In brief
- A Stanford team tracked special forces veterans with brain injuries who received a single dose of ibogaine in Mexico for one year.
- Among those who initially achieved remission, 84% remained free of PTSD criteria at 12 months; 66% for depression, and 61% for anxiety.
- There is no control group, and nearly all participants used other psychedelics afterward, so the effect cannot be attributed solely to ibogaine.
Two years ago, a group of Stanford researchers reported that 19 out of 23 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) no longer met diagnostic criteria just days after taking ibogaine. The lingering question was whether those results would last. Now, there is an initial answer, albeit with important caveats.
What was done and measured
The participants were 30 U.S. special operations veterans, all with multiple traumatic brain injuries and suffering from PTSD, depression, and anxiety. They traveled to Mexico and received a single oral ibogaine treatment, accompanied by magnesium infusions—a regimen designed to protect the heart, which is the primary area of concern for this substance.
At one month, the average improvement was 88% in PTSD symptoms, 87% in depression, and 81% in anxiety. In the follow-up, a neuropsychologist re-evaluated them at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Twenty-five people completed the year. Among those who had achieved early remission, 84% maintained PTSD remission, 66% for depression, and 61% for anxiety. Functional disability also improved. MRIs taken one month later showed small average increases in cortical thickness and subcortical volume, as well as a slightly lower estimated brain age, although the authors consider these findings preliminary and do not explain the mechanism.
What the study cannot claim
This is an observational follow-up without a comparison group and with a small sample size. Furthermore, between the second and twelfth months, 12 participants engaged in therapy or psychological support, 3 took psychiatric medication, and 23 consumed at least one other psychedelic, ranging from microdosing to retreats; the most frequent was 5-MeO-DMT. For this reason, the researchers themselves acknowledge that they cannot attribute the one-year outcomes solely to the initial ibogaine session.
Researcher Camarin Rolle highlighted that the improvements are rapid and durable compared to what is typical in psychiatry. Jennifer Lissemore, for her part, noted that an effect sustained for a year or more has much greater practical value, as repeating the dose every month or two would not be viable.
What it implies
This work does not prove efficacy, but it does add a missing piece of data: in a very specific population, the improvement observed after a session did not vanish within weeks. It is worth reading this alongside the other side of the coin. Ibogaine carries a known cardiac risk, which we discussed when covering cardiac signals in FDA reports, and the magnesium and medical monitoring protocol used in this study is precisely the type of regimen that controlled trials will need to put to the test. Those who wish to understand the context of the substance, its origin in iboga, and its risks can consult our guide on iboga and ibogaine.
The team is planning a new study with Ukrainian refugees suffering from war-related PTSD. Until trials with a control group are conducted, the figures from this follow-up serve as a strong hypothesis, not a conclusion.
Source
- Nina Bai, Stanford Medicine. One year after taking ibogaine, veterans find continued relief from PTSD. Stanford Medicine News Center (regarding the study by Lissemore, Faerman, Rolle, Williams, and colleagues in Translational Psychiatry, published August 12, 2026), October 6, 2026.
Educational content written from a harm reduction perspective and with respect for individual freedom. It is not a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional and is not intended to encourage or condemn any drug use.
