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In PTSD trials, benefits were found in combat, sexual trauma, and civilian populations.

A 2025 study found HBOT improved memory, attention, and executive function after brain injury.

Post-COVID patients showed psychiatric and cognitive improvement from HBOT that persisted for one year.

For decades, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used in emergency medicine to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, “the bends,” and wounds that won’t heal. But new evidence suggests breathing pure oxygen at higher than normal pressure may help people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. Here's how.

What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

HBOT involves breathing 100-percent-pure oxygen inside a chamber that is pressurized to 1.5 to 3 times normal atmospheric pressure. Under these conditions, oxygen dissolves directly into the plasma (i.e., the liquid part of blood) in addition to binding to red blood cells. This floods our tissues with much higher oxygen concentrations than we can achieve through normal breathing

The benefits of HBOT involve much more than just oxygenation. Research shows that HBOT can reshape our brain. For example, it restores energy production in cells whose mitochondria aren’t functioning well. Mitochondria are known as the “powerhouses” of our cells, because they generate energy in the form of ATP. They also produce molecules known as “reactive oxygen species” or ROS that help the immune system fight off infections and cancer. HBOT also stimulates the growth of new neurons and blood vessels, reduces neuroinflammation, and triggers the formation of new synapses, which are connections between neurons.

Researchers have described a process known as the hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox that happens when our oxygen level cycles........

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