Navy veteran Michael Giardina told Anderson Cooper he was able to "let go" of childhood trauma during a psychedelic experience #60minutes #psychedelic #ptsd

What are you hoping to get out of this? Peace. Like, freedom. The group drank tea made with ground-up mushrooms that contained the psychoactive compound psilocybin. For Giardina, the experience was intense. I went somewhere very dark right away. Very dark. I mean, I was terrified. During the ceremony, he raised his hand for help. Trying to figure out what was going on, and that's when, you know, my hand started moving a lot, my foot. The interesting part is, like, uh... She needed someone to say it's okay. And once someone came over and held your hand and said it's okay, that helped you? It helped, yeah. It was rational, but I could imagine that it's just a lot of stuff from childhood trauma and all the way up that I just needed to let go and let someone just say it's okay to let go. The VA is now conducting nine clinical trials using MDMA and psilocybin to treat PTSD, depression, and addiction. In December, when we spoke to its top doctor, he was enthusiastic about their potential. The trauma they've accumulated, not just from their military experience, but even since childhood, is brought back. They're able to deal with it during these therapy sessions with psychedelics, and they actually have lasting, long-term benefit because we think this therapy and these drugs actually get to the root cause of the trauma.