What the research found.
A plain-language annotated bibliography of veteran-relevant psychedelic research. Each entry states what a completed study found and what it doesn't prove — design, sample size, and limitations included — with the full citation and a link to the paper.
Each entry's core claims — what the study is, what it found, and how it was designed — are checked against the source paper by two independent AI models before it posts. The longer commentary is editorial. Companion to the research library and the studies directory.
The evidence, entry by entry
A researcher proposes that ibogaine could work on a shared 'reward system' problem behind addiction, PTSD, OCD, and eating disorders — and says the idea still needs to be tested.
A 2025 hypothesis-and-theory paper — a proposal, not a study — arguing that ibogaine might act on a problem several conditions share in the brain's reward system, including PTSD.
A year after MDMA-assisted therapy, a qualitative study documented the benefits veterans and first responders perceived — beyond their PTSD symptom scores.
A 2019 follow-up interviewed veterans and first responders a year after they took part in an MDMA-assisted therapy trial for PTSD.
After a single psilocybin dose, veterans' anxiety, quality of life, and functioning improved — but the gains largely tracked their depression improvement rather than standing on their own.
A 2026 analysis looked at whether a single psilocybin dose helped veterans' anxiety, quality of life, and functioning — beyond its effect on their depression.
In a retrospective case series, veterans with treatment-resistant depression and PTSD saw their depression scores fall across both the nasal-spray and the intravenous ketamine they received — with no head-to-head comparison.
A 2022 retrospective case series looked back at the records of 15 veterans with treatment-resistant depression and PTSD who switched from nasal-spray esketamine to intravenous ketamine.
Veterans who attended psilocybin or ayahuasca retreats reported improvements across PTSD, depression, and other measures about four weeks later.
A 2025 study followed veterans who attended psilocybin or ayahuasca retreats, measuring their mental health before and after.
In a controlled trial in veterans, smoked cannabis did not reduce PTSD symptoms more than a placebo.
A 2021 randomized trial tested whether any of three smoked cannabis preparations reduced PTSD symptoms more than a placebo, in military veterans.
In a retrospective case series at a VA clinic, veterans with both depression and PTSD had lower PTSD and depression scores over their first weeks of nasal-spray ketamine.
A 2022 retrospective case series looked back at VA clinic records for 35 veterans who had both depression and PTSD and were treated with a nasal-spray form of ketamine (esketamine).
After a combined ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT treatment, Special Operations veterans reported improvements in PTSD, depression, and anxiety at one month, with signs of lasting benefit to six months.
A 2023 study collected survey data from male Special Operations veterans who received a combined ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT treatment in Mexico for trauma-related problems.
After a magnesium-ibogaine treatment, Special Operations veterans with traumatic brain injury showed improvements in daily functioning and in PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
A 2024 study gave a magnesium-ibogaine treatment to Special Operations veterans living with traumatic brain injury and its mental-health after-effects.
A year after a single psilocybin dose, veterans' depression was still lower than at the start — but the early gains faded, and fewer maintained their response by 12 months.
A 2025 study reported 12-month outcomes for U.S. military veterans with severe treatment-resistant depression who had received a single psilocybin dose.
Over six ketamine infusions, combat veterans' PTSD and depression symptoms fell.
A 2019 study gave a series of ketamine infusions to U.S. combat veterans living with combat-related PTSD.
In the first psilocybin study run specifically in veterans, most participants' treatment-resistant depression improved three weeks after a single dose.
A 2025 study gave a single dose of psilocybin to U.S. military veterans with severe, treatment-resistant depression.
In a randomized trial in military populations, repeated ketamine infusions did not reduce PTSD symptoms more than a placebo.
A 2022 trial tested repeated ketamine infusions for PTSD in veterans and active-duty service members whose PTSD hadn't responded to earlier treatment.
People who received a full dose of MDMA during therapy improved more than those given a very low comparison dose.
A 2018 trial tested MDMA-assisted therapy in veterans, firefighters, and police officers whose PTSD had lasted at least six months and hadn't improved with other treatments.
Pooling the studies, ketamine was linked to an overall reduction across pain, depression, and PTSD combined — not PTSD on its own.
A 2024 review combined the results of earlier ketamine studies in military service members dealing with pain, depression, and PTSD.
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Each Field Note, as studies are verified and posted — the research, in plain language.