In 2007, working with Iraq War veterans at Camp Pendleton, occupational therapist Carly Rogers of the University of California, Los Angeles blended surfing (a reliable flow trigger) and talk therapy into a treatment for PTSD. It was essentially the same protocol Mithoefer used, only with the flow generated by action sports substituting for MDMA. Much like in Mithoefer’s study, sufferers experienced nearly immediate relief. “After just a few waves, they [the soldiers with PTSD] were laughing in the surf lineup,” reported Outside magazine. “‘Oh my God, our Marines are talking,’ said the
...more
