Health Ministry announces national clinical trial of psychedelic substances for treatment of PTSD

The Health Ministry announces plans for a first of its kind national clinical trial to integrate psychedelic substances into psychotherapy for people suffering from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder not helped by other treatments.

Tens of thousands of people are thought to have developed PTSD following the Hamas terror invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent multifront wars.

The trials will focus on MDMA, the active substance in ecstasy, and psilocybin, found in so-called magic mushrooms.

Both substances help to reboot the brain, but need to be combined with psychotherapy and lifestyle changes to have long-term effect.

The trial will span several years and involve hundreds of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic conditions.

It will include preparatory meetings, drug administration in authorized clinics in the presence of therapists and doctors, and sessions in which emotional breakthroughs from the drugs can be internalized and analyzed.

The plan aims to stem a growing tide of PTSD sufferers seeking unregulated, illegal black-market psychedelic treatments.

The compounds will be dispensed from hospital pharmacies directly to authorized therapists on the morning of each treatment to prevent them being used in the wrong way or passed on to others, as has happened with medical cannabis.

In Israel, as in most of the West, MDMA and psilocybin are legal for clinical research, including trials, but not for prescription and regular clinical use.

Keren Tzarfaty, co-founder and CEO of MAPS Israel, which focuses on psychedelic research and education, welcomes the move, saying she hopes it will be another step on the way to regulating the field and basing it on research.