Psychedelic Science: Spirituality as Medicine

Tolle Totum

Are psychedelic users happier than the rest of us?

According to some recent study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the reply is yes. Whereas lifetime utilization of non-psychedelic illicit drugs are largely associated with an increased likelihood of psychological distress and suicide, the data on psychedelics is compellingly the alternative. Pooling five years' price of statistics in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers in the University of Alabama found people who used psychedelics even once in their lives were –19% not as likely to report psychological distress than non-psychedelic users. Controlling for a selection of covariates, they learned that from the 190 000 total people surveyed, the 27 235 who reported past psychedelic use were 36% not as likely to possess attempted suicide in the last year.1

But if psychedelics can make people happier, what else can they do? Have they got a place in medicine? In naturopathic medicine? And just how will they work?

We're in the process of discovering. After a long prohibition on psychedelic research, the FDA has approved several clinical trials on psilocybin , LSD , and MDMA in treating anxiety, depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder , along with other conditions. 2 This recent boom in psychedelic research is largely thanks to the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies , a nonprofit organization that's funding most of the clinical trials.2

Put aside the stereotypes of long hair and tie-dye: the developments in psychedelic medicine are imbued with scientific rigor. Recent studies demonstrate not only the efficacy of those medicines for a number of psychological ailments, but additionally offer us understanding of how they work.

LSD and Psilocybin for Anxiety, Depression, and Addiction

Breaking harmful neural patterns and allowing the mind to make new connections is among the mechanisms by which psychedelics improve mental health. In 2023, neuropsychopharmacologist Robin Carhart-Harris scanned the brains of 20 healthy volunteers during the period of a 6-hour LSD session inside a study conducted included in the Beckley/Imperial Research Programme. These scans, in comparison with the ones from control volunteers, revealed reduced activity in the default-mode network, a part of the brain responsible for mindless, automatic, background thinking. In depression, for instance, the network's pattern is among self-deprecating thoughts for example “nobody likes me” or “I'm a loser.” Many psychologists, actually, believe that depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder could be the consequence of a “hyperactive” default-mode network. Conversely, Carhart-Harris's work indicates that, underneath the results of LSD and psilocybin, the default-mode network becomes less active; concurrently, separation between your brain's resting state networks diminishes overall and greater functional connectivity has been observed. 3,4

In an interview with Imperial College London, Carhart-Harris explained that these changes will also be associated with “ego-dissolution,” where the user's “normal feeling of self is broken down and replaced by a sense of reconnection with themselves, others, and also the natural world.”5 This could be felt like a religious or spiritual experience, one that is related to sustained improvements in well-being long after the direct experience is finished.6 The significance of this spiritual experience is noted in several other studies.

Charles Grob, a professor of psychiatry in the University of California, Los Angeles , was the first to win FDA approval because the 1960's for any phase 1 pilot study demonstrating the security and efficacy of psilocybin in the management of anxiety in cancer patients.7 His trial was followed by larger randomized, double blind, crossover, phase 2 trials at Johns Hopkins University and Ny University, the outcomes which were published in December 2023. Together, the 2 trials included 80 patients having a life-threatening cancer and a proper diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety who have been administered whether single high dose of psilocybin or perhaps a placebo in conjunction with psychotherapy. The outcomes of these trials revealed surprisingly similar outcomes: about 80% of the cancer patients treated with psilocybin showed clinically significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms and increased quality of life, and the improvements were sustained in a 6-month follow-up. No flashbacks, psychosis, or any other serious adverse symptoms were reported. Both in trials the concentration of the mystical experience described by patients correlated with the degree that their depression and anxiety abated.8,9 Quite simply, the more spiritual the knowledge, the more healing the therapy.

The need for spiritual experience continues to be noted in other research. Inside a recent study, 15 smokers received 2 to 3 doses of psilocybin poor cognitive behavioral therapy sessions for smoking cessation. Of the 15 participants, 12 demonstrated biologically verified smoking abstinence at a 6-month follow-up10 and 67% were smoke-free at a 12-month follow-up.11 There have been no significant variations in the general intensity of the drug's effects among participants, yet people who reported having mystical experiences during psilocybin use had greater success in quitting tobacco.10 The authors concluded: “Mystical-type subjective effects, instead of overall intensity of drug effects, were responsible for quitting smoking.”10 The long-term efficacy of psychedelics, quite simply, may come from their ability to engender a transformative, mystical experience.

This phenomenon may likewise explain the efficacy of LSD in abating alcohol addiction. Between 1954 and 1960, psychiatrist Humphry Osmond and biochemist Abram Hoffer treated over 2 000 alcoholics with LSD, reporting a 1-year recovery rate of 40 -45%. Osmond coined the word psychedelic in 1957, from the Greek words psyche, for mind or soul, and deloun, for show, reflecting his thought that spiritual experience may be the cornerstone of psychedelic medicine.12,13

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluating the clinical efficacy of LSD within the management of alcoholism pooled findings from 6 eligible trials, including 536 participants. The authors concluded: “A single dose of LSD, poor various alcoholism treatment programs, is associated with home loan business alcohol misuse.”14

When administered responsibly, classic psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD appear to enhance an individual's awareness, willingness, and ability to heal. Studies show that they do that by decreasing activity within the default-mode network of the brain, enhancing neural connectivity, temporarily quieting the ego, and inducing a spiritual experience. These shifts may empower the patient to deal with the wounds and harmful neural habits fundamentally of their anxiety, depression, addiction, and other ailments.

MDMA for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine , the active component in the street drug known as ecstasy, is a synthetic compound made from an extraction of sassafras oil. Unlike psilocybin and LSD, MDMA doesn't cause hallucinations and seems to elicit healing through somewhat different mechanisms than the psychedelics explored above.15 MDMA has been utilized as an underground adjuvant to psychotherapy underneath the nickname “Adam” since the 1970s.16 It was only recently, however, that the Approved by the fda clinical trials to evaluate the medicine's safety and efficacy within the treatment of PTSD.17

In a randomized, controlled clinical trial, 20 survivors of sexual abuse who was simply unresponsive to psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy were randomly allotted to undergo 2 MDMA-assisted or non-MDMA assisted psychotherapy sessions of 6 -8 hours' duration. Additionally, all participants received preparatory and follow-up non-MDMA psychotherapy sessions. 8 weeks later, 83% of these in the MDMA-treated group no more qualified for any proper diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 25% of those in the unassisted psychotherapy group.18

In a follow-up to his study, psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer found that the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale and Impact of Events Scale-Revised scores of these patients dropped even farther at a 3.8-year follow-up compared to what they had at the 2-month follow-up. The participants did better the farther out these were from MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, suggesting that the treatment provided not only immediate relief, but additionally a road to continued and sustained healing.19 Mithoefer has recently completed another clinical trial on MDMA in combat veterans, soon to be published.

Following naturopathic principles, the perfect treatment of PTSD would include not just palliative strategies to calm the symptoms from the condition, but additionally a carefully executed re-examination and re-processing from the triggering trauma. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy does both. When used in addition to psychotherapy, MDMA helps patients find out the root cause of their suffering without becoming re-traumatized. By acting as a serotonin agonist, MDMA reduces both depression and fear, allowing the patient to focus on their trauma during therapy sessions without triggering the sympathetic nervous system and becoming at a loss for negative thoughts or feelings. Through its action at 5-HT-2A receptors, MDMA further allows patients to consider things from different angles and make new connections and associations. MDMA allows someone to feel calm through its action at alpha-2 receptors, however it's also a dopamine and norepinephrine agonist and thereby increases alertness. This balance of relaxation and attentiveness contributes to what in treatments are referred to as the “optimal arousal zone,” in which the patient feels engaged and ready to heal without becoming over stimulated. MDMA further supports psychological healing by enhancing oxytocin production, thereby increasing self-love, improving trust with the therapist, and ultimately improving the therapeutic alliance.20 In a 2023 study lead by Professor David Nutt, MRI scans of volunteers who had taken MDMA showed reduced blood circulation in the visual cortex and limbic system, but increased communication between your amygdala and the hippocampus. This explains the medicine's efficacy within the management of PTSD.21

Psychopharmacologist and psychiatrist Julia Holland explained: “It’s almost like anesthesia for surgery- It enables you to definitely dig and obtain towards the malignant thing that should be brought out and examined. It takes years in psychotherapy to dig around the trauma and start to get at it. This can be a way for people to process the core issue to be able to move forward- You basically couldn’t design a molecule that is better for therapy than MDMA.”22

Can a pill really solve a person's deepest problems? After i asked Dr Mithoefer this question, he'd this to offer: “It's not that people get blissed out and then they're fine. This really is effort, and it's painful. The MDMA afford them the ability, but it's still not easy- MDMA catalyzes a procedure that keeps unfolding for days, weeks, months, as well as your life.” In other words, MDMA isn't a magic cure by itself, but instead a powerful catalyst for psychotherapy. Whereas SSRIs, benzodiazepines, along with other medications numb the unpleasant the signs of PTSD, MDMA allows patients to dig deep within themselves to heal it.

In December 2023, the Approved by the fda phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. MDMA might be moved from the DEA's Schedule I to Schedule II as soon as 2023.23 This could make it a therapy those people with DEA licenses could feasibly prescribe and administer.

Conventional and Naturopathic Options to Psychedelic Medicine

The pharmaceutical therapies currently utilized in treating depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD typically include serotonin reuptake inhibitors , benzodiazepines, and substances that mimic drugs of abuse . Serotonin reuptake inhibitors often take 4 -6 weeks to provide noticeable benefit, can be difficult to discontinue, require daily dosing, and can increase suicidality in certain.24 The link between low serotonin and depression originates under recent scrutiny, challenging the rationale for that utilization of SSRIs.25,26 Benzodiazepines offer faster-acting relief of symptoms, but can become addictive.27 Gum area and patches ease withdrawal symptoms by stimulating nicotine receptors,28 but require daily use over weeks, months, or years. A recent overview of nicotine replacement therapy revealed an underwhelming 6-month rate of success of 6.75%, versus a 3.28% success rate with placebo.29

Although these pharmaceuticals offer some significant symptom relief, they rarely produce cure, and they're not in alignment with naturopathic philosophy: they don't treat the whole person, address the main cause of psychological distress, nor stimulate the body's vital force. “Green allopathy,” for some patients, could be remarkably helpful, however for others, methylated B vitamins and magnesium are not enough to reconcile trauma.

Cognitive behavioral therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing are powerful tools that can yield sustained results.30,31 Revisiting and reconciling trauma could be profoundly healing, yet it can also be terrifying and even traumatic if one is not emotionally ready, if one's nervous system is too activated, or if one perceives the environment as unsafe. This could allow it to be difficult for a physician or a therapist to help a customer identify and address the painful complexities at the source of their condition. Although psychotherapy is holistic and often root-cause oriented, it will take many years of slow, gradual try to chip away at the layers of a trauma.

Patients with anxiety, depression, addiction, and PTSD often have psychological and medical comorbidities32 and are at high-risk for turning to unhealthy strategies, such as alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and opiate drugs to soothe, numb, or suppress their suffering. These coping strategies could be hazardous to physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing and could increase the layers of pathology. When suppressive therapies and adaptive strategies fail to adequately pay the patient a peaceful and fulfilling life, suicide turns into a risk. Suicide now outranks combat because the leading killer of people in our military, accountable for 3 from every 10 military deaths.33,34

It appears that psychedelics possess a unique function in trauma recovery, working at least partly by changing neural firing patterns, engendering mystical experiences, reducing the fear response, and increasing connectivity within the brain, thus allowing patients to confront and reconcile the main reason for their ailments. Despite their potential to be invaluably helpful, it is still not legal to administer these medications, at least not yet. Furthermore, psychedelics aren't safe for some people.

Thankfully, NDs have access to other therapies that can bring about profound healing, help reconcile trauma, and provide spiritual awakening. Included in this are mindfulness practices like meditation, yoga, qi gong, biofeedback, and nature therapy. Neurofeedback and emotional freedom technique, together with naturopathic assessment and treatment of endocrine, nervous, and digestive system deficiencies may be used to improve neural firing patterns. Breathing techniques such as pranayama, holotropic breathwork, and Reichian bioenergetic breathing can help with emotional recovery. A variety of retreats and programs are available to facilitate core wound resolution, such as the ManKind Project, Outward Bound, and Women Within, in addition to religious pilgrimages from the hajj towards the Wailing Wall towards the Camino de Santiago. Reiki, hypnosis, fasting, and shamanic soul retrieval, as well as acupuncture, constitutional homeopathy, flower essences, and biotherapeutic drainage may all occasion powerful shifts on the spiritual and physical planes.

Psychedelic prescription medication is only some of the road to psychological healing, although it risk turning to be the expressway. Supporting this is the finding that anyone who has used psychedelics even once are happier compared to those who haven't.1 Other study participants have ranked their psychedelic experiences as among the most meaningful within their lives, comparable to the birth of the child or the death of a parent.35,36 You need to observe that, in many studies, participants had counseling and support before, during, and after their psychedelic journeys.8,9,18,19 When used appropriately, psychedelic medicines treat the entire person, remove obstacles to cure, help patients identify and treat the reason for suffering, and stimulate the vital force. The healing imparted by psychedelics is profound and deep. It changes lives.