Veteran Navy Seal Marcus Capone always answered the call.
Capone served until physical and mental wounds of war took their toll.
“Went to see the psych and he said, you know, Marcus, you’re the 200th guy that’s come in here. I assume it’s from going down range, but you know I really don’t know how to take care of this at the moment,” Capone said, Retired Navy SEAL, Co-Founder of VETS: Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions.
Capone tried different doctors, medicines, and therapy. Things only got worse until 2017 when his wife approached him with a Hail Mary, psychedelic-assisted therapy.
“Honestly, I thought it was crazy,” Capone said.
After research, and seemingly out of other options, Capone decided it was worth traveling outside the U.S. to a clinic in Mexico where the legal but unregulated psychedelic “ibogaine” is combined with therapy and medical monitoring.
“My life completely changed,” Capone said. “I did a 180. I felt again, I feel like I hadn’t felt anything in years. I was able to be, you know, human again.”
Dr. Barbara Rothbaum has been pioneering PTSD treatments for decades, including an ongoing Department of Defense funded study looking at effects of combining MDMA with therapy that helps patients gradually confront trauma.
“It’s not MDMA like kids are going to get in the clubs,” Dr. Rothbaum, Director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program said. “People are monitored, they’re screened to make sure it’s safe for them to take. They’ve got a lot of safety conditions and it’s combined with a lot of therapy.”
Right now, besides a few exemptions, possession of psychedelics is a federal crime. But the tides may be changing when it comes to medical treatment.
“We’re opening up the possibility of psychedelic treatment and others that give us an opportunity. We’ve got to research it, make sure it’s good,” Dough Collins said, Secretary of Veteran Affairs.
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