SAN DIEGO, California — The year was 2013. Marcus Capone medically retired after a 13-year career as a U.S. Navy Seal. He had been struggling with depression and PTSD, and while home with his wife and kids in San Diego, he knew it was time for a change.

What You Need To Know

  • Researchers at Ohio State are looking into the benefits of psychedelic healing in modern medicine. It's shown to help treat mental health conditions, like PTSD

  • A combat veteran shares his struggles with depression and PTSD and his experience with psychedelic assisted therapy in Mexico

  • The treatment is not yet approved by the FDA

"I just came to a point where I didn't want to do this anymore,” said Marcus Capone, a combat veteran. “Is this what the next 40 years of my life is supposed to be like? Like this sucks." 

Capone tried antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other recommended prescription medications, but nothing worked. Until 2017, when he heard of a different form of help in Mexico: Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. 

"Luckily, my wife was working in the background with a doctor and a friend,” said Capone. "They had found this retreat that administrated a drug... a powerful psychedelic, and they are nothing of miraculous. That kind of my changed my life and never needed another antidepressant again." 

It's a form of treatment that Alan Davis , the Ohio State Director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research, said is effective in clinical settings. 

"From 2017 to 2019, we conducted the first randomized controlled trial of psilocybin therapy for people with major depressive disorder,” said Davis. “What we discovered in that study was that 54% of the people after the treatment was completed were in complete remission from their depression, and other treatments had not been successful."

The treatment is not approved by the FDA yet, but Davis explains psilocybin therapy can help people dealing with mental health face difficult emotions and memories, like those associated with PTSD. 

In Capone's experience, he said he's now the happiest he's been in a long time — being the father and husband he always dreamed of being. 

"I haven't smiled like this in a really long time,” said Capone. 

He continues to advocate for other combat veterans, like himself. ​

Davis says the FDA will likely approve both MDMA and psilocybin therapy before the end of next year.