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Help us, help veterans

BECAUSE
healing shouldn’t be a battle

Help is available! Psychedelic-Assisted therapy is proven. Health Canada supports it. Veterans Affairs doesn’t fund it, they want more research. Waiting is costing our veterans, their families and our society.

Join us in speaking up! Help us get the politicians to act, they act when voters demand. Sign our Petition! Send a letter by completing your information and to all the decision makers and influencers in government across all parties. Send it as is or personalize the letter with your own message.

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We will after the current federal election identify the government politicians to lobby and send this letter to.

Dear TBD after election,

I’m writing today with respect to a safe, effective, breakthrough treatment for PTSD that supports your Ministry’s mandate to ensure Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans have access to specialized mental health resources. By expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans with treatment resistant PTSD and other disorders, the government can make a meaningful step forward in fulfilling its obligation “to ensure that services and benefits necessary for the physical, mental and economic wellbeing of veterans and their families are easily accessible, responsive, and available in a timely manner”.

Additionally, psychedelic-assisted therapies are more efficient interventions for PTSD and other disorders than conventional treatment methods like cognitive behavioural therapies and long-term prescription medication, offering a much stronger return on investment for the Ministry and the people you serve.

PTSD is a debilitating and often life-threatening affliction for many Canadian veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be experienced after someone goes through a traumatic event like a serious accident, sexual abuse, life-changing injuries, or being a soldier at war. Memories may pop up as flashbacks or nightmares and force some people to relive terrifying moments. Untreated, severe PTSD can lead to suicide.

• 10 to 15% of Canadian Veterans (46,000 to 70,000 members) have been diagnosed with PTSD
• Military personnel are exposed to difficult conditions and their risk of exposure to traumatising events is much greater than the average member of the public

Current supports from Veterans Affairs Canada have limited impact on PTSD symptoms

It can be very difficult for people experiencing PTSD to tolerate conventional psychotherapy (talking therapies), which is why the drop-out rates are high. This is because many PTSD patients are overwhelmed (retraumatized) by sharing their fears and anxieties, which is consistent with studies showing that fewer than 10% of military veterans with PTSD choose talking therapies as a treatment. Evidence shows that almost a third of people with PTSD drop out of conventional therapy, and up to 58% still have symptoms after they finish.

• When those diagnosed with military-related PTSD are treated with current therapies, most retain their PTSD diagnosis

Psychedelic-assisted therapies offer breakthrough treatments for PTSD that transform lives. For example, researchers have found that when people who are living with trauma are given a prescribed dose of MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) as medication in a clinical setting, it helps them open up so they can work through difficult events and memories with the support of a trained therapist.

Psychedelic-assisted therapies are available across Canada. Ketamine-assisted therapy (KaT) is the most accessible medicine used to support talking therapies. Psilocybin- and MDMA-assisted therapies are also legally available through Health Canada’s Special Access Program.

• Cost is a barrier to access and Veterans Affairs Canada does not consistently fund psychedelic-assisted therapies today
• Psychedelic-assisted therapies are proving to be more cost effective than other, conventional PTSD therapies that often take considerable time to have an effect and need additional and/or longer term prescription medications

Compelling evidence continues to emerge on the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy in treating PTSD
• In a recent trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, 88% of participants reported a significant reduction in symptoms, and 67% no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD two months after treatment

• MDMA-assisted therapy works because the action of the drug allows people to re-experience and process the trauma they've been through without getting overwhelmed and resorting to harmful or avoidant behaviors that are often used as coping mechanisms4

• Because MDMA-assisted therapy is provided in a controlled, supportive clinical setting, the potential for drug misuse and adverse events is low. In over 2000 therapeutic applications of MDMA in the last 30 years, there have been no recorded cases of patients developing an addiction to MDMA

MDMA is effective in processing traumatic experiences because it triggers the release of neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that change brain activity. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin help to suppress the amygdala—the part of the brain responsible for what is known as the “fight or flight” response—as well as inducing feelings of warmth, empathy and connection to others. This allows people to re-experience the trauma that they've been through without getting emotionally overwhelmed and resorting to unhealthy thought and behavioural patterns.

Our opportunity
Veterans for Psychedelic-assisted Therapy is an organization of passionate veterans and healthcare professionals united in a mission to heal PTSD and related disorders through psychedelic-assisted therapies. Our mission is to help heal PTSD and related mental health and substance use disorders among Canada’s veterans through the proven power of psychedelic-assisted therapies by advocating for Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) to fund clinical treatment.

Our veterans deserve a better quality of life for their service. Together, we can help our heroes build resilience by finding a successful path to recovery.

Sincerely,

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BECAUSE healing shouldn’t be a battle

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BECAUSE
healing shouldn’t be a battle