She tried therapy and medication, but this grandmother says psilocybin is what changed her life | CNN

By the time Martha Stem decided she desperately needed relief from a fresh wave of anguish, she had been adding to what she calls her “trauma box” for decades. A retired appellate paralegal and grandmother in her early 70s, Stem had compartmentalized all sorts of traumatic events so that she could focus on caring for others. In her “box” were two sexual assaults while in college, pressure from loved ones to keep those incidents quiet, a suicide attempt, two divorces and other significant stressors. Packing away all these difficult experiences left her angry and depressed for much of her life. Then, during Hurricane Helene in September 2024, the box finally busted open. Stem, who lives in Tampa, Florida, went to check on her ex-husband, Jimmy, after the storm. Jimmy, her second husband, had remained a close friend and a father figure to her children from her first marriage, and Stem was helping to care for him during his arduous eight-year battle with cancer. She found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Jimmy’s loss was devastating. Stem, who had been on antidepressant medication for about 20 years, found a psychotherapist she liked to help her cope with this mo