Marcus Capone was considering suicide. The U.S. Navy veteran had spent 13 years as a member of SEAL team 6, but it was life after service that was overwhelming to him. Capone had traumatic brain injuries, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and none of the traditional treatments were helping.
He tried talk therapy. He tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation. He visited several brain clinics. He tried a variety of antidepressants.
Invisible wounds, just as real as the ones that leave scars on your skin, were killing Capone. That's when his wife, Amber, suggested psychedelic therapy. With little left to lose, Capone tried it.
He says it changed everything. Psychedelics, he says, saved his life.
In part one of a three-part Petrie Dish series, Psychedelics and the Texas Trip, host Bonnie Petrie and reporter Robin Berghaus explore the winding road that brought a bill to fund a clinical trial of psychedelics as a treatment for veterans diagnosed with PTSD to the Texas Legislature.
You'll hear more of Capone's story. You'll also hear from the people who crafted the bill—former state Representative Alex Dominguez (D-Brownsville) and Legislative Director Logan Davidson. Then, an unlikely ally takes center stage.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry tells the Petrie Dish team how he — a man with unimpeachable conservative bona fides — became an outspoken advocate for psychedelics-as-medicine.
This special series is supported by a Ferriss — UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship.
