[ARTICLE] Magical Psychedelics in Psychotherapy

Magical Psychedelics in Psychotherapy

Psychedelic drugs like LSD and MDMA are offering a new ray of hope for patients suffering from a variety of psychological disorders ranging from depression to PTSD. More and more people are resorting to these drugs to cope with their disorders, albeit illegally.

A renewed research interest in psychedelics is shedding more light on the positive health benefits of these drugs. Now, this might sound vaguely similar to what someone high on LSD would say, or someone trying to promote alternative medicine through energy healing or chakra healing would claim. Despite the nature of the claims, the benefits of psychedelics have scientific support that dates back to the early ‘50s. More recently, the health benefits of these drugs have been confirmed by independent researchers from Harvard, John Hopkins, UC Berkeley, and many other top research centers. Clearly, psychedelic drugs deserve some attention. So, let’s find out what these benefits are and whether there is any substance to them.

LCD and alcoholism

LSD is a drug that is well-known for its ability to treat alcoholism. In fact, as early as the 1950s, it was prescribed for a variety of conditions from alcoholism to depression. However, its association with political counter-culture promptly got it the tag of an illegal substance. Its possession can send people to jail today. However, that hasn’t deterred people who need it, not for recreation, but to address their genuine issues.

Anna (name changed) is a university lecturer who takes LSD once or twice a year to help cope with her dormant alcoholism. She got addicted to drinking when she was a student. She didn’t have any friends and alcohol and cigarettes helped her cope with the loneliness. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she could not stop. Anna somehow managed to find comfort in LSD, which helped her get rid of this severe alcoholism. She hasn’t touched alcohol in 14 years, and she has LSD to thank for it all this time.

Mushrooms with powerful effects

Another drug, psilocybin, is known to have an even more powerful effect. A research published in the leading scientific journal, Nature, tested the effects of psilocybin on 12 participants. These participants were reportedly suffering from severe depression, and multiple therapies had failed to deliver any positive results before the trials. They were given psilocybin, a key ingredient of the magic mushrooms. They reported excellent results from the very first week. After 3 months of treatment, the lingering effect of the positive mood created by psilocybin, was firmly entrenched, even after discontinuation of the drug. It had cured depression in all the participants.

On the same lines, the FDA and DEA in the US are running multiple tests to understand the potential benefits offered by various psychedelic drugs. Clearly, there is mounting evidence that more research is needed to understand the psychological health benefits offered by these drugs.

Don't do drugs!

This is not to say that these drugs are suddenly safe to use. Their negative health effects are well known and documented. In the short term, they cause hallucinations, despair, nightmarish anxiety, loss of appetite, paranoia, and many other such symptoms. The long term effects include perception disorders, psychosis, memory loss, suicidal thoughts, social withdrawal, and more.

So, yes, these drugs can potentially take the lives of their users. That is exactly the reason why more research is needed in the field. More importantly, if their positive health benefits are established, they have to be regulated heavily, so that they are available only for medical purposes, and addicts do not destroy their lives using them. Instead, the current regulations force the really needful to rely heavily on the mafia and the black market to supply them their much-needed psychedelic drug to cope up with their psychological conditions.

Decades of stigma and misinformation has created an environment, where even patients are averse to treatments involving these drugs. It is difficult to find volunteers for human trials, because people fear that the trials might be shady or they might get hooked to the drugs. Millions of patients with psychological disorders are suffering only because of public and political fear of psychedelic drugs. The very laws that make it difficult to conduct any meaningful research in this field, are doing too little to deter those who are acquiring these drugs for recreational purposes.

Vicious cycle of drug politics

We need a paradigm shift in how these drugs are perceived by the public as well as the political establishment. For that to happen, more research and scientific evidence is necessary. Again, this is only possible when there is the legal environment to support it. See the problem here? It’s a freaking vicious cycle. We can’t promote research on psychedelic drugs without educating people, and educating people is impossible without scientific evidence to support the claims.

Finally, this area is generating some research momentum. But, more is needed, especially in the public domain. The current political environment, what with conservatism being the new trend, there is no guarantee that the momentum will sustain. For the sake of those millions of souls that desperately need help, let’s hope that it will.

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