Psychedelic drugs as a long-needed innovation in psychiatry
Authors:
Genís Oña, and José Carlos Bouso.
Journal:
Qeios
Year:
2020
About the study
In order to offer an honest, careful, and objective overview of the situation in the field of psychiatry, the authors make a brief description of what they consider to be the most relevant challenges, suggesting how the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs may improve the current scenario.
The growing tendency towards the ritualistic and communal use of plants like ayahuasca is associated with a lower rate of mental health problems and with reduced psychological distress and suicidality.
The need for innovative treatments in psychiatry could be responded to in part through the greater introduction of psychedelic psychotherapies, as they represent an integrative approach to mental health, involving the use of pharmacological tools that can be combined with enhanced psychotherapeutic interventions.
Abstract
Background: The field of psychiatry is facing unprecedented challenges. Despite recent important innovations, several mental disorders continue to lack effective treatment.
Methods: After briefly exploring some of the current challenges, we suggest that the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapeutic settings represents a promising and integrative treatment with enduring effects for mental health patients.
Results: We then propose that psychedelic psychotherapy could be an important innovation in the field, providing a treatment that combines complex pharmacological action with enhanced psychotherapeutic interventions.
Excerpt: psychedelic drugs in psychiatry
“The psychedelic experience itself offers important therapeutic effects. Indeed, the best outcomes in the clinical trials where psychedelic drugs were administered were obtained in those patients reporting intense mystical-type or peak experiences. Interestingly, it would not always be necessary to achieve these powerful experiences in order to obtain useful personal and interpersonal insights, since it has been observed that emotional breakthroughs that commonly occur in psychedelic therapy are essential to the process as well.”
Photo by Ella hollingworth on Unsplash.
Categories:
Studies & papers
, Psychedelics
Tags:
scientific research
, study
, psychiatry
, psychedelics
, hallucinogens
, mental health
, psychotherapy