VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: lek. Tomasz Nęcki

There has been a lot of talk about psychedelics and their possible use in the treatment of depression. The assurances of some researchers, suggesting that with their use, it is possible to achieve not only satisfactory, but also long-lasting effects of treatment in people with depressive disorders seem promising. On the other hand, the use of substances belonging to this group is prohibited in many countries, including Poland. Could the situation change soon and psychiatrists will start recommending patients to take certain psychedelics?

Due to the fact that the prevalence of depressive disorders has been systematically increasing over the years, scientists are working on new treatment options. In classical terms, the treatment of depression focuses on pharmacotherapy (based on the use of antidepressants) and psychotherapy. From time to time, however, there are reports of new therapeutic options. One of them is information about the potential use in people with depressionpsychedelics .

Psychedelics - drugs that have interested researchers for decades

Psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and DMT are not new substances, hitherto unknown to the scientific community. They were of interest to researchers already in the second half of the last century.

Work on their use in the medical world, however, was significantly slowed down due to the fact that several decades ago in many countries of the world these substances - due to their intoxicating potential and the risk of harmful use - were entered on the list of banned substances.

Currently, however, due to the increasing number of reports on the effects of their use, scientists are again taking a closer look at psychedelics and some of them argue that these drugs can help patients with depression.

How would psychedelics help depressed patients?

So far, the mechanism of action of psychedelics has not been fully understood. However, some information about them is already available. Attention is paid, inter alia, to that some of them - e.g. psilocybin and LSD - are agonists of serotonin receptors.

The influence on this neurotransmitter system has been used in the treatment of depression for years - one of thethe most commonly used antidepressants, i.e. serotonin reuptake inhibitors, primarily act on the concentration of this neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.

Psychedelic drugs do not only affect the levels of certain neurotransmitters. Scientists report that they also have the ability to influence the functioning of neural networks, and that they can promote the formation of new connections between nerve cells, i.e. synapses.

This is interesting mainly because people with depression may experience a decrease in the number of synapses in the central nervous system.

Psychedelic researchers point out that even a single intake of these drugs could lead to months of improvement in patients with depressive disorders.

Such assurances can certainly be tempting and lead to some patients becoming interested in these measures. On the other hand, it should be taken into account that the reports of researchers are not everything.

Limitations in assessing the effectiveness of psychedelics in depression

The current research results seem promising. However, it should be borne in mind that they still have some limitations.

The analyzes carried out so far concerned mainly animals, such as rats or flies. So there is a chance that psychedelics will have the same or very similar effect on the human brain, but there is no certainty about that.

Psychedelics taken on their own will not necessarily cure depression

There are many enthusiasts of taking psychedelics and it should be clearly emphasized here that their use may be associated with certain risks. It is mentioned, for example, that in people prone to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, taking psychedelic drugs may promote the occurrence of these individuals.

Additionally, taking psychedelics alone will not cure depression - the effects of special therapeutic sessions are described, during which the patient is not only to receive the right dose of psychedelics, but also to be under the care of a therapeutic team with whom he can talk.

It is of great importance, because even during the therapeutic use of psychedelics, the so-called bad trip (difficult, frightening feelings associated with taking a psychoactive substance), which must be discussed with the therapist.

There are theories about the possibility of using very small dosespsychedelics (the so-called microdosing) - those that do not produce a hallucinogenic effect.

In this case, specialists dealing with psychedelic drugs point out that it is not entirely clear whether such treatment has the potential to cause any treatment effect. Additionally, it is not known how the brain of a he althy person and the brain of a person with mental disorders will react to small doses of psychedelics.

In general, self-treatment of depression with psychedelics is definitely inadvisable and it may not bring any benefits, and at the same time may lead to a deterioration of he alth.

Will psychedelics be routinely used to treat depression?

Certainly, psychedelics may seem interesting to patients with depression - after all, they do not need to be taken regularly, as do antidepressants, and they can have many other effects than drugs.

Research on the possibility of using them is ongoing and it is possible that they will actually start to be used in the treatment of depressive disorders.

At the moment, however, it is necessary to carry out more detailed analyzes that will actually show whether psychedelics have positive effects in treating depression, or whether taking them is simply dangerous.

Category:

Psychiatry