Psychedelics News December 2016

The fascinating, strange medical potential of psychedelic drugs, explained in 50+ studies

Source: Vox | By: German Lopez and Javier Zarracina | Published: 1 Dec 2016

In this ahead-of-its-time article on Vox, you get a glimpse into what research had already been done by late 2016. It’s an interesting read and lists the articles mentioned at the bottom of the article.

The benefits of the studies (e.g. smoking cessation, end-of-life care/relief) are mentioned. And at the same time, a good note is made of what we don’t know (e.g. what happens exactly in the brain, small sample size).

“But the findings are promising and challenging. To the extent that these drugs may work, they appear to do so through a very unusual mechanism: by eliciting a mystical, spiritual experience.” and “[That] experience can then provide a psychological context that makes positive behavioral change easier.”

” “In many psychiatric disorders, the brain may be viewed as having become entrenched in pathology, such that core behaviors become automated and rigid,” the researchers wrote. “Consistent with their ‘entropic’ effect on cortical activity, psychedelics may work to break down such disorders by dismantling the patterns of activity on which they rest.“ “

Another thing that research has to look at closer is the long-term effects. Positive effects are found for almost every group studied, but a review on LSD-assisted psychotherapy and alcoholism didn’t find an enduring effect after 12 months (i.e. they were smoking again).

The article ends with a note on the lack of funding and how MAPS, the Beckley Foundation, and the Heffter Research Institute are the ones who are filling the gap. Since 2016 luckily there have been positive movements, also on the part of the FDA/governments.