Psychedelics As A Mental Health Treatment

As the dynamic social structure in the United States continues to evolve, the expression of mental health struggles has become increasingly vocalized and validated amongst both common people and medical professionals. Although the field of psychology has advanced in addressing mental illness diagnoses in a humane manner that aims to promote reduced physical and psychological harm to an individual, research has yet to discover a definite cause and cure for even the most recognized mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Nonetheless, new studies have the potential to initiate new breakthroughs. A prime representation of a latent scientific revolution is reflected in the ongoing neuropsychological research identifying psychedelics as a promising treatment for severe cases of psychiatric disorders.??

Let’s backtrack for a second: what are psychedelics? Psychedelics are hallucinogenic drugs that “cause profound distortions in a person's perceptions of reality” (7). Examples of these drugs include marijuana, LSD, DMT, and mushrooms, which have been vastly illegal in the United States since the 1960s. To understand the reasoning behind the prohibition of psychedelics, it can be helpful to recall a segment of American history.?

Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, “hippie” counterculture prevailed in the United States as a movement that opposed the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Given their “alienation” from mainstream society, “hippies” developed a distinctive lifestyle characterized by unconventional dress, holistic health approaches, open sexual relationships, and recreational utilization of hallucinogens, “justifying the practice as a way of expanding consciousness” (1). In efforts to follow legal principles of self-expression, yet assert governmental power to yield anti-war protests and the unorthodox lifestyle observed by the “hippies,” the US Congress passed safety regulations under the Food and Drug Administration that designated psychedelics as abusive, illegal drugs (4). The ban forced pioneers such as psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond to discontinue emerging research involving psychedelics.?

Prior to the prohibition, personal ingestion of LSD by the psychiatrist kindled awareness that the drug had the capacity to drastically alter states of awareness and serve as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of mental health conditions, most notably alcohol addictions at the time. In 1953, controlled doses of LSD were offered to two alcoholic patients, one of whom was relieved of their addiction and stopped drinking immediately after the experiment and the latter six months after the experiment. Throughout the 1960s, 2000 patients who struggled with alcoholism were treated. By 1965, 40,000 patients diagnosed with psychopathy, neurosis, or schizophrenia were prescribed LSD under the expectation that utilization of the drug would promote insight into the unconscious mind to relieve suppressed emotions triggered by past traumatic events, ultimately alleviating the patients from the constraints of their own minds.?

Although there is controversy as to whether all of the research during this time was properly reviewed and fully disclosed to the public - in terms of thoroughly acknowledging the rate of unsuccessful experimentation using psychedelics - it’s needless to say that such early studies revealed a novel method of medical intervention for individuals who struggle with mental health. Psychedelic studies picked back up in the 1990s as neuroscientists sought to experiment with the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens, but drug laws against the psychedelics persisted, making it difficult for research to be legally approved. “The good thing about science [, however,] is that it’s true whether you believe it or not,” (3) as Neil deGrasse Tyson stated, so it was only a matter of time before the urgency to cater towards a sustainable cure for the increasing decapacitation of mental illness became of greater importance than maintenance of strict laws against psychedelic drugs in scientific environments.?

A recent 2020 research study conducted at Johns Hopkins University involved “24 participants with major depressive disorder” (5) who received two controlled psilocybin doses alongside supportive psychotherapy either immediately or after an 8-week delay as part of their treatment. All of the participants were carefully screened to assure consistent conditions, such as lack of interference with other psychedelic drugs within a given time frame, abstinence from antidepressants, and nonexistence of mental health conditions within the patient’s immediate family. The GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms after the psilocybin intervention. The results supported by the mentioned depression rating scale were astounding with nearly 100% of participants demonstrating significantly decreased depressive symptoms within the first four weeks of pairing psilocybin with traditional psychotherapy versus psychotherapeutic intervention alone. Psilocybin had a quadrupled rate of effectiveness when compared to traditional anti-depressant medication, despite there being slight variations in the severity of diagnosed depression amongst the participants. Since most anti-depressant drugs can take weeks or months to induce a marked impact on the psychologically challenged individual - and generally pose undesirable side effects - the utilization of psychedelics has the potential to serve as a “game-changer” in mental health recovery.?

When debriefing the participants after their experience with psilocybin as a treatment, they reported “mystical” sensations, “connection to life,” (2) a sense of meaning, decreased withdrawal symptoms, and “psychologically insightful” occurrences, which designated health care professionals helped the patients resolve in a controlled, clinical environment. Personality trait alterations have also been recorded based on results gathered from the Big-Five Personality Traits test administered to the patients treated with psilocybin, indicating increased factors of conscientiousness and extroversion as well as decreased neuroticism. The specific neural mechanisms associated with the claims as well as their contributions towards the treatment of depression are currently under investigation (6); however, the general understanding amongst scientists is that psychedelics impact neural circuits in the brain and alter the actions of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and glutamate that are associated with perception, mood, and behavior. The repetition of certain thoughts and behaviors is the result of the consistent firing of action potentials - “messages” - along the same neural pathways within the brain. Psychedelics are deemed to disrupt those destructive patterns of obsessive, depressive, and/or counterproductive tendencies by “opening up” new neural pathways; therefore, it’s hypothesized that psilocybin promotes increased emotional awareness and brain plasticity in higher-order brain networks dealing with decision-making and interpretation of emotional stimuli, improving recovery-advocated communication between brain lobes.?

Today, brain-scan experiments and clinical trials continue to test the effects of drugs such as psilocybin, ketamine, and MDMA on individuals struggling with mood disorders. The hallucinogen psilocybin is of particular interest, however, since it has lesser addictive and toxic propensities in comparison to its counterparts and doesn’t promote long-term neurological dysfunction in the grand scheme, according to current research. Although the results of contemporary experiments involving psilocybin have been promising, public health officials urge future psilocybin studies to account for a broader array of psychological conditions and contributing factors such as various medications, distinct family histories, and cultural demographics. Regardless, emerging evidence surrounding the possibility of a sustainable, immediate treatment for individuals who struggle with mental health conditions that lead to millions of deaths each year is a source of astonishment and hope for enduring psychological relief. On a concluding note, it must be acknowledged that, while such intervention amplifies the likelihood of ultimately improving the quality of life of individuals suffering from debilitating mental health disorders, enhancing their contribution to society within professional and familial roles, it’s advisable to supplement psychedelic drugs as a form of psychiatric treatment only under the advocacy and supervision of a medical professional to ensure appropriate administration and safety.

References:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Hippie". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/hippie. Accessed 4 July 2021. (1)

Barrett, Frederick S., et al. “Emotions and Brain Function Are Altered up to One Month after a Single High Dose of Psilocybin.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 10 Feb. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59282-y. (2)

Cathy L. “A Short Dictionary of Scientific Quotations.” Sciencesy, 12 Oct. 2019, sciencesy.com/pages/a-short-dictionary-of-scientific-quotations/. (3)

Costandi, Mo. “A Brief History of Psychedelic Psychiatry | Mo Costandi.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 Sept. 2014, www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2014/sep/02/psychedelic-psychiatry. (4)

Davis, Alan K. “Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder.” JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Network, 4 Nov. 2020, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2772630?resultClick=1. (5)

“Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression, Study Shows.” Johns Hopkins Medicine Newsroom, 4 Nov. 2020, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/psychedelic-treatment-with-psilocybin-relieves-major-depression-study-shows. (6)

T, Buddy. “7 Examples of Hallucinogenic Drugs.” Verywell Mind, 5 May 2020, www.verywellmind.com/what-are-hallucinogens-63386. (7)