There are new therapies showing dramatic results for for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues. These therapies involve the use of psychedelics (psilocybin and MDMA). These psychedelic-assisted therapies are undergoing Phase 3 FDA and European Medical Association (EMA) trials as Breakthrough Therapies. Studies have shown that just one therapist-led session has cured otherwise ‘incurable’ traumas and other mental health issues.
Many of our beliefs about psychedelics are based on misinformation originating in the 1960’s. These medicines have the potential to revolutionize mental health care. I am working to help shift public perspective and reduce stigmatization related to these medicines and am involved with organizations that support researchers studying psychedelic treatments for a wide range of mental health indications, as well as investigating their possible use in conflict resolution
Books
- How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
- Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler
- Changing Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy by Don Lattin
- Trust Surrender Receive by Anne Other
- Psychedelic Medicine by Richard Louis Miller
Articles
- Ecstasy could be ‘breakthrough’ therapy for soldiers, others suffering from PTSD
- FDA Designates MDMA As ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ For Post-Traumatic Stress
- Can We Stop Suicides?
- Report: Aide says Nixon’s war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies
- Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug
- Psychedelic drugs appear to fundamentally reorganize the brain — and they’re starting to turn into approved treatments
- MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, could be key in helping veterans with PTSD
- How some doctors are risking everything to unleash the healing power of MDMA, ayahuasca and other hallucinogens
- Our Brains on Drugs
- Longtime Sufferers of Cluster Headaches Find Relief in Psychedelics
- Psilocybin Could Be Legal for Therapy by 2021
- ‘My Fear of Dying Was Gone’: Former Cancer Patient Says Psychedelic Drugs Helped Him Cope with End of Life Anxiety
- Navigating Mental Health: COMPASS Pathways’ Psilocybin Research Program
- Let’s Talk About Compass And Psychedelic Capitalism: Interview with Rick Doblin
- What if psychedelics could revolutionize the way you die?
Research
- MDMA and PTSD treatment: “PTSD: From novel pathophysiology to innovative therapeutics”.
- Therapeutic effect of increased openness: Investigating mechanism of action in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
- Novel psychopharmacological therapies for psychiatric disorders: psilocybin and MDMA
- Lifetime experience with (classic) psychedelics predicts pro-environmental behavior through an increase in nature relatedness
- Psychedelics and connectedness
- Increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarian political views after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression
- Psychedelics and mental health: a population study
Videos:
Life, death and psychedelic drugs on CNN
Could a Drug Prevent Depression and PTSD? – Rebecca Brachman at TEDxNewYork Bill Richards: How I Got Involved in Psychedelics TEDx Mid Atlantic – Roland Griffiths talks about psilocybin research Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world (TED Talk) Psychedelics: Lifting the veil – Robin Carhart-Harris at TEDxWarwick Is MDMA psychiatry’s antibiotic? – Ben Sessa at TEDxUniversityofBristol Psychedelics: Exploring the Brain – David Erritzøe at TEDxAarhus
