On November 15, 2023, military.com published an article titled Veteran Psychedelic Therapy Gets Cautious Support at First House Hearing of Its Kind Since 1960s written by Patricia Kime. In November of 2023, Congress held one of its first hearings on psychedelic therapy in treating veterans with psychiatric disturbances. This is breaking silence as one of the first hearings on the matter since 1966. The hearing comes after the results of a recent clinical trial using MDMA were published in September 2023.
MDMA is commonly recognized as the recreational drug known as Ecstasy or Molly. This substance produces a combination of effects. These effects include feelings of sociability and decreases in the mind and body’s response to challenging emotions and stimuli that would otherwise cause intense reactions of fear.
These lessened sensations of fear from the effects of MDMA allowed those who suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to receive enhanced benefits from psychotherapy. This is because without the presence of intense fear, patients are more open to working with therapists and receiving the necessary treatments.
In the study published in September, 87% of patients experienced breakthroughs in their PTSD symptoms within four months of treatment. At the conclusion of the research, 71% of patients were said to be liberated from PTSD as they no longer met the diagnostic criteria for the disorder.
PTSD is a condition in which people experience intense feelings of fear, anxiety, stress, nightmares, flashbacks, or reliving a traumatic event. These experiences interfere and cause severe disturbances in everyday life for individuals suffering from it.
Although not everyone who experiences a traumatic event suffers from PTSD, some of the individuals more commonly afflicted are veterans. In 2023, the US Department of Veterans Affairs released its annual reports on veteran mental health. Data in their report were collected from the year 2021 and found that 6,392 veterans had committed suicide. One of the major risk factors for this was PTSD.
In 2017, MDMA-assisted therapy received recognition by the FDA and was determined to be a “breakthrough therapy”. This then gave therapists the green light for further investigations. In July of 2023, the House voted to begin funding the exploration of MDMA research, and studies have been ongoing since then.
One of the biggest concerns arising from November’s hearing is that MDMA remains an illegal substance under federal law. If purchased for recreational uses and not used with caution, is believed to have the potential for life-threatening effects.
Advocates for MDMA and psychedelic therapy have made a distinction that they are not supporting “casual use”. Instead, they are supporting the advancement of knowledge of the therapeutic effects in clinical settings with trained professionals. Safety was stressed as a top priority in research conduction.
The VA is currently in the process of pursuing funding its own research on psychedelic therapy. However, this requires approval from the FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration. Getting approval from these departments has remained challenging.
Much of the support for psychedelic research comes from passion arising from first-hand veteran testimonies. Many veterans who have undergone MDMA or psychedelic-assisted therapy have associated it with what they call “life-saving”. During the hearing, 2 veterans gave personal testimonies of how the experience of MDMA and other non-conventional therapies have positively changed their lives.
Because of its promising research and given the evidence from testimonies, The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has developed plans to pursue FDA authorization for its therapies in 2024. Approval from the FDA is said to be a very lengthy and timely process. This is because they would have to approve an illegal substance to be considered a medicine. In addition, they would also have to determine protocols and specific therapies to be approved alongside medicinal applications.
The main speaker on the panel for testimony was Dr. Carolyn Clancy. She serves the VA under her current title of Assistant Under Secretary for Health, Discovery, Education, and Affiliate Networks. Dr. Clancy is also responsible for managing the VHA’s performance, quality, safety, risk management, systems engineering, auditing, and ethics and accreditation processes. Additionally, she is the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
In some of Dr. Clancy’s concluding statements, she encouraged veterans who may be interested in MDMA or psychedelic treatments to have conversations with their providers about potentially enrolling in future studies. She also recommended that those who are considering the use of MDMA recreationally to consult with VA providers for help.
We are living in the times of the Psychedelic Renaissance as psychedelics are gaining popularity in their broad abilities for healing. Of note is their ability for neuroplasticity, which is the instantaneous formation of new neural pathways and connections within the brain.
Many countries around the world are currently conducting studies for this type of research. The United Kingdom has currently established itself as the world leader in psychedelic research. It’s exciting to see the acknowledgment of evidence for promising results. Equally exciting is the US making progress toward thinking outside of the box in healing the men and women who dedicate their lives to serving our country.
