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Friday, April 23rd, 2021

Psychedelics are transforming the way we understand depression and its treatment

Author:     Robin Carart-Harris
Source:     Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Tue 20 Apr 2021 01.00 EDT
 Link: Psychedelics are transforming the way we understand depression and its treatment
Stephan:   Although I have never done psychedelic research myself, because psychedelics produce altered-states of consciousness, including nonlocal states of consciousness, the two research communities since the 1960s have been intertwined and so over the decades I have had the pleasure of knowing many of the research researchers and physicians. A little know but very sad story is the suppression of this research beginning with Nixon and his "War on Drugs" which began in 1971. As a result the funding for this research dried up and it was worth your academic appointment to become openly involved in such studies. As a result untold thousands did not get the mental health assistance they should have and could have. It is good news about an important trend that this work is once again being carried out.
When taken in high doses, psilocybin [derived from magic mushrooms] profoundly alters the quality of conscious awareness, releasing suppressed memories and feelings.’ Credit: Misha Kaminsky/Getty

Mental illness is the 21st century’s leading cause of disability, affecting an estimated billion people across the world. Depression is the number one contributor: more than 250 million people have this condition globally. The number of people prescribed antidepressant medications, the first-line treatment for depression, increases each year,and the market for them is valued at approximately $15bn (£11bn).Yet depression prevalence rates have not decreased since accurate record-keeping began. One reason for this paradox is the failure of science to adequately explain how and why depression occurs.

Psychiatry has long sought and failed to find a compelling biomedical explanation for depression. One popular idea, the “serotonin hypothesis”, was inspired by the observation that drugs that increase the activity of this naturally occurring brain chemical have antidepressant effects. First produced in the mid-1980s, Prozac (chemical name fluoxetine) is the most famous selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant.Of these, Cipralex (escitalopram) is one of the newest and best performing.

While the serotonin hypothesis has […]

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