What Research is Saying About Psychedelic Therapy and Why We Need Pay Attention

There’s a reason it’s coming back… and it’s big.

There’s been a lot of buzz around psychedelic therapy recently. The chatter around the health benefits and emerging research is pretty powerful. But with that comes a lot of skepticism … baggage from the past where old ideas and perceptions resurface. As humans, we have a hard time breaking away from old beliefs and ideas. Especially ideas and beliefs that are a bit controversial. 

The New Story That Isn’t so New

While psychedelics as therapy may seem new, they have actually been used medicinally for thousands of years. The ancient Aztecs in Central America used psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) in religious ceremonies to communicate with their gods. Other South American cultures have used psychedelics with a shaman to guide them through healing experiences. And indigenous cultures used psychedelic mescaline to treat alcoholism.

It’s easy to forget that many psychedelic drugs have historically been used for healing. Especially when you’ve grown up with scare messaging that “all drugs are bad.” And while psychedelics, like all substances, can be dangerous if used in excess, that shouldn’t hamper their benefits in small doses. Hell, coffee can be dangerous if we drink too much, but that hasn’t flagged any sort of major health concern and over-regulation. 

It wasn’t until Albert Hofmann first discovered and then tried LSD in 1943 that all hell broke loose. After a period of immense growth in research and cultural experimentation, governments intervened and brought research to a halt. This was followed by much of the anti-drug messaging of the 70s and 80s… leading to many of the apprehensions around psychedelics today. 

The irony about all of this is that Hoffman’s discovery of LSD led us to discover serotonin; that all-important chemical in the brain that contributes to feelings of satisfaction, happiness, and optimism. This is just one of the benefits connected to psychedelics that has been swept under the rug until recently.

Psychedelics as Medicine

Thankfully, the medicinal benefits of psychedelics are coming back to the forefront. In fact, there is more research being done now than in any other part of history! This gives a lot of hope for people struggling with mental health and other conditions that haven’t found conventional treatments helpful. 

For instance, the popular party drug MDMA has a unique way of working in the brain that lets you process trauma without the emotion that is attached. MDMA turns down the hyperactive fear response in specific brain regions that are responsible for fear, memory, and how you feel emotions. This allows you to talk about and process your experience with your emotions getting in the way. Research has shown this to be very helpful in people with PTSD, rewiring the brain’s connections to help them move through their trauma. 

Another example is psilocybin. Similar to MDMA, it works to rewire the brain and, in this case, can help improve feelings of depression. One study used an fMRI machine to measure the brain's activity during certain tasks and mental states. They found that people who were depressed and took psilocybin had much less activity in brain areas linked to depression. 

Finally, maybe the most well-known so far, Ketamine. It has a bad rap for historically being used as a horse tranquilizer, but like many treatments, it’s been reformulated as a potential therapy for people struggling with mood disorders like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. A recent study showed that an at-home ketamine-assisted therapy program significantly improved both depression and anxiety symptoms. The at-home part is particularly exciting as it makes this treatment very accessible.

The Takeaway

I am certainly not bashing conventional medicine. It has been important in many ways and  I am simply challenging the norm that they are the only option. As mental health conditions like depression and anxiety continue to grow, it’s important to expand our minds to other treatment options. Whatever we are doing now isn’t working, and with the traditional uses and research behind them, I think it’s time we all gave psychedelics another chance.