Could Psychedelics Transform Mental Health?

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Think of magic mushrooms and LSD and it is likely that science does not come to the l '. mind.

Psychedelics are more likely to be badociated with 1960s hippies and counterculture than people in white coats and clinical trials.

But that could soon change.

Increasingly, scientists are trying to find out if these psychotropic drugs – which also include mescaline and DMT among others – might also have the potential to heal the mind.

A number of small studies have found promising psychedelics in the treatment of mental health disorders such as depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, often when other treatments have failed.

First major trials to determine if any of these hallucinogenic drugs might be more effective than a major antidepressant in the treatment of depression.

Researchers at Imperial College London compare psilocybin in the magic fungus to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. antidepressant, escitalopram, in a large trial should take at least two years.

"[Psychedelics] have revolutionary potential, and this is not an exaggeration," says Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, who will lead the study. [19659005] But this is not the first time scientists are excited by these hallucinating substances.

More than 50 years ago, they quickly attracted the attention of scientists, before the research in the field came to a sudden stop.

The rise and fall of psychedelics

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During the 1950s and 1960s, psychedelics were considered a promising potential treatment for many mental health disorders, with more than 1,000 studies in progress

But drugs quickly became controversial.

Popularized by musicians and other celebrities the recreational use of psychedelics, and especially LSD, was prevalent in the 1960s as they became more and more badociated with the movements counter-cultural aspects of the time.

The media coverage of drugs often focused on bad travel and the alleged moral degeneration that they caused rather than on developments in the scientific field.

Some scientists – including former Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary – became evangelical about the benefits of drugs, amid fears for their safety and growing moral panic, psychedelic drugs were made illegal in the United States in 1968.

Another UN convention on drugs in 1971 effectively ended scientific research, because it led the member states to make them illegal and to clbadify them as drugs of the world. Annex 1 – those who are not medicalized.

For decades, research has dried up as scientists settled in other areas.

"Revise Your Beliefs"

With the special government approval needed for such studies, many scientists became interested in psilocybin, a compound resembling LSD, but without much controversy.

Several of the pioneering studies of psychedelics were conducted in the 1990s.

But it was only in the mid-2000s that drugs experienced a scientific renaissance, thanks in part to the work done at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Studies conducted at the university showed that psilocybin reduced depression in 80% of patients with life-threatening cancer and, separately, were significantly more effective at quitting smoking than current treatments when they are badociated with cognitive-behavioral therapy.

In 2009, Dr. Carhart-Harris became the first British researcher in more than 40 years to research psychedelics, beginning a series of studies using scanners to see how psilocybin affects the brain.

Last year's team discovered that psilocybin could "reset" the brains of people with incurable depression

. The article, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that psilocybin affects two regions of the brain: the amygdala, heavily involved in treating emotions such as fear and anxiety, and the network default – a collaboration of different regions of the brain.

How psilocybin affects the brain is not yet fully understood, but Dr. Carhart-Harris believes that it "heats" its rigidity, allowing people to overcome anchored and self-destructive thought patterns .

With the support of a therapist, those who have followed the treatment can then "recalibrate themselves in a healthier way, so you review your beliefs, badumptions, and addictions," says Dr. Carhart-Harris

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But psychedelics are not without risks.

Although psilocybin is not considered toxic to the body, bad trips can be scary and can potentially cause harm to people because of a loss of control.

They can also exacerbate the underlying mental health problems. psychotic reactions in people who are already predisposed.

There are also differences between recreational use and the safety of a scientific trial.

Scientists use pure, medical grade drugs, offer advice and support with the experience and exclude people at risk of a psychotic reaction.

And studies up till now have tended to be small and short, with no placebo groups to explain the placebo effect.

Dr. James Rucker, a clinical professor at the Institute of Psychiatry of King's College London, is expected to begin trials to improve evidence of the safety of psilocybin.

It's an essential step if the drug is to be But even though the tests show that psilocybin is safe and effective, Dr. Rucker says it will probably take at least five years and probably longer before psilocybin can be approved.

The process of approving drugs is notoriously slow, expensive and bureaucratic, he says.

"Strings in the bow"

Could psychedelics prove to be a revolutionary treatment, capable of transforming mental health?

Dr. Carhart-Harris acknowledges that while larger trials confirm that psychedelics are effective, they will not be effective for everyone.

"Some people will not want to go deep into their souls or face the demons or traumas that they have experienced, or the dark aspects of the human condition that are there in all of us," he says. he.

Dr. Rucker says that no treatment in psychiatry is useful for everyone.

"It's about rope rope, and it's about having a range of things you can offer."

"This can be one of those things, but who knows? Let's see what the evidence says. "

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