Bitesized! Psychedeez for PTSDeez: Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT pt 1

Veterans face more than PTSD post-duty.

Chronic pain and nerve damage can be complications, as we learned about in the Stellate Ganglion Block episodes.

So can traumatic brain injuries.

Veterans with PTSD and TBI have increased stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and and cognitive dysfunction, all together leading to an increased risk of suicidality.

But between unpleasant side effects and lifelong tethers to the drugs, treatments currently available for this gang of disorders leave sufferers wanting better options.

This is where psychedelics, psychedees as I call them, come on in.

The most commonly recently researched of them, of course, being LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA.

At this point, we don't know how any of these substances help, but it is hypothesized that they affect serotonin cycles, neural growth, and reorganization.

And at the same time, they permit or enhance traumatic reprocessing, characterized or catalyzed by emotional breakthroughs and mystical experiences, all of which are so deeply effective that they may even elicit personality changes.

Ibogaine, and 5-MeO-DMT are two of the lesser known of these potentially person-changing Psyche-D substances.

To put this plainly, Ibogaine is extracted from an African rainforest shrub known as Tabernanthi iboga for its centuries-old use in rituals.

It was used for three decades as an antidepressant in France, ending in the 60s.

and is known for mood and anxiety alterations, as well as improving cognitive functioning in substance use disordered individuals.

In the treatment of PTSD, it assists with opening traumatic memory stores and understanding the events differently through a combination of spiritual and autobiographical experiences.

But the mechanisms of Ibogaine remain unknown.

5-MeO-DMT, a more well-known psychedelic, is derived from plants and a venomous toad.

It's been observed to therapize a variety of psychological symptoms, with even a single dosage of vaporized DMT correlating with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, along with increased mindfulness and life satisfaction scores.

This substance, once again, in line with other psychedelics, features mystical-like experiences, which may include ego disruption.

And the biological mechanisms linking these experiences with their symptomatic reliefs are, say it with me, a fun game we've been playing lately, currently unknown.

So this study aimed to find out if ibogaine and DMT are truly effective for PTSD, TBI, and related comorbid disorders, especially those seen in the VA population.