The psychedelic experience and therapy

Oh yeah it’s way out there man... Mind expanding stuff!

Yes well mind expanding is not quite the way many people would describe a trip on the mushroom, or taking E but since they do alter our perceptions of the world and the way we behave it seems strange that they haven’t been investigated.
So many substances such as lithium have been investigated why is it that these have not?

In most cases it is claimed that this because the substances are illegal however why this should impact on the use of substances for medical purposes is really intriguing. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/28/psychedelic-drugs-mysteries-brain-government-adviser ) But maybe the biggest barrier to the research is the possible harmful effects the drugs could have on the human brain and body. That so many people are quite happy to take drugs without any idea of what risk they taking is quite unbelievable, at the very least I’d be interested in what physical problems if may cause other species before going straight in there with human subjects.

This aside research the current time is looking at MDMA assisted psychotherapy http://www.maps.org/research/mdma/ and the physical and behavioural effects as seen on channel four http://www.channel4.com/programmes/drugs-live-the-ecstasy-trial/4od and apart from my displeasure about how the trial was report in this program I am drawn to the debate. In program they presented information about what they called a double blind experiment...however given that the subjects had significant physical reactions to the drug and the staff in some cases confirmed that they were on a trip without actually having the data which suggests a problem. In a double blind study they should not have known and although it is a valid question to ask the person to assess there own perceptions, in my opinion the staff most certainly should not have given them the impression that they were indeed on a trip but they did. As for the information their findings on how the brain patterns changed were entlightening and definitely worth doing.

By taking the drug it was seen to affect the areas of the brain that form a negative feedback that may keep people from trusting others and considering alternative courses of action. It was also noted that on the return visit a week later that there was an increased in the participants trust based on the picture test, that required them to rate how much they would invest in the person pictured which suggests that the effects could last for a long time, it was not mentioned whether any further assessment of the lasting effects of taking the drug were attempted.

There is an ongoing trial which is currently at phase 2 for MDMA assisted psychotherapy and the results are very promising. http://www.mdmaptsd.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=111

This carefully chosen subset of people with post traumatic stress disorder are reported as having short lived side effects to the treatment however I am sceptical about the amount of data that was collected about the patients physical well being. The most interesting part though is that the relative amount of patient therapist contact time was different for the two groups. Those taking the placebos did have less and as such I would argue that this care may have enhanced the bond between them significantly for those on MDMA and this makes the comparison less useful than it would otherwise have been. In fact I find it difficult to see how it being double blind was of any help since almost all correctly assigned the participants to the correct group as such the information may have altered how they responded. The problem is that there really isn’t any way around this unless they could find a concoction to mimic the physical symptoms of taking the drug but it is imperative that the contact time be kept the same.

This aside the use of psychedelic drugs as an adjunct to talking therapy is gaining ground as seen in these reports. Can LSD cure depression http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9565026/Can-LSD-cure-depression.html

Can psychedelic drugs treat depression? http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/24/psychedelic.drugs.depression/index.html

And though the results are good it is unknown how the trip will go at the start

But it's not always a smooth trip. Depending on the dose, as well as an individual's personality, the drugs can elicit fear, anxiety, paranoia, and, in some cases, a state akin to psychosis.

"It's not so easy -- it can be excruciatingly painful," says Grob. "Those six hours that one is immersed in the experience can feel like the longest hours in a person's life."

I am guessing that actually this is a super charged therapy experience and given my own experiences I would say it is not something to be done lightly but then if they were claiming to be smooth or just like other therapies I would not believe them.

I think the quote from a cancer patient with severe depression who was a part of this trial is something to consider

 "I don't think the drug is the cause of these things," she said. "I think it's a catalyst that allows you to release your own thoughts and feelings from some place [where] you've bound them very tightly."

And I see this as similar to my experience of therapy. It was way in, a way to find what was needing to be released, a catalyst. Talking therapy was mine and this was hers but it is striking to me that this was someone who died not long after as her cancer had spread and therefore long term follow up was not possible.

I personally think it has a long way to go before it will be a routine treatment if it ever makes it that far and maybe it will and maybe it will help millions to get a better life, however I balk at the idea of giving these drugs to people for intensive therapy. It seems fraught with complications and possible side effects and those unknown problems that we may find out in years to come when it is all too late to do anything about them. Only time will tell.