5 people who used psychedelics to treat PTSD describe their experiences

Psychedelics are being researched to target a variety of mental health illnesses.
People with PTSD seem to benefit highly from psychedelics, according to some organizations.
Insider spoke with people with PTSD who used psychedelics as treatment.

Editor’s note: This article mentions violence, suicidal ideation, and sexual assault.

When Nathan McGee closed his eyes, he felt a wave wash over him. He felt like a curious child.

“It was like pulling back curtains and exploring different avenues or aspects of what was going on inside my head,” McGee told Insider.

He’d taken MDMA, a drug that distorts perception and creates feelings of euphoria, as a participant of a clinical trial studying the drug as a therapeutic treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

McGee, now 44 and living in Colorado, applied for the trial after a doctor diagnosed him with PTSD when he was 40.

Throughout his life, McGee felt overwhelmed, sometimes debilitated, by his emotions. He also experienced

depression

, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.

“I would be there physically, but mentally I was looking at the world as if I didn’t really belong,” McGee said.

After three MDMA sessions throughout the trial, McGee said he no longer experiences PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, paralyzing emotions, and disassociation.

A mounting body of research suggests psychedelics like MDMA, psilocybin, DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT have the ability to rewire the brain and relieve anxiety, depression, and other mental health symptoms.

Insider interviewed five people, including McGee, who were diagnosed with or experiencing symptoms of PTSD and had used psychedelic drugs as treatments for their conditions. Psychedelic treatments for PTSD aren’t yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but there’s growing interest among patients and healthcare providers in using psychedelics as an alternative or last-resort treatment option for their illnesses.

Many of the people Insider spoke to found that after using the substances, they no longer felt PTSD symptoms that had affected…