In a recent press release, natural soap company Dr. Bronner’s expressed gratitude and excitement for its new partnership with healthcare organization Enthea to expand its employee medical benefits to include psychedelic therapies. As a company that has stood at the forefront of many movements to legalize psychedelics, as well as advocates for mental health treatment options, Dr. Bronner’s President Michael Bronner stated that this offering was “the next logical step,” adding:
“The health and well-being of our employees is the primary driver in how we think about benefits and compensation. Offering coverage for Ketamine Assisted Therapy is in the interest of providing tools to our workforce to have the best quality of life and best options for mental health care.”
Ketamine has been approved by the FDA as a medical anesthetic but is not specifically approved for any psychiatric disorders. Still, according to Marijuana Moment, “doctors are able to administer it for off-label purposes like they can with other pharmaceuticals.” There are currently ketamine clinics operating all across the United States; however, many health insurance companies do not cover what many still consider to be alternative treatments.
Enthea is expected to expand its psychedelic treatment options to include other substances, such as psilocybin and MDMA, pending FDA approval. Given Dr. Bronner’s’ commitment to mental health and open-mindedness regarding alternative treatments, it’s safe to assume the company will also expand its treatment options for employees.
According to the release, “Dr. Bronner’s and Enthea have partnered over a shared belief that Psychedelic Assisted Therapies are highly effective for the treatment of many kinds of mental health problems and should be accepted into standard mental healthcare as soon as possible. The two companies believe there is significant potential for these novel treatments to heal and save lives.”
Statistics from the Enthea website state that there are 18 million adults in the U.S. living with depression, 40 million with anxiety, and 9 million with PTSD. All in all, one in every five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. Unfortunately, the majority of these individuals do not receive treatment, and when treatment is implored, many options only offer a 50% success rate.
Enthea reports many astounding statistics surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapy studies. In reference to ketamine specifically, one clinic reports that between 75% and 80% of all patients with depression felt better after undergoing ketamine-assisted therapy. The website also reports that in one MDMA-assisted therapy study, 68% of those with PTSD no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis at their 12-month follow-up.
Ketamine has also been shown to offer substantial benefits to PTSD patients as well as those who experience depression in numerous studies. To learn more about ketamine, its medical uses, how it is consumed, and the potential risks, check out this post.
Societies across the globe have embraced natural health remedies since the beginning of time, but the last century has seen a major shift toward laboratory-manufactured and technologically powered ones. While medicinal advancements are great and often needed, there are still some things that nature simply does better. When it comes to the many maladies we face as humans in today’s society, getting back our roots and embracing what nature provides in its purest form has much to offer.
It’s enlightening to see companies like Dr. Bronner’s helping fund and fight for what’s right as opposed to throwing out trendy messages simply for branding and marketing purposes. Partnerships like this one are paving the way for many more companies to embrace psychedelic therapies and provide those options to their employees. As psychedelic research evolves in the coming years, entities like Enthea will play an important role in increasing access to alternative therapy.
According to its website, “Enthea is a non-profit benefit plan administrator that provides health plan benefit riders and single case agreement services for psychedelic health care.” Enthea runs a network of certified psychedelic-assisted therapy practitioners and partners with employers to provide health benefit plans.
Founded in 1948 and based in California, Dr. Bronner’s offers a line of socially and environmentally responsible personal care and household products, including soaps, lotions, hair care, cleaning products, and more. From its core values to the products it provides, the company is committed to taking real action. Dr. Bronner’s embraces six cosmic principles as defined on the company website:
The company embraces these principles through many different aspects, including product certifications, organic integrity, progressive business practices, equitable supply chains, regenerative organic agriculture, innovative packaging, constructive capitalism, activism, and much more.
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