The days of Timothy Leary promoting psychedelic drugs with the 1960s refrain \u201cturn on, tune in, drop out\u201d are long gone.<\/p>\n
But now, the much criticized, late Harvard psychologist\u2019s idea that mind-altering substances could be helpful and legitimate psychological tools is more relevant than ever.<\/p>\n
Psychedelics are becoming so mainstream that the Department of Veterans Affairs is examining the use of MDMA \u2014 also known as ecstasy \u2014 and psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, to fight post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.<\/p>\n
The point is to make veterans well, not high on hallucinogens.<\/p>\n
A 2021 peer-reviewed study published by Nature Medicine found 67 percent of participants using MDMA \u201cno longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD,\u201d compared with 32 percent who took placebos.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur nation\u2019s Veterans deserve the very best care, and VA is constantly supporting innovations to deliver that,\u201d said VA Secretary Denis McDonough\u2019s announcement last month of a new psychedelic research program. \u201cThis is an important step to explore the efficacy of a potential new set of promising treatments that could improve the health and quality of life for veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agency researchers previously conducted small psychedelic studies, according to the department. \u201cThrough this new research opportunity, VA intends to gather definitive scientific evidence on the potential efficacy and safety of psychedelic compounds,\u201d a department statement said, \u201cwhen used in conjunction with psychotherapy to treat Veterans with PTSD and depression. This is the first time since the 1960s that VA is funding research on such compounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
VA is inviting scientists to submit preliminary applications, now through April 1, for research into the use of drugs like MDMA and psilocybin to treat ailments, along with psychotherapy.<\/p>\n
They won\u2019t lack testimonials from vets who have already benefited from psychedelic therapy.<\/p>\n
One is Juliana Mercer of San Diego, a 16-year Marine Corps veteran with service in Iraq and Afghanistan and director of veteran advocacy and public policy for Healing Breakthrough, which promotes VA use of MDMA-assisted therapy.<\/p>\n
Common labels like magic mushrooms for psilocybin and X for MDMA detract from the developing science and the real therapeutic value the drugs provide for vets like Mercer, a retired staff sergeant. Psychedelics, when used with controlled talk therapy, can do wonders for those who suffer.<\/p>\n
Just one experience with psilocybin at a Mexican retreat center \u201cprovided relief and almost overnight healing\u201d for Mercer after two decades of emotional trauma.<\/p>\n
But, importantly, it\u2019s not the drug alone. \u201cWithout the work that I did with the therapist,\u201d Mercer, 41, said by phone, \u201cI truly don\u2019t believe that it would have had the lasting power that it has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Psilocybin helped her \u201caccess the grief that I had collected over 20 years of conflict,\u201d she said, \u201cof me being at war, my country being at war, my friends being at war, working with the wounded population and really seeing the true cost of war, every single day during my 20s and 30s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those feelings were \u201ckind of trapped inside of me, and they had accumulated to the point where I was not okay,\u201d she added. Using psilocybin to help her release those emotions allowed Mercer \u201cto reconnect to peace and the joyful, loving, authentic, self that had previously been kind of inundated with pain and trauma and grief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lauren Myers, a retired Air Force major and pilot in Monterey, Calif., took psilocybin twice, \u201cin a country where it\u2019s legal, but unregulated\u201d and credits it with saving her marriage to a Navy SEAL. \u201cIt helped me with anxiety and depression,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel calmer, more even keeled.\u201d Myers, 47, is director of women\u2019s programs for Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), which advocates psychedelic-assisted care.<\/p>\n
Like Mercer, Myers emphasized the importance of using psychedelics only in controlled situations, including talk therapy. \u201cThe work begins before ever taking the psilocybin,\u201d she said. \u201cIdeally, you work with a coach for a few sessions before going through the experience. The medicine is a small piece of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December, MAPS Public Benefit Corp., a for-profit affiliate of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve MDMA for PTSD treatment. It and psilocybin are classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as schedule 1 substances, meaning they have \u201ca high potential for abuse.\u201d FDA declared psilocybin a \u201cbreakthrough therapy\u201d in 2018, a designation that allows expedited development of drugs.<\/p>\n
DEA referred questions to FDA, which said it has not approved or evaluated the effectiveness and safety of any psilocybin or MDMA product \u201cfor any therapeutic indication.\u201d<\/p>\n
FDA, however, also said \u201cpsychedelic drugs show initial promise as potential treatments for PTSD and mood, anxiety and substance use disorders\u201d but they remain in the investigational stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that this United States government has a duty, an obligation to turn over every stone in the pursuit of finding something more effective for the women and men who come back forever changed from service,\u201d said Matt Saintsing, a spokesman for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).<\/p>\n
Promising psychedelic research in the 1960s ended, he said, with the national war on drugs in the 1970s. Now, the research is on again, but Saintsing said, \u201cwe lost half a century\u2019s worth of psychedelic science \u2026 over like cultural hang-ups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hang-ups over psychedelics apparently are no longer a problem, perhaps surprisingly, with politicians on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not heard of any opposition,\u201d said Naomi Mathis, DAV\u2019s assistant national legislative director. \u201cI would have thought that there would have been, but no, all the conversations we have had have all been pretty positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lack of political opposition eases the way for research that once would have been too controversial to pursue.<\/p>\n
\u201cVeterans and VA researchers have told us about the potential promise of psychedelics to treat mental health conditions for some time,\u201d said Shereef Elnahal, VA\u2019s undersecretary for health. \u201cNow is our chance to study this potential method of treating Veterans with PTSD and major depression across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The days of Timothy Leary promoting psychedelic drugs with the 1960s refrain \u201cturn on, tune in, drop out\u201d are long gone. But now, the much criticized, late Harvard psychologist\u2019s idea that mind-altering substances could be helpful and legitimate psychological tools is more relevant than ever. Psychedelics are becoming so mainstream that the Department of Veterans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}