San Diego soap makers Dr. Bronner’s has launched its Heal Soul campaign to support public education efforts, advocacy organizations and political campaigns working to mainstream psychedelic-assisted therapy and medicines to treat depression, PTSD, addiction and end-of-life anxiety.
“Our world is grappling with epidemics of depression, anxiety, PTSD and addiction that modern pharmaceutical approaches often fail to adequately address. Psychedelic-assisted therapy is life-saving medicine that the world needs now, especially highly traumatized populations like veterans, first responders and marginalized communities generally,” said David Bronner, cosmic engagement officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s. “Our family is no stranger to severe depression and anxiety, and I’ve personally experienced the deep healing that these medicines can provide.”
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown great promise in clinical trials at John Hopkins, NYU, UCLA and elsewhere for treating severe psychological disorders. In 2017 and 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted “breakthrough status” for MDMA-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD and psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression, respectively. Breakthrough status means that the FDA considers that these therapies may demonstrate substantial improvement over other available options and prioritizes review of safety and efficacy studies in clinical trials accordingly. Canada recently approved psilocybin-therapy for people who are terminally ill and grappling with severe end-of-life anxiety.
“Used in the right settings, in combination with good diet, fitness and other healthy lifestyle choices, psychedelic-assisted therapies and medicines offer dramatic healing for many people” said Michael Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s. “Our Heal Soul message and campaign is about mainstreaming this conversation in a rational and compassionate way, to help enable access to these life-saving therapies as soon as possible with the goal of evaporating the misguided stigma that these medicines face.”
