Prince Harry Uses Psychedelics to Deal With Past Trauma

On Saturday, just days after he and Meghan Markle were pushed out of their home at Frogmore Cottage, the 38-year-old sat down for a livestream interview with Canadian author and trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté. During the conversation, Harry revealed he'd experimented with psychedelic drugs for fun first, before deciding to use them to help deal with issues in his life.

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"It was the cleaning of the windshield, the removal of life’s filters," the Duke of Sussex said of his experience with psychedelics. “And these layers and filters, it removed it all for me. It brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold back for a period of time."

"It is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and pains of the past," he added. The revelation follows the January release of Harry's memoir, Spare, which, in addition to being an ongoing PR nightmare for Buckingham Palace, included a humorous anecdote about doing magic mushrooms — hallucinatory trip included — while staying at actress Courteney Cox's house.

In a recent interview with Variety last month, Cox evaded the question of whether she'd supplied a royal prince with shrooms, saying, "I’m not saying there were mushrooms! ... I definitely wasn’t passing them out.”

Beyond the psychedelics, the book also details Harry's forays into marijuana and cocaine, which he addressed in the interview. “That didn’t do anything for me," he said of coke. It was more a social thing. It gave me a sense of belonging for sure. Marijuana is different — that did actually really help me. Alcohol is certainly more of a social thing.”

During the interview, which was advertised as a conversation on "healing in toxic culture," host Dr. Maté diagnosed the prince on the spot, revealing his diagnosis to include ADD, PTSD, anxiety, and depression — much of it a result of childhood issues namely the death of his mother Princess Diana. Harry also answered questions from audience members, citing the importance of mental health and therapy.

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