Field Trip Health, a leader in the development and delivery of psychedelic therapies, and WHOOP today announced a partnership whereby Field Trip will be using the WHOOP Strap 3.0 to measure biometric effects of psychedelic therapies.
Field Trip, which is opening Field Trip Health centers across North America and Europe for the delivery of psychedelic therapies, plans to conduct an observational study to assess whether ketamine-assisted therapies, which have demonstrated significant efficacy in treating mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD, translate into improvements in physical health through a variety of biometric measures collected via the WHOOP Strap 3.0 including heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, and overall sleep quality.
“The clinical results from our first three centers in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, as determined by validated mental health measures, have been extremely positive. We have noted a significant reduction in depressive symptoms from severe or moderately severe to mild or non-existent, along with reduction in anxiety and trauma related symptoms,” said Dr. Ryan Yermus, Field Trip’s Chief Clinical Officer. He added:
“Through this partnership with WHOOP and the observational study we will be conducting, we expect to find that these improvements in mental health correlated strongly to improvements in a person’s biometrics as well.”
The initial focus of the study will be on military veterans who seek ketamine-assisted therapies through Field Trip’s Basecamp program, a treatment program designed specifically for military veterans and people in high-intensity professions such as front-line medical workers, police and firefighters. Military veterans experience post-traumatic stress at significantly higher rates than the general population, which may be a result of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from exposure to blast waves from explosives.
“In their continual search for a persistent, unfair advantage on the battlefield, Special Operations veterans are highly attuned to their physical and mental performance and well-being,” said Adam Wright, Director of Field Trip Basecamp. “Deploying WHOOP as part of their treatment program is consistent with this natural disposition of veterans. We not only expect veterans to be eager to participate in a study that will help future veterans, we also anticipate they will optimize their performance and experience additional health improvements through actionable insights from WHOOP across sleep, recovery, and strain.”
Studies have demonstrated that physiological metrics such as HRV and slow wave sleep patterns are correlated with improved health outcomes. The parties anticipate that the effects of Field Trip’s psychedelic therapies will improve these key metrics and this study is expected to advance the understanding of correlation between mental health and physiology.
Kristen Holmes, WHOOP Vice President of Performance Science, commented: “Through our initial work with SEAL Future Foundation, we were able to show that psilocybin and ayahuasca therapies had profoundly positive effects on the physiology of veteran SEALs. With this program at Field Trip, which is offering legal treatment with psychedelic therapies across North America and Europe, we hope to be part of the healing of a much larger group of people, and further show that 24/7 health monitoring by WHOOP technology can help people take control of their overall well-being when used in association with new mental and emotional health therapies.”
“At Field Trip, our mission is to bring the world to life through psychedelics and psychedelic-enhanced therapies,” said Ronan Levy, Field Trip’s Executive Chairman. “Through this partnership with WHOOP, we hope to demonstrate that our work not only changes the mental and emotional well-being of people, it also tangible and meaningfully gets expressed through their physical well-being as well.”
Learn more about Field Trip at www.meetfieldtrip.com and www.fieldtriphealth.com.