(The Center Square) – Mental health care providers are rediscovering new uses for old medicines.
Recent findings demonstrating the efficacy of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have led some lawmakers to reconsider their classification as drugs of abuse.
Among the drugs’ most stalwart supporters are military veterans who have seen psychedelics benefit otherwise intractable cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Marine Corps veteran and firefighter Ryan Gardill, president of the Manheim Township Professional Firefighters Association and a peer support coordinator, offered his perspective at a meeting of the House Democratic policy committee. He said in his line of work, there are twice as many suicide deaths to line-of-duty deaths annually.
“You know, everyone that I’ve seen go through this, they’re experiencing the same problems,” said Gardill. “The therapy was OK, but the therapy focused on the past and didn’t focus on the future, and that to me was what was most important.”
Gardill offered his own experience as a suicide survivor, but he wasn’t alone. Brett Waters, attorney and founder of advocacy group Reason for Hope, recalled a positive college experience with psilocybin after losing his mother to suicide and entering treatment himself.
“There’s a reason the FDA has awarded psilocybin multiple breakthrough therapy designations for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder,” said Waters. “It may be significantly more effective than existing treatments with potential to provide rapid, robust and durable relief.”
Waters is referencing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Clinical research into the use of psychedelic drugs began decades ago, though early adopters saw development stunted after the drugs became associated with the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s.
In the 21st century, renewed interest has led to trials for conditions like PTSD, anxiety, depression, smoking cessation, and even as palliative care for patients nearing the end of their lives. The results have been encouraging.
With 38 states legalizing medical marijuana use, legislatures have by and large indicated a willingness to reexamine past policies in light of new findings. For psychedelic use, it’s an issue with a fair amount of bipartisan support.
In 2024 state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Red Hill, herself a veteran, announced her intention to introduce a bill that would expand the state’s Right-to-Try Act to veterans seeking 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, more commonly known as MDMA, or psilocybin therapy for PTSD. A bill never followed.
Nevertheless, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Allentown, said that some of his colleagues in the Democratic party lost primary elections due to their support for the treatment. He asked how the issue could be destigmatized.
“When we respond to someone’s home for a call, we don’t look to see if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” said Gardill. “Because we are nonbiased and we are bipartisan when we respond to calls, we would hope that the search to cure our issues are also bipartisan.”
Ketamine, a commonly used anesthetic, has received FDA approval for treatment-resistant depression and is administered in therapeutic offices under the supervision of clinicians. Though psychiatrists caution that, like most treatments, it’s an imperfect solution, it has proven to be effective for stubborn mental health obstacles.
Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Thase, who specialized in treatment-resistant depression, noted that psychedelic drugs like ketamine and psilocybin typically demonstrate if they’re effective within a few days of the initial treatment. For ketamine, treatments may require regular visits while psilocybin’s benefits may last up to six months.
Still, neither drug is considered a first-resort. Most patients have to go through a litany of therapies and pharmaceuticals like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – known also as SSRIs – before doctors determine that they have a resistant form of the disease.
Compass Pathways, a biotech company, has created a synthetic version of psilocybin. They say when their drug is approved by the FDA, they want people in Pennsylvania to have access. Pennsylvania is not among states whose trigger laws reschedule drugs in light of federal changes. Echoing Waters, they argued before the panel in favor of updating the state’s regulatory systems to allow patients to utilize medicines as they become available.
The doctors present also argued that expanded mental health care would have an economic impact. Thase pointed to increased unemployment rates among those with depression as well as higher rates of diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
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“Treating depression and mental illness helps every other type of medical illness. It saves on health care costs in the long run. Insurance companies and governments, they don’t look at that,” said Orr. “They don’t look at the long-term effects of increasing efficiency at the workplace, at the home, less accidents, less divorces – none of this. It’s one of the most important things in medicine to have a healthy mind so you can then have a healthy body, not so much the reverse.”