Why scientists are psyched about psychedelics?

The internet has been all a flutter about the benefits of psychedelics. There is now a sizeable amount of research into the benefits of using psychedelics, and they're turning up in health services across the world.  But why? Well this week we're going to find out.  

But before I do that, it's important to clarify here what we mean by 'psychedelics'. The two compounds most of interest to scientists and mental health professionals are psilocybin, which you can find in certain types of mushroom, and LSD, which was invented in a lab in 1938.

While there is interest in marijuana, MDMA (the active substance in ecstasy), mescalin and ketamine, they don't create the same transcendental experience, or  "ego-death" as author Michael Pollan calls it. Anyway, on with the show.

A trip through time ⌛

Psilocybin, or magic mushrooms have been used for hundreds of years. The Aztecs called them "the flesh of the gods", but when the Catholics arrived (thanks Columbus), they were suppressed and all but banned.

But in 1955, a New York banker called R. Gordon Wasson went on holiday to Juautla de Jimenez in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

While there he was given a magic mushroom by a local which lead to him writing a 15-page account published in Life Magazine called "Mushrooms that can cause strange visions". It was this account that kick-started scientists fascination with psilocybin.

Simultaneously, LSD, which had been created in a lab a few decades previously, was quietly being studied by a select number of researchers. But within a few years, these two psychedelics were considered to be a promising potential treatment for numerous mental health disorders, with more than 1,000 studies taking place.

Understandably these mind-bending properties were snapped up by musicians and celebrities a like, and embraced by the counter culture movements of the time. But, all things must come to an end.

The press latched onto the rise of 'bad trips' experienced by casual users and by 1968, the US banned psychedelic drugs. We'd have to wait another 40 years before scientists were allowed to explore these drugs again.

Psilocybin and LSD are the only drugs where the experience is almost entirely dictated by the takers' expectation of the drug.

Over the last few years, researchers have been rediscovering the potential of psychedelics, and it seems regulators have been giving them a pass to do so. Last year the FDA designated psilocybin a “Breakthrough Therapy” to treat clinical depression.

But why the sudden interest?

A new hope 🙌

There are several reasons, but the overarching theme seems to be: mental health disorders continue to rise, and existing medication is limited in its effectiveness in helping people cope.

In the US there has been a 20% spike in the number of prescriptions for antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs during lockdown. Demand for key antidepressants meanwhile, is threatening to exceed supply in the UK – where prescriptions have already more than doubled over the last decade.

Initial trials of psychedelics meanwhile have proved incredibly effective at treating depression and a rangeof other ailments, like PTSD.

Studies from Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin reduced depression in 80% of patients with life-threatening cancer and, separately, were much more effective at getting people to quit smoking than current treatments when combined with cognitive behavioural therapy. But why?

What's going on? 🧐

Psychedelics, says Robin Carhart-Harris, the head of psychedelic research at Imperial College London, appear to increase brain “plasticity”, meaning it creates a small window of opportunity for our minds to think differently about things.

"A psychedelic experience is a consequence of an especially intense surge of plasticity that opens a window of opportunity for lasting therapeutic change. The same windows may open up during other extreme states, such as experiencing trauma, stress-induced breakdown, a spontaneous spiritual experience or coming close to death," Carhart-Harris told the Guardian.  

While Imperial's research is still in the early stages of being processed, they have found some remarkable changes in depressed people who went through psychedelic trials.

Whereas the medication we currently use to treat depression leaves patients feeling numb to their emotions, taking psilocybin not only alleviated the feelings of depression it also helped people feel "well" rather than "not depressed". Others reported increases in sex drive and a renewed interest in things they had previously lost interest in.

But before you go out and start planting mushrooms all over your garden, the experiments involved a combination of guided trips where experts would coach you through the experience and therapy afterwards to help people process their feelings in a safe setting.

But who knows, if trials are successful, a staycation could mean something very different to a weekend in Norfolk.

Ok, where can I learn more? 📚

• How to change your mind -  Michael Pollan's definitive book on the subject - and an amazing account of his experience.
• A great Ted Talk from one of Imperial's leading researchers describes in vivid detail magic mushroom's ability to treat depression.
• There are a number of retreats popping up offering guided psilocybin experiences. Note: this is not an endorsement.

Did you know? 🤓

LSD was discovered by accident. In 1938, Albert Hoffman, who had been working for Swiss pharmaceutical firm Sandoz, had been tasked with finding a drug to stimulate circulation. In his experiments, one of the outcomes was lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. Initially, Hoffman ignored the chemical and went back to work. Five years later, Hoffman accidentally inhaled a tiny amount of LSD and realised he'd stumbled upon something very different.