This week, I also unveiled legislation to expand research into the use of psychedelics to treat PTSD among our service members. The legislation is called the Douglas ‘Mike’ Day Psychedelic Therapy to Save Lives Act, named after legendary Navy SEAL Mike Day.
Mike served as a Navy SEAL for 21 years. On one mission, Mike got shot 27 times. Most people would have died from much less, but Mike kept killing the terrorists who were surrounding him and somehow made it home. When you think of a war hero, you think of Mike Day. Yet like so many other warriors, after Mike made it back home, he began an entirely different, more insidious battle with the demons that follow our service members from war. Ultimately, those demons won their battle against Mike Day, and he tragically killed himself earlier this year.
Mike’s personal struggle isn’t an isolated case. While the estimates vary, research has found that more than 20 veterans kill themselves every day. That is unacceptable. We must do more to make progress in the fight against PTSD, including thinking of innovative solutions to treat it. That’s why I’m introducing this bill to direct the Secretary of Defense to provide grants for further research into the use of psychedelics to treat PTSD.
The research is promising. Recent private sector research into the use of MDMA to treat PTSD found that 88% of trial participants had a significant reduction in symptoms and 67% no longer had PTSD. And that study isn’t an outlier. The first use of MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD in 2010 found that 83% of the patients given MDMA no longer met the criteria for PTSD.
And beyond the research, the testimonials of the people who’ve used this treatment are even more compelling. When I unveiled the bill this week, I was surrounded by former Navy SEALs and other service members who said this treatment turned them away from suicide, rescued their marriage, rescued their families and pulled them out of the depths of despair that only service members living with PTSD can describe.
The problem is that, under current law, active-duty service members suffering from PTSD must travel abroad to receive this treatment or risk losing their active-duty status if they do so. That is unacceptable.
We should allow service members to retain their active-duty status and seek this treatment within the borders of the country they were willing to die for. That’s why my bill allows service members to keep their status if they participate in this treatment and directs the Defense Department to start the research that will allow us to fully study the efficacy of this innovative way to treat our service members who gave so much for our country. They deserve nothing less.
