The study found that psilocybin, ayahuasca, and kratom both improved the mental health of participants, including reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression, as well as improving sleep and quality of life.
According to the report published in Brain and Behavior journal, the study is “the first research that investigates psychedelic retreats for mental health of veterans alongside community integration.”
The report states that “Psilocybin- and ayahuasca-based retreats improved the mental health of veterans, their quality-of-life, PTSD and anxiety-related disorders, as well as sleep and concussions. They also helped them reintegrate into civilian society after deployment.”
This study tracked 55 veterans that self-enrolled into psychedelic retreats utilizing psilocybin and ayahuasca through a nonprofit called Heroic Hearts Project. The organization connects vets with legal psychedelic therapies.
Report: “For psilocybin it was consumed as tea, brewed with dried psilocybin fungi. Staff determined the doses individually between 1.5 and 3,5 g in Session I and 3 to 5 g in Session II,” says the report. The report states that “one gram boosters” of psilocybin are offered an hour after taking the first dose.
“The ayahuasca group participated in three consecutive ceremonies of 6–10 h, whereas those administered psilocybin completed two ceremonies 48 h apart,” it continues. The participants were required to be at the site of the retreat throughout the retreat.
Eight health questionnaires were completed by veterans to measure various mental symptoms. The authors noted that participants in psilocybin therapies “showed better improvements on seven out of the eight outcomes”, while those attending ayahuasca ceremonies showed greater improvement in PCL-5 score for PTSD.
The study found that psilocybin-treated participants showed a greater decrease in anxiety, depression and other symptoms after concussions. Participants who attended ayahuasca workshops showed a marginally greater improvement of PTSD symptoms. It is possible that psilocybin could be better for treating a variety of challenges and conditions faced by vets, but ayahuasca may have specific benefits in treating PTSD.”
The results also showed that participants with a PTSD diagnosis reported did not show greater improvement than the overall cohort on all measures, they stated.
In both types, “significant improvement was found across all outcomes measures related to general and psychological well-being 4 weeks after retreat participation.”
The report states that participants who took part in the Heroic Hearts Project’s psychedelic program saw significant improvements with their overall health, quality of life and perceived well-being. Also, they experienced significant reductions in anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, as well as reintegration after deployment. The report also states that attending a psychedelic getaway had a large and significant effect on the self-reported measure of PTSD. The report states that “Overall findings demonstrate the positive effect of the psychedelics retreat program on different aspects of veterans mental health and well-being”.
The researchers noted that, in terms of the social component of retreats, the collective experience could be “especially relevant to veterans as the process of recovery within veteran communities is heavily dependent on the support of their peers as they transition back into civilian life”.
They wrote: “Psychedelic retreats with a communal element may enhance the therapeutic benefit in this group because they create the shared experience that is essential to veterans’ reintegration.” However, further research regarding the contribution of group and social factors will be required.
A nine-person group from different institutions wrote the new paper, which included the University of Edinburgh; King’s College London; Health Analytics Collaborative (in Maryland); Imperial College London; Onaya Science (in Peru); University of Birmingham and University of Exeter.
Heroic Hearts Project funded it, as did Heroic Hearts UK, Beckley Retreats. However, the group “had no part in designing, conducting, managing, analyzing, and interpreting the data or preparing, reviewing, and approving the manuscript”, according to the report.
This study is being conducted as state and federal pressure increases to make psychedelics more accessible, particularly to veterans suffering from PTSD.
This month, the head of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said that he was “particularly proud of” the work of the VA to encourage research on psychedelics as a therapy. He cited studies that showed promising results early in treating mental conditions with substances such as MDMA.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said the department does “some of the best research work and very specific research work,” noting that he recently visited a VA facility in New York City “discussing MDMA therapies, which have been phenomenal in working with those with [post-traumatic stress disorder] and traumatic brain injuries—these other issues that we have.”
Collins’s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.
Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in April.
The secretary also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. Collins has said he would be open to vouchers covering the cost of psychedelic treatment for veterans that receive VA services. Congress is currently considering access pathways.
Kennedy said last month that his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”
During a recent Senate committee hearing, Collins separately reiterated his commitment to exploring the efficacy of psychedelic therapy to address serious mental health conditions that commonly afflict military veterans.
Meanwhile in May, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.
In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”
Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.
Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.
In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.
Shereef Enahal, the former VA under secretary for health who was appointed by Trump to lead HHS in January said it was “very encouraging”, that Trump had chosen Kennedy as his HHS leader and that Kennedy supported reform of psychedelics. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.
CostaPPR. Image by CostaPPR.