- Why is psychedelic medicine on the rise?
- The hype about microdosing
- Just a placebo effect?
- The market potential for psychedelic medicine
- Nixon was wrong, the hippies knew better
- Spiritual experiences can heal
Why is psychedelic medicine on the rise?
More and more studies suggest that substances, which many know primarily as illegal drugs, have a downright powerful effect against diseases such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders or addictions. In addition to psilocybin, LSD, which has a very similar effect, is also very popular, as is the amphetamine derivative MDMA and the drug ketamine, which was actually developed as an anesthetic.
These substances work differently, they have in common that they are psychoactive. They influence perception and consciousness, can trigger hallucinations and, depending on the substance and dose, cause mild to very profound intoxication. According to some frequently cited works by psychopharmacologist David Nutt or psychologist Robert Gable, the potential for addiction and danger of MDMA is comparatively low and, for example, far below that of alcohol. LSD and psilocybin tend to do even better in these studies.
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Your euphoria about this so-called “psychedelic medicine” let entrepreneurs like Christian Angermayer gives free rein: “We want to completely change the way we think about depression and heal people who suffer from it,” says the German investor and founder of Atai Life Sciences, which invests in research into new drugs. He believes the psychedelics can help people be happier. Starting with those who are so unhappy that doctors call it “depression” is logical, but this is just the beginning for him. And so he enthusiastically talks about his own mushroom trips – without any medical indication.
Atai founder Christian Angermayer on his trip experience
Before I report on my own experiences, I want to emphasize that psychedelics can only be used under competent – ideally medical or psychological – supervision should be taken. My biotech company Atai and its subsidiary Compass Pathways are working to make synthetic psilocybin and other psychedelics legal again as drugs under medical supervision. I do not believe that these are freely available. They are too powerful for that, and consumers could make mistakes when using them. I made my own experiences with a very competent supervisor in countries where psychedelics are already legal today.
I’m not at all about intoxication in the sense of excess, for example I don’t drink alcohol at all. A psychedelic trip is a journey into the self and it is also a kind of tabula rasa – the brain can then be better described, so to speak, with the positive aspects of life, of which there are so many. It’s just that most people have forgotten how to perceive them. That’s why I rarely do this, at most once a year, and only in a ceremonial setting with enough time in advance to get in the mood and enough time afterwards to process what I have learned and to integrate it into my life.
“The line between therapy, medical application, wellness and leisure is fine”, writes about Anne Philippi, founder of the platform The New Health Club. Her website speaks of a “new lifestyle” thanks to psychedelics. “Psychedelics advocates are not a homogeneous group,” says Adele Byrne, senior analyst at Prohibition Partners, a consultancy specializing in the medical cannabis and psychedelics market. “There are people who want to legalize them completely, others want to decriminalize them, others use them exclusively for medical purposes.”
There are certainly companies that deal with the non-medical use of the substances. Some offer courses, others organize retreats in the Netherlands, where “ceremonies” take place with the versions of the mushrooms containing psilocybin, which are legal there. There are “psychedelics coaches” who accompany wealthy customers on their trips for a lot of money. One advertises with the slogan “Stewarding Humanity 2.0”.
Humanity 2.0 – how far is that from Timothy Leary’s “reprogramming”? In the early 1960s, the psychology professor at Harvard University experimented with psychedelic substances and wanted to revolutionize psychiatry. But he let himself be carried away by his enthusiasm and thus ended up damaging his cause. Is it the entrepreneurs today who make the same mistake? “I’m not the next Timothy Leary,” emphasizes Atai founder Angermayer. “Leary recognized the potential of these substances, but then presented them as an alternative to society. I want to make psychedelics a part of society. ”He is not in favor of complete legalization, but in favor of decriminalization.
The hype about microdosing
Angermayer is not the only one. In the Netflix production “Have a Good Trip” stars like Carrie Fisher or Sarah Silverman tell an audience of millions about their LSD experiences. In fact, in California, where they were once so popular, psychedelics have been enjoying greater prestige again for some time. Mostly in tiny doses, however. So-called “microdosing”, i.e. the regular intake of not consciously noticeable amounts of LSD or psilocybin, has been very much in vogue in Silicon Valley for several years.
An important advocate is the Psychologist James Fadiman, who worked on experiments with psychedelics as early as the 1960s and published the book “The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide” in 2011. Like the Internet – like the subreddit “r / microdosing” – his works are full of euphoric stories from people who report LSD doses between 5 and 15 micrograms or psilocybin doses of around three milligrams, which they usually take every few days , would make you more creative, more focused, in a better mood or less anxious.
Just a placebo effect?
Beyond experience reports But there are hardly any studies on the question of whether microdosing over de n has a placebo effect. And those that do exist tend not to suggest a resounding effectiveness: In 2019, researchers at the University of Chicago carried out the first placebo-controlled study (Bershad et al.), In which the test subjects did not do better than the control group on a cognitive task . In another study (Yanakieva et al., 2018) there was no improvement in concentration, only the assessment of time periods was measurably improved.
“We hardly have any data and we don’t know what the long-term intake of such a substance does to the brain and psyche,” says Gerhard Gründer. He is professor of psychiatry at the Mannheim Central Institute for Mental Health (ZI). What is certain is that microdosing eliminates the intense psychedelic experience. “I am at least skeptical about whether this really explores the potential of these substances,” says the German scientist. Because it is precisely this experience that has the therapeutic effect. And that is exactly what psychedelic medicine is all about. Founder is currently working with colleagues at Charité Berlin on a larger study with 150 patients on the effectiveness of psylocibin in the treatment of depression, which was previously considered resistant to treatment. The fact that the study is still in the starting blocks is also due to the complex approval processes. It would be much easier if psilocybin were no longer banned – but that’s a long way to go.
The renaissance of the psychedelic Medicine is a study by Johns Hopkins University from 2009. Since then, more research has been carried out again, and now there is even the Center for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College in London. The results of the studies are impressive: in a study by Johns Hopkins (Griffiths et al., 2016), cancer patients suffering from severe anxiety and depression were given a drug capsule with psilocybin as part of a therapy session. Immediately afterwards the patients felt better, they were less afraid of death and spoke of a higher quality of life. And not only that: Even six months later, the vast majority were still measurably better.