In 2004, Mike Gemignani enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school. A forward observer, he directed artillery units and Apache attack helicopters to their targets during his two tours in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division.
He eventually left the military, went to college and settled into a job. But a slow trickle of anxiety and depression soon followed.
He sought help through the Department of Veterans Affairs, where counselors prescribed him “fistfuls” of medication, including opioids and more drugs to counter their side effects. The drugs didn't help his depression, and for days at a time he would do nothing, immobilized by the illness.
Gemignani's story is not uncommon for those who served in the military. But now, after years of effort, momentum is building in Congress to explore a new path for service members and veterans struggling with psychological illnesses: psychedelics.
Current legislative proposals include studies of the effectiveness of using psychedelics to treat PTSD among active-duty service members and veterans, reflecting a small but significant shift among lawmakers' attitudes toward therapeutic use of the drugs.
But psychedelic therapy was not an option when Gemignani turned to the VA, and his mental status continued to deteriorate.
“I got to the point where I was sitting in my basement office with a pistol in my hand,” Gemignani said.
Gemignani's situation changed when…
