Long before Timothy Leary exhorted American youth in the 1960s to “turn on, tune in and drop out” with LSD and other psychedelic drugs, scientists were discovering the beneficial effects of these substances on certain mental illnesses. Unsupervised recreational use of hallucinogens in counter-culture “acid trips” led to highly publicized flashbacks, psychotic episodes and even death. The backlash that ensued included prohibiting the use of psychedelics and slamming shut the door on research into their ability to combat mental illness.

Starting about 30 years ago, scientists began again to experiment gingerly with psychedelics. With some of the stigma dulled by time, they could reconsider the efficacy of hallucinogens in controlled environments, particularly on patients with treatment-resistant mental illness such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and addiction. Those efforts produced anecdotal support that bloomed into scientific research on the efficacy and side effects of hallucinogenic drugs. 

More clinical research is indicated, but the first wave or two of studies – dozens of them around the globe – have been pretty clear in their findings: when prescribed by doctors under carefully controlled conditions, psychedelics offer a promising new paradigm of treatment. 

In the largest of its kind, a global study in 2020 found a single dose of a synthetic version of psilocybin – “magic mushrooms” – dramatically improved depression in participants with treatment-resistant disease, and the effects were evident weeks sooner and lasted months longer than traditional pharmaceutical treatments. The dangers were worth noting beyond relatively benign side effects, especially when compared to traditional anti-depressants: about one in 20 participants exhibited increased suicidal ideation. 

The psychedelic MDMA, or Ecstasy, has shown tremendous promise for treating PTSD when used as an adjunct to therapy. A large phase III study found MDMA was generally well tolerated and reduced symptoms and functional impairment in individuals with moderate to severe PTSD.  Eighty-eight percent of participants experienced a clinically significant decrease in symptoms and two thirds of them lost their PTSD diagnosis altogether. 

Hallucinogenic drugs do not rewire the brain so much as unlock closed doors within it. MDMA can inhibit the fear response in individuals with PTSD so one can talk about the pain and the trauma and not be overwhelmed by it or feel like one is re-experiencing it at that moment. 

Psychedelics are chemically similar to natural serotonin, the good mood drug. They alter users’ subjective experience and can promote a sense of calm, well-being and altruism. It is worth acknowledging that the impact of every dose is dependent on the user’s state of mind and their setting. No two experiences with these drugs are the same, even when taken by the same individual.

The drumbeat for employing psychedelics in the mental health toolbox is getting louder. Michael Pollan, famed author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and other books exploring the social-cultural impacts of food, published a manifesto supporting the use of psychedelics in 2018. In How to Change Your Mind, he wrote,

“Today, after several decades of suppression and neglect, psychedelics are having a renaissance. A new generation of scientists, many of them inspired by their own personal experience of the compounds, are testing their potential to heal mental illnesses.”

While we have decades of research, the field is young in many ways, and the safe widespread administration of psychedelics is still being investigated and researched. Having said that, research findings are extremely encouraging for the treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction and suicidality and pose a hopeful alternative to traditional therapies and medications. When we look at the rates of suicide in veterans- about 22 veterans per day- as one example of dire need for support and treatment of PTSD, the opportunities for rapid relief and healing that psychedelics offer, should not be undermined or dismissed.

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