The traumatic events that firefighters, first responders and law enforcement workers witness can lead to severe mental health struggles in their daily lives.
A 2023 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that first responders and law enforcement workers were more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and author, uses a SPECT scan on his patients at his mental healthcare clinics. A SPECT scan involves 3-D scans of the patient’s brain that look at blood flow and activity, followed by a custom treatment plan.
Matt Fiorenza is a retired firefighter-paramedic who spent 22 years with the Anaheim Fire Department. In his career, he’s witnessed people’s worst tragedies while constantly working on the frontlines of death and destruction.
“I remember doing a stress debriefing after a woman’s boyfriend had run over their 2-year-old child,” Fiorenza said. “I remember looking down at this child and seeing the diapers.”
-
Dr. Daniel Amen shows the SPECT scan images of Matt Fiorenza’s brain that reveal an increased level of emotional activity. (KTLA) -
After two years of treatment, the before-and-after SPECT images of Matt Fiorenza’s brain show a decreased level of emotional activity. (KTLA) -
Matt Fiorenza, a retired firefighter-paramedic, worked to improve his mental health with Dr. Daniel Amen using SPECT scans and a customized treatment plan. (KTLA) -
Matt Fiorenza, a retired firefighter-paramedic who spent 22 years with the Anaheim Fire Department, speaks about his mental health struggles and PTSD diagnosis. (California Professional Firefighters)
That painful memory is just one of many incidents that Fiorenza said had sent him on a downward spiral during his career. As he continued witnessing one traumatic event after the next, he tried to cope but began struggling with alcohol and drug abuse.
“I got diagnosed in 2015 with what we know now is PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder),” Fiorenza said. “And back then, in the first responder community, they really didn’t know what to do with me.”
After struggling and hitting rock bottom, Fiorenza said he attempted suicide three different times.
“I racked [a gun] and put it in my mouth and my wife heard it and came in and wrestled the gun away,” Fiorenze recalled.
He eventually went back to seek professional treatment, but said the process was never enough for him. After isolating in his apartment for four months, he knew he needed more help. That’s when he met Dr. Daniel Amen and received a SPECT scan on his brain.
Amen is a psychiatrist and author who operates mental health clinics throughout Southern California and the U.S. Amen uses a SPECT scan to take 3-D images of the brain to examine blood flow and activity.
“When we look at his active brain, his emotional brain, that’s the red and white [colors], it’s working way too hard, which is why it just feels awful inside,” Amen explained of the SPECT images of Fiorenze’s brain.
Amen said the images can be a powerful tool to diagnose underlying problems in the brain. In Fiorenze’s case, Amen said the scans showed signs of PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
“Looking at a picture of my brain, it just took the stigma out of it,” Fiorenze said. “It’s like, okay, I’m not crazy.”
After a patient receives a SPECT scan, a custom treatment plan is devised.
For Fiorenze, that plan included EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapy, supplements, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy — tools he said dramatically changed his life.
After two years of the custom treatment plan, Amen took a new SPECT image of Fiorenze’s brain to see the progress.
“His cerebellum is healthier and his emotional brain calmed down,” Amen explained of the new images.
“I think that for firefighters, seeing is believing,” said Dr. Gina Gallivan, a police and public safety psychologist.
Gallivan said that while she doesn’t include SPECT scans as part of her treatment protocols, she believes the results can motivate firefighters to seek help.
“The first responders I have spoken to who have had brain scans and they see the visible damage to their brain and it was very impactful for them,” she said.
“What you see among untreated firefighters is a higher incidence of divorce, a higher incidence of bankruptcy, a higher incidence of depression and a significantly higher incidence of suicidal behavior,” Amen said.
Amen has been using SPECT scans for 34 years, however, he acknowledges there are some critics of the practice.
“It’s incredibly frustrating that psychiatrists remain the only medical doctors who virtually never look at the organ they treat,” he said.
Currently, insurance does not cover a SPECT scan, but Amen Clinics has a “Change Your Brain Foundation” to raise money for education, research and services.
The foundation covered the full cost of Fiorenze’s scan and treatment. Recent donations also mean the company currently has enough funding to provide 100 SPECT scans for firefighters and first responders who were impacted by the recent fires in Southern California.
Fiorenze said he hopes that by sharing his story, he can remove the stigma of receiving mental healthcare while also helping his peers who may be struggling.
Information about Amen Clinics and the SPECT scan can be found here.
