate you sharing that Scott

Scott Medlin (27:18.093)

It's an addiction.

Scott Medlin (27:33.048)

Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's it's always tough to do but it's I am very shocked at how many times I do share and and people come up to me and say I Battled that too. So thank you. Yeah, so it's like yeah, you're not alone. You're not alone

Vernon Phillips (27:43.072)

Yeah, Nope, you're not. And I'll be straight with you that I did too. And that's just where, that's the reality of it, right? Is that, man, it creeps in and the next thing you know you're like, whoa.

Scott Medlin (27:51.064)

Wow, right.

Scott Medlin (27:59.084)

Yeah, how'd I get here?

Vernon Phillips (28:00.372)

Yeah, so absolutely. like I said, we can do a whole other episode just on that.

Scott Medlin (28:05.986)

Right, we definitely could.

Vernon Phillips (28:08.926)

But I want to give you opportunity to talk about what you're doing now post-career and just how you're really wanting to impact the law enforcement community. But first, mean, when you look back at your career, what are three of the most significant things that you've learned that you would like to pass on to those in the career and those just starting?

Scott Medlin (28:28.844)

Yeah, yeah, no, I would definitely say three things I bring up in my 10-Code Mindset presentation are Acknowledgement, Awareness and Action. Like acknowledge that you're a human being. I, for the longest time, I said the very familiar phrase that's only three words long. No, and it's not just suck it up. or suck it up. Sorry, just suck it up is four words. I can't count, apparently. But that famous phrase, I am fine. And

Vernon Phillips (28:46.09)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (28:55.578)

And there were times I was fine, but then there were times I wasn't. Like particularly the first time I saw a successful suicide, that ripped me apart. But do you think I said anything to anybody? Heck no. I just thought, I've been treated for PTSD when I got home from Iraq. I'm good. And that ate me alive for a few weeks until I finally had to say something to somebody. But I did my best to say I am fine.

So acknowledge that you're human. Just, you have cortisol that will release. And as a law enforcement officer or other first responder, you're more at risk for elevated levels of cortisol, which can damage your physical health. There's no shame in saying, hey, I'm a human. But when you acknowledge that you're human, I always stress the next thing is self-awareness. And this is where education comes in, because for far too many years, throughout my time in law enforcement, particularly the first nine years of my career, I didn't know anything about hypervigilance because I was never trained on it. And when I would go out with my wife and our friends, you know, I had to make sure that my back was to the wall. I was facing the door and I'm not knocking that tactic at all. I still do it to this day, but, but I couldn't stop watching the door. couldn't stop watching what other people were doing. And my wife would say, Hey, you're doing that thing again. Like I'm here.

I, she's like, Hey, I'm down. She's a lot shorter than me. She was like, I'm down here. And, and, but, know, I thought I'm fine. So I would tell her, at least I'm aware of my surroundings. So I'm not knocking awareness, but physically I was with my wife. was sitting beside her, but mentally, nowhere with her. Not, not even, and that along with many other things led to us kind of growing apart. But I didn't know about this stuff because I, was trained on external factors people patting their waist or giving, you know, looking around when you get out with them, trying to look for the escape route, and they might run. Like external things. Never trained on what to look for internally. So we got to raise our education in that and just be honest with ourselves. Be like, Man, people are telling me I'm irritable. Get out of, get out of your own way if need be and say, You know what, they can't relate to what I'm going through, but they, they might have a point. Like look yourself in the mirror and be like, Am I really being irritable? well.

Scott Medlin (31:14.572)

particularly those who care about me, they're saying it for a reason. They don't want to see me this way. And then, but, but nothing changes. You can raise your awareness and acknowledge you're human all day long, but nothing changes unless you take action, like new steps, which can be very hard to do. I've already addressed that. But, you know, something as simple, yet profound, is to work on your habits. Because when you work on your habits, like what you do, which is a major part of your life, but it's, it's just these simple steps along the way to work on strengthening good habits and knocking out bad ones and replacing them. It's worth the effort, because all of a sudden, no matter what occurs on the outside, whether it's a top-testing work environment or a loved one is hit with a challenge, and you're, you're feeling the, the weight of that as well, you can weather it. You can weather that storm, and you can rise above and prevail, particularly shifting your mindset and reframing things. So it's all these different action items, which won't be easy. They will not be easy, but they'll be totally worth it. And, and that's what I had to learn many times the hard way throughout my career. But also I learned, you've got to be with the right people and, and be around supportive people in and outside of work. You got to put focus on them. And then also, please put your family first. It's so easy to get wrapped up into the career. That that becomes essentially who you are. And I know, I'm sure other people have mentioned this on your show, but it cannot be said enough that one day you will not work in the career and the department is going to move on without you. Like, they will. But those at home, they can't move on without you. Like, that affects them. So be there for them as, as much as you can in the sense of maybe, yeah, you're going to be at work more. But when you are at home, be present to them not hypervigilant or constantly checking emails, be present to them. So those are some big things I learned. In addition to all the research I've done to write these books that I wrote, like my recent one, 101 Stress Busting Tips for First Responders. There's a lot that goes into it, a lot needs to be said. So that's, that's my, that's, that's what I have to say. And I appreciate asking about that.

Vernon Phillips (33:15.264)

So, good.

Vernon Phillips (33:25.376)

to make the most of it.

Vernon Phillips (33:30.88)

No, absolutely. And I think that's important. I think it's important for people to hear what others have learned from the profession and kind of pass that on. And I think that you sharing about making sure that you're investing in your family is huge because that's your social support network. they're the ones that are going to be there. Hopefully they're going to be there, right? When your profession's over, when the career ends, when you retire, when you decide, okay, hey, enough's enough. And you step away.

They're the ones that are still gonna be there, right? As long as you've put them as the priority and you've continued to invest in those relationships, right? And keep that social support network, you know, just fed and nourished and part of your life. But so often the job becomes just an overwhelming, you know, aspect of every individual. It's just...

Scott Medlin (34:26.371)

yeah, it really does. Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (34:27.776)

Hey, I've got to, you know, I've got to do this to get to the next spot and the next spot and the next spot and next spot. But the reality of it is whether you retire or leave as, know, just a patrol officer, patrol deputy or sergeant, captain, major, whatever it may be, there's already a plan in place to replace you with the next patrol officer, patrol deputy, next sergeant, next lieutenant, next captain, next major, right? Sometimes even before you're even finished and out the door, right?

Scott Medlin (34:51.052)

And fast too. Yeah.

Exactly.

Vernon Phillips (34:57.995)

That succession is already there. So there's already somebody that's going to step in and fill that spot. But if you're a dad, if you're a mom, your husband, your wife, you are the one that always has to fill that spot.

Scott Medlin (35:02.744)

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

Scott Medlin (35:13.368)

Yeah, good way to put it.

Vernon Phillips (35:14.538)

Right? So you got to prioritize it and you got to make sure that you're putting things where they need to be and making sure you're investing where things need to be invested. I'm not saying, you know, not invest in your career because obviously that's important, right? But make sure it's not at the sacrifice of your family.

Scott Medlin (35:33.08)

Yeah, yeah. I remember when I had to resign from the K-9 unit for family reasons, and a almost retired officer who had been on the K-9 unit for years, he told me, said, it's not worth losing your family over a dog. He said, I know this is hard, but you did the right thing. So I'm not saying someone has to do what I did, but like it got to that point. I don't want it to get to that point for you. But, and all it really came down to was when I was at home,

I wasn't present with my family mentally. Like I was physically there, like the calling, the mission, the focus was at work. And it should have never gotten that way. So this is all part of the education part as well. It just really has to be instilled, particularly to those going through the academy and new officers so they can lay that foundation. Thus their career can end up more successful than, than what like mine ended up being, you know? So I mean, it's, it's, it's important.

Vernon Phillips (36:31.018)

No, it is very important. I want to give you some time to talk about, kind of what you're doing post now, post career. And, you've talked about, you know, you've written some books, you've got a podcast. So kind of dive into that a little bit and how that, how you kind of got into doing that and what, you know, what continues to motivate you for that.

Scott Medlin (36:52.962)

Well, in January of 2020, I was on the job for about 13 years, and that's when I learned for the first time that more officers were dying by suicide than in the line of duty. I'm not saying that that was the first time it happened. It's been happening, but that was the first time I learned about it. And kind of ticked me off that I was 13 years in and then learning, wait, I'm more of a threat to myself, and we were never taught about this. Now, obviously, it's well known now the statistics of more likely to die by your own hands. But I felt just called to jump into the fight to help officers lift themselves up and to keep going to grow as people. Because what I saw throughout their career, including myself, was a lot of survival existing, just making it to the next day and then counting down to retirement like you were serving out a prison sentence. And I know that's going to make some people tune out of this episode right now. But I teach a lot about

Vernon Phillips (37:34.314)

Yeah.

Scott Medlin (37:47.052)

mindset, like your, your set of established attitudes and beliefs. But it's not permanent. You can always shift your mindset. And it's not going to be easy. But what, there's that saying, Where your attention goes, energy flows. And it's very important in law enforcement and other first responder work to shift your attention to what you can do, what you can control, and also be mindful of your thoughts, because a lot of them are negative throughout the day.

You don't have to give them any weight. You don't have to believe them. Those ambitious thoughts and those thoughts of action moving forward and healthy coping weight, those are what you have to put, put a shift on. And there's obviously exercises you can do, and that's what I teach about nationwide, as to how to strengthen your mindset. But I hate seeing numbers about officers struggling. The morale issue is obviously is a big one of being overworked. So it's just a matter of empowering.

Vernon Phillips (38:23.488)

Thank

Scott Medlin (38:45.678)

and also prevailing, which doesn't have to be anything huge, just little steps to grow day in and day out, which growth as a person means you have the more ability to serve others, which means you're living. And you're, you can bring fulfillment in that, even in the hard times. So like I'm heading to North Dakota in a little while, or in a few weeks, and then Washington. I've been blessed to speak across the country to criminal justice professionals, other first responders.

And we'll continue to do so as long as God's willing for me to do that.

Vernon Phillips (39:18.602)

Good. So tell me about your podcast.

Scott Medlin (39:21.452)

Yeah, the 10 Code Mindset podcast, I bring on guests, I get my own tangents every now and then on solo episodes and we just talk about how to rise and prevail. Bottom line, we can't settle for the pain. You're more than your job title, you are more than the struggle. We're gonna rise above and that's the mission behind the 10 Code Mindset because the stress, demands and trauma, they're gonna be there they're gonna be there. And let's, let's arm ourselves against them in the sense of dealing with them the right way, rather than falling into what's easy, like the alcohol or addictions or impulsive behavior. No shame in that if you fall into it, but we got to get you out and got to help each other as well. And my website is thescotmedland.com if anybody's just interested in everything. YouTube podcast speaking, it's like thescotmedland.com is home base on the internet for me.

Vernon Phillips (39:55.776)

Yeah.

Vernon Phillips (40:08.712)

And I'll add that in the show notes so that it's there. So you said you got a new book you just wrapped up.

Scott Medlin (40:16.878)

Mm-hmm. 101 Stress Busting Tips for First Responders. It's a, it's a short read, but it's straightforward techniques to help you focus on solutions and not focus on these stressors. And, yeah, I mean, a lot of people have already given great reviews about it and posted about it on LinkedIn and just said like, Hey, I wish I'd have read this earlier. These are things I can actually do to help me. So hey, why not? And it's on Amazon. 101 Stress Busting Tips for First Responders.

Vernon Phillips (40:39.36)

Okay.

All right, and I'll try to plug that in the show notes as well. then, so what else, what other books have you, have you penned? So.

Scott Medlin (40:51.482)

My first one was Mental Health Fight of the Heroes in Blue. Second one was 101 Health Tips for Police Officers. And then I focused in on the rookies, because I miss being a training officer. So I said, well, let me just put it in a book or books. And that way I can still train new officers. And it's happened. Truths Beyond the Police Academy and then also 101 Useful Tips for Rookie Police Officers. I know of one department, they actually order that book for their recruits who are graduating.

I'm really honored by that because as much as I miss being an FTO, I can still kind of be an FTO to these recruits that get that book. And a lot of my YouTube audience has gotten that book as well. And then I wrote The Power in Showing Up, which was more like personal story of struggles, but also how I rose above. And just to let people know they're not alone in their struggles. Others are going through it, and there's ways to, to work your way out of it. Like you said earlier, you know, help you see, help you bring you to the light.

but you see the light and keep going towards it.

Vernon Phillips (41:48.938)

Yeah, yeah. So no, I appreciate your time. And kind of before we wrap up here, what is, you when you look back at your career and everything that you've done and kind of where you're at now, you how much has your faith played a role in that?

Scott Medlin (42:02.99)

Huge. I often say when I go present, two things for me personally helped save me from just getting worse was essentially faith and fitness. Just put, just surrendering to God and saying, okay, I can't do this on my own. Because, you know, so many times we get to a point where we think, I got this. And then, then you're like, you're humbled. And you say, like when I battled the addiction, I was like, God, I got nothing. I can't, I can't shake this. And I called the doctor and, and then had like a quote, relapse for lack of a better phrase. And right after that, when I was being eaten away by Satan's putting that shame on me and everything, the doctor called. Like it was in the worst moment, the doctor called. that was like God saying, here's your help. Go get it. You reached out to me. Here's your help. Go get it. And then, you know, I mean, he, he, it's even biblical to take care of your body. It's like your temple to, to therefore be able to serve others and serve the Lord. So I, but fitness also helps with mental health as well. yeah, faith, fitness, and then, but man, yeah, the way I look at it as well is I'm imperfect, you're imperfect, we're all imperfect. Let's follow the perfect God. Can't go wrong with that.

Vernon Phillips (43:13.556)

Yep. Absolutely. And I appreciate you sharing that. So I'll plug your information in the show notes. I can't thank you enough for coming on and just sharing your story, kind of what you're doing and the resources you're providing to our fellow law enforcement professionals. And keep at it, man. Don't stop.

Scott Medlin (43:30.83)

Thank you. I will. I will. Thank you very much.

Vernon Phillips (43:34.752)

All right, thank you, man.