New Research Expands Our Understanding of Psychedelics’ Effect on PTSD

A growing number of people — including military veterans and former professional athletes — have spoken out about the benefits they have experienced from using psychedelics to address mental health issues, including PTSD. While there are some anecdotal reports of this phenomenon, a number of researchers have also conducted studies on it — and that has led in turn to a growing amount of data on psychedelics’ use in this field.

A study published in the journal Brain and Behavior last summer explored a particular aspect of psychedelic therapy: what its effect is on veterans experiencing depression and PTSD in a communal setting. The study focused on both ayahuasca and psilocybin therapy, and found that both were effective — though psilocybin therapy appeared to have a broader effectiveness, while ayahuasca showed effectiveness against PTSD in particular.

Overall, though, the study’s authors had encouraging things to say about both psychedelics, noting their positive effects on veterans’ “mental well-being, quality of life, PTSD, anxiety, depression, sleep, concussion and post-deployment reintegration.”

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The study’s authors also pointed out that this study was the first of its kind. You might be surprised to read that, given that the benefits of this therapy could have serious benefits for millions of people. In a recent article for Live Science, Jane Palmer pointed out one reason: ayahuasca has two significant ingredients that can vary dramatically. This, Palmer writes, poses a challenge: developing “a standardized, repeatable dose required for rigorous clinical trials.”

That doesn’t mean that research is not continuing on this; Live Science’s reporting points to an upcoming study that will use EEG data to get a better sense of ayahuasca’s effects on the brain before and after a psychedelic retreat. Hopefully this will be a useful measure in getting help to the people who need it most.

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