Скачать или смотреть Psychedelics for PTSD: Veterans, advocates seek to make the' long, strange trip' a bit shorter

Could psychedelics soon become a treatment for veterans suffering from PTSD?

Brecksville native John Lubecky is a seasoned veteran, serving in both the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army between 1995 and 2009.

Like many, he was deployed to active combat zones, and like many, he also dealt with horrifying experiences that lingered long after he left.

"When I came home from Iraq, within two months, I had a suicide attempt, "Lubecky told us, "and that was the first of five."

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects roughly 16% of deployed service members who participated in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lubecky is one of them.

Early on, cannabis offered some relief, but not enough. So, he turned to the VA.

"They had me on 42 pills a day, and I had my fifth and final suicide attempt," he recalled.
Then Lubecky learned about the clinical trials of MDMA. Called "molly" or "ecstasy" on the street, it showed great promise for those battling PTSD.

"I honestly thought, 'Might as well try it and do a new drug before I I die,'" Lubecky said, "because I didn't know which day was going to be my last."

But Lubecky learned MDMA was just a tool. He would take it only three times, and the trial also required 15 or more intensive therapy sessions.

"It doesn't erase memories or anything like that," he explained. "The key thing to remember is the pill doesn't actually fix anything; it puts the mind, body, and spirit in the place it needs to be for the therapy to actually work. It's the therapy that actually allows you to process your memories."

Lubecky's trial was part of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS. The study reported 88% of those with severe PTSD had significant symptom reduction, and 67% were essentially cured.

Lubecky is one of them.

"I no longer clinically qualify as having PTSD and haven't for a very long time," he said. "I've been healed longer than I actually had PTSD."

Lubecky is now is serving as the veterans and governmental affairs liason for MAPS. Once MAPS releases its final report, it will ask the FDA to approve MDMA, possibly as early as October.

Monica Robins reports: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/hea... --

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