When Army Ranger Jesse Gould came home from Afghanistan in 2014 after his third deployment, he was suffering, both physically and emotionally.
It took the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 2 years to process his disability claim and diagnose him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Gould said that the VA’s treatments for PTSD simply weren’t working for him, and he was losing hope.
So, he began a search for something that could help him.
Ultimately, he discovered psychedelics, a class of psychoactive substances that can alter perception and mood and affect numerous cognitive processes.
These include lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), methylene dioxin methamphetamine (MDMATrusted Source), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), psilocybin (psychedelic mushrooms), ketamine, and ayahuasca brew.
Gould chose ayahuasca brewTrusted Source, which is made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, although other plants and ingredients can be added.
“It saved my life,” said Gould, who in 2017 founded the Heroic Hearts Project, a nonprofit organization pioneering psychedelic therapies for military veterans.