Heroics Hearts Project, a nonprofit organization that educates and supports veterans who are interested in psychedelic treatment options, has partnered with Beckley Retreats, a psychedelic retreats and healthcare company, as well as Imperial College London (ICL)’s Centre for Psychedelic Research in a new effort to advance research on the use and efficacy of psychedelic use on veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.
The observational study, sponsored by ICL and led by its director Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is set to begin at Beckley Retreats’ location in Jamaica, with the researchers hoping to collect some data on the potential real-world use of psilocybin as a treatment of brain injury-related symptoms in veterans who have seen combat. A total of 40 U.S. military veterans will participate in the study, where the researchers will examine the short and long-term impacts of psychedelic use in ceremonial group settings during a seven-day retreat. The ceremony study will start with a 12-person retreat in March, is set to run throughout the rest of the year and will include two high-dose psilocybin ceremonies, integration work and wellness activities.
“This program and research is vitally important for our soldiers coming home with all numbers of traumas, and head trauma is one that is rarely given the attention it deserves,” said Neil Markey, Beckley Retreats, co-founder and CEO and US army captain special operations. “As a veteran, myself, it’s a dream to be able to support the incredible work of Heroic Hearts Project and their mission to not only provide veterans access to life-changing psychedelic experiences, but also to further the scientific research that will ultimately help to make psychedelics legal worldwide and even more accessible to veterans.”
Data collected will include CNS Vital Signs, EEG Analysis, demographics, questionnaires on TBI symptoms and quality of life, preparedness for the psychedelic experience and transpersonal outcomes. Researchers have a goal of assessing both psychological and physiological effects of group psilocybin use for TBI.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says they have been keeping an eye on psychedelics research and policy, with deputy executive director of VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Ilse Wiechers, saying VA has been “working together on thoughtful plans around how to move things forward in terms of both our policy and ongoing research” and “having meetings with stakeholders, both internal and external, including some of the agencies that are funding psychedelic research at this time.”
“That’s something that we have to think about carefully and probably move the needle on that guidance sooner rather than later because I know when we when we established that guidance for medical cannabis use, it really helped open up the communication again between many of our veterans and our providers, and I want to ensure that we can continue to do that in this space as well,” Wiechers said.
The University of California, Davis is also doing its part to further expand the depths of research done on the therapeutic uses of psychedelics, launching its own Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to “advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others.” Associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at UC Davis, David E. Olson, will serve as the founding director of the institute with John A. Gray, associate professor in the Department of Neurology will serve as associate director.
“While other psychedelic science centers have been formed across the country with gifts from philanthropists, the UC Davis institute is notable for also being supported by substantial university funds,” UC Davis said.
