Military combat veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) saw “dramatic” and “life-changing” improvements in their symptoms and cognitive functioning immediately after receiving treatment with the psychedelic ibogaine, new research shows.
Stanford University researchers behind the study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine last week, followed 30 veterans who were functionally disabled from symptoms of TBI such as post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety and who had a history of repeated blast or combat exposures.
The team, which collaboration with the foundation VETS, Inc., assessed the veterans before and after they visited a clinic in Mexico to receive ibogaine treatment, and they identified profound changes in the participants’ mental health, with minimal side effects.
Prior to the treatment, the veterans each met the criteria for clinically significant levels of disability. Twenty-three had diagnosable PTSD, 14 had anxiety disorder, 15 had alcohol use disorder and 19 had been suicidal at some point in their lifetimes.
After receiving ibogaine, in addition to magnesium to protect against potential heart-related complications, there was an immediate “remarkable reduction” in symptoms, “with large effect sizes” that sustained over time.
Hellbound and Down 