‘I didn’t want to be on medication the rest of my life’: veteran runs psilocybin retreats for PTSD before FDA approval

Researchers say ‘magic mushrooms’ can help with traumatic symptoms, but urge caution as states expand access

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After three combat deployments in Afghanistan, during which he suffered traumatic brain injuries from concussive blasts, army ranger Jesse Gould developed post-traumatic stress disorder and said he “drank almost every night to cope”.

In times of hardship, veterans sometimes turn to “medication and talk therapy, but it tends to be more of a maintenance program than actually overcoming it”, Gould said, but added that at age 38, “I was still very young. I didn’t want to be on medication the rest of my life.”