I head the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, the first of its kind, supported by about £3m in philanthropic donations. For 15 years, my research has focused on how drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT and MDMA work in the brain, and how they may be useful in treating disorders such as depression. Like the present pandemic, a psychedelic drug experiences can be transformative – of the individual – and of society. Both illuminate the extent to which the condition of the world we inhabit is dependent on our own behaviours. And these, in turn, are a consequence of how we feel, think and perceive....As I have indicated before, I am not completely against the concept, but I remain cautiously sceptical for a few reasons:
The Centre was founded in April 2019. A few months later, Johns Hopkins University in the US announced a supersized version, floated by $17m. If you have read Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind or seen the first episode of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Netflix series, The Goop Lab (titled The Healing Trip), you may be aware that such developments reflect a rising interest, and investment, in the mental health application of psychedelic drugs.
* seems to be a lot of money involved looking for success, and while with a vaccine or drug treatment for a physical illness you can get very clear cut results, with a treatment of a psychological illness the boundaries of success are (I expect) a bit more rubbery (hence leading to overly optimistic claims of early success).
* the basic idea has been around a long time, with people like Cary Grant famously taking LSD in controlled psychotherapy. Did those early users really find it had a long lasting effect? Perhaps the other drugs being tried are better than LSD for this purpose, but I still suspect the issue will be how long term the effects may be.
* although the author of the piece is indicating it is only likely to be a treatment for the more serious cases of depression, as with medical marijuana, I suspect there is likely to be a drift towards use and prescription to people with less serious cases of illness.
* A bit of a warning of his over-enthusiasm - the claim about how this could be transformative "for society".
* the treatment featured on The Goop Lab? Hmmm.
The recent studies find long lasting effects. Early results in trials are often overstating the impact. The SSRI studies are notorious in that regard. A good trip can be life changing, it is something like the conversion experience some religious people report. It is not surprising that a potent modulator of brain function can induce a "flip" of some sort. The research was originally done in the 60's and was showing promise but then Leary came along, spooked the government, and the research became illegal. Trips are great fun, try it.
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