“Too many treatments fix the Band-Aid…but psychedelics get into your subconscious.”

By Josh Kasoff, Filter

MAny veteran in the United States suffers endless suffering, long after they return home, from conditions related to their traumatic experiences. This manifests itself in tragic ways.

But the psychedelic renaissance brings new hope to this situation, and sparks broader reform where veterans-friendly legislation can help. open the door for wider access. the movie Waves and WarReleasing on Netflix on November 3rd, it will increase the public’s exposure to dire problems and potential solutions.

The documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival, details the psychedelic treatment journeys of three Navy SEALs: Marcus Capone, DJ Shipley and Matty Roberts.

“We’re so proud to have made this movie,” Jon Shenk, who co-directed the film with Bonni Cohen, told the audience at a recent screening of the Massachusetts-based veteran nonprofit Home Base. “Marcus was a 13-year-old Navy SEAL who suffered multiple (traumatic brain injuries) and concussions and was living with the consequences of that devastating effect on his mental and physical health. He tried all the pills and conventional therapies. They found this alternative therapy involving psychedelics, and it really saved him.”

Another screening I attended recently was hosted by the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University, at the Hopkins Bloomberg Institute in Washington. Johns Hopkins, with its Center for Psychedelia and Consciousness Research, has been one of the pioneers in this space since 2000. In addition to post-traumatic stress, the department is researching psychedelic treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and smoking cessation, among others.

On screen, the three veterans candidly share painful memories of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They suffered frequent nightmares, ambushes, a gunshot wound for which Roberts received a Purple Heart, and Operation Red Wings, after experiencing the events of 2005 in which 19 US troops were killed by Taliban forces.

Many of the scars never healed, and for Capone in particular, the resulting health problems began to cause problems with his family. None of the therapy and medication recommended by the VA was helping, and her condition worsened.

“My mental state has declined. I have tried to hide this for the past two years, but it is very obvious to those close to me that I am struggling in many aspects of my life,” Capone wrote in his letter requesting medical retirement from the Army, part of which he read. Waves and War.

“The audience was deeply moved by the stories of Marcus Capone and his fellow Navy Seals, the efforts of Marcus’ wife Amber, and the ongoing struggles of our military veterans,” said Dr. Virginia Jewiss, DC panel moderator and professor at the Humanities Institute. The filter after the event “We were all shocked to learn of the high suicide rates in the military.”

Jewiss also praised the film’s “creative use of animation to transport the viewer into a psychedelic experience.”

There seemed to be no hope for Capone until his wife learned about the psychedelic treatment options being offered in clinics in Mexico. The therapies used ibogaine and DMT, two natural psychedelics banned under Schedule I of the US Controlled Substances Act.

Capone was scared, but after persuasion and finally an ultimatum from his wife and family, he went to Mexico.

He found the treatment incredibly effective. He described gaining new positive perspective or closure on past traumas, such as the drowning death of a close SEAL friend. He believes that is unlikely to happen through VA-approved therapy.

“To all our friends who are suffering,” he told his wife after the trip, “we must present this to them so they can get better.”

In 2019, Marcus and Amber Capone founded the non-profit VETS (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions). Both Shipley and Roberts are among more than 1,200 people who have funded psychedelic treatments.

“We can’t fulfill the request,” Capone told PBS News. “We’re inundated with requests. I’d say we can accept about one in 10.”

Advocates have long urged that veterans and others who need it should be able to receive psychedelic treatment without the expense and hardship of having to leave the country.

There are signs that they are being overtaken. In December 2024, it was announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs would fund the first study of psychedelic-assisted therapy since the 1960s, using MDMA for veterans with PTSD and AUD. Recently published VA research is also investigating MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD, treatment-resistant depression and anxiety disorders.

During the film’s animated sequence, three SEALs describe their experiences, using ibogaine and DMT, to overcome or achieve inner peace not only with the trauma of war, but also with traumatic life events long before they enlisted.

“It gets to the root of how ibogaine is affecting your daily life,” Capone told PBS News. “Too many treatments fix the Band-Aid…but psychedelics get into your subconscious.”

“Mexico beat me,” Roberts tells her therapist at the end Waves and War. “But I could feel a connection to everything.”

This the article Originally published by the author The filteran online magazine that deals with drug use, drug policy and human rights from a harm reduction perspective. Keep the filter on Bluesky, X or Facebookand sign up for their newsletter.

user photo Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.