Psychedelics as potential mental health treatment are explored by Trump administration

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12 hours ago

The Trump administration has expressed interest in exploring psychedelics for their potential in treating PTSD and other debilitating mental health issues, various officials have shared.
"The Department shares the goal of ensuring that all Americans — especially our nation's veterans — have access to safe and effective treatments for conditions such as PTSD, addiction and depression," a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), run by Sec. Robert J. Kennedy Jr., said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
"Secretary Kennedy is committed to applying rigorous, evidence-based science to research efforts aimed at addressing these serious health challenges."
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In recent years, researchers have been actively investigating the potential of psychedelics, such as MDMA and psilocybin ("magic mushrooms") to treat mental health disorders.
MDMA is not approved for clinical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but can be studied in clinical settings.
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Psilocybin is listed as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, which means it has "a high potential for abuse, [is not] currently accepted for medical use in treatment in the United States, and [has] a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision."
Psilocybin-assisted therapy, however, is legal in Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico.
Psychedelic medicines are "showing real promise," according to Dr. Luke Twelves, general practitioner and vice president of medical for Lindus Health in London.
Clinical trials have found such treatments safe and effective for patients battling serious mental health issues, according to Twelves.
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"Take psilocybin, for example — it's demonstrating remarkable results for severe depression that hasn't responded to other medications," he told Fox News Digital. "MDMA is showing similar breakthroughs for PTSD treatment."
Clinical trials are also investigating how psychedelics could help with end-of-life anxiety, addiction, eating disorders, chronic pain and OCD, he added.
Researchers have faced challenges in terms of regulatory hurdles and proper placebo controls, Twelves said.
"Given that these treatments could transform [the] lives of people suffering from conditions where nothing else has worked effectively, it's crucial that we complete this research properly," he said. "The goal is to bring safe, proven psychedelic therapies to the patients who need them most."
At President Trump's May 1 cabinet meeting, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said that "we're opening up the possibility of psychedelic treatment."
Retired Army Sergeant Jonathan Lubecki recently told Fox News' Alexandria Hoff that MDMA stopped his PTSD while he was participating in a clinical trial.
"[I] took my first dose of MDMA. I've only taken it three times as part of the clinical trial, haven't taken it since, and haven't found the need to take it since, because I haven't had PTSD," he said.
Peter Kasperowicz, Department of Veterans Affairs press secretary, told Fox News Digital the department is safely exploring all avenues that promote the health of veterans.
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"Preliminary findings have produced positive results on psychedelic-assisted therapies for treating mental health conditions," he said.
The VA is currently running 11 clinical trials in various phases, with a total of some 800 veterans expected to participate.
"The goal of these trials is to determine whether compounds such as MDMA and psilocybin can treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depressive disorder, major depressive disorder and potentially other mental health conditions," said Kasperowicz.
An MDMA study published in the Jan. 2025 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry found that the substance is "unlike classical psychedelics."
The study noted, "MDMA allows the individual to maintain intact ego functioning and a greater degree of cognitive and perceptual lucidity while still experiencing a prosocial altered state of consciousness that facilitates deeply emotional therapeutic breakthroughs."
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The researchers concluded that MDMA showed "enhanced levels of trust, empathy, self-compassion and a 'window of tolerance'" that traditional psychotherapy lacks.
Doug Drysdale, CEO of the Canadian pharmaceutical company Cybin, told Fox News Digital that "the time is now to address the mental health crisis."
He said it is "gratifying" that administration officials value the potential benefits of looking into alternative mental health treatments.
Cybin is currently in phase 3 of a study of CYB003, a type of psilocybin that has been granted breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA as an additional treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).
"In Cybin's completed Phase 2 MDD study, long-term efficacy results showed that 71% of participants were in remission from depression, and 100% of participants responded to treatment at 12 months after just two 16 mg doses of CYB003," said Drysdale.
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and Fox News' senior medical analyst, previously interviewed two of the country's top researchers on psychedelics — Dr. Rachel Yehuda, founder and director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research at Mt. Sinai in New York, and Dr. Charles Marmar, director of the PTSD research program at NYU Langone.
"They agree there is therapeutic potential if very carefully studied under very strict medical guidance, but there is a huge downside in terms of unregulated recreational uses," Siegel told Fox News Digital at the time.
"Both doctors see likely therapeutic value to psychedelics if carefully managed by medical experts," Siegel added.
Ryan Moss, chief science officer at Filament Health, a clinical-stage natural psychedelic drug development company in Canada, emphasized it's important to administer psychedelics in a safe setting when treating mental health conditions.
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"Psychedelic experiences can sometimes feature anxiety, hallucinations and paranoia," Moss previously told Fox News Digital. "Some patients using traditional psychedelics have reported experiencing adverse cardiovascular events during clinical trials."
To mitigate these risks, Moss recommended clinical trial participants receive thorough preparation and monitoring by trained professionals during sessions.
Melissa Rudy and Angelica Stabile, both of Fox News Digital, contributed reporting.Original article source: Psychedelics as potential mental health treatment are explored by Trump administration