Bipartisan Push For Psychedelic Medicine Amidst Veteran Suicide Crisis
Combat veterans are returning home to their families consumed by darkness, mental illness, and substance use disorders—with a staggering number of them ultimately committing suicide. That’s the stark findings of the recently released U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. Here’s what you need to know:
While suicide rates among veterans did decrease modestly since the last time the V.A. reported data in 2019, they remain near 20-year highs with 6,146 veterans dying by suicide in 2020. On average, that’s nearly 17 veterans dying by suicide per day.
The rate of suicides for veterans was over 57% higher than that of non-veteran adults in the country. Veterans who have recently retired have the highest rates of suicide (of the nearly 17 veteran suicide per day rate, seven of them are recently retired) with suicide being the second leading cause of death among veterans under the age of 45.
Since 2001, diagnoses of mental health or substance use disorders for all veterans has risen steadily—and among veterans who died by suicide, diagnoses of depression, PTSD, or alcohol use disorder are commonplace.
Tragically, the veteran suicide crisis may actually be worse than the Department of Veteran Affairs’ report details. A new report from America’s Warriors Project, in partnership with Duke University and the University of Alabama, found that Veterans Affairs systematically undercounts the suicide rate of former service members: “Operation Deep Dive, a former service member suicide and self-injury mortality study encompassing eight states and five years of death data corroborated by the Department of Defense, indicates that [former service members] take their own lives each year at a rate approximately 2.4 times greater than previously reported by the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
Psychedelic Medicines Provide Veterans With Reason For Hope.
Conditions like clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder plague veterans, and can be difficult to treat effectively. While existing medical interventions can be effective, far-too-many veterans are left without adequate treatment options. But a growing backbone of research from scientists at institutions like Johns Hopkins University, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, and New York University indicates that psychedelic medicines hold the potential to more powerfully treat these conditions.
Five psychedelic medicine trials focused on psilocybin and MDMA treatments are underway at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The first trial began last summer in California, and it focuses on combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, The New York Times recently reported. “It’s our priority to make sure veterans are safe and getting the best care,” Dr. Shannon T. Remick, a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Loma Linda, California, told the NYT.
Psilocybin and MDMA are already deemed “breakthrough” treatments. Psilocybin is a natural psychedelic medicine that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated a “breakthrough” therapy for depression, which means that its use as part of a treatment plan could produce significantly better outcomes than currently available medications. The FDA has also granted the “breakthrough” designation to the psychedelic medicine MDMA for the treatment of PTSD.
Expanding Research And Access To Psychedelic-Assisted Treatments For Veterans Has Champions Among Republicans and Democrats.
Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican and former U.S. Navy Seal, recently introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would “create a grant program carried out by [the U.S. Secretary of Defense] … to study the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder of active duty service members using certain psychedelic substances and for service members to take part in clinical trials.”
Congressman Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who serves on the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, has also supported legislation to further research of psychedelic medicines. He recently said: “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suicide are a scourge that disproportionately affect our service members and veterans -- one death is too many. The federal government owes it to our brave men and women to explore every option available for healing … We have to follow the science [on psychedelic medicine].”
“This Treatment Is The Reason My Son Has A Father Instead Of A Folded Flag.”
The speed of the scientific research has outpaced the creation of a legal and regulatory framework for administering natural medicine-based treatment. Therefore, today, access to natural psychedelic medicines even in controlled settings, remains illegal. But combat veterans have been at the forefront of the fight to expand access to psychedelic medicines. Their powerful stories of transformation after participating in psychedelic-assisted treatment could help pave the way forward.
Jonathan Lubecky, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, recently spoke about his struggle with severe PTSD and several attempts at suicide when he returned home from combat: “My story was very normal, sadly. I wasn’t some super soldier. I’m not a Navy SEAL. I was an artilleryman who was sent to Iraq with no artillery. We just did our job … [when I came home] I was at a point in my life where I was thinking of killing myself everyday. I should not be sitting here right now [but] this [psychedelic medicine] treatment I went through provides hope for each and every person who is suffering with PTSD … [My son has me] rather than a folded flag of a father gone by suicide because of the [psychedelic] therapy I went through.”
Lubecky’s entire discussion is worth watching.
Marcus Capone, a retired Navy SEAL, credited psychedelic medicine with saving his life after combat left him with severe depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts: “I was starting to struggle a bit my last couple of years on active duty. I was medically retired…and it’s really when I started spiraling … There were days I couldn’t get out of bed … I was prescribed multiple mood stabilizers, antidepressants, medicines to help me focus, medicines to help me sleep, but it came to a point that I was really bad… the access to [traditional] medicines that we are receiving here are not doing it for [veterans] like myself who have been overseas and fighting for a long time… we need to bring [psychedelic] medicines here to the U.S.”
His entire interview can be watched here.
