Skip to main content
 
Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Stanford Health Care

Accelerated recovery using magnesium ibogaine: characterizing the subjective experience of its rapid healing from neuropsychiatric disorders.

Accelerated recovery using magnesium ibogaine: characterizing the subjective experience of its rapid healing from neuropsychiatric disorders. Npj mental health research Olash, C., Buchanan, D. M., Brown, R., Faerman, A., Cherian, K., Lin, G., Spiegel, D., Gross, J. J., Williams, N. 2026; 5 (1): 8

Abstract

Magnesium-ibogaine, a formulation combining ibogaine with pre- and post-treatment magnesium, was recently found to yield rapid clinical improvements in U.S. Special Operations veterans with TBI and PTSD. Yet, its therapeutic phenomenology during such healing is unknown. We analyzed post-session narratives from 30 male veterans who, after a single open-label magnesium-ibogaine treatment, answered three open-ended questions. A constructivist grounded-theory approach identified four recurrent experiential domains: dialogic trauma re-appraisal marked by guided replay of autobiographical memories; altered-self and mystical connectedness; emotional resolution with surges of forgiveness, love, and renewed purpose; and embodied healing, a vivid sense of neural repair accompanied by cognitive clarity and somatic relief. Together, these themes portray an accelerated, self-directed psychotherapeutic process that dovetails with previously reported improvements in this same cohort, suggesting mind-body mechanisms involving rapid neuroplastic change and highlighting its potential to inform novel approaches to trauma and TBI.

View details for DOI 10.1038/s44184-026-00185-7

View details for PubMedID 41620509

View details for PubMedCentralID 10878970