Author: Alex Thompson
How Psychedelic Drugs Can Be Used for Mental Health The New York Times
A 2021 study asked 164 people who reported experiencing a psychedelic experience to discuss their mental health symptoms. Participants reported significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress following the psychedelic experience. An analysis revealed that participants also had greater compassion and less frequent rumination. NIDA conducts and supports research to better understand how often and to what extent people experience tolerance, withdrawal, and other substance use disorder symptoms related to the use of psychedelic and dissociative drugs. To be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, a person must meet specific diagnostic criteria for continued substance use despite negative consequences. The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is leading the way in exploring innovative treatments using psilocybin.
MDMA may seem especially counterintuitive in treating addiction because of its abuse potential in the form of Ecstasy. Yet in trials, MDMA therapy did not lead individuals to crave Ecstasy or other drugs11[11]. One small 2015 study used psilocybin with Motivational Enhancement Therapy to treat alcohol use disorder, and found that participants were able to cut their drinking days in half on average [6].
At the Center, researchers focus on how psychedelics affect behavior, mood, cognition, brain function, and biological markers of health. In both studies, participants reported mystical experiences, or spiritualistic experiences. These may help a person glimpse death, feel like everything is connected, or better envision their version of the divine. These experiences, both studies found, mediated rates of anxiety and depression. This suggests mystical experiences may play a role in the mental health benefits of psychedelics. The fact that such different psychedelics had the same ability to reopen a period of social reward learning, which is the linchpin for their therapeutic effect, suggests a deeper underlying mechanism, and Nardou et al supply an apparent mechanism.
Are psychedelic and dissociative drugs addictive? Can people experience withdrawal?
Ketamine, a drug of abuse that has historically been used as an anesthetic, has been shown to be valuable in treating depression. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) have also been studied for their therapeutic potential for many years. However, because the study relied on self-reporting, it does not conclusively prove that psychedelic experiences can affect mental health. Rather, it suggests a mechanism through which psychedelics might improve mental health, which is in feeling greater self-compassion and less obsession with negative thoughts. A 2016 study of 29 people with cancer who had anxiety or depression related to their diagnosis compared those who got a single dose of psilocybin mushrooms to those who got a placebo.
Some scholars believe that psychedelics have the ability to change neurotransmitters and effectively “reset” our brains. Psychedelic experiences can give us a new perspective on our lives, or help us think differently about ourselves and the world [4]. The bottom line is that psychedelics are drugs that can be very dangerous if a person uses them without proper medical guidance.
Participants self-reported tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine use also declined [12]. There are serious side effects of long-term ketamine use which have been observed in recreational users. While higher doses of ketamine can induce psychedelic experiences, this difference in potential abuse liability is important to understand.
- Opening the critical period of social reward learning is akin to having the oven on long enough to bake the ingredients.
- One Canadian study in First Nations people found statistically significant benefits in scales of hopefulness, empowerment, mindfulness, quality of life, and outlook.
- While short-term positive and negative mood changes are common with psychedelic and dissociative drugs, more research is needed to better understand the long-term effects these substances may have on mental health.
- A 2015 proof-of-concept study recruited 10 volunteers with alcohol addiction to undergo psilocybin therapy along with a type of psychotherapy called motivational enhancement therapy.
Similarly, MDMA was previously used in clinical settings in the US, but it became a Schedule I drug of abuse in 1970 and thus could no longer be prescribed for mental health disorders. MDMA may be the next to the market, and it is currently being used in many clinical trials supported by the US National Institutes of Health. MDMA was designated as a breakthrough therapy Investigational New Drug Application for PTSD; the FDA agreed to a special protocol which expedited Phase III clinical trials. An emerging body of research suggests that psychedelic therapy may help ease some symptoms of addiction.
Psychedelics Research and Psilocybin Therapy
Keep reading to learn more about the recreational and medical use of psychedelics, including the side effects and risks of these drugs. Many recreational drugs known for mind-altering trips are being studied to treat depression, substance use and other disorders. There is now a wealth of data from human trials that indicate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, and it is becoming harder to ignore the benefits of these drugs.
But a growing body of data points to one as the leading contender to treat the intractable disease of substance abuse. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, has shown promise in limited early studies, not only in alcohol and harder drugs, but also nicotine — all of which resist long term treatment. NIDA conducts and supports research on psychedelic and dissociative drugs to help inform health decisions and policies related to their use. People with eating disorders often have other mental health symptoms, so psychedelic therapy might ease the symptoms that lead to disordered eating. A 2020 study of 28 people with a history of eating disorders found that psychedelics significantly reduced participants’ reported depression symptoms.
Overlooked for decades, the study of psychedelic treatments and the development of second-generation drugs has increased in recent years. A 2020 systematic review looked at four studies of MDMA and five studies of ketamine for the treatment of trauma. The evidence supporting ketamine alone was very low, while the evidence for ketamine with psychotherapy was low. Keep reading to learn more about psychedelic therapy, including more about the conditions it may benefit, the types of treatment, and how it may work.
Milestone study launching the revival of psilocybin research
Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. Psychedelic therapy is delivered in a combination of regular therapy sessions and active drug sessions. The first few sessions are used to build rapport with the patient, and to establish expectations for the active drug sessions. First let’s discuss why psychedelics and addiction treatment can feel like conflicting ideas. As psychedelics can produce euphoria and a feeling of detachment from the surroundings, some people use them recreationally to reduce feelings of stress.
The Neuroscience of Psychedelic Drugs, Music and Nostalgia
Addiction and other mental health symptoms, such as depression, commonly occur together, which may help explain the benefits. Perhaps by reducing other mental health symptoms, psychedelics make it easier to quit abusing substances. Some of the compounds that doctors most frequently use in this form of treatment include psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and mescaline (peyote).
Opening the critical period of social reward learning is akin to having the oven on long enough to bake the ingredients. A time-honored research protocol called conditioned place preference (CPP) was used to measure whether social contact provides sufficient reward to develop a preference for the place where the social contact occurred. Another 2016 study of 51 people with life-threatening cancer arrived at similar conclusions. Participants either took a dose of psilocybin or a placebo-like low dose of psilocybin. The high-dose psilocybin group reported significant improvements across many domains of functioning, including improvements in mood and relationships. They may “reset” the brain by altering neurotransmitter levels, induce a new perspective on life by causing a person to have a mystical experience, or teach a person a new way of thinking.
What Does Psychedelic Therapy for Addiction Look Like?
At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guides us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. Psychedelics can impair judgment, which may sometimes cause a person to believe that they have superhuman powers. This belief may induce them to do hazardous things, such as jump off a building.