Author: Ricky M.

Editor: Hope G.

Overview

As medicine continues to improve more and more every day, many people ask, “why should we do research on psychedelics’ effects on substance abuse disorders and mental health issues when we already have medicine that treats them?” The reason is that western medicine, like SSRI’s (serotonin reuptake inhibitors), have many side effects ranging from sexual dysfunction to suicidal behavior and have failed to create drastic and lasting effects for people with mental illnesses or substance abuse problems. At the same time, the use of psychedelics in psychologist-assisted psychotherapy has proven to be effective in more than just that field. In fact, according to Dr. Laura Holsen, an assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Research Associate in the Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, researchers from Johns Hopkins University “have recommended that psilocybin, the active compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms, be reclassified for medical use, potentially paving the way for the psychedelic drug to one day treat depression and anxiety and help people stop smoking” (Holsen, 1). I. These substances show great potential to help treat people with substance abuse disorders and according to Paula Kurtzweil, in a 1992 report by Richard Yensen, Ph.D., “a 1960s’ study of 135 alcoholics found that six months after treatment with LSD, 53 percent of a high-dose group reported abstinence compared with 33 percent of a low-dose group” (Kurtzweil, 28). 

What Does This Mean?

These statistics indicate that certain psychedelic substances, when used correctly and administered by a professional, have the potential to help addicts across the spectrum. The procedure starts as the doctors administer a measured dose of a particular psychedelic substance, and then proceed to guide the patient in their experience. This way, the sessions can be properly administered and proctored by experts who know exactly what they are doing. Although some people agree that these drugs can cause overdoses, which usually bring on mental illness in otherwise healthy people, these overdoses only occur when psychedelics are used in an uncontrolled setting. 

POFLE & Attitude/Optimism

Furthermore, extensive evidence theorizes that certain psychedelics can stimulate changes in a patient’s personality, attitude, and optimism. This can be better understood by the experiment, the POFLE task. The POFLE task (prediction of future life events) starts with researchers instructing two groups of participants to predict the likelihood of certain life events within a 30-day period. After this, the actual rate of event occurrence is reported, creating statistics of pessimism vs. optimism bias. The experimental group is given 2 doses of psilocybin over 30 days. The control group is given no doses. Before the doses, both groups presented a high level of pessimism bias. After 30 days, dosed patients showed increased levels of optimism. No such change was observed in the control subjects. Evidently, the use of psilocybin has been proven to decrease pessimism in people who have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Moreover, the sessions increased a positive outlook for a patient’s future amongst that same population.

Conclusion

We are in desperate need of a better way to treat mental illness and substance abuse disorders, and research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy might hold the key. With more research on the way, we might just be one step closer to unlocking it.

 

 

“Hallucinogens”  |  Holsen, Laura M. “Psychedelic Mushrooms Are Closer to Medicinal Use (It’s Not Just Your Imagination).”  |  Kurtzweil, Paula. “Medical Possibilities for Psychedelic Drugs.”