A single open-label magnesium-ibogaine treatment prompted four recurring experiential themes among 30 male U.S. Special Operations veterans with TBI and PTSD: guided replay of autobiographical memories that allowed trauma reappraisal; altered-self and mystical connectedness; emotional resolution marked by surges of forgiveness, love, and renewed purpose; and embodied healing with a vivid sense of neural repair, cognitive clarity, and somatic relief. These themes describe an accelerated, self-directed psychotherapeutic process that aligns with previously reported clinical improvements in the same cohort, suggesting mind-body mechanisms involving rapid neuroplastic change.
Among 30 male Veterans with traumatic brain injury from repeated blast/combat exposures, those who reported more intense mystical experiences during magnesium-ibogaine therapy showed larger reductions in PTSD severity both immediately and one month after treatment. Greater mystical experience intensity was also linked to larger reductions in peak alpha frequency one month later. The findings suggest that mystical experiences may contribute to improvements in PTSD following magnesium-ibogaine and may relate to persisting decreases in peak alpha frequency.